Author: Tugrul von Mende

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A women cuts off her hair in autumn 2022, in solidarity with protests in Iran following the death in custody of Jina Mahsa Amini (image: AFP/Getty Images)

Islamic feminism

Evolving gender rights

In her latest book – "Journeys Toward Gender Equality in Islam" – legal anthropologist and activist Ziba Mir-Hosseini talks to six leading Muslim reformists about gender, women's rights and the latter's evolution over time. Interview by Tugrul von MendeMore

Amina Wadud's "Qur'an and Woman" revisited: "Inequality between men and women is contrary to Islam"Zahra Ali's "Islamic Feminisms": Female emancipation based on the spirit of Sharia Women's rights in North Africa: "The headscarf is losing its religious edge"Iran protests: What the Islamic Republic's propaganda tells us
Algerian Jewish musican Edmond Nathan Yafil, in the centre with the violin and the striking moustache (source: over-blog.fr)

Muslims and Jews in the Maghreb

A whispered history

The history of Jews and Muslims is far more entangled than you might imagine – but you have to listen out for it. In "Recording History", Christopher Silver takes us on a sonic journey into twentieth-century North Africa, to a forgotten world of records and recording artists – and the music that defined an era. Interview by Tugrul von MendeMore

First Congress of Arab Music in 1932: A richly diverse palette of rhythm and timbreSephardi Singer Yasmin Levy: "In my songs there is no war"The Maghrebʹs Moorish-Spanish legacy: Andalusia begins in northern MoroccoOfficial Gharamophone website
Before the coup 2013: Egypt's former President Mohammed Morsi with his army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi (photo: Reuters)

Egyptian army and the Muslim Brotherhood

Competitors in common

Sara Tonsy’s latest book "The Egyptian Army and the Muslim Brotherhood: Contemporary Political Power Dynamics" examines the long-standing rivalry between these two highly influential factions. In interview with Tugrul von Mende she focuses on the relationship between them and what it means for Egyptian societyMore

Egypt′s Muslim Brotherhood: The seed of violenceMuslim Brotherhood texts: Once valued, now proscribed Hassan Abu Haniyya: The Muslim Brothers' rigid structuresIslam in the Middle East: The curse of religiosity
Protest in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, in February 2021 – one of the largest protests in Tunisia since the uprising in 2011 that launched the Arab Spring (photo: Yassine Gaidi/AA/picture-alliance)

Interview with Asef Bayat

Examining the Arab Spring revolutions from within

Asef Bayat, professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, has been studying revolutions and how they affect people since 1979. In his recent book, "Revolutionary Life: The Everyday of the Arab Spring", Bayat takes a new approach to studying revolutions by focusing on how they affect citizens in their everyday lives. Tugrul von Mende spoke to him about how his understanding of revolutions has changed over the past 20 yearsMore

Arab Spring ten years on: Tunisia is paralysed by a political culture of consensusArab Spring ten years on: The buds of the Arab Spring"The people aren't ready" – can Arabs do democracy? The legacy of the Arab Spring: "The Syrian revolution is resumable today and tomorrow"
Edward Said (photo: picture-alliance/akg)

Interview with Prof Timothy Brennan

Why Edward Said still matters

Professor Timothy Brennan's "Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said" is a detailed biography of one of the most important intellectuals of the twentieth century, taking us on a journey from Edward Said's childhood in the Middle East to his public and academic life in the United States. In this interview with Tugrul von Mende, Brennan describes the challenges of writing about the many different aspects of Edward Said's lifeMore

Father of post-colonial studies: Edward Said – exiled between culturesEssay by Adania Shibli: Recalling Edward Said's Thought TodayEdward W. Said's ''Music at the Limits'': Undifferentiated Blanket Judgements and Insults
Barbed wire on a wall outside the central bank in Beirut (photo: picture-alliance/abaca/A. A. Rabba)

Interview with political scientist Abdalhadi Alijla

Trust in the state is a precious commodity

In his most recent book, "Trust in Divided Societies: State, Institutions and Governance in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine", political scientist Abdalhadi Alijla writes that not culture, but the failure of state institutions is what is causing the crisis of statehood in the Middle East. In this interview with Tugrul von Mende, Alijla argues for the reconfiguration of incompetent state bodies as a means of regaining the public's trustMore

Beirut on the brink: Regardless of corona, Lebanon is at economic breaking pointAftermath of the Beirut explosion: Lebanon, a state in freefall thanks to corrupt governanceCorruption in the Arab world: Why are most Arabs so prepared to trust the military?Protesting for reform and an end to corruption: Iraq's youth reject the dire status quo