Shiites

Iran and the US Come Closer: Ayatollah Rick Perry’s Evangelical Theology of Trump as God’s Chosen is just like Khamenei

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jay Willis at GQ reports that Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said on Fox and Friends that Trump is God’s Chosen One. He said he told Trump, “If you’re a believing Christian, you understand God’s plan for the people who rule and judge over us on this planet and our […]

Iran

Iraq Protests Heat Up Long-Standing Rivalry Between Iraqi And Iranian Shiite Religious Leaders

Niqash

By Elias Thomas | – ( Niqash.org) – Behind the scenes of Iraq’s demonstrations, a decades-old rivalry between two centres of religious learning and authority, one local and the other in Iran, is playing out. 3.11.2019 Politics Protests in Baghdad. In early October, snipers shot at unarmed protesters on the streets of Iraq, who were […]

Houthi

Is Najran the Saudi Frontline in its Failing Yemen War, or its Achilles Heel?

Middle East Monitor

By Omar Ahmed | – The 14th century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun is famed for his treatise Al-Muqqadimah and is regarded as “the father of social science”; he wrote about the rise and fall of states and civilisations. Tunis-born, his ancestors hailed from Yemen’s Hadramawt. He is notable for popularising the notion of ‘asabiyya which […]

Shiites

What is Ashura? How this Shiite Muslim holiday inspires millions

The Conversation

By Noorzehra Zaidi | – Tens of millions of Shiite Muslims from around the world will visit Iraq on Sept. 10 this year to see the shrines of Hussain, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, and his brother Abbas on the day of “Ashura.” Ashura in Syria. Tasnim News Agency, CC BY-SA This annual pilgrimage marks the […]

Featured

The Saudi Axis and Israel’s Drone War on the Shiite Crescent

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In the past week, Linah al-Saafin at Al Jazeera English points out, an Israeli drone hit a Hizbullah target in Lebanon, Israeli fighter jets bombed a base in Syria with Iranian personnel, and Israel somehow hit bases of a Shiite militia in Iraq, including one on the Syria-Iraq border, killing […]

Islam

What is Missing in our Sunni-Shi’a Conflict Narrative?

Juan Cole

Ali R. Abootalebi | (Informed Comment) | – – The Sunni-Shi’a schism provides for different narrative and prescriptions for arriving at the ‘utopian Islamic society’ and the incoming of the Messiah, al-Mahdi. The theological, doctrinal and jurisprudential differences between the two main branches of Islam has translated into two different visions on the role of […]

Hizbullah

Lebanon PM Hariri Resigns in fear for Life, Slamming Iran

contributors

Long known for Saudi Ties, Hariri Accuses Tehran of trying to Destroy Arab World

Iraq

Iraq: How Youtube & Facebook Fake News Raised Kurdish-Shiite Tensions

Juan Cole

By Histyar Qader | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | – – After clashes in northern Iraq this week, hundreds of fake pictures have flooded Iraqi social media. Some are real, some not, but leaders on both sides say it’s leading to a dangerous escalation of tensions. Given the partisan nature of much of the media funding […]

Donald Trump

Iraqi PM Rebukes Tillerson on Popular Mobilization Militia

contributors

TeleSur | – – “Popular Mobilisation fighters should be encouraged because they will be the hope of country and the region,” Abadi said. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has defended the role of his country’s Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashd al-Sha’abi, following a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that members of the […]