Category: Religion in the Public Sphere

Hajj: how globalisation transformed the market for pilgrimage to Mecca

ISR EditorsLeave a Comment on Hajj: how globalisation transformed the market for pilgrimage to Mecca

by 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

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The legacy of the illegal war on Iraq and the burden of befriending the Wahhabi rulers

Ahmed SouaiaiaLeave a Comment on The legacy of the illegal war on Iraq and the burden of befriending the Wahhabi rulers

by 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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