Tag: Islam

Islamic Fundamentalism: how Jihadist leaders betrayed their political counterparts over and over again

The Levant News publishes global voices from various people with different backgrounds. After stories from the Netherlands, Lebanon, Italy, and the United States today, Mohammed bin Hussein Al-Dossary writes from Saudi Arabia about Islamic fundamentalism. In the past, decennia have been following various Egyptian Islamic Groups. I analyzed all sorts of available data: individual, collective, […]

Sophia Arjana on the West's insatiable appetite for the Mystical and the Muslim

The Levant News Exclusive – By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD Dr. Sophia Rose Arjana, please introduce yourself to our readers. Your education, background and interests? I am an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Western Kentucky University. My department home is the Department of History. I hold a BA in Pacific Island Studies, an MA in […]

Supreme leader imposes ideological limits on new presidential candidates

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supported a hardline watchdog body’s disqualification of leading moderate and conservative candidates seeking to run in the June presidential election, state TV reported on Thursday. The Guardian Council, which vets candidates, has approved seven out of 592 hopefuls including hardline judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, while excluding his high-profile rivals […]

Bukhara - The Capital of Islamic Culture

Sacred Bukhara is one of the tourist gems of Uzbekistan. The historic city centre is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The age of the city exceeds 2500 years. Let us say one thing. You will lose out so, so much, if you do not visit Bukhara. Popular landmarks If you want to plunge […]

In free speech hypocrisy, Syrians persecuted in Germany over Macron satire

German police are investigating a Syrian satirist who filmed a video in a Berlin street in which, dressed in an Arab robe and turban, he flogged a handcuffed man wearing a mask depicting French President Emmanuel Macron. The video also showed Fayez Kanfash dragging the Macron character on a leash cheered by onlookers on Sonnenallee, […]

Erdogan backs growing calls for French boycott

Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan asked his compatriots to stop buying French goods on Monday in the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over images being displayed in France of the Prophet Mohammad, which some Muslims consider blasphemous. In Bangladesh on Monday, protesters held placards with a caricature of French President Emmanuel Macron and […]

Pakistan takes on immoral TikTok

Pakistan on Friday blocked social media app TikTok for failing to filter out “immoral and indecent” content, the country’s telecommunication authority said in a statement. “In view of number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral and indecent content on the video sharing application TikTok, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued instructions […]

The Political Foundations of Religious Tolerance

The Arab Muslim world struggles with sectarian and ideological conflicts that affect the stability and progress of the region’s states and count loss in human lives and economic devastation among their consequences. Sectarian conflicts are not exclusive to the Muslim world. By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem Both the Christian West and Hindu-Sino East suffered from it […]

Capitalism is not a moral Virtue, it’s like fire

[I wrote this blog piece in October 2016, on the eve of the US presidential election. Given all the discussion today of what kind of a system we are trying to protect and restore under Corona Virus, I thought it would be relevant to revisit it on the eve of this 2020 election as well.] […]

Netflix gay controversy in Turkey

Rumours of a gay character in a new Turkish Netflix series, “Love 101”, have ignited calls for a boycott of the streaming service and sharp criticism from the broadcast regulator. A furore erupted after a now-deleted Twitter account @love101netflix suggested one of the main characters in the show - a story about students helping their […]

Heart of Atlantis: Ammar Al Masry’s Not-So-Artificial Intelligence Epic Nears Completion, for Now!

I’ve written previously about Ammar Al-Masry’s novels Shadows of Atlantis and Throne of Atlantis, so it only seems fair to write about the third and supposedly final instalment in the New World series, Heart of Atlantis (2019). I’d finished reading the novel the previous year but held out on writing about it till the Egyptian […]

Mark Sedgwick on the Use and Abuse of Sufism

The Levant News Exclusive - By Emad El-Din Aysha | Mark Sedgwick is Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, and Chair of the Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies. He studied history at Oxford University, did his PhD at the University of Bergen, and taught for many years at the American University […]

Aga Khan Museum exhibition celebrates 50th anniversary of first human steps on the moon

The Moon: A Voyage Through Time" explores wonder, knowledge, and beauty inspired by the moon through the ages Toronto, Canada — The Apollo 11 lunar landing on July 20, 1969, was a transformative event for humanity, yet the moon has captivated cultures since the dawn of civilization. "The Moon: A Voyage Through Time" […]

‘Backwards’ by Whose Standards? Twists and Turns Along the Evolutionary Course of Egyptian SF

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD* Iritdad or ‘Backwards’ is a science fiction novel by Egyptian author Muhammad Ahmed Al-Nagui, published originally in 2016. As you can probably guess from the title, the novel fits in the time-travel genre. The story is set in the distant future, 2107 to be specific, and begins with the […]

Pilgrims gather on Mount Arafat for Haj climax

More than two million Muslims gathered at Mount Arafat on Monday for a vigil to atone for their sins and ask God’s forgiveness as the annual Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia approached its climax. Pilgrims clad in white robes signifying a state of purity spent the night in an encampment around the hill where Islam […]

1 2 3 Next »

Stay up-to-date

Latest news

Russians bomb Syrian extremists working in US zone

Polls prove Americans don't want war with Iran

Anti-liberal backlash as Christian nationalism sweeps USA

Al-Rahi says easier dealing with Israel than fellow government

Ceasefire brokered between Gaza and Israel