Human Rights Watch has released a report that highlights how government officials across the Middle East and North Africa are targeting LGBT+ people based on their online activities, particularly on…
By James M. Dorsey Indonesia has emerged as a primary battleground between democratic and autocratic visions of Islam in the 21st century. The battle pits Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s…
By James M. Dorsey Three scantily dressed samba dancers wearing traditional feather headdresses laid bare the limits of social liberalisation in Saud Arabia when they earlier this year danced…
Usaama al-Azami’s Islam and the Arab Revolutions: The Ulama Between Democracy and Autocracy (Oxford University Press, 2022) focuses on the responses of several prominent Muslim religious scholars towards the 2011 Arab popular…
By James M. Dorsey Two diametrically opposed visions of moderate Islam have emerged as major Muslim powers battle to define the soul of their faith in the 21st century in…
In a sign of the times, Turkish schoolbooks have replaced Saudi texts as the bull’s eye of criticism of supremacist and intolerant curricula in the Muslim world.
When Pope Francis sets foot in Iraq on Friday - Papal Visit to Iraq: Breaking Historic Ground Pockmarked by Religious and Political Minefields
Demonstrating for 3rd week their determination to force the military to return to its barracks Myanmar: Exploiting Lessons Learnt in the Middle East
Revisions of Saudi schoolbooks aimed at removing supremacist references .. Saudi Schoolbooks: What Does It Take to recontextualise Islam?
Saudi Islamic Moderation Put to the Test - Saudi Arabia’s combustible mix of religion, nationalism, and tradition sparks debate.