Author: Nathan J. Brown

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Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar University (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/N. El-Mofty)

Marriage, divorce and inheritance

Who should reform Egypt's personal status law, and how?

"Personal status" is a modern category of Middle Eastern law grounded in Islamic religious teaching. Legislative authorities dip into centuries of religious scholarship to decide which interpretations of Sharia will be enforced by the state. Understandably, how it is done is as important as who does it. By Nathan J. BrownMore

President Sisi and Al-Azhar: Wresting religious authority from the Grand ImamIslam, Al-Azhar and the terrorists′ ideology: If the cap fitsInterview with Egyptian activist Nawal El Saadawi: "We are a hundred years behind"

In brief

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Dhaka: rickshaw capital of the world

Urban transport concepts in the global South, often promoted by organisations such as the World Bank, aim to encourage motorised private transport – at the expense of non-motorised forms, which have proven cheap and environmentally friendly there over the past century. In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, bans are being imposed on bicycle rickshaws on more and more roads. By Dominik Müller