Topic: History of Islam

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Sufi Master Hayat Nur Artiran (image: Marian Brehmer)

750th anniversary of Rumi’s death – Part 2

A message of love, tolerance and peace

How is Rumi’s legacy preserved in the Mevlevi order today? An interview with Sufi Master Hayat Nur Artiran from Istanbul. By Marian BrehmerMore

750th anniversary of Rumi’s death – Part 1: Seeking the essence of lifeMarking the anniversary of Rumi's death in Konya: From traditional to lifestyle SufismThe hidden treasures of Sufism: In the footsteps of Rumi
Mural by Rumi in a cultural centre in Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan (image: Marian Brehmer)

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 BrehmerMore

Marking the anniversary of Rumi's death in Konya: From traditional to lifestyle SufismGod's love for all: Sufism is not just MuslimThe hidden treasures of Sufism: In the footsteps of Rumi
The Prushi family have been guardians of the Koran for generations The Prushi family have been guardians of the Koran for generations (image: Adnan Beci/AFP)

Islam in Europe

The big history of Albania's tiny Koran

For generations, this postage stamp-sized book has been passed down through one family -- surviving wars and one of the world's most fanatical "godless regimes".More

Interfaith dialogue in Albania: Loving their neighboursIslam and tolerance: Albania's Bektashi MuslimsQantara dossier: European Islam
Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, who was buried by rubble and died during the devastating quake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey (image: Adem Altan/AFP/Gettyimages)

Turkey-Syria earthquake

Polarising religious narratives

Religious discussions on the causes and aftermath of the earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria have dominated Arab discourse recently, revealing the urgent need to support marginalised, humanist religious voices and those placing the human above polarisation and the instrumentalisation of events. By Mustafa KarahamadMore

Turkey-Syria earthquake: What future for President Erdogan and the AKP? Manifesto published by Muslim intellectuals: For Islam and democracyAuthoritarianism and underdevelopment in the Islamic world: Islamic clerics and statesmen in an unholy alliance
Online portal "Islamic Art", homepage, (source: National Museums in Berlin, Museum of Islamic Art)

Berlin Museum of Islamic Art

"Islamic Art” goes digital

The Berlin Museum of Islamic Art’s new online portal is the first digital platform in the German-speaking world to present Islamic cultures in an innovative and entertaining way. By Ceyda NurtschMore

No Europe without Islam: "Europe's history is rooted in migration"Europe's ''Judeo-Christian heritage'': The fiction that it always wasInterview with historian Michael Borgolte: "Islam was always part of Europe"
In a country that bears the scars of decades of conflict and has seen antiquities plundered, the House of Manuscripts' collection has managed to survive (image: Sabah ARAR/AFP)

Iraq’s cultural heritage

Iraqi conservators strive to preserve ancient manuscripts

Iraq bears the scars of decades of conflict and has seen its antiquities plundered, yet the House of Manuscripts' collection has managed to surviveMore

Reconstruction in Iraq: Mosul's Old City rises from rubble in IraqCultural heritage in Syria and Iraq: Casualties of warVirtual reality revives Iraq's war-ravaged heritage
Map of the Maghreb (1843) by the geographer Alexandre Vuillemin, taken from his "Atlas universel de géographie ancienne et moderne à l’usage des pensionnats" (Universal Atlas of ancient and modern geography for the use of boarding schools) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The origins of the Maghreb

Was the Arab Maghreb a French invention?

The book "The Invention of the Maghreb: between Africa and the Middle East" prompts us to review basic terminology. This includes terms that we use almost every day as if they are definitive by virtue of geography, history and culture, such as "the Arab Maghreb", "North Africa", "the Middle East" and "sub-Saharan Africa". Shady Lewis Botros read the bookMore

The West and the Middle East: Casting a long shadow – Napoleon's intervention in Egypt"A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa" – Decolonising Maghreb history The Tuareg: literature, language and culture: "The journey of the princess"
The green dome of the Prophet's Mosque, Medina, Saudi Arabia (photo: AFP via Getty Images)

The Prophet Muhammad

Oxford study sheds light on Muhammad's "underage" wife Aisha

New scholarship suggests the story of Islam's prophet marrying a minor is baseless propaganda fabricated for political and sectarian motivesMore

Female scholars in Islam: Unsung guardians of the "true" traditionAmina Wadud's "Qur'an and Woman" revisited: "Inequality between men and women is contrary to Islam"Interview with Dina El Omari on feminism and Islam: "Muslim women need space for critical self-reflection"Interview with Sherry Jones: "My Novel Presents a Bold Aisha"
Demonstrators in Iran give the victory sign (photo: abaca/picture-alliance)

Protests in Iran

Rethinking Sharia and democracy

According to a recent survey, half of all Iranians say that they have left Islam as a religion, while two-thirds believe Islamic law should be excluded from their legal system. In the following essay, Ahmet T. Kuru explores the implicationsMore

Islam’s conscientious thinkers: People of reason vs. people of the hadithAuthoritarianism in the Islamic world: Islamic clerics and statesmen in an unholy allianceCritical Koran edition: The Koran – and its variants?Qantara photo essay: Around the world of Islam
Reading the Koran (photo: Ulrike Hummel)

Islam’s conscientious thinkers

People of reason vs. people of the hadith

Past attempts to reconcile logic and belief within Islam tend to be dismissed today – not because they lack merit, but because they were politically defeated, argues Mustafa AkyolMore

Reforming Islam: Islam′s path to modernityCritical Koran edition "Al-Mushaf wa Qiraʹatuh": Explosive potentialAlgerian scholar Said Djabelkhir: For a critical appraisal of Islamic lawIslamic reformer Mustafa Akyol: "Islam needs its own enlightenment"
Cover of Gudrun Kramer's "Der Architekt des Islamismus. Hasan al-Banna und die Muslimbrüder" (published by C.H. Beck)

Hasan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood

Who was the architect of Islamism?

Renowned scholar of Islamic Studies Gudrun Kramer has just published the first well-founded biography of Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Joseph Croitoru read the bookMore

Egyptian army and the Muslim Brotherhood: Competitors in commonMuslim Brotherhood texts: Once valued, now proscribedEgypt′s Muslim Brotherhood: The seed of violence
Adam, the main character, is played by Palestinian actor Tawfeek Barhom (source: Cannes Film Festival)

Cairo Conspiracy a.k.a. Boy From Heaven

Al-Azhar, a Catholic monastery...and the Dalai Lama

Palme d’Or winner "Boy from Heaven" is a classic crossover film in which cultural elements are mixed together in haphazard and random fashion. Shady Lewis Botros bemoans the director’s use of various formulaic and cliche-ridden templates dominant in global mass cultureMore

Cancelling "The Lady of Heaven": Why the fuss over the Prophet's daughter?The filming of Rumi: Everybody's darlingHollywoodʹs flirtation with 1001 Nights: The Aladdin controversy
Cracking due to high temperatures is causing the colour of Egypt’s pyramids at Giza to change (photo: Egyptian tourist board/picture-alliance)

Climate change and Middle East monuments

The most endangered on Earth

Thanks to climate change, the Middle East is heating up faster than any other part of the world, putting the region's ancient pyramids, castles, holy and other heritage sites at even greater risk. Cathrin Schaer reportsMore

Tarik M. Quadir: "If we don’t pull together to save the earth, we will ‘sink’ together"Tobias Zumbraegel: How are Middle East countries coping with climate change?Climate change consequences for the Islamic world: Of infernal proportions
Sufi shrine to Mustafa Devati in Istanbul (photo: Marian Brehmer)

God's love for all

Sufism is not just Muslim

Sufism has fluid boundaries. Just like Islam, Sufism is inconceivable without its late antique roots. Then again, it has also exerted an influence on Hinduism. Moreover, the Sufic doctrine of divine love exists independently of Islam. By Stefan WeidnerMore

Islamic mysticism: Understanding the SufisIslam in Pakistan: The land of the SufisWomen and Islamic studies: Annemarie Schimmel’s pioneering take on Islam Qantara dossier: Islamic mysticism | Sufism
Symbolic image of terrorism/extremism (photo: picture-alliance)

Confessions of an ex-jihadist

What makes someone a jihadist?

Charting his own descent into extremism, former Moroccan jihadist Adil El Hasani reveals how he was ultimately able to extricate himself from the grasp of those peddling religious illusions. Mohamed Taifouri read the bookMore

De-radicalising young people: Is there a way to stop jihadists in Europe?The psychology of radicalisation: Lego IslamIslamisation, a racist conspiracy theory: The hatred of Hanau and its enablers
Illustration from Fariduddin Attar's "Vogelgespraeche" published by Edition Orient 2022 (source: Edition Orient)

Attar’s "The Conference of the Birds"

There is no person whose soul has not suffered

Fariduddin Attar’s "The Conference of the Birds", one of the seminal works of Islamic mysticism, has recently been published in sumptuously illustrated German translation. It makes an excellent introduction to the Persian poet. By Gerrit WustmannMore

Women and Islamic studies: Annemarie Schimmel’s pioneering take on Islam The hidden treasures of Sufism: In the footsteps of RumiLaury Silvers' "Sufi Mysteries Quartet": Sleuths on a Sufi pathQantara dossier: Mysticism | Sufism

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