Islam

By Negar Partow, Massey University | – (The Conversation) – The ongoing protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s “Guidance Patrol” (or morality police) have made world headlines. But there is another form of protest that has received less mainstream attention in Western media. Whereas […]

Authoritarianism

Social Media shows Iranian Crowds setting fire to Khomeini’s House, in Generational Rejection of Islamic Republic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Reuters reports that social media sites carried video allegedly from Thursday night in the small town of Khomein in Iran, which appeared to show protesters setting fire to the childhood home of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khomeini died in 1989. The house had […]

Authoritarianism

In New Tactic, Young Iranian Protesters Knock Off Clerics’ Turbans On The Street

Golnaz Esfandiari

By Golnaz Esfandiari and Hamid Fatemi | – ( RFE/RL ) – Nationwide antiestablishment protests have raged across the Islamic republic since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died on September 16 shortly after she was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law on women’s dress. As the authorities have waged a […]

Islam

How Images of veiled Muslim Women are used to justify War

The Conversation

By Sara Rahnama, Morgan State University | – Unusual Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Course Title: “Women and War” What prompted the idea for the course? (The Conversation) – When I was on a fellowship at the Library of Congress finishing my first book, “The Future […]

Feminism

Iran: Protesters call for Move to a non-religious State. What Changes would that Bring?

The Conversation

By Hossein Dabbagh, University of Oxford | – My friend was in Tehran during protests after the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police (Gasht-e Ershad). My friend went into a grocery shop intending to buy milk. The seller refused to sell anything to her. “Why are you refusing?” she […]

Feminism

Marriage laws in Mideast put Women at increased risk of Child Marriage and Domestic Violence

Middle East Monitor

By Amelia Smith | – ( Middle East Monitor) – A new policy briefing by the NGO, Equality Now, on how marriage laws in the MENA region and around the world discriminate against women and girls reveals how failure to reform means they are at increased risk of human rights violations, such as child marriage […]

Featured

Iran’s Hijab Revolt: What does the Qur’an Really say about Women in Public?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The ayatollahs who rule Iran claim to do so in the name of Islam. Their interpretation of Islam, however, is often rooted in a medieval commentary tradition that added accretions to the central scripture, the Qur’an. The Qur’an was recited in Mecca and Medina by the Prophet Muhammad in the […]

Authoritarianism

Young Unveiled Iranian Women Protesters Keep Mysteriously falling off Buildings, According to Country’s Police

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Like Russian officials and failed diplomats, who seem to fall off buildings at a dizzying rate, Iranian young women under the harsh, patriarchal rule of the ayatollahs have developed the same health condition. Or so it is alleged by the official Iranian press. Independent organizations such as Amnesty International beg […]

Islam

Why Most Muslims Celebrate Mawlid, the Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday, despite Wahhabi Disapproval

The Conversation

By Deina Abdelkader, UMass Lowell | – (The Conversation) – Most Muslims celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad on the 12th day of the third month of the Islamic calendar, Rabi’ al-awaal – which starts on the evening of Oct. 7 in 2022. Muslims view the celebration, called Mawlid al-Nabi or simply the Mawlid, […]