Sunni Muslims | Sunni Islam
All topics-
Interview with the Islamic scholar Ebrahim Moosa
The reinvention of Islam
Concepts like apostasy or blasphemy reveal that Islamic theology is caught in a mode of imperial Islamic political thinking, says US-based scholar Ebrahim Moosa. What is needed is a process of critical appraisal. Moosa asks that Muslims rediscover the great lessons of diversity in their history rather than following the reductionist versions that masquerade as Muslim theology today. Interview by Claudia Mende
-
Saudi Arabia and Iran
Defeat Islamic State - or become it
The dawn of 2016 has brought a new round of doomsday predictions that Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family cannot sustain its autocratic grip on power. The kingdom, pessimists argue, is caught in a perfect storm with economic problems, social challenges and foreign policy crises all converging at the same time. By James M. Dorsey
-
Religion and freedom of expression
The birth of a new theocracy?
Following the Arabellion, controversial pluralistic debates on questions of morality or religion were no longer taboo in Egypt. But such discursive freedom has proved short-lived; the tide has turned. These days, the tone adopted by Egypt's regime is more highly charged with religious rhetoric than ever and the goal is clear: to wrest back control of social discourse. Meanwhile Egypt's justice system is playing along and restricting freedom of expression. Sofian Philip Naceur reports from Cairo
-
Saudi Arabia: Janadriyah Festival of Culture
A population ruled by fear
As was revealed at the culture festival in Riyadh, the Kingdom finds itself in a precarious position – not least because women are still excluded from podium discussions. Open debate about politics and religion did, however, take place at the fringes. Stefan Weidner reports from Riyadh
-
Sunni-Shia tension
Islam versus Islam
The religious element of the conflicts raging in the Middle East today is a major reason why they are proving so difficult to defuse. An essay by Shahid Javed Burki
-
Iran-Saudi conflict
The Middle East′s Cold War
The breach in diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia is a dangerous watershed in an already unstable, war-torn region. The rupture has its roots in a strategic rivalry that stretches across the Middle East, says Bernard Haykel, Middle East expert at Princeton University
-
Iran-Saudi conflict
Playing the sectarian card
Iran and Saudi Arabia are stoking the denominational conflict between Sunnis and Shias. Both sides are attempting to exploit an inner-Islamic conflict that has been raging for more than 1,300 years. And yet, as Andreas Gorzewski reports, it′s not always about religion
-
Iran and Saudi Arabia:
The impending storm
The rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia is not confessional in nature. Both lay claim to regional supremacy and also to the leading role in the Islamic world – maximalist positions that naturally provoke confrontation. An essay by Ali Fathollah-Nejad, political scientist with the German Council on Foreign Relations
-
Islamic State
A year of territorial losses
Although 2015 has been a bleak year, characterised by numerous casualties resulting from the terrorist activities of IS, the last twelve months have seen Islamic State relinquish rather than gain ground. By Chase Winters
-
#SueMeSaudi
Twitter users taunt Saudi Arabia
The hashtag #SueMeSaudi is soaring after a source at the Saudi Arabian justice ministry reportedly said he would sue a Twitter user who compared Saudi Arabia to the terror group "Islamic State"
-
Cultural policy in Saudi Arabia
Ushering in an era of change?
Under its new King Salman, Saudi Arabia seems to be striving for cultural convergence with the West. People there are happily tweeting, emailing and going to the theatre – and that includes women. Is a cultural turning point in the offing? By Joseph Croitoru
-
Navid Kermani on Christianity
The awe of a loving unbeliever
With his book "Ungläubiges Staunen" (literally "unbelieving awe", as yet unavailable in English), Navid Kermani delivers a fascinating reflection on Christian art and religion. The German-Iranian writer looks at Christianity with a curiosity and an earnestness that has become rare among Christians themselves. Ulrich von Schwerin read the book