Islamic History

By Deina Abdelkader, UMass Lowell | – (The Conversation) – Most Muslims celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad on the 12th day of the third month of the Islamic calendar, Rabi’ al-awaal – which starts on the evening of Oct. 7 in 2022. Muslims view the celebration, called Mawlid al-Nabi or simply the Mawlid, […]

Islam

African Odyssey: How Shiite Islam reached Tanzania, and Ashoura Processions became an Annual Tradition

The Conversation

By Mara Leichtman, Michigan State University | – (The Conversation) – Each year, the largest contemporary Muslim pilgrimage takes place in Iraq to remember Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Before the pandemic, this event reportedly drew more than 30 million people, but in recent years participation declined to more than 14 million. This procession […]

Featured

The Islamic Peace Studies Initiative

Juan Cole

The Islamic Peace Studies Initiative – Presentation by Juan Cole at the Conference “Fi Subul al-Salām: Pacifism and Nonviolence in Contemporary Islam” at Manchester University, Tuesday, May 17 2022. Many thanks to Walaa Quisay. “Juan Cole and Samer Ali have directed the Islamic Peace Studies Initiative at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African […]

Islam

From caravans to markets, the hajj Pilgrimage has always included a commercial Component

The Conversation

By Noorzehra Zaidi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County | – In early June 2022, Saudi Arabia announced a hajj “lottery” for Western pilgrims that made it mandatory for people from Europe, the Americas and Australia to apply for visas through a random draw through the Saudi government-backed website. This new website also offered customized and […]

Archaeology

Does Megadrought of the 500s in Yemen help Explain the Rise of Islam?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new article in the journal Science gives evidence for a prolonged dry spell in the kingdom of Himyar (which now would comprise Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia and Oman) in the 500s. Since the Prophet Muhammad is traditionally said to have been born in 567 or 570, any new information […]

Gay rights

Review: “Homosexuality in Islam” by Scott Kugle

Saifa T. Hussain

( Medium) – For anyone attuned to the Muslim American milieu, it is hard to miss how conversations around gender and sexuality have become major faultlines. As someone who was quite intimate with neo-traditionalist Islam, there seems to be an increasing conservatism that sees these issues as part of an apocalyptic agenda that infringes upon […]

Islam

Jerusalem is not an internal Israel Affair to be Discussed before its Judiciary

Middle East Monitor

By Fayez Abu Shamaleh | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The Israeli government took note of the statement issued by the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs, which condemned an Israeli court’s decision to allow extremists to perform rites in the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli government gave […]

Christianity

Cole Interview: The Qur’an, the Crucifixion and Jews: Rebutting Iranian War Propaganda against Byzantium

Juan Cole

Ziryab Jamal interviewed me on my article: Juan Cole, “‘It was made to appear to them so’: the crucifixion, Jews and Sasanian war propaganda in the Qur’ān,” Religion 51, 3 (2021): 404-422. He kindly permitted me to put up the raw video of the interview with video here: Some of the points in the article […]

Islam

American Muslim women are finding a unique religious Space at a women-only Mosque in Los Angeles

The Conversation

By Tazeen M. Ali, Washington University in St Louis | – As Ramadan draws to a close, Muslims around the world prepare to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of a month of fasting from dusk till dawn and additional acts of worship. On Eid, as in Ramadan, community is an […]