Islam

By Juan Cole The pan-Arab London daily Hayat [Life] reports that members of the al-Anbar provincial council say they have met with American officials who are “disgusted” and the slowness of Baghdad to arm the Sunni Arab tribes fighting ISIL. Last week 220 members of the Al-Bu Nimr tribe were murdered by ISIL for taking […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Is ISIL’s Ideology really Grounded in Saudi Textbooks?

contributors

By Emile Nakhleh WASHINGTON (IPS) – According to an article published Oct. 21 on Al-Monitor, the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) has issued new regulations for the school systems under its control in Iraq and Syria. The announced purpose of the so-called guidelines, which carried the imprimatur of the group’s “Amir al-Mu’minin,” presumably leader Abu […]

Featured

Iraq: Grand Ayatollah Sistani joins Hagel in calling for Arming Sunni Tribes of al-Anbar

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Al-Zaman (The Times of Baghdad reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistan is calling, just as is US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, for the arming of Sunni tribes in al-Anbar Province to fight ISIL in Iraq. (The Shiite-dominated Iraqi government in Baghdad has been reluctant to move too quickly toward creating Sunni […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s Women: After 13 Years of War, the Rule of Men, Not Law

contributors

By Ann Jones via Tomdispatch.com On September 29th, power in Afghanistan changed hands for the first time in 13 years. At the Arg, the presidential palace in Kabul, Ashraf Ghani was sworn in as president, while the outgoing Hamid Karzai watched calmly from a front-row seat. Washington, congratulating itself on this “peaceful transition,” quickly collected the new […]

Islam

Jerusalem tensions over al-Aqsa Mosque turn bloody as Far Right-winger is Shot

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Right-wing Jewish activist Yehuda Glick was shot and injured at a rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, Israeli police and medical sources said. Glick was reportedly shot in his upper body at “close range” at an event outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, where a number of Israeli members of […]

Counter-Terrorism

Iraq: Is the Sunni-Shiite Slaughter at Jurf al-Sakhr really a US Victory?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Apparent good news was announced on Sunday in the fight against the extremist ISIL organization: The Iraqi army, backed by fundamentalist Shiite militias, managed to take the village of Jurf al-Sakhr, southwest of Baghdad, from ISIL fighters. This town has a population of about 80,000, consisting mostly of Sunnis from the Janabi […]

Iraq

Iraq: Are Senior ISIL Commanders already Defecting in Mosul & Tikrit?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | via Niqash.org Senior members of the Sunni Muslim extremist group, the Islamic State, have disappeared from Mosul and Tikrit. Sources suggest they defected for a number of reasons: they fear the end is nigh for their group, the threat posed by unhappy former allies who have already assassinated some […]

History

Understanding Islam: Kecia Ali on ‘The Lives of Muhammad’

contributors

Column » ‘By the Book’ with Joseph Preville by JOSEPH RICHARD PREVILLE and JULIE POUCHER HARBIN for ISLAMiCommentary The life of Prophet Muhammad has inspired the development of a vast body of literature over the centuries. Kecia Ali takes a look at this diverse literature in her new book, The Lives of Muhammad (Harvard University […]

Barack Obama

Iran Proposes Axis against ISIL to Iraqi PM Abadi as alternative to US Coalition

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole al-Zaman [The Times of Baghdad] reports that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has proposed to visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi an anti-ISIL axis including Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq that would be led by Iran, as an alternative to the US-led coalition proposed by President Barack Obama. In essence, this is the same […]