Islam

By RFE/RL | – – It may not be the original version of the first . . . edition of the Koran, dating back 1,500 years, but it’s still quite a book. In a meeting heavily publicized by Russian media, President Vladimir Putin on November 23 gave Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei one of the […]

Islam

How Islamic law can take on ISIL

contributors

By Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im | (The Conversation) | – – The media coverage of the terrorist atrocities of Friday November 13 in Paris would seem to promote an almost mythical image of the [so-called] Islamic State group (ISIL, ISIS). What humanity needs, however, is to demystify ISIS as a criminal organization. And that need is […]

Buddhism

Terrorism and the Other Religions

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reprint edn. slightly revised. Contrary to what is alleged by bigots like Bill Maher, Muslims are not more violent than people of other religions. Murder rates in most of the Muslim world are very low compared to the United States. As for political violence, people of […]

Featured

With Ahmad Chalabi’s Death, Passing of an Age of Lies

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Ahmad Chalabi (1944-2015) died of a heart attack in Iraq on Tuesday. Clarence Darrow, the great trial lawyer and orator, said, “I’ve never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.” I don’t get any satisfaction from this obituary. In the first Star […]

al-Qaeda

Syria: On eve of Vienna Summit, Has Russia changed the facts on the Ground?

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Writing in al-Hayat [Life] this week, columnist Walid Choucair outlined the successes he sees Russia to have had in its Syria campaign, and the goals for which it is reaching. Choucair is the Lebanese affairs bureau chief of this pan-Arab, Saudi-owned London daily, which has a […]

Eastern Europe

‘Putin of Arabia’ hugely popular among Iraqi Shiites

contributors

By Jean-Marc Mojon with Raji Nasser in Najaf | ( Your Middle East ) | – – The new Iraq Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bullish entry into the Syrian conflict has worked wonders for his popularity in neighbouring Iraq, where some await “Hajji Putin” like a saviour. Sitting at his easel in his central Baghdad […]

Balkans

Ottomans saved Hungarian PM Orban’s Ancestors; now he says Islam never part of Europe

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban not only continued to defend his anti-immigrant bigotry but went on to say that Islam has never been part of Europe. Mr. Orban not only is increasing the misery of largely Muslim refugees, but now he has erased 1300 years of […]

al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda in Syria Leader: Kill Alawite Minority, Russians; Christians fear West Backs Him

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The leader of al-Qaeda in Syria, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, has called for an escalation in attacks on the population centers of the Alawite Shiite minority. The president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and other leading members of the ruling Baath Party belong to this folk sect of […]

Featured

Facing ISIL Propaganda, Russia Denies its Syria Campaign is a “Holy War”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Remember when George W. Bush lapsed and called his Iraq War a “crusade?” He had to back off that religious rhetoric really quickly because he needed Muslim allies. Now the Russian Orthodox Church has made a similar error. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said that his church supports […]