Islamism | Political Islam
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Interview with Karen Armstrong
Islamist violence is "in part a product of Western disdain"
Karen Armstrong, British scholar of comparative religion, finds that there is a long and inglorious tradition of distorting Islam in Europe. She criticises the notion that Islam is essentially more violent than Christianity and speaks about the genesis of Western disdain for the Arab world. Interview by Claudia Mende
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Interview with Gudrun Kramer
Muslims must take a critical look at controversial passages in the Koran
The majority of Muslims are quite rightly resisting attempts by jihadists to co-opt their religion. Yet at the same, both jihadists and their opponents justify their arguments by quoting passages from the Koran. Ulrich von Schwerin spoke to the Islam Studies scholar Gudrun Kramer about the relationship between Islam and violence, the interpretation of the Koran and possible ways of combating jihadism
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Muslims and the Paris attacks
European Muslims must speak as one
Islam will continue to be equated with brutality until such time as the Muslims of Europe stand together as a group that not only protects its religiousness, but also projects a positive image of its religion, says Jordanian writer Mousa Barhouma
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Minister's letter to British Muslim leaders
A deficit of trust
In mid-January, the British Communities Secretary Eric Pickles sent a letter to 1,000 Muslim leaders in Britain, asking them to "explain and demonstrate how faith in Islam can be part of British identity". The reaction was swift, with many Muslims expressing anger or dismay at what they saw as the insinuation that Islam is not part of Britain. By Susannah Tarbush
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Taliban attacks on schools in Pakistan
"We will never forget what happened"
On 16 December 2014, a group of Pakistan Taliban militants entered the auditorium and classrooms of the Army Public School in Peshawar and opened fire, killing over 140 people. The attack outraged the world and triggered a debate about the Taliban threat to schools in the country. Sadly, this school attack was no isolated incident: since 2007, more than 1,000 schools have been attacked or destroyed. By Kiran Nazish in Peshawar and Swat
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On Raif Badawi, Charlie Hebdo and non-violent Islamism
"We are all in this together, like it or not"
The shocking events of recent weeks – from the attacks in Paris, the flogging of Raif Badawi, and massacres in Nigeria and Pakistan – are all connected, writes Elham Manea, and they all deserve our equal and unreserved outrage and attention
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Democracy and freedom of speech
Charlie and Theo
In the wake of the Paris attacks, many people were quick to view the killings as a direct attack on democracy and to claim that freedom of speech is absolute. In this essay, Ian Buruma explores the principles of free speech and tolerance
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Interview with Turkish sociologist Nilufer Gole
"There is a collective will to live together"
Prominent Turkish sociologist Nilufer Gole is a leading authority on Islamic identity and urban Muslim women. In an interview with Ceyda Nurtsch, she explains why freedom of speech is not sacred and why a new society in Europe is inevitable
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After the Paris attacks
The dangerous "alliance" between Islamism and Islamophobia
There can be no excuse for the recent attacks in Paris. However, one possible way of understanding them is to take a closer look at the bipolar "alliance" between Islamists and Islamophobia, which can be viewed as the root of these terrorist acts. Moreover, in the wake of the attacks, we must ask ourselves what freedom of speech is, what its boundaries are and who really represents it. A commentary by Atef Botros
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Reactions to the "Charlie Hebdo" attack in the Arab world
"Radicals killed radicals"
In the wake of the horrific attack on the staff of "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris on 7 January, Islamic associations and imams across Europe have condemned the killings. So too have politicians and religious dignitaries across the Islamic world. But, says Karim El-Gawhary in Cairo, for some people in the Arab world, things are not quite so black-and-white
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The Muslim world and the West
Europe is not under threat
Muslims today are grappling with each other, not with the West. In this essay, Charlotte Wiedemann argues that the conflicts, battles and wars being fought in the Islamic world are principally waged among Muslims and not against the West
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Interview with Rachid Ghannouchi
"If you sow dictatorship, you harvest terrorism"
Rachid Ghannouchi is the leader of Tunisia's Ennahda Party. He was recently awarded this year's Ibn Rushd Prize. Daniel Bax and Tsafrir Cohen spoke to him about his country's liberal constitution, the freedom to cast off religion, and Tunisia's pioneering role in the Arab world that highlights the compatibility of Islam and democracy