Iran
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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 Mende
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Indonesia
Indonesia’s Islamic peace diplomacy: Crafting a role model for moderate Islam
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, is continuously increasing its Islamic diplomacy portfolio. A central element is the deployment of a moderate Islam discourse for global peace.
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Economic diplomacy
Who wants to invest in Syria now?
Recent events may indicate the world wants to start doing business with Syria again, despite its government being accused of war crimes. But, asks Cathrin Schaer, how likely is it China, the EU and Gulf states will start spending big there?
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Morgenland Festival Osnabruck
Countering patriarchal cliches
Focusing on music from the Levant to Central Asia, Osnabruck's Morgenland Festival occupies a special place in the German festival landscape. Prior to the 18th festival, which begins on 21 June, Stefan Franzen spoke to festival manager Michael Dreyer about the musical concept, the political dimension, and whether the term 'Morgenland' [engl. 'the East', 'Orient'] is still in keeping with the times
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Climate crisis: Iran and Afghanistan dispute Helmand water rights
Iran and Afghanistan recently exchanged gunfire amid rising tensions over water supplies. The countries are engaged in a decades-long dispute over rights to the Helmand River, on which Iran depends to irrigate land in its arid south.
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Iran: Defiant Shia cleric takes in stray dogs
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Iran: Defiant Shia cleric takes in stray dogs
It's rare these days for a turbaned cleric in Iran to attract a large following of adoring young fans on Instagram, but Sayed Mahdi Tabatabaei has done it by rescuing street dogs in defiance of a local taboo.
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Shia clerics in Iran
"Save Islam" – or just the mullahs?
Are the Shia clergy disappearing as a pillar of Iranian society, degenerating into a mere power apparatus? Nationwide attacks, vilification and the murder, or attempted murder, of mullahs are becoming more frequent. Every turban wearer is seen as representing and symbolising the hated regime. By Ali Sadrzadeh
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Yazidis in Sinjar, Iraq
The deep scars left by IS terror
For centuries, the Yazidis lived in the northern Iraqi region of Sinjar. In 2014, the region was overrun by the so-called "Islamic State", which committed genocide against the Yazidi population. This brutal chapter in Yazidi history has left deep and lasting scars. To this day, the community in Sinjar is still picking up the pieces. By Birgit Svensson
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750th anniversary of Rumi’s death – Part 1
Seeking the essence of life
Seven-and-a-half centuries after the death of Muslim mystic poet Rumi, his verse has lost nothing of its profundity and transformative power. By Marian Brehmer
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Iran protests
What the Islamic Republic's propaganda tells us
Challenging one of the Islamic Republic's most identifiable symbols – the hijab – with some breathtaking, iconographic feminist art, Iran's activists have wrested ownership away from the clerics with regard to who represents the nation, defines its present and shapes its future. Essay by Kevin L. Schwartz & Olmo Goelz
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Saudi-Iran rapprochement
A revolutionary resolution for the Middle East?
Saudi Arabia and Iran's reconciliation serves the interests of both sides and represents a major geopolitical shift in the Middle East, writes Maha Yahya. Where all this will lead is still up for discussion, but for the first time in many years, something appears to be changing