Society

Islamic Law and Ethics

''We Are Calling for a New Interpretation of the Koran''

A new research centre in Qatar seeks to focus more attention on the ethical dimension of Islam. The founders of the centre and its director, Tariq Ramadan, are calling for a new interpretation of the Koran in order to advance a contemporary Islamic understanding of matters such as environmental ethics and gender issues. Christoph Dreyer spoke to the centre's deputy director, Jasser Auda
By Christoph Dreyer
The Holy Month of Ramadan

To Fast or Not to Fast

None of the five pillars of Islam is observed by as many Muslims as fasting in Ramadan. Some people who don't otherwise obey any religious rules fast; others make a conscious decision not to. Stephanie Doetzer spoke to a number of Muslims who have decided not to fast
By Stephanie Doetzer
The Iraqi Education System

Education in an Age of Terror

Once renowned throughout the Arab world for the importance it attached to good education, Iraq and its education system have suffered enormously since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein nine years ago. Many intellectuals fled abroad or into the provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan, triggering change in the education system there. Birgit Svensson reports from Baghdad
By Birgit Svensson
Woman in Saudi Arabia

''A Golden Age for Saudi Women''

Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos recently visited Saudi Arabia on a UN fellowship. What she encountered there surprised her and completely changed her views on the lives of women in the kingdom. This is a personal account of her experiences
By Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos
The Response to the Salafist Movement in Germany

Heavy on Populism, Light on Strategic Thinking

Many intelligence officials in Germany are baffled by the political response to the Salafist movement. As far as they are concerned, there is too much populism, not enough strategic thinking, and ineffective communication to boot. Albrecht Metzger reports.
By Albrecht Metzger
School Reform in Turkey

Islam Set to Gain Prominence

Emotions have been running high in Turkey since the government pushed through a controversial school reform bill earlier this year. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan has said that the goal of the reform was to raise a "religious youth". Sonja Galler reports from Diyarbakır
By Sonja Galler
Syrian Refugees in Iraq

Exodus into the Unknown

Birgit Svensson visits a refugee camp in Dohuk in Iraqi Kurdistan where she finds Shefat and her brother Omar: they want to tell the world about the terrible things that are happening to the Syrian people
By Birgit Svensson
Interview with Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari

Why Islam and Democracy Go Well Together

The Shiite scholar Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari is regarded as one of the Iran's most influential Muslim reformist thinkers. In an interview with Jan Kuhlmann, he explains why there is no inconsistency between Islam and democracy.
By Jan Kuhlmann
German Court Ruling over Ritual Circumcision

Kulturkampf against Muslims and Jews

A court in Germany has ruled that circumcision on religious grounds amounts to bodily harm, making it potentially punishable by law. Sociologist of religion Rolf Schieder says this is an unacceptable move that questions the right to religious freedom
By Rolf Schieder
The Shia-Sunni Conflict

The Most Deadly Religious War of our Time

Preachers like the Sunni legal scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi or the Shia Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati are propagating sectarian hate and exacerbating the divide between Islam's two major denominations. In this essay, Stefan Buchen explains how the religious war they have helped to unleash within Islam is having a catastrophic effect on the Greater Middle East
By Stefan Buchen
French International Footballer Hatem Ben Arfa

Bad Boy Coming Good

French striker Hatem Ben Arfa's career hasn't exactly been of the storybook variety. The 25-year-old son of Tunisian immigrants went on strike at Olympique Marseille, became involved in a whole series of escapades, and finally moved on to Newcastle United, where he became the victim of a career-threatening foul. Now, it seems, he has finally come of age. André Tucic reports
By André Tucic
The Turkish Women's Rights Activist Selen Lermioğlu Yılmaz

''The Government Is Trying to Intrude in People's Private Lives''

In May the Turkish government announced its plan to limit women's access to legal abortion, later dropping the item from the parliament's agenda after harsh reactions from society. While the debate was a divisive one, it did at least provide an umbrella issue beneath which women's groups rallied, says Selen Lermioğlu Yılmaz in this interview
By Fatma Kayabal