Islam

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 […]

Feminism

There is no one Islamic interpretation on ethics of abortion, but the belief in God’s mercy and compassion is a crucial part of any consideration

The Conversation

Zahra Ayubi, Dartmouth College | – As a scholar of Islamic ethics, I’m often asked, “What does Islam say about abortion?” – a question that has become even more salient since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed 50 years of constitutional protection for the right to get an abortion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health […]

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 […]

Featured

56% of Muslim Americans support Women’s Right to choose, and More Muslim-Majority Nations offer Abortion on Demand than do U.S. States

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With the striking down of Roe, the Federalist Society’s bought-and-paid-for Supreme Court has allowed states to dictate as they will to women over the disposition of their own bodies. Judge Samuel Alito alleged that it was “rational” to protect a blastocyte, a just-fertilized human egg. No one in history ever […]

Buddhism

America’s religious Communities are divided over the issue of Abortion

The Conversation

Interview by Kalpana Jain, The Conversation | – Interviewed: Luis Josué Salés, Scripps College; Rachel Mikva, Chicago Theological Seminary; Samira Meht University of Colorado Boulder; Steven K. Green, Willamette University; Susan M. Shaw; Oregon State University. Since the first indications that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, following a […]

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 […]

censorship

In Demolishing Muslim protestors’ homes, India is taking a Leaf from of Israel’s Book

Omar Ahmed

( Middle East Monitor ) – Over the weekend Indian authorities bulldozed several homes belonging to Muslims in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). The homeowners were alleged to have taken part in organised protests on Friday in response to inflammatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made by the now […]

Featured

In Final Slap to Bush-Era Neoconservatives, Iraq Criminalizes Contacts with Israel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Neoconservatives who pushed for the Bush-Cheney war on Iraq in 2003 hoped that by toppling the Arab nationalist dictator Saddam Hussein they could recreate Iraq as a country friendly to US interests and regional allies like Israel. I was told by one military officer that he was in the […]