After the fire in Moria
The dream of freedom ends in Lesbos
Book review: "Rediscovering the Islamic Classics"
How the printing press saved Islamic classics from near extinction
One month after the explosion in Beirut
"We sweep trauma under the carpet and carry on"
Afghanistan's decline and search for peace
A slide into war and chaos

After the fire in Moria

For many migrants, the dream of freedom ends in Lesbos

After the devastating fires in the Moria migrant camp on Lesbos, Muhammad spent days on a sealed-off section of road with thousands of others. His most fervent wish is to leave the island, as Max Zander reportsRead more

Greece and the asylum-seekers: How do you solve a problem like Moria?Refugees don’t have to be grateful; they have no debt to repayRefugees and migration in the Aegean: The EU and Turkey need each other – and a new refugee deal

Book review: Ahmed El Shamsy's "Rediscovering the Islamic Classics"

How the printing press saved Islamic classics from near extinction

Ahmed El Shamsy's "Rediscovering the Islamic Classics" examines how a handful of reformist editors and intellectuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries harnessed printing press technology to save a rich body of classical Islamic texts from the brink of extinctionRead more

Review of Leor Halevi's "Modern Things on Trial": Bottom-up fatwas – Rashid Rida and laissez-faire SalafismRationality in Islamic theology: Muslims – believers caught between reason and revelationInterview with pioneering Islamic thinker Fehmi Jadaane: What is the essence of Islam, and does it need reforming?The maqamas of Ibn Naqiya in German translation: The picaresque poet from Baghdad

One month after the Beirut port explosion

"We sweep trauma under the carpet and carry on"

You can see the port of Beirut from Mounir al-Khodr's roof terrace. His family's home, belongings and memories were damaged in the explosion. Julia Neumann reports from Beirut on what life has been like for him and his family since the catastrophic events of 4 AugustRead more

Aftermath of the Beirut explosion: Lebanon, a state in freefall thanks to corrupt governanceSocial unrest in Lebanon: Beirut – currency chaos, exploding prices and burning banksFrench President in Beirut: Can Macron save Lebanon?

Afghanistan's decline and long search for peace

A slide into war and chaos

The Soviet Union's 1979 invasion and 10-year domination of Afghanistan started the country's descent into poverty and lawlessness. The country still has not found peace. People have lost faith in institutions, tend to only trust persons from their own tribe, and the nation's attitude is now more xenophobic than in the past. By Nawid PaighamRead more

19 years on from 9/11: Has Germany failed in Afghanistan?Afghanistanʹs political future: Is peace with the Taliban possible?No end to conflict on the Hindu Kush? Islamic State threatens long-term peace in Afghanistan

Politics

Children climb on an abandoned Soviet tank in Mazar-e-Sharif (photo: AP)

Afghanistan's decline and long search for peace

A slide into war and chaos

The Soviet Union's 1979 invasion and 10-year domination of Afghanistan started the country's descent into poverty and lawlessness. The country still has not found peace. People have lost faith in institutions, tend to only trust persons from their own tribe, and the nation's attitude is now more xenophobic than in the past. By Nawid PaighamMore

19 years on from 9/11: Has Germany failed in Afghanistan?Afghanistanʹs political future: Is peace with the Taliban possible?No end to conflict on the Hindu Kush? Islamic State threatens long-term peace in Afghanistan
Soldier in Afghanistan with a flower in his rifle (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

19 years on from 9/11

Has Germany failed in Afghanistan?

After the al-Qaida terrorist network attacked the US on 11 September 2001, Germany backed the US-led military and diplomatic mission in Afghanistan – and still does. Nineteen years on, what has Germany achieved? By Sandra Petersmann and Nina WerkhäuserMore

Interview with Thomas Ruttig: Afghanistan's democracy in reverse gearUS-Taliban peace deal: Bleak days in AfghanistanAfghanistanʹs political future: Is peace with the Taliban possible?
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia (photo: Getty Images/AFP/G. Cacace)

Book review: Ben Hubbard's "MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman"

Ruling Saudi Arabia from the wings

Is he a reformer, a despot, or both? Ben Hubbard's detailed biography explores Mohammed bin Salman's style of rule – even though he has not yet acceded to the Saudi throne. Moritz Baumsteiger read the bookMore

Mohammed bin Salman′s political agenda: The Saudi parablePolitical transformation under Mohammed bin Salman: Saudi Arabiaʹs perilous pivotSaudi Arabia jails eight over Khashoggi murder, fiancée decries trialMurder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi: Donald Trump's ersatz reality
A medical worker collects a swab from a man for a coronavirus test in Sale, Morocco (photo: imago images/Xinhua | Chadi via www.imago-images.de)

Coronavirus in Morocco

The threat of a new lockdown emerges

After the country initially showed itself to be gaining control over the pandemic, to the point of being classified as a safe country for travel from the European Union, the situation in Morocco has deteriorated, as the King himself has noted. So has Morocco lost its way in the fight against the coronavirus? By Ismail AzzamMore

Qantara dossier: CoronavirusCOVID-19 in the Maghreb: Coronavirus and Morocco's "peak national solidarity"Digitalisation and the coronavirus in Morocco: From care to control?
more Politics »

Society

Refugees in makeshift tents on a road in Lesbos (photo: Henning Goll/DW)

After the fire in Moria

For many migrants, the dream of freedom ends in Lesbos

After the devastating fires in the Moria migrant camp on Lesbos, Muhammad spent days on a sealed-off section of road with thousands of others. His most fervent wish is to leave the island, as Max Zander reportsMore

Greece and the asylum-seekers: How do you solve a problem like Moria?Refugees don’t have to be grateful; they have no debt to repayRefugees and migration in the Aegean: The EU and Turkey need each other – and a new refugee deal
Collage of images from the "Time to speak up" campaign (source: Instagram)

Sexual violence in Egypt

Battling against a culture of silence

Two prominent cases concerning gender-based violence – that of Ahmed Zaki, who has been accused by more than 100 women of extortion, sexual harassment, coercion and rape, and that of the gang rape at the Fairmont Hotel in 2014 – have given rise to a new movement fighting sexual violence in Egypt. Paula Al-Bahari has the detailsMore

RLA winner Mozn Hassan on civil repression in Egypt: ″Now′s the time to be creative″Mona Eltahawy: "Why do you hate us so?" – The Middle East needs a sexual revolutionSocietal repression in Egypt: The tentacles of autocracy
A window frame on Mounir al-Khodr's roof terrace in Beirut is removed (photo: Julia Neumann)

One month after the Beirut port explosion

"We sweep trauma under the carpet and carry on"

You can see the port of Beirut from Mounir al-Khodr's roof terrace. His family's home, belongings and memories were damaged in the explosion. Julia Neumann reports from Beirut on what life has been like for him and his family since the catastrophic events of 4 AugustMore

Aftermath of the Beirut explosion: Lebanon, a state in freefall thanks to corrupt governanceSocial unrest in Lebanon: Beirut – currency chaos, exploding prices and burning banksFrench President in Beirut: Can Macron save Lebanon?
Webcomic Qahera image created by Deena Mohamed (©qaherathesuperhero/Deena Mohamed)

Women in Egypt

The long and bumpy road to gender equality

Alexandra Kinias was denied a job as a site engineer in an oil company because of her gender. The rejection letter clearly stated that the company would rather offer its jobs to male engineers. Women in Egypt have come a long way since then, she saysMore

Women's liberation in the Gulf: Arab women – fighting for their rights for 60 yearsWomen's rights in the Islamic world: Arab Christian women take a stand against church paternalism Haifaa Al-Mansourʹs ʺThe Perfect Candidateʺ: When the patriarchy has better things to doWomen′s rights in Islam: Can feminism be Islamic?
more Society »

Culture

The siege of Baghdad, 1258 (source: Sayf al-vâhidî et al. Public domain)

Book review: Ahmed El Shamsy's "Rediscovering the Islamic Classics"

How the printing press saved Islamic classics from near extinction

Ahmed El Shamsy's "Rediscovering the Islamic Classics" examines how a handful of reformist editors and intellectuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries harnessed printing press technology to save a rich body of classical Islamic texts from the brink of extinctionMore

Review of Leor Halevi's "Modern Things on Trial": Bottom-up fatwas – Rashid Rida and laissez-faire SalafismRationality in Islamic theology: Muslims – believers caught between reason and revelationInterview with pioneering Islamic thinker Fehmi Jadaane: What is the essence of Islam, and does it need reforming?The maqamas of Ibn Naqiya in German translation: The picaresque poet from Baghdad
Ronya Othmann (photo: Cihan Caknak)

Interview with author Ronya Othmann

Fighting the obliteration of Kurdish-Yazidi identity

Ronya Othmann's novel "Die Sommer" (The Summers) tells the story of Leyla – the daughter of a German and a Yazidi Kurd – who visits her grandparents' Yazidi village in northern Syria every summer until the village ceases to exist. Schayan Riaz spoke to the authorMore

Pursuing prosecution in Germany: Justice for Yazidi survivors of Islamic State genocide Dunya Mikhailʹs "The Beekeeper": Rescuing the stolen womenYazidis mourn their devastated community: Sinjar is not Mosul
Raisan Hameed (photo: Nader Alsarras)

Refugees in Germany

From the boat to the Bundeskunsthalle

When hundreds of thousands of refugees crossed Germany's borders in 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel promised: "We can do it!" This is the story of how Iraqi refugee Raisan Hameed became a successful photography student. By Nader AlsarrasMore

Syrian refugees in Germany five years on: Samer Serawan's Damascus Aroma – a taste of integrationSyrian writer Widad Nabi: ″Integration is the search for common ground″Refugees in Germany: Working through the trauma
Naima Shalhoub (photo: Tarik Kazaleh)

Album review: Naima Shalhoub's "Siphr"

Juxtaposing harsh realities with bright hope

"Siphr", Naima Shalhoub's first studio album, is a reflection of both the musician's Lebanese background and her commitment to social justice. While each song is a compelling mixture of musical and lyrical influences from both her American home and her Middle Eastern heritage, the album is deeply rooted in the philosophy of numbers and their symbolic and literal meanings. By Richard MarcusMore

Gaye Su Akyolʹs album "Istikrarl Hayal Hakikattir": Singing the revolutionMaya Youssef′s album ″Syrian Dreams″: Hope still springsNew music from Pakistan: A captivating mix of sounds
more Culture »

In brief

More

Most Recent Photo Essay

Fire broke out in a number of places around the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos late on the night of Tuesday, 8 September 2020. This led authorities to suspect arson. Some in the camp have suggested locals set the fires; other reports point to the migrants themselves.

Hell on earth: Greece's Moria refugee camp and its tortured history

The Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos has burned to the ground. The situation is dire, but it was already grave before fire swept through Europe's largest and most overcrowded refugee camp.

How Libya is being torn apart

In this episode of "Unpacked", DW examines the battleground that Libya has become since the overthrow of Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, with the divided country being ripped apart by militias, extremists and foreign powersMore

How Turkey's soft power conquered Pakistan

A promotional image for the Turkish TV show "Dirilis: Ertugrul" (photo: Tekden Film)

In this Foreign Policy article, Fatima Bhutto explains how through the Turkish television drama "Ertugrul", neo-Ottoman fantasies are finding an enthusiastic audience in a country that struggles with Saudi and Western influence.More

Imprisoned Iranian rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh on hunger strike over prison conditions

Iranian human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh (photo: Iran Emrooz)

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been on hunger strike, protesting against prison conditions. Her supporters, among them EU parliamentarians, fear for Sotoudeh's life.More

"Medicare for All" advocate finds universal healthcare mandates in Islam

Medicare for All protesters demonstrating on 24 July 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, United States (photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

"We were always taught...that the foundation of Islam is an obligation to ensure that everyone’s basic needs are met."More

Cato Institute: Mustafa Akyol's in-depth report on freedom in the Muslim world

What’s the state of freedom in the Muslim world? Mustafa Akyol looks at data in the Human Freedom Index that measures freedom in Muslim‐​majority countries across the world. Read his report here.More

Newsroom: What is Islam’s appeal to Maori?

Members of a New Zealand biker gang perform the haka in tribute to those killed in the March 15 Christchurch twin mosque massacre, outside the Jamia Masjid mosque in Hamilton on 22 March 2019 (photo: Getty Images/AFP/M. Bradley)

Islam is set to become the largest religion in the world in the next four decades and is one of the fastest-growing religions in Aotearoa New Zealand – particularly among Maori. Dr Ayca Arkilic explores Islam’s growing appealMore

"Uber for Imams" – introducing ImamConnect

 

This August saw the launch of the world's first online platform for Muslim services. Featuring a global provider community covering a full range of life services, from marriages to education, wills, and life coaching, ImamConnect enables users to book Imams, scholars, therapists, and more, all of whom have gone through stringent background and credentials checks.More