Koran | Quran
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The Circumcision Debate in Germany
A Miscalculation
Is it possible to justify a Cologne court's ruling on the legality of circumcision on the basis of Germany's Basic Law? In this essay, Patrick Bahners takes a closer look at both the Basic Law and the ruling and concludes that the judges in Cologne must have made a serious error of judgement
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Interview with Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari
Why Islam and Democracy Go Well Together
The Shiite scholar Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari is regarded as one of the Iran's most influential Muslim reformist thinkers. In an interview with Jan Kuhlmann, he explains why there is no inconsistency between Islam and democracy.
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German Court Ruling over Ritual Circumcision
Kulturkampf against Muslims and Jews
A court in Germany has ruled that circumcision on religious grounds amounts to bodily harm, making it potentially punishable by law. Sociologist of religion Rolf Schieder says this is an unacceptable move that questions the right to religious freedom
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The Shia-Sunni Conflict
The Most Deadly Religious War of our Time
Preachers like the Sunni legal scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi or the Shia Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati are propagating sectarian hate and exacerbating the divide between Islam's two major denominations. In this essay, Stefan Buchen explains how the religious war they have helped to unleash within Islam is having a catastrophic effect on the Greater Middle East
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Ruling on Circumcision in Germany
When Judges Become Religious Referees
For Jews and Muslims, the circumcision of male children is more than just a pious custom. A German court has now for the first time ruled that the religiously motivated surgical procedure is a crime. The Cologne judgement can be seen as an expression of our secular society. But sometimes it's not a good thing for judges to rule over religions. By Matthias Drobinski
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Salafist Propaganda in Germany
Mass Conversions in Public Places
The Salafists are distributing copies of the Quran in Germany and making a big noise on the Internet about converting new followers to their cause. The country is now high up on the list of priorities for the Salafist movement, writes Josef Croitoru
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Salafi Muslims
Doctrinaire Severity
Despite their doctrinaire severity, Salafi Muslims have never developed a coherent system of beliefs nor sustainable organizational structures. They have always been a divided community. Rudolph Chimelli provides background information
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Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Germany
Together in the Search for God
The Christian-Muslim dialogue has been a firm part of the biennial German Catholic Assembly, the Katholikentag, for the last 20 years. This year, in Mannheim, catholic bishops from Egypt and Iraq and priests from Palestine and India took part in the debates. Christoph Strack reports
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Salafists in Germany
Heading for ''Urban Terrorism''?
Until now, German public perception of the Salafists placed the phenomenon firmly on foreign soil. Recent events involving followers of this radical school of Islamic thought such as the distribution of copies of the Koran in German cities and violent clashes with police have raised some concerns, but how dangerous are the Salafists in reality? Answers from Albrecht Metzger
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The Intercultural Theatre Project ''Koran School''
Intensive Course in Muslim Life in Germany
In the "Koran School" theatre project at the National Theatre of Mannheim, theatregoers get to know places and people in their town that they're unlikely to have had much contact with before. Susanne Kappe reports
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Islamic Feminism and Reformist Islam
Against the Politicisation of the Koran
Muslim feminists such as Amina Wadud use the Koran to argue in favour of women's rights and against the patriarchal system. But unfortunately, as Nimet Seker writes, some feminists are falling into the apologist trap and running the risk of politically exploiting Islam
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Introducing Sharia in Western Legal Systems
When States Legally Sanction Discrimination
Integrating Islamic law in family law in European and North American societies poses a serious threat to women's rights – and to national integrity, writes Elham Manea, Swiss-Yemeni political scientist