Islam

By Nandini Archer | – (OpenDemocracy.net) – From France to Malaysia, Muslim women’s rights activists are challenging those who ask them to ‘choose between being a Muslim and a feminist’. “Muslim women are stuck between Islamophobes on the one hand and Islamic fundamentalists on the other”, Suri Kempe, an outspoken rights activist from Malaysia, told […]

Islam

Pope Francis, Muslim Rector of al-Azhar, Call for Religious Freedom & Full Citizenship

AFP

by Catherine Marciano with Rene Slama in Dubai | – Abu Dhabi (AF) – Pope Francis and a top Muslim cleric Monday issued a joint call for freedom of belief during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam — the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach […]

Greece

Greece’s Muslim Minority Complain of “Marginalization”

AFP

Komotini (AFP) – Outwardly, Komotini looks like other Greek cities, but there is a major difference: it has nine mosques whereas there are none in Athens. The northeastern city has existed from the second century and was captured by Ottoman-era Turkey in the 14th. It was an important hub connecting the capital city of Constantinople, […]

Qur'an

The West Has Islam Dangerously Wrong

Juan Cole

Legendary journalist Robert Scheer interviews Juan Cole on his new book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires. Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires Available at Barnes and Noble And Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor And Hachette And Amazon Audio Podcast: Here are couple paragraphs of the transcript to give […]

Qur'an

My “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires” now a Bold Type Book

Juan Cole

Congratulations to my publisher @BoldTypeBooks on their new name! I’m proud to be a Bold Author and part of the #BoldTypeBooks community. www.BoldTypeBooks.org. https://vimeo.com/307572732 "I am Bold" – Bold Type Books from Bold Type Books on Vimeo. Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires, published October 9, 2018 Now available at Barnes and […]

History

Islamophobia versus World History: Rediscovering Marshall Hodgson

Edmund Burke III

Santa Cruz (Informed Comment) – Published in 1974, Marshall Hodgson’s The Venture of Islam was a watershed moment in the study of Islam. By locating the history of Islamic societies in a global perspective, Hodgson challenged the orientalist paradigms that had stunted the development of Islamic studies and provided an alternative approach to world history. […]

Islam

Cole’s ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace’ an NYT Editor’s Choice Book

Juan Cole

Many thanks to the New York Times for recommending my new book, ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires:’ Editors’ Choice: “11 New Books We Recommend This Week” Gregory Cowles writes, “How better to enter the new year than with a look back? History runs through many of this week’s recommended titles, from […]

Qur'an

Glowing NY Times Review of Cole’s ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace’

Juan Cole

The New York Times Book Review has a glowing review of my new book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires, calling it ‘erudite,’ ‘informative’ and ‘ambitiously revisionist.’ Mustafa Akyol writes in his review, “Illuminating Islam’s Peaceful Origins” “Cole’s book, “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires,” is not just eruditely […]

Christianity

Christmas and Sufism: Rumi on the Nativity and the Christ Within

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The great medieval Muslim mystic and poet, Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273), interpreted the birth of Jesus as an allegory of the soul. Rumi was born in Balkh in northern Afghanistan, but his family fled the Mongol invasions and settled in Konya in what is now Turkey. Rumi was a refugee […]