religion

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Chapter 73 of the Qur’an, “The Robed” (Al-Muzammil), contains what is probably the earliest Islamic injunction to turn the other cheek. 8 Remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him wholeheartedly– 9 the Lord of the East and the West. There is no god save He, so […]

Christianity

Pope, after Gaza violence, says ‘defenceless’ being killed in Holy Land

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Pope Francis, in his Easter address on Sunday, called for peace in the Holy Land two days after 15 Palestinians were killed on the Israeli-Gaza border, saying the conflict there “does not spare the defenceless”, Reuters reports. The pope made his appeal in his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the […]

Christianity

Jesus wasn’t white: he was a brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew: & why that matters

Juan Cole

By Robyn J. Whitaker | (The Conversation) | – – I grew up in a Christian home, where a photo of Jesus hung on my bedroom wall. I still have it. It is schmaltzy and rather tacky in that 1970s kind of way, but as a little girl I loved it. In this picture, Jesus […]

Featured

Ultimate Hypocrisy: Saudi Crown Prince touts Religious Tolerance in NYC

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s charm offensive in New York allegedly involved meeting Oprah Winfrey, which may be the only canny thing I’ve ever heard of him doing. He also had some religious leaders over to his condominium in NYC to stress the importance of […]

Donald Trump

Trump and the American Fearscape as Hell for Muslim-Americans

Juan Cole

By Nate Terani | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Understand this: I’m an American veteran. I’m also a Muslim-American in a country in which, in these years, that hasn’t exactly been the happiest category to fall into. Now, let me tell you a little story. Recently, I had an ominous dream. It was noon on […]

Christians

Oh Magog! Apocalyptic Christianity Returns to U.S. Foreign Policy

contributors

By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – Trump is no churchgoer. But for evangelicals, his hard right line on Israel and machinations against Iran make him an instrument of the endtimes. Welcome back, Gog and Magog. I can’t say that I’ve missed you. You might remember the Gog and Magog […]

History

‘These are the keys of this paradise’: how 700 years of Muslim rule in Spain came to an end

contributors

By Elizabeth Drayson | (The Conversation) | – – It was the moment which set Spain on a course to become the greatest power in early modern Europe. On January 2, 1492 Abdallah Muhammad bin Ali, or Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil, the last Moorish sultan of Granada and head of the Nasrid dynasty, surrendered […]

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 […]

Donald Trump

Ignoring White Supremacists, Trump Smears Immigrants as Terrorists

contributors

By Arnold R. Isaacs | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – When you see an immigrant or a foreign visitor, especially from a Muslim country, should your first thought be that you might be looking at a possible terrorist? Clearly, that’s how the Trump administration wants Americans to react. It was the message in the president’s […]