Islam

By Eman Abusidu | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Ali Mazloum is one of millions of migrants whose story illustrates the determination and success of so many Lebanese refugees. When his father Mohammed arrived in Brazil in 1950, he could never have known that his son would one day become a federal judge. […]

Arab Spring

Already a New Boss in Town: Saudis, afraid of Biden, Hurry to End their Blockade on Qatar

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it would lift its land and sea blockade against Qatar, and that Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (the UAE) would allow Qatari aircraft to fly through their air space again. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt announced their boycott on the small peninsula […]

Antisemitism

The term ‘Judeo-Christian’ has been misused for political ends – a new ‘Abrahamic’ identity offers an alternative

The Conversation

By Toby Greene | – Upcoming elections in the Netherlands and Germany in 2021 will test the strength of the radical right, which has a distinct vision of European identity. In contrast to those who view democratic values as essentially secular and universal, and not tied to specific cultural or religious roots, radical right parties […]

Christianity

What does the Holy Book of Islam say about the Birth of Jesus?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | Revised. The Qur’an, the scripture Muslims believe was received by the the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632) by divine inspiration, has a number of passages that mention Mary and the virgin birth of Jesus. The Chapter of Mary, 19:16, says (my interpretation): And mention in the Book Mary, when […]

Islam

Lady Zeinab: A British Aristocrat embraces Islam in the Shadow of European War

Shalom Goldman

Middlebury, Vt. (Special to Informed Comment) – In 1934, Lady Evelyn Cobbold, a Scottish aristocrat and traveler, wrote that with the tightening of Nazi rule over Germany, many in England sensed that a European War was looming. Among the British elites ‘rumors of war’ were discouraged; the trauma and losses of the 1914-18 World War, […]

al-Qaeda

Heroic Values: What do radical Islam and militant Christianity have in common? Part II

Bert de Vries

( Christian Courier Canada) – Evangelicals were looking for a protector,” Kristin Du Mez says, to explain their attraction to President Trump in 2016, “an aggressive, heroic, manly man, someone who wasn’t restrained by political correctness or feminine virtues, someone who would break the rules for the right cause” (Jesus and John Wayne, 253). The […]

France

Why should every individual terrorist Attack bring Questions about all French Muslims’ loyalty to the Republic?

The Conversation

By Greg Barton and Fethi Mansouri | – After three people died in a knife attack in Nice this week that French President Emmanuel Macron called an “Islamist terrorist attack”, there was a sense of déjà vu — we have seen this before. Embed from Getty ImagesFrench Prime Minister Jean Castex (L) greets policemen near […]

al-Qaeda

What Do Radical Islam and Militant Christianity Have in Common?

Bert de Vries

Radical Minorities ( Christian Courier Canada) – In both Islam and Christianity, the mainstream has understood the core teachings of their founding prophets as proclamations of the Peace of God on earth. In each, the “way” has been characterized by peaceful interaction in societies that welcomed coexistence with religious minorities. While both have had their […]

Donald Trump

Is it an accident that Iran and the US, two Theocracies, are Coronavirus Basket Cases?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The coronavirus statistics in both Iran and the United States are horrible. The US has the worst record on dealing with the pandemic in the industrialized world. One clue to why the two countries are doing so badly with regard to basic public health strategy may lie in the importance […]