Qantara Startseite Englisch - Dialogue with the Islamic world
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Reform of Iraq's Personal Status LawAre Shiite forces on the verge of victory?
The Personal Status Law in Iraq encompasses regulations on marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance and more. It could soon be amended, with dramatic consequences for women's and children's rights. Feminists and left-leaning political parties have mobilised to defend it.
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UAE in GazaSecuring a role in the postwar plan
The United Arab Emirates is supplying vital humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Behind the scenes, it is working closely with Israel and the US to plan for the future of the enclave—and to secure a role for itself—once the war is over.
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Book “111 Places in Berlin That Teach Us About Islam”Searching for traces of Muslim life in Berlin
The historic Şehitlik cemetery in Kreuzberg, the queer-friendly Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Moabit, the Muslim community's poetry slam i-Slam: Islam is part of Berlin's history, politics and everyday life.
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Album "Mute" by El KhatOn the edge of anarchy
The Berlin-based Yemenite-Israeli band El Khat use handmade instruments to create a chaotic blend of styles and traditions. Behind the raucous noise, they explore themes of silencing, conflict and displacement.
Politics
More about Politics-
Hezbollah's new leader Naim QassemStepping out of Nasrallah's shadow
Naim Qassem is a veteran of Hezbollah in Lebanon. A member since its foundation, he could never escape the shadow of Nasrallah. Now, he's the boss, and a man the Israeli government says is living with a death sentence.
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UAE in GazaSecuring a role in the postwar plan
The United Arab Emirates is supplying vital humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Behind the scenes, it is working closely with Israel and the US to plan for the future of the enclave—and to secure a role for itself—once the war is over.
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Hamza Meddeb on the "No Future" generationTunisia's ticking time bomb
Political scientist Hamza Meddeb is critical of the Tunisian authorities, which prefer to focus exclusively on security aspects in the war against terror, rather than launching efforts to genuinely address the causes of youth radicalisation. Interview by Sarah Mersch
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Libya, Al Koni and the Skhirat AgreementA fatal blow
If the Skhirat Agreement (LPA) is not quickly and substantially amended to allow a new executable agreement to be reached, its end will have been written from within its own chapters. By Azza K. Maghur
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Erdogan′s grand planTurkey's last elections?
The parliament in Ankara is manoeuvring itself into checkmate as it prepares to grant the president unlimited power. Erdogan is thus going forward with his plan to rebuild the state – in a spine-chilling manner. Commentary by Bulent Mumay
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Non-fiction: Sebastian Sons′ ″Auf Sand gebaut″Saudi Arabia – a difficult ally
Saudi Arabia is an important, but controversial partner of western countries. Sebastian Sons, an expert on the country with the DGAP (Germany's Council on Foreign Relations), assesses the country’s mindset, its political problems and how western governments should engage its leaders. By Sabine Balk
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Erdogan and Turkish foreign policyNeo-Ottoman rumblings
In the past few months Turkish President Erdogan has repeatedly called the borders of Turkey into question and implicitly laid claim to neighbouring territories. While such statements are mainly aimed at his own citizens, the neighbouring states are getting nervous, particularly now that Erdogan has dispatched troops to Syria and Iraq. By Ulrich von Schwerin
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Interview with Iranian dissident Abolhassan BanisadrSelling the revolution on
Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, millions of Iranian dissidents were forced to flee the country for fear of reprisals. Prominent among them, Abolhassan Banisadr, the first president of the Islamic Republic. Having fallen out with Khomeini, he left Iran in the summer of 1981. Interview by Mahindokht Mesbah
Society
More about Society-
Reform of Iraq's Personal Status LawAre Shiite forces on the verge of victory?
The Personal Status Law in Iraq encompasses regulations on marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance and more. It could soon be amended, with dramatic consequences for women's and children's rights. Feminists and left-leaning political parties have mobilised to defend it.
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Tareq Sydiq’s book “The New Protest Culture”Can protests transform society?
From Iran to the Last Generation, citizens in democracies and dictatorships alike are taking to the streets. Tareq Sydiq analyses these uprisings and asks why some fail while others dramatically change the system.
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Interview with Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh″I oppose the false Muslims″
The Iranian religious scholar Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh has been studying the origins and language of the Koran for decades. Ulrich von Schwerin spoke to him about his efforts to develop a new approach to the Koran, thereby saving the Prophet′s true message from what he perceives to be an erroneous interpretation of Islam
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Syrian refugee Nather Henafe AlaliPart II: ″Why I am here″
″A German artist once asked me why some people leave their country, while others just stay there and die. The question was put in a friendly way, but there was something very bitter about it. As if he was asking why I didn’t dutifully stay in Syria and wait for my death,″ writes Nather Henafe Alali in his second column
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US presidential electionEver the aliens
Donald Trump has sparked a backlash after criticising the parents of a slain Muslim American soldier. It′s another reminder of the challenges faced by Muslims in the US military. By Brandon Conradis
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The VaticanAll things to all people?
A Muslim visits the Vatican and discovers the breadth of attitudes and beliefs represented by the many people who cross its threshold every year. Is the Holy See gradually transcending its Christian roots to become a place of spiritual pilgrimage for all? By Mulham Al Malaika
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Syrian refugee Nather Henafe Alali″I am the misery of the 21st century″
″I don′t want to be a refugee. And I don′t want to be the subject of a newspaper article that is not about me as a human being. That calls me an historic intercontinental event or a storm of pain sweeping through this miserable world, but doesn′t call me a refugee, ″ writes Nather Henafe Alai in his column
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Denmark′s first women-only mosquePapa, don't preach
Born in Denmark to a Syrian father and a Finnish mother, Sherin Khankan, the well-known author and political commentator has started a new mosque in Copenhagen. The Mariam Mosque is led entirely by women imams. By Sadho Ram
Culture
More about Culture-
Book “111 Places in Berlin That Teach Us About Islam”Searching for traces of Muslim life in Berlin
The historic Şehitlik cemetery in Kreuzberg, the queer-friendly Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Moabit, the Muslim community's poetry slam i-Slam: Islam is part of Berlin's history, politics and everyday life.
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Album "Mute" by El KhatOn the edge of anarchy
The Berlin-based Yemenite-Israeli band El Khat use handmade instruments to create a chaotic blend of styles and traditions. Behind the raucous noise, they explore themes of silencing, conflict and displacement.
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Aziza Brahim's CD "Soutak"Music of beauty from a barren land
Relatively few people will have been familiar with the music, culture and history of the Sahrawi people of north-western Africa before Aziza Brahim arrived on the music scene. Brahim has not only won an award for her original soundtrack to the film "Wilaya", she has also released three albums. Her latest album, "Soutak", spent three months at the top of the World Music Charts Europe in 2014. A review by Richard Marcus
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Tahrir and Taksim – Part IISoundtrack of two revolutions
Tahrir and Taksim: two squares, one new culture of protest? In the second part of this two-part report, Amin Farzanefar looks at the how street art, music and film became essential parts of the new protest culture
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Tahrir and Taksim – Part IA new culture of protest
In 2011 and 2013, two major cities in the Islamic world were rocked by popular unrest. The extended demonstrations seemed to usher in a new culture of protest. In this two-part report, Amin Farzanefar looks at how the art and music scenes changed in Cairo and Istanbul as a result of these protests
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International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2014: "Frankenstein in Baghdad"Beyond good and evil
Ahmed Saadawi's novel "Frankenstein in Baghdad" has won the 2014 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Khaled Hroub presents the book
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Book review: Rosa Yassin Hassan's "Guardians of the Air"Nine months of suffering, hope and fear
While Assad's regime seems more firmly ensconced than ever, and Syria seems to have descended into an apparently endless and brutal civil war, the novel "Guardians of the Air" by Rosa Yassin Hassan, a Damascus-based writer, provides an insight into the difficult lives of those directly affected by violence and displacement. By Volker Kaminski
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Interview with the composer Marc SinanA modern-day Bartók of Turkic music
Dede Korkut, the best-known of the epic stories of the Oghuz Turks, and the music that goes with it form the basis of Marc Sinan's new docu-fictional musical theatre production, "Dede Korkut – The Story of Tepegoz". Astrid Kaminski spoke to the composer
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