Society

Interview with Mathias Rohe on the Sharia debate

"There is no alternative to an integrative interpretation of Islam"

According to the Islamic scholar Mathias Rohe, it is high time for the Muslim population living here to find religious foundations that are clearly within the framework of the secular constitutional state. Loay Mudhoon talked to him.
Sharia Law in Germany

Islamic Bonds Provide Debt Relief

The eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt has been looking for creative investments to ease its burden of debt, and has found a new source of funds in an unusual, high-growth market: Islamic bonds. Christine Harjes reports
Portrait of Mohamed Sifaoui

Criticising Radical Islam

The Algerian publicist Mohamed Sifaoui is considered an expert in radical Islamist networks and ideologies. His television documentary 'Undercover in al-Qaida' turned him into a target for fundamentalists, forcing him to go into hiding for a while. Margit Hillmann met the journalist in Paris
Religious Criticism

Oh God!

The criticism of religion has a great tradition in philosophy and art. Not every form of mockery is enlightening, however. When directed only at the religion of the others, it becomes bigotry. A commentary by Robert Misik
Integration Policy in Britain

The Influence of Common Law

The British find it difficult to understand the arguments about Islamic headscarves which are currently blazing in France and Germany. Lennart Lehmann about differences of British, French and German approaches to integration policy
Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Pioneer of Nonviolence

He was a contemporary of Indian pacifist Mahatma Gandhi and always preached an Islam of nonviolence: Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the man who was venerated by the Pashtuns as "King of Chiefs" died 20 years ago in Peshawar. A portrait by Nasim Saber
Water Management in Syria

From a Gift of God to a Valuable Economic Factor

Syria is the most arid country in the watershed of the Euphrates and Tigris. To alleviate the situation, Germany is pumping € 130 million into the Syrian water sector. Kristin Helberg reports on the work of German engineers in Damascus and Aleppo
Migration, Youth Violence and Islam

A Culture of Looking Carefully

Is the high level of violence among first, second and third-generation migrants in Germany really due to Islam? Absolutely not, argues the cultural anthropologist Werner Schiffauer in an interview with Claudia Mende
Journalists in Indonesia

In the Dock

New challenges to press freedom in Indonesia have been posed by the increasing influence of private businessmen and media entrepreneurs as well as their frequent use of lawsuits against investigative journalists. Arian Fariborz reports from Jakarta
Islamic Feminism in Morocco

"We Have to Re-Appropriate the Source Texts"

Islamic feminists in Morocco are calling for a so-called "third way": a modern approach combining universal ethics with the humanitarian ideals of Islam. Their methodology reveals weaknesses however. Martina Sabra reports
Controversial Study of Muslim Attitudes

Implied Contradiction between Democracy and Islam

A study of the relationship between violence and Islam in Germany, sponsored by the German Interior Ministry, has been much discussed but little read. Ülger Polat says the study exhibits methodological flaws
The Book of 40 Hadiths

Against the Cliché of the Islamic World as a Collective Society

In public discourse in the West, it is assumed that the Koran is the single foundation for Islamic faith, and other sources, which contribute to the diversity of the faith, are simply ignored. Marco Schöller, a scholar of Islam, has now translated the popular Hadith collection of al-Nawawi. An interview by Amin Farzanefar