Islam

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 […]

Afghanistan

Central Asian Stans Fear Afghan Militancy while their Russian Ally is Bogged down in Ukraine

Global Voices

By Zhar Zardykhan | – Read this post in Malagasy ( GlobalVoices.org) – On May 8, 2022, the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan reported that they are investigating Islamic State (IS) rockets attack on Tajikistan from Afghanistan’s Takhar Province, as IS admitted firing eight rockets on May 7 towards “unspecified military targets in Tajikistan.” In reaction, […]

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 […]

Evangelicals

Who is More Advanced? 29 Muslim-Majority States will Have more Liberal Abortion Laws than much of America if Roe Falls

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The American Religious Right as a political force is in some ways a creation of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that made abortion a woman’s right grounded in Americans’ constitutional right to privacy. Opposition to abortion and to a right to privacy united previously divided factions within […]

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 […]

censorship

Disney Targeted on Gay Rights by both DeSantis’ Christian Taliban and Saudi Muslim Obscurantism

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis notoriously just came after the Walt Disney Co. for its opposition, if belated, to his “don’t say gay” legislation forbidding school teachers to mention the subject of gay relationships to children under 9. The act vaguely insists that mentions before children older than that had to […]

art and photography

Contemporary Muslim Artists continue to adapt Islamic Patterns to challenge Ideas about fixed Culture

The Conversation

By Soheila Kolahdouz Esfahani, Western University | – What is culture? In today’s globalized world, we are familiar with seeing various cultural objects and ornamentation outside of their original location or context. If culture is not fixed and bound to a particular location, how does culture move and transform? Ornamentation in Islamic art — patterned […]

Christianity

For Easter: The Joyous, Dancing Ascendant Christ in a Love Poem of Hafez

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Just as Good Friday is a time for sober reflection and grief at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, so Easter Sunday is a time for blissful celebration at his rising from the dead and his ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. In keeping […]

Islam

The Israeli Attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque is not Local but an Insult to Muslims Worldwide

Middle East Monitor

Ismail Patel | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Masjid Al-Aqsa has been in danger since the Israeli Occupation of East Jerusalem began in 1967. Since the occupation, the Israeli authorities have allowed Israeli extremists to intimidate and violate the sanctity of Masjid Al-Aqsa. However, in the past decade, the attacks on Masjid Al-Aqsa […]