Islam

By Ken Chitwood | – The violence that spread from Jerusalem to cities across Israel and the Palestinian territories, leaving at least 60 dead so far, has both historical and contemporary roots. In recent weeks, tension has flared over the eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities blocking access to the […]

Islam

Anti-Muslim Racism remains a Blind Spot in American Efforts for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Sumbul Ali-Karamali

(Special to Informed Comment) – When I first read Jack Shaheen’s seminal book, Reel Bad Arabs, which documents negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs in American film, I was shocked. Not shocked that such stereotypes have saturated film and television. Rather, shocked that I myself had seen several of these films and never noticed the […]

Featured

For 1st time, Ultra High Resolution Photo released of Black Stone in Mecca, sacred relic of Islam

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Saudi commission for the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina revealed in a tweet on Tuesday that it was making new high resolution pictures of the Black Stone of the Kaaba shrine in Mecca available. The stone has for over 1,400 years had an important place in Muslim […]

Archaeology

Were Humanity’s Oldest Monumental Religious Sites Erected in NW Saudi Arabia? 1,000 ‘Rectangles’ Older than Stonehenge

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Hugh Thomas and a team of Australian researchers have just published a groundbreaking article in the journal Antiquity describing their research into the mysterious “Rectangles” (mustatīl) dotting Northwest Arabia. This region lies due south of Israel-Palestine and Jordan. Rectangles. h/t ‘Antiquity.’ The Rectangles date from roughly 7,500 years before present, […]

Iran

The Iranian Government is more Pragmatic in dealing with Sunnis than its Sectarian image Implies

Shivan Mahendrarajah

St. Andrews (Special to Informed Comment) – The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is often depicted by its enemies and their press (the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel in particular) as an ideological and sectarian Shiite state, drunk on fundamentalism. Religious fundamentalism, however, is a key part of the politics of these […]

Archaeology

The Catholic Reconquista in Spain outlawed Islam in 1502, but Secret Muslims kept their culture — and Cuisine — Going

The Conversation

By Aleks Pluskowski, Guillermo García-Contreras Ruiz, and Marcos García García | – Granada, in southern Spain’s Andalusia region, was the final remnant of Islamic Iberia known as al-Andalus – a territory that once stretched across most of Spain and Portugal. In 1492, the city fell to the Catholic conquest. In the aftermath, native Andalusians, who […]

Islam

Islamic Judaism? (Video)

Emir-Stein Center

John Tolan | Emir-Stein Center “In the 19th century, some Jewish scholars in Central Europe looked to early Islam and in particular to the Prophet Muhammad for inspiration and consolation. For these scholars, the Muslim prophet could serve as a heuristic model for reforming Judaism. John Tolan, Professor of History at the University of Nantes, […]

Antisemitism

What Christians can Learn from the Qur’an’s denial that Jews bore Responsibility for Christ’s Crucifixion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Through Christian history, and especially since Christians became numerous and powerful as the Roman Empire adopted the faith as its state religion, Jews have been senselessly victimized around Easter and falsely blamed for the killing of Christ. Interestingly, the Qur’an denies that the Jews were at fault in Jesus’ execution. […]

History

A New History of the Prophet of Islamﷺ – Juan Cole interviewed by Hamza Yusuf

Juan Cole

Juan Cole interviewed by Hamza Yusuf at Renovatio about the book: Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires Available at Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor And Hachette And Barnes and Noble And Amazon Renovatio writes: Can those working in the field of modern academic historical method contribute to new ways of viewing an […]