This essay by Juan Cole was originally published in Tomdispatch.com. See the original for a perceptive introductory essay by Tom Engelhardt. This spring, the novel coronavirus pandemic has raised the issue of the relationship between the blindest kind of religious faith and rational skepticism — this time in two countries that think of themselves as […]
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Islam
Washington Irving, “Legend of the Arabian Astrologer”
Washington Irving, Tales from the Alhambra (New York: Lea and Carey, 1832). Legend of the Arabian Astrologer. IN OLD times, many hundred years ago, there was a Moorish king named Aben Habuz, who reigned over the kingdom of Granada. He was a retired conqueror, that is to say, one who having in his more youthful […]
Everything you Always wanted to Know about Muslim Fasting Month of Ramadan *But were Afraid to Ask
By Mohammad Hassan Khalil | – Editor’s note: Mohammad Hassan Khalil, associate professor of religious studies and director of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University, answers six questions about the significance of the Muslim month of fasting. 1. Why is Ramadan called Ramadan? Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, […]
Veiled Muslim Women abruptly Find Acceptance amid Coronavirus Face Masks: “Nobody is giving me Dirty Looks”
By Anna Piela | – Americans began donning face masks this week after federal and local officials changed their position on whether face coverings protect against coronavirus. This is new terrain for many, who find themselves unable to recognize neighbors and are unsure how to engage socially without using facial expressions. But not for Muslim […]
What Christians can Learn from Islam about Easter: The Qur’an denied Jews were Responsible for the Cross
Revised Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – That the Qur’an recognizes the virgin birth, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus is something worth remembering on Easter. In a nativity scene about Jesus’s supernatural precociousness, the Qur’an has him speak in the cradle, saying, (Mary 19:33): “So peace be upon me, the day I was born, […]
Witness to History: Early Muslim Rock Inscriptions Speak of 769 A.D. Epidemic in Medina
Saudi epigraphist Mohammed Almaghthawi (@mohammed93athar) has published some rock inscriptions from around Medina in western Arabia that are dated to 769, which speak of an epidemic outbreak in that year. This outbreak is otherwise unknown to historians. The inscriptions ask God to deliver them from this calamity, and clearly take pride in the city of […]
Could Instability in Lebanon Further Strengthen Hezbollah, or Will the Sectarian order Collapse?
Detroit (Special to Informed Comment) – Since its inception as a French mandate at the San Remo Conference in 1920, Lebanon has lived on the cusp of chaos economically, militarily, and politically. For many, life in the mountainous country has been synonymous with major political crises (like the events of 1958 and Operation Blue Bat, […]
Targeting Muslims, India is Abolishing Birthright Citizenship
By Rahul Sambaraju and Suryapratim Roy | – The fallout from two controversial changes to citizenship laws continues to rock India. At least 35 people have died in sectarian violence in New Delhi which began on February 23. Muslims homes and businesses have been attacked and mosques vandalised by mobs. All schools in the capital […]
The Prophet Muhammad’s Wives and Muslim Women in Early Arabian Rock Inscriptions
Ahmad Bin Ghanim al-Ida’ published a photograph of an inscription he found south of al-Ula (near ancient Hijr) in Saudi Arabia. It was picked up and transcribed by Saudi archeologist Mohammed al-Maghthawi. The inscription says, “God, forgive Muhammad the Prophet, and join with him his wives, and, God, forgive the male and female believers, and […]
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