Photo Essays

Islam's holiest month: every year, millions of practicing Muslims across the world fast, pray and give alms in observance of Ramadan, which began in 2019 on 5 May and ended on the evening of 4 June

Eid Mubarak!

Ramadan is regarded as a special time of spiritual discipline and purification by millions of practicing Muslims across the globe. The ...More

When summer arrives in the south of Turkey, the goats gradually become restless and the Gobut family knows that it is time to pack their tents and set off on a long journey north with their herd of about one thousand animals

The last nomads of Anatolia

Half a century ago about one thousand families moved through the Anatolian steppe, today there are only 86, including the Gobut family of ...More

Taking a deep breath: although many roads in the city remained open to cars, on Sunday, 12 May, several major arteries were closed. Overall traffic was lower than usual in the frequently jammed capital of around four million people. While not enough to solve the Addis Ababa pollution problem, many saw this initiative as a good starting point and a day to be enjoyed

A car-free day in Addis Ababa

The Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa has just had its sixth Car-Free Day, a monthly initiative launched by the government to encourage non ...More

Senegalʹs "talibes" – begging for Islam

Families across Senegal have long enrolled their children in schools called "daaras" to learn Islamic scripture and build character. The ...More

For Gazan women itʹs a fine line between hope and despair

Amid the poverty and deprivation of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian women struggle to find a taste of the normality that so much of the rest ...More

A woman stands in Sheikh Lotfallah mosque in Isfahan, Iran. This mosque is a true masterpiece of architecture and refinement. It was built between 1602 and 1619 during the Safavid Empire. The decorative detail is breathtaking

Around the world of Islam

For more than 10 years, Pascal Mannaerts has been travelling the globe as a freelance photographer. Seeking to do justice to the beauty, ...More

Inspired by a flower bud: the building was designed with glass walls and a staircase accessible from the street, symbolising openness to people of all religions. It features two 55-metre minarets and a dome of glass and concrete which appears to open like a flower bud

Cologne's central mosque: A troubled symbol of unity

Market worth billions: "modest" is the name given to fashion for Muslim women, which means "modest", "discreet" or "less body-oriented". The market for Muslim fashion is worth a hefty 44 billion dollars a year. Labels from all over the world want a piece of the cake. Our picture shows Rasit Bagzibagliʹs "Desert Dream Collection" for "Modanisa"

Muslim fashion in focus: "Contemporary Muslim Fashions"

An exhibition in Frankfurt caused a stir even before it began. That's not because of the clothes on display, but because of the questions ...More

A prestigious building: French architect Jean Nouvel is known for his impressive museum designs. Following on from projects in Paris and Abu Dhabi, his latest structure has just opened in Doha. Costing half a billion U.S. dollars, the National Museum of Qatar seeks to showcase the past, present and future of this desert state

Qatar′s new National Museum – a rose in the desert

The Arab desert state of Qatar recently opened its own spectacular national museum in Doha, part of an extensive reconstruction plan for ...More

Many Bedouins have settled in government-provided housing in Umm Sayhoun, a village near Petra, Jordan's most important tourist attraction. During the day, they work at the Petra site, welcoming or transporting visitors

The treasures of Jordan

Located between the Red and the Dead Sea, Jordan is a small country that was long inhabited exclusively by nomads. At the crossroads ...More

Aleppo before the war: a photo taken in 2001, when no-one suspected the suffering and destruction the city would experience barely a decade later. It shows Aleppo's citadel peacefully overlooking the Old Town bathed in a golden light. At the time, the minaret of the Great Mosque had just been scaffolded for renovation

A digital archive to preserve Syria's cultural heritage

Countless cultural assets have been destroyed by the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Heritage Archive Project in Berlin contributes to ...More

Invisible in prison: in the early 1970s, Nil Yalter lived with nomads in Anatolia. She learned about the fate of women there. Their lives as young girls involve erecting and decorating the tent. They decide when the man can go inside. But the price is high. They are not allowed to leave the yurt. With their men and their animals they move across the steppe, invisible to outside eyes

Nil Yalter: 'Exile is a hard job'

Nil Yalter films, draws and describes the fate of people who, like her, have left their home countries and have to search for a place in a ...More

Afghanistan's youth – what future with the Taliban?

Afghanistan's Generation Z has grown up in a 17-year window shadowed by warfare and a heavy international presence, but now faces an ...More

An unprecedented danger? On 27 February , Pakistan's military said that it had shot down two Indian fighter jets over disputed Kashmir. A Pakistani military spokesman said the jets were shot down after they'd entered Pakistani airspace. It is the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have conducted air strikes against each other

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price

India and Pakistan continue to clash over Kashmir, a volatile Himalayan region that has been experiencing an armed insurgency for nearly ...More

Rayann Sukkar, citizen journalist: my name's Rayan Sukkar and for the last two years I've been working on the Campji online platform. I'm from the Shatila refugee camp, but I report from other camps as well. Up to 40,000 people currently live here, including Palestinian refugees and an increasing number of Syrians who have fled their country's civil war

Citizen journalists in Lebanon: Looking for stories in the refugee camp

Rayan Sukkar (24) lives in Lebanon's Shatila refugee camp. She was born and grew up there and works as a citizen reporter for the online ...More

Where the Maghreb meets sub-Saharan Africa: Mauritaniaʹs population is a colourful mix of Arab Berbers and African tribes – Harratin, Fulani, Wolof, Soninke and Toucouleur

Mauritania, land of desert and contrasts

Mauritania straddles the transition between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, its population equally divided between Africans and Arabs ...More

Overcoming scepticism towards others: mistrust between Christians and Muslims could poison the climate in the Nigerian city of Mubi. Yusuf Yaro, chairman of the Muslim council of Mubi South (left), and the Catholic priest Alexander Miskita William are taking a stand against it. The imam has been visiting the Church of St. Andrew for years

Christians and Muslims: Promoting peace in Mubi, Nigeria

In 2014, Boko Haram militia occupied the market town of Mubi in north-eastern Nigeria for weeks. The terrorists have long been expelled - ...More

"Wings of joy" – Kabul's bird market

War and violence seem a long way off in the Ka Faroshi bird market in the heart of Kabul's old city. For some Afghans weighed down by ...More

Vesperados astride their "wasps": once a year, when the countryʹs Vespa fans hold their meet, the town of Kediri in the east of the Indonesian island of Java is shrouded in two-stroke exhaust. Those attending proudly present their own Italian cult scooters, some of which have been pimped beyond recognition

Indonesia's Vesparados

Once a year Indonesia's Vesparados descend on East Java in their hundreds. There they pay homage to the iconic brand and test their own ...More

Saudi Arabia's Flower Men

The "Flower Men" – descendants of the ancient Tihama and Asir tribes – live a near autonomous existence in the foothills of the Halaba ...More

If you follow in the footsteps of the Lord, you have feelings that cannot be explained," says the 26-year-old Armenian Orthodox priest. "All these are holy places for us"

Walking in the footsteps of the Lord in the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulchre

It is three in the morning and the Armenian Orthodox cleric Artak Tadevosyan distributes incense through the corridors of the Jerusalem ...More

From Damascus to London: Imad Alarnab was one Syriaʹs most prominent chefs, but fled the war three years ago. After crossing 10 countries he arrived in London in October 2015. With the support of the British charity Help Refugees he opened 13 pop-up restaurants around London and used the profits to help fund a hospital in Aleppo. His falafel bar on Great Marlborough street opened in early December

Syrian chef in London brings relief to refugees

Imad Alarnab was a star chef in Syria until he had to flee the war-stricken country. Now based in London, heʹs introduced locals to Syrian ...More

Sea of Galilee: because of the numerous events relating to Jesus that took place there, the Sea of Galilee is of outstanding importance to all Christians. Tabgha in the north (the church commemorates the feeding of the five thousand) and the Mount of the Beatitudes (where Jesus is said to have preached the Sermon on the Mount) are major biblical sites

In the footsteps of Jesus

Jesus, born a Jew, spent his days in the region now known as Israel. He was born in Bethlehem and lived by the Sea of Galilee. Christians ...More

Camel milk, the white gold of Dubai

The United Arab Emirates is known for its oil production and extravagant architectural projects. However, many are unaware that Dubai ...More

The ancient Torajan burial ritual is also known as "Ma'nene", in which clans visit the tombs of deceased family members, clean their remains and replenish the coffins with personal belongings

Burying the dead in Toraja, Indonesia

The people in the remote Toraja region on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi are predominantly Christians, but they are sticking to the old ...More

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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

Political cartoons, satire and Islam

As we have seen in recent decades, political cartoons can have explosive potential. Qantara examines the importance of humour and satire in the Islamic world.More

Jewish and Arab Israelis create a new type of grassroots activism

Members of Standing Together grassroots movement (source: Facebook)

Citizens groups are not a replacement for a political party that speaks in the name of both communities, but at the moment they may be the best Israeli society can come up with.More

Qantara dossier: European travellers in the Orient

(photo: Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung im Hausarchiv des Bankhauses Sal. Oppenheim)

Our dossier contains a selection of interesting biographies and reports on renowned European travelers to the Orient from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.More

Hussein Agha: "The Middle East’s great divide is not sectarianism"

Iraqi Turkmen forces man a checkpoint in the northern city of Taza Khormato, 20 kms south of Kirkuk, on 21 June 2014 (photo: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)

The spectre of Sunni Shia sectarianism haunts the Middle East. It is blamed for chaos, conflict, and extremism. Yet, argues Hussein Agha, wrongly defining the struggles gripping the Middle East encourages misguided remedies.More

Goethe-Institut's Perspektiven: Generational conflict

Goethe-Institut Perspektiven logo (source: Goethe-Institut)

Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon… six young women and men from six different countries put their individual views and experience with the generational conflict into words for this dossier.More

Top 10 books about Muslims and Islam by Saadia Faruqi

Media stereotypes and misinformation about Muslims are nothing new. In post-election America, Muslims are finding more allies who often want to help but don’t know much about Islam. More and more non-Muslims have questions and are seeking answers.More

Female Kurdish singer rallies the troops

Kurdish singer Helly Luv (photo: Getty Images/Safin Hamed)

Iraqi Kurdish singer Helly Luv was in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, filming the video to her latest hit. Luv is aiming for international fame as she releases her new English song 'Revolution', calling for action against terrorism and violence.More

Syria's Cultural Heritage in Danger

Over four millennia, Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Roman influences crossed paths in Syria. Today, precious cultural sites from these eras are being damaged as the Syrian civil war takes its toll on the country's cultural heritage. This week, the United Nation's cultural organization UNESCO made fresh reports about damage to Syria's historic sites.

Syria's Cultural Heritage in Danger

The civil war in Syria, which has taken the lives of thousands since 2011, is becoming increasingly brutal. Valuable cultural sites are also being destroyed in the fighting. UNESCO has now provided reports on the damage.