Islam

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jack Khoury and Noa Shpigel report at Haaretz that the Israeli government is advancing a marijuana bill that may gain the support of the United Arab List, a Muslim fundamentalist party that forms part of the 8-party coalition underpinning the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Although Mansour Abbas, the […]

China

China: removing features from country’s biggest mosques the latest move in campaign of Muslim assimilation

The Conversation

By David R. Stroup | In the normally quiet city of Xining, capital of northwest China’s Qinghai province, everyday interactions between the city’s ethnic groups – Han Chinese, Hui Muslim, Tibetans, Turkic Salars and others – usually pass without conflict or fanfare. But thanks to the municipal government’s controversial demolition of the entrance hall of […]

Islam

Glowing Review of Juan Cole, “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires” (Video)

contributors

Dr. Shabir Ally reviews Juan Cole’s book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires [Click] Da’wah Center Toronto — “A review of Juan Cole’s book on the prophet Muhammad pbuh – Dr. Shabir Ally” – Fast forward to 12:24 for English review Dr. Ally’s site says, “Dr. Shabir Ally holds a B.A. in […]

astronomy and outer space

Did a Cosmic Airburst inspire the Myth of Sodom and inadvertently Spark millennia of Homophobia?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a new paper in Nature archeologists Ted E. Bunch and Malcolm A. LeCompte et al. present their findings that a cosmic airburst destroyed an ancient city in 1650 BC (about 3600 years ago) at the site of today’s Tell el-Hammam in western Jordan near the mouth of the Jordan […]

Afghanistan

Why the Hazara Minority of Afghanistan is now Imperiled

The Conversation

By Iqbal Akhtar | – The land we now call Afghanistan has been a place of constant migration through its mountainous passes. Its linguistic, cultural and religious diversity is a result of millennia of trade along the Silk Road. More than a dozen ethnic groups are mentioned in the country’s constitution. Afghanistan’s fall to the […]

Featured

Top 7 Ways al-Qaeda’s Terrorism Violated the Precepts of the Holy Qur’an

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One of the great tragedies of the early twenty-first century is that the great civilization of Islam, over 1400 years old and with tremendous achievements should have had its escutcheon besmirched with the terrorism of a small fringe of extremists such as Usama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. It is the […]

astronomy and outer space

Islam’s deep traditions of art and science have had a global influence

The Conversation

By Kalpana Jain | – For people who would like to learn more about Islam, The Conversation is publishing a series of articles, available on our website or as six emails delivered every other day, written by Senior Religion and Ethics Editor Kalpana Jain. Over the past few years she has commissioned dozens of articles […]

al-Qaeda

Facing Hostility from most of World’s 1.8 bn Muslims, Al-Qaida, Islamic State group find few recruits

The Conversation

By Charles Kurzman | – Al-Qaida was planning two sets of terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. On Sept. 11, 2021, as Americans commemorate and mourn the lives lost that Tuesday morning 20 years ago, it is important to remember the second plot as well – the attacks that didn’t happen. Khalid Sheikh […]

Arab World

Don’t Compare Texas Abortion law to Islamic Law: Most Muslims are and have been More Liberal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Texas “heartbeat law” banning abortion after six weeks has prompted comparisons of Texas evangelicals to Afghanistan’s Taliban. There is a resemblance globally of religious-Right movements on women’s issues, since religious conservatism is usually patriarchal and aims at controlling women. If, however, the comparison is between Christianity and Islam in […]