Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

In the wake of the Arab Spring, not one Arab dictator has faced charges for creating a police state and inducing terror among citizens. Similarly, none has been prosecuted for destroying state institutions, the essentials of citizenship, or the means of social advancement. Analysis by Shafiq Nazim GhabraMore

The UK has stopped an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar. Italy and France are supporting opposing parties at war in Libya. Germany has other priorities. Europe is doing almost exactly what it did 100 years ago. An essay by Stefan BuchenMore

The Internet has made it possible for some to declare and even to promote their atheism by criticising Islam and other religions. Ismail Azzam spoke to some young Moroccans who have left their Muslim faith behindMore

In her book Susannah Heschel investigates the role of Islam in the emergence of a Jewish identity and seeks to pay tribute to the academic legacy of Jewish-German scholars of Islam of the 19th and 20th centuries. But the romantic narrative of a somewhat different kind of Orientalism has its pitfalls. By Ozan KeskinkilicMore

It is one of the most important Semitic world languages. One of the six official languages of the UN. The language of Ibn Arabis – and of the Koran. And yet Modern Standard Arabic is not very popular with native speakers. Why? Mona Sarkis has some of the answersMore

In interview with Rachid Boutayeb, Stefan Weidner complains that even the most critical thinkers of Western tradition have practically never looked beyond their Western horizons. Islam, Indian religions and philosophies of non-European cultures are virtually absent from this thinkingMore

The restoration of authoritarianism after the turmoil of 2010/11 lured some analysts into drawing the over-hasty conclusion that the Arab Spring had been doomed to failure from the start, because the citizens of these countries lacked political maturity and a real desire for change. A miscalculation, argues Emad Alali in his essayMore