religion

By Muqtedar Khan | – I am pleased to announce the publication of my book Islam and Good Governance: A Political Philosophy of Ihsan by Palgrave Macmillan publishing group My goal was nothing short of advancing an alternate to the paradigm of Islamic politics that Islamists have to offer today. It took more than four […]

Featured

Super-Majority of Arab Youth in New Poll say Religion too Important in Public Life

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A just-released survey of youth (aged 18-24) in 16 Arab countries has found that 66% of them say there is too much religion in public life. Further, fully 79%, almost 4 in 5, say that the Arab world desperately needs to reform its religious institutions. Fully half said that religion […]

Antisemitism

Hatred of One is Hatred of All: San Diego Synagogue Shooter had Attempted to Burn down Mosque

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One person is dead and three are wounded after a shooting at a synagogue in San Diego, which the mayor has branded a “hate crime.” The attack came a day after an Iraq War veteran was arraigned in Sunnyvale, Ca. in the north of the state for running over 8 […]

Buddhism

Sri Lanka’s Mainstream Muslims Caught in Nexis of Extreme Nationalisms and Fringe Radicalism

The Conversation

By Andreas Johansson | – More than 300 people have now been confirmed killed in the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka. Several sources had suggested a domestic Muslim Islamist group may have been linked to the atrocity – but Islamic State (IS) has now also claimed responsibility. Sri Lanka’s Muslim community is spread across the […]

Featured

“The Nearest in Love:” On how the Sri Lankan Death Cult Betrayed the Islamic Values of the Qur’an

Juan Cole

A tiny death cult in Sri Lanka calling itself “Sri Lanka Tawheed Jamaat” (not to be confused with a big mainstream organization of the same name in India) appears to be responsible for the eight coordinated bombings at luxury hotels and Christian churches on Sunday. By now the tactic is familiar, if monstrous. These small, […]

Christianity

Why the Qur’an denied that Jews were Responsible for Jesus’ Death on Good Friday

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – That the Qur’an recognizes the virgin birth, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus is something worth remembering on Easter. In a nativity scene about Jesus’s supernatural precociousness, the Qur’an has him speak in the cradle, saying, (Mary 19:33): “So peace be upon me, the day I was born, and […]

Archaeology

Medieval Crusaders in Levant Married, Recruited Locals, DNA shows

contributors

News article by the Communications Team | – (Wellcome Sanger Institute) – Sanger Institute researchers have produced whole-genome sequences from skeletons discovered in a 13th Century burial pit in Sidon, Lebanon. The DNA sequences reveal that some of the dead were Crusaders, some were locals to the region, and some were decendents of mixed relationships […]

Christianity

Why Good Friday was Dangerous for Jews in the Middle Ages and how that Changed

The Conversation

By Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski | – As Christians observe Good Friday they will remember, with devotion and prayer, the death of Jesus on the Cross. It is a day of solemnity in which Christians give thanks for their salvation made possible by the suffering of Jesus. They prepare for rejoicing on Easter Sunday, when the resurrection […]

Donald Trump

Revealed: Trump-linked US Christian fundamentalists boost European Far Right with Dark Money Millions

Open Democracy

By Claire Provost and Adam Ramsay | – ( OpenDemocracy.net) – US Christian right ‘fundamentalists’ linked to the Trump administration and Steve Bannon are among a dozen American groups that have poured at least $50 million of ‘dark money’ into Europe over the last decade, openDemocracy can reveal today. Between them, these groups have backed […]