Society

Education in the Arab world

Stop corrupting the next generation!

With curricula still focusing on fighting Christians, the torments of the grave, not to mention children being burnt in Hell, a revolution in Islamic religious education would appear to be long overdue. Mousa Barhouma argues in favour of teaching pupils noble Islamic ideas and humane values without overtaxing their intellectual maturity
By Mousa Barhouma
Syrian refugees in Lebanon

The house of 18 women

Domestic violence, sexual abuse and child marriage – when Syrian women in Lebanon don't know where to turn, they can find refuge at the women's shelter "Al Dar". A visit to the Bekaa Valley. By Iris Mostegel
By Iris Mostegel
Feminists in Turkey

Looking to big sister

The extent to which the ruling AKP party will be able to reshape Turkey according to Islamist notions will depend in part on whether it is able to impose its conservative policies in the field of women's rights. By Joseph Croitoru
By Joseph Croitoru
A report by Iranian artist Parastou Forouhar

″Pinning our hopes on a murderer″

When the news of repeated break-ins at her parents′ house reached Parastou Forouhar in January, the artist, who lives in Germany, travelled to Iran to deal with the situation in person. The house that had belonged to her parents, political activists Daryoush Forouhar and Parvaneh Eskandari, before they were murdered by the secret service, had been completely vandalised. An account by Parastou Forouhar
By Parastou Forouhar
Refugees in Germany

Hanging in the balance

Aged just 14 when he left his native country of Afghanistan, Emdadullah Mohammand spent nine months on the road in his quest to reach Europe. Four and a half years later, however, his asylum status remains unclear. By Esther Felden
By Esther Felden
The Swiss handshake controversy

A mountain out of a molehill

We live in an era when minor issues can apparently become major scandals overnight. Two Syrian pupils refuse to shake hands with a female teacher in Switzerland and the whole of Europe takes offence. By Charlotte Wiedemann
By Charlotte Wiedemann
The scourge of sectarianism

Obstinate mass suicide

In his essay, the well-known Jordanian journalist and literary scholar Fahkri Saleh explores the impact of the scourge – characterised by fanaticism, extremism, introversion and lethal sectarianism – that is currently sweeping the Muslim world
By Fakhri Saleh
Islam and eroticism

Let′s talk about sex, Ali

Religion is often regarded as prudish and anti-pleasure. Ali Ghandour (32), an academic at the University of Munster, sees it differently – and has written a book about sex and the erotic from the perspective of Muslim scholars. Interview by Lukas Wiesenhutter
By Lukas Wiesenhutter
German mini-series: ″Mitten in Deutschland: NSU″

Don't look the other way!

The NSU neo-Nazi terrorist trial barely makes the headlines anymore. A German TV miniseries on their alleged murders also met with little interest. Sarah Judith Hofmann wonders whether Germans are even interested in the case being solved
By Sarah Judith Hofmann
"Aleppo Evil" spreading in Syria

A plague of parasites

The "Aleppo Evil" is spreading rapidly in Syria – an infectious disease spread by sandflies, insects for which the rubble of destroyed cities offers the perfect breeding ground. And once again, the West is looking the other way. By Stefan Buchen
By Stefan Buchen
Palmyra post-IS

A pawn in Assad's game

For Palmyra, Assad is just as bad as IS. Completely rebuilding Palmyra's destroyed cultural treasures would turn it into a kind of Disneyland, says archaeologist Annie Sartre-Fauriat. Interview by Sabine Oelze
By Sabine Oelze
Cultural rapprochement with Iran

Laden with promise

Following the historic Iran nuclear deal that was clinched in Vienna in July 2015 and the subsequent lifting of sanctions against Iran in mid-January 2016, Germany and Iran are now looking for ways to stimulate cultural dialogue and exchange between the two countries. Dorothea Grassmann talks to Ali Fathollah-Nejad
By Dorothea Grassmann