by Ali M. Shukr Recently published by the Institute for Future Studies in Beirut, the book “Turkey in the New Century: The Political System, Parties, and Pressure Groups,” was presented by Professor Emrullah Ashler, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey. The book was divided into an introduction and 5 chapters. In each chapter, a Read more
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Russia’s Complex Challenges: Secularism, Christianity, Islam, Wahhabism, and War For most of the last 1000 years Russia’s rulers have had a complicated history with religion, in general and with Islam in particular. While Islam has origins in the region that go back more than 1100 years, the relationship with the Ottoman Empire, Salafi Islam in Read more
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Hosni Mahalli* Some Western commentators are now talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to revive the legacy of the Soviet Union, who previously said “its collapse caused the disintegration of historical Russia”. Others have pointed to Putin’s religious and sectarian calculations in his military intervention in Ukraine. The roots of these accounts go back Read more
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On September 23, 2021, the branch of the Islamic State (al-Khilafa) in Afghanistan released a statement claiming responsibility for an attack, using small arms, on members of the Taliban, whom they described as “Taliban militia.” Local news reports confirmed the attack. This is a small-scale attack that represented no serious danger to Taliban’s grip on Read more
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by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* October 28, 2020 Amid this worsening crisis between France and leaders of some Muslim-majority countries, media outlets are manufacturing narratives favorable to the side they support. Facts and truth matter. They matter because a sound solution to a problem must be built on the truth for a solution to endure. Truth Read more
Continue Readingby Deina Abdelkader * Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who promoted the religious and political influence of the Iranian regime across the Middle East with covert military operations, was an important figure in the Iranian government. But that’s not the only reason his targeted killing by the United States has elicited explosive grief and outrage in Iran. Read more
Continue Readingby Luthfi T. Dzulfikar* In an attempt to offer an alternative Islamic university model to the current dominance of Middle Eastern universities, Indonesia has announced plans to open the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII) in Depok, West Java. With more than 200 million believers, Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world. Read more
Continue Readingby Seán McLoughlin* More than 2m Muslims are currently gathering in Mecca ahead of the annual Hajj, which begins on August 19. As long as they are fit and financially able, the pilgrimage is an obligatory act of worship that followers of Islam owe to God once in their lifetime. Reenacting the faith-testing ordeals of Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia A day after the couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino, CNN reported that Malik had made “a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.” Subsequently, it was reported that Malik attended al-Huda, a religious institute whose funding and curriculum were decided by Saudi Read more
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