Koran | Quran
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Interview with Zara Faris
"Feminism is about stereotypes on how women should live"
Zara Faris is a British researcher and speaker of Kurdish/Pakistani descent. She has a quarrel with feminist theology, and her views on gender and Islam have provoked a lot of debate. Claudia Mende spoke to her about these subjects
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Islam and violence
Conservative Muslims refute the violence of IS
Does Islamic theology have the argumentative resources to counter the claim that violence perpetrated in the name of Islam is covered by verses from the Koran? Yes, says the Islam expert Katajun Amirpur, pointing to an open letter from Muslim scholars
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Interview with Egyptian philosopher Hassan Hanafi
From Velvet Spring to military despotism
Renowned Egyptian philosopher Hassan Hanafi believes it is too early to declare the Arab Spring revolutions a failure. In an interview with Moncef Slimi, he explains why fundamental religious reforms are now necessary in the Arab world
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LGBT in Islam
"Islam does give us leeway to think"
Muslim and gay? Most scholars consider homosexual acts unlawful – not so Muhsin Hendricks, who says that the Koran does not say that homosexuality is a sin. Jannis Hagmann spoke to the South African imam about Islam, homosexuality and Koranic interpretation
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Interview with Farid Esack
"Pluralist societies are about give and take"
Farid Esack is a Koran scholar and Islamic liberation theologian from South Africa. He is one of the most renowned Islamic thinkers of our time. Claudia Mende spoke to him at the recent international "Horizons of Islamic Theology" conference in Frankfurt
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Islam and the modern age
Moving beyond dogmatic doctrine
Whoever equates Islam with Islamists has allowed themselves to be taken in by the radicals and ignores the fact that there are many liberal Muslims who have adapted their faith to the requirements of the modern world. By Rainer Hermann
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Interview with Maha El-Kaisy-Friemuth
"We urgently need reform within Islam"
What is the focus of a feminist Islamic theologian's work? And what is the best way to deal with controversial Koran verses in the modern day? Claudia Mende talked to Maha El-Kaisy-Friemuth, professor of Islamic Religious Studies at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
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History of the Caliphate
We are all caliphs!
The history of the Caliphate is, with a few exceptions, an unstable and unhappy one. In this essay, Stefan Weidner explains why the self-appointed caliphs of today, like the ISIS leader in Iraq, have little in common with the caliphs of old
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Book review: Zahra Ali's "Islamic Feminisms"
Female emancipation based on the spirit of Sharia
In 2012, the French sociologist Zahra Ali published a book entitled "Féminismes islamiques" (Islamic Feminisms), a compilation of ground-breaking articles by female Muslim scholars and activists from around the world. It has just been published in German translation. Claudia Kramatschek read the book
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Interview with theology professor Ömer Özsoy
Academic freedom takes precedence
New centres for Islamic theology have been established at five German universities in recent years. In 2007, Ömer Özsoy became the first Muslim theologian to be appointed as a professor at a German university. He teaches Koranic exegesis at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. In the debate on what direction Islamic theology should take in this country, he stresses above all the importance of academic freedom. Interview by Claudia Mende
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The Arab world
Arabic: the last tie that binds
In terms of politics, economics, religion and culture, the paths of the Arab states diverge. The once proclaimed unity between them has been consigned to the history books. Only one thing still binds them together: the Arabic language. By Kersten Knipp
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Dispute about Prof Mouhanad Khorchide
A conflict of many layers
The dispute about Mouhanad Khorchide, director of the Centre for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster, is heating up. Although the conflict is ostensibly about the "correct" interpretation of Islam, it is also an attempt by the Islamic associations in Germany to make a show of strength to politicians. The dispute has dire consequences for the discipline of Islamic theology, which is still in its infancy in Germany. By Canan Topçu