Society

Aya Hijazi, founder of a non-governmental organisation that looks after street children, sits in a holding cell of a Cairo courthouse on charges of human trafficking, sexual exploitation of minors and using children in protests, 23.03.2017 (photo: Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

The process of repression is outsourced to the citizenry who indirectly secure absolute power for the regime. Taking Egypt as an example, Maged Mandour describes this vicious circle, in which the masses are both the victims and the beneficiariesMore

Repression and legitimation in Egypt: The world as al-Sisi sees it Police co-operation with Egypt: Is Germany an "accessory to repression"?Egypt′s repression of academics and journalists: The Regeni murder fallout

Symbolic image regarding the recognition of foreign university qualifications in Germany (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Diversity in the workforce

Getting integration right

Changing demographics, a shortage of skilled workers, digitalisation – German companies have to do some re-thinking as they are increasingly forced to rely on "outsiders". But how? Some answers from Insa WredeMore

Diversity Charter website Refugee integration in Germany: A future made to measure What it means to be German: Recognise the potential

Bassem Youssef's "Democracy Handbook": "Rebranding Arabs" episode (source: YouTube)

Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef

Jihadists, please blow here!

During the Arab Spring, satirist Bassem Youssef was loved and feared. Then he fled the country. Now he′s mocking in America. By Dunja RamadanMore

TV satirist Bassem Youssef: "People should be able to listen to different opinions"Sara Taksler′s documentary ″Tickling Giants″: Running the satirical gauntlet Bassem Youssef: All the world's a stage for Egyptian satire star

Turkish exiles′ news platform ″Ahval″ (source: Ahval)

Turkish exiles′ news portal "Ahval"

Hardly politically neutral

Dissident Turkish journalists have taken refuge with foreign information platforms. The latest of these, in Arabic, has some rather dubious supporters however. By Joseph CroitoruMore

Turkey′s media crackdown: No freedom. No press.Interview with the Turkish political scientist Baskin Oran: Erdogan's freedom of speech Turkey′s repression of Kurdish media: No holds barred

Anti-Semitism debate in Germany

Time for objectivity

In the wake of Trump's Jerusalem decision, German newspapers reported on demonstrations in Berlin where protesters allegedly chanted the slogan "Death to the Jews". A piece of fake news, as it turned out. Time to apologise for the panic-mongering, says Armin LangerMore

Muslim anti-Semitism: Pointing the finger Religious freedom in Germany: Constitutionally irrelevant Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Europe: Presumed guilty

The Kremlin, Moscow (photo: Getty Images/AFP/Y. Maximov)

Moscow's cultural policy in the Middle East

Arab ambassadors for Russian interests

The Kremlin is seeking to spread its influence abroad through its foreign cultural work. The plan is working brilliantly in the Middle East, says Joseph CroitoruMore

Putin, Assad and the fall of Aleppo: Masters of disinformation Russia and the Syrian conflict: Drop the dictator!Turkish–Russian relations: Farewell America

The "Strengthening Structures" workshop at the Goethe-Institut Cairo (photo: Roger Anis/Goethe-Institut Cairo)

Goethe-Institut education initiatives in the MENA region

Getting behind civil society

News from the Middle East and North Africa often conveys the image of a troubled region characterised by political and economic volatility. But there are many more facets to life in this region than this image suggests, as shown by the projects the Goethe-Institut is running in the region. By Christina BünsMore

"Wiki Gender": The first Arabic online lexicon for gender issues The ''Tahrir Lounge'' in Cairo: Grassroots Democracy Resolving the crisis in Libya: Another fine mess

Square coins dating from the Almohad era (source: Raseef 22)

The Islamic reformer Ibn Tumart

The man who changed the course of Islamic history

Ibn Tumart is considered the spiritual founder of the Berber dynasty of the Almohads in the twelfth century. His once revolutionary ideas sent shockwaves through the entire Arab world, ultimately resulting in violent tensions. By Mohamed YosriMore

The decline of Islamic scientific thought: Don't blame it on al-Ghazali Averroes' Enlightenment legacy: An intellectual earthquake Qantara dossier: History of Islam

Interview with Mahvash Sabet

Lyrical flights

Mahvash Sabet, a leading representative of the Baha'i religion, spent almost ten years in Iranian prisons because of her faith. She was released in September. Sabet turned her experiences during her confinement into poems, which she managed to smuggle out of prison. Interview by Keyvandokht GhahariMore

Baha'i in Iran: A Life of Repression Interview with Omid Djalili: Jokes about the Jewish–Muslim love-hate relationship Iran arrests sect members over Taheri death penalty protests

People attend an open day at a mosque in Hürth, Germany (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Pew Research Center study

Islam does not stand in antithesis to the West

A study by the Washington-based Pew Research Center says the number of Muslims living in Europe is set to increase. But this is no reason to conjure up the spectre of an Islamisation of the West, says Loay MudhoonMore

Interview with religious scholar Michael Blume: Turning away from Islam: Muslims beat a silent retreat Germany's Islam debate: For all our freedoms!Germany's identity crisis: We are the people, too

Seamstress Reyhane and fashion designer Claudia Frick (photo: Nicole von Alvensleben)

Refugee integration in Germany

A future made to measure

Integration in the workforce and a sustainable business idea: the Frankfurt dressmakers' studio offering prospects to refugee women – and becoming the go-to place for the region's start-up labels in the process. By Esther FeldenMore

Showcasing integration at "Rita in Palma": A hive of industry Germany′s integration debate revisited: Piling on the pressure What it means to be German: Recognise the potential

Indian author Pankaj Mishra (photo: pankajmishra.com)

Non-fiction: Pankaj Mishra's "Age of Anger"

The embittered majority

In his book "Age of Anger: the history of the present" the Indian author Pankaj Mishra sees global distortions as the result of a birth defect in European modernity. Stefan Weidner read the bookMore

Interview with author and essayist Pankaj Mishra: "Secularisation has really created a void of understanding""The Ministry of Utmost Happiness": Novelist Arundhati Roy: "India is colonising itself"Right-wing populism in the USA: Trump′s deplorables

Monument of the Muslim philosopher Averroes (photo: Manolo Blanco; source: Flickr)

Averroes' Enlightenment legacy

An intellectual earthquake

Koert Debeuf, director of The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy posits that it is high time the West revised the exclusionary narrative of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment and restored the historical truth to its rightful placeMore

The decline of Islamic scientific thought: Don't blame it on al-Ghazali Ibn Rushd and Maimonides in ''Out of Cordoba'': The Muslim-Jewish heritage of Islamic Spain Islam and enlightenment: Beware of the myth

Theologian Karl-Josef Kuschel (source: YouTube)

Non-fiction: Karl-Josef Kuschel′s ″Christmas and the Qu′ran″

When love comes down

″Christmas and the Qu′ran″, Karl-Josef Kuschel′s scholarly examination of the Christmas story in the light of the New Testament and the Koran, digs deep to deliver a message of hope. Lucy James read the bookMore

Interview with Imam Benjamin Idriz: Questioning tradition Non-fiction: Mustafa Akyol′s ″The Islamic Jesus″: The heart of the matter Christianity and Islam in dialogue: Forget ″them and us″!

Mauritanian human rights activist Biram Dah Abeid (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Interview with Mauritanian human rights activist Biram Dah Abeid

"Time to end Arab racism"

Today in Mauritania, children are still being born into slavery. Not only that, they will remain slaves for the rest of their lives. It is the most prevalent and most extreme expression of Arab racism in North Africa, says human rights activist Biram Dah Abeid and it is time to consign it to the past. By Claudia MendeMore

Official "Global Slavery Index" website Islam and Sharia in Africa: More than just slavery Tidiane N'Diaye's "The Veiled Genocide": Selective theses on the Arab slave trade

Supporters of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) demonstrate against Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, accused of blasphemy, November 2016 (photo: Reuters)

Islam in Indonesia

The agents of change

Where is Indonesia heading? With Islamic organisations become increasingly vocal commentators in the public debate about morality and religious minority rights, the concept of citizenship in Indonesia is undergoing a gradual, yet profoundly disturbing transformation. By Chris ChaplinMore

Indonesia′s gubernatorial elections: The tolerance litmus test Political Islam in Indonesia: Wahhabism runs into the sand Indonesia′s ArtJog fair: Open your eyes!

Students protest in front of Azhar University in Cairo on 27.12.2012 (photo: Reuters)

Debating secularism and religion in the Islamic world

No threat to faith

Jordanian journalist Mousa Barhouma criticises the recurrent Arab tendency to equate secularism with apostasy and heresy. In his view, Islam does not prescribe any specific form of governmentMore

Secularism in the Islamic world: Part I – It′s a knotty problem The secularisation of Muslims: Silent withdrawal Islam and enlightenment: Beware of the myth

Bosnian Muslims who fought voluntarily on the side of the German army during the Second World War (photo: Getty Images7Keystones)

Interview with historian David Motadel

Hitler′s Muslim stop-gaps

During the Second World War, tens of thousands of Muslims fought on the side of the National Socialists. In interview with Nastassja Shtrauchler, historian David Motadel examines the attitude of Hitler and the Nazis towards Islam and Muslims. Interview by Nastassja ShtrauchlerMore

Translating ″Mein Kampf″ into Arabic: Hitler′s paperchase The Arabs and Nazi Germany: Collaborators and antagonists National Socialism: Are Arabs turning a blind eye to history?

Symbolic image of church and mosque (photo: AP)

″Remembered Future″ interfaith project

Using religion to stop religious wars

In Germany, refugees from Syria, Iraq and Yemen may end up living next door to compatriots who were on the other side in the civil war. How can those who have fled their homeland also leave its conflicts behind them? Susanne Kaiser presents the project "Remembered Future"More

Official "Remembered Future" project Abduction in Syria of Paolo Dall'Oglio: A voice of peace in a wilderness of violence Qantara dossier: "Dialogue of religions"

African refugees arrested on the border with Melilla (photo: Reuters)

African asylum seekers in Melilla

A loser's game

Most of the refugees arriving in Melilla, a Spanish exclave in Northern Africa, are Syrians, Yemenis and Algerians. Few of them hail from sub-Saharan Africa. Why is that? Santiago Saez reports from MelillaMore

Book review: ″Refugees Worldwide: Literary Reportage″: Hierarchies of the destitute Youssouf Amine Elalamy: Life in the subjunctive, death in the sea Interview with Abdou Salam Fall: No immigration policy without meaningful development policy

Mesut Özil's retirement from international football

Mesut Özil at the FIFA Word Cup 2018 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Charisius)

In a trio of explosive tweets, Mesut Özil retired from international football and roundly attacked the German Football Association (DFB), its President Reinhard Grindel, and double standards in Germany's media and society. Özil's photo op with Recep Tayyip Erdogan was ill-advised, but the reaction to it, and his scapegoating by the German FA, is a sad tale of poor management with worrying xenophobic notes, writes Matt Pearson.More

Helping erase IS terrorist ideology in Mosul

During the Islamic State group's rule in Mosul, radio stations were banned and replaced with broadcasts of extremist propaganda. Today, young Iraqis like Nour Tai are filling the city's airwaves.More

A modest place in the sun: Turkey's Muslim-friendly holidays

Guests enjoy the pool at Selge Beach Resort and Spa Hotel, a halal friendly holiday resort, in Manavgat near Antalya, Turkey 18 April 2018. (photo: REUTERS/Osman Orsal)

Turkey’s $26 billion tourism industry has been battered by security fears and political disputes in recent years but one corner of the market is quietly growing - beach holidays for conservative Muslims.More

Egypt's millennials turn to Sufism

Sufis celebrate the birth of Imam Al Hussain in Cairo's Sayeda Zeinab district (photo: DW/M. Hassanein Hamady)

In the fallout from Egypt's two most recent uprisings, and possibly in reaction to Wahhabist influence, young Egyptians are searching for spiritual fulfillment through a creed that has long been misinterpreted by mainstream IslamMore

Eminent Middle East historian Bernard Lewis dies at 101

Middle East historian Bernard Lewis (source: YouTube)

Bernard Lewis, a pre-eminent scholar of Middle Eastern history whose work profoundly shaped Western views of the region – including fears of a "clash of civilisations" – has died at the age of 101.More

The radicalising effect of prisons

Entrance to Vivonne prison, Poitiers, near Paris. The prison was the scene of a mutiny in autumn 2016 (photo: Getty Images/AFP/G. Souvant)

In overcrowded and dehumanising prison conditions, someone making a speech that is even the slightest bit comforting or inspiring can easily influence vulnerable minds, writes Jeremy Felkowski.More

Belgium: A model of integration

The town of Mechelen has blossomed into a model of integration in Belgium. The mayor's secret of success is more police and CCTV cameras along with more support for projects bringing migrants and Belgians together.More

Al Jazeera: The Muslims of Cuba

Al Jazeera's "Muslims of Cuba" feature (source: Al Jazeera)

How a new crop of neighbourhood entrepreneurs are helping spread awareness about a fledgling religious community.More

Ifa dossier: Flight and migration

"Solfar" sculpture by Jon Gunnar Arnason in Reykjavik (photo: Matt Lamers (CC0 1.0) via Unsplash)

Europe is still regarded as an eldorado by many seeking security and a better life. But what do those coming from Muslim countries expect of Europe? What hopes and dreams do they carry with them?More

New York Times: "Goodbye to the house my grandmother built"

Egyptian novelist Yasmine El Rashidi (source: YouTube)

Yasmine El Rashidi, author of "The Battle for Egypt: Dispatches from the Revolution" and "Chronicle of a Last Summer: A Novel of Egypt", writes about what it feels like to lose one’s childhood home, city and country.More

Goethe-Institut's Perspektiven: Generational conflict

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

FEMYSO: Fighting Islamophobia

The Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations works to promote the development, understanding and respect of human rights across Europe, focussing specifically on tackling Islamophobia in all its forms and raising awareness about this ongoing problem.More

The rise of "bad civil society" in Israel

Protest by supporters of nationalist civil society organisation "Im Tirtzu" (source: YouTube)

Mirroring broader social trends within Israel, Israeli civil society is facing a growing conflict between the rising conservative nationalist social forces (CSOs) and the dwindling liberal and humanist camp represented by human rights organisationsMore

Hamza Hamouchene's "Paradises of the Earth"

Hamza Hamouchene, producer of the groundbreaking web documentary "Paradises of the Earth", talks about the reasons that led him to embark on this amazing project.More

How the Muslim world lost the freedom to choose

Women in Kabul during the pre-Taliban era (source: amnesty.org.uk)

A brave new book describes how Pakistan unravelled – and provides a blueprint for understanding declining pluralism across the Middle East.More