Society
Topics
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FranceChirac Seeks Law Banning Headscarf in Schools
The headscarf is a highly controversial issue in France. In order not to burn their fingers on this matter, President Chirac and his government have based their decision to prohibit the Hijab on the countrys secular tradition. Bernhard Schmid reports
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Women in the Police Force
Afghani Policewomen on Tour in Germany
The German Society for Technological Cooperation (GTZ) supports police forces and justice officials in Afghanistan. As a part of this cooperation, seven policewomen and two legal experts had been invited to Germany for an informational tour. Monika Hoegen reports
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Reformist Islam
Adapting to Contemporary Interpretations of Islam
Is Islamic law compatible with democracy and human rights? One of Iran's best-known reformist clerics has an answer to this question – an answer that challenges Islamic orthodoxy. Bahman Nirumand reports on a reformist theologian.
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Muslim Converts
"Less Restricted by the Burden of Tradition"
Converts often practise their new religion with particular zeal; but as they are often less bound to the traditional cultural norms of their religious community, they can also be the source of new, reformist impulses. Ursula Trüper reports from Berlin.
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Middle East
Christian Arab Israeli University Opened
With "Unity within Diversity" as its motto, Mar Elias University now opened in Galilee after four years of intensive planning. The project was initiated by Elias Chacour, three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
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Headscarf Issue
Prominent Women Protest against Ban
"The decisive thing is not what's on the head, but what's in it," says a group of prominent German women who have launched a campaign against the government's headscarf ban for Muslim teachers.
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Interfaith holiday celebrations
Sugar Festival, St. Nicholas, Noel Baba
While politicians and experts are making urgent calls for a dialogue with Islam, children from Muslim and Christian families are a few steps ahead. They have long been celebrating the holidays together. Babette Braun reports
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Malaysia
Working for Reform
"Sisters in Islam" is a small but effective Malaysian women's rights organisation that uses their knowledge of the Koran to reform the situation of women in Islamic Malysia. Report by Charlotte Wiedemann
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Islam in Europe
The Headscarf Debate à la Française
In France as well as Germany, an argument has been raging in recent months on the wearing of the Muslim headscarf. The French government now plans to bite the bullet and pass a new law by Christmas to ensure the "preservation of secularism".
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Net Café Reconnects Refugees to Families
Unable to afford calls to their homelands, an enterprising group of asylum seekers in Potsdam set up their own Internet café. The project helps other refugees get in touch with their families and friends.
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Unofficial State of Emergency in Cairo
As in all predominantly Islamic countries, life in Cairo is turned on its head during the month of Ramadan. Jürgen Stryjak's report conveys the general atmosphere in the city.
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Untiring in the Struggle against Powerlessness
Behjat Moaali is an unusual woman. As a courageous lawyer she defended women who had no rights in Iran after Khomeini came to power. Today she is the director of "Refugio" in Germany - a center for refugees who are victims of terror and violence.
Most read articles
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Book review: Fatima Daas' "The Last One"
Confessions of a Muslim woman
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Interview with the French Islam expert Gilles Kepel
Passion and suffering
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Sex tourism in Egypt
A bride for the summer
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Yemen's civil war
Underage "martyrs": child soldiers in Yemen
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Leftist politics in Syria
"I don't care whether Marx or Muhammad takes the credit"
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Let's talk about sex, habibi!
Love and desire from Cairo to Casablanca