Iran is eroding. Across Iran today, the very foundations of the Islamic Republic are being openly challenged. Millions of Iranians have flooded the streets demanding not reform, but the toppling of the Islamic Republic. These protestors are spurred by economic grievances, societal repression, and violent response to peaceful protest. Sounds familiar? It should. These protesters, […]
Tag: Islam
Dishonorable Killings: The Role of Police Brutality in Pakistan
Honor killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and political violence are just some of the words used to describe the police in Pakistan. These murders were not executed by some enraged mob but by the police—those responsible with enforcing the law and protecting the citizens of their country. The case is part of a broader pattern […]
France’s Ban on Religious Symbols Violates Free Expression
France, a nation with a history entangled with the church and fraught with religious conflict, has become staunchly secularist in modern politics, prompting a decades-long political controversy over the existence of Islamic symbols in public schools. On September 4, 67 girls were sent home from French public schools after refusing to remove their abayas, a […]
The Irony of the Balaclava
As we start our roaring 20s wearing face masks and getting vaccinated, it makes sense that companies are scrambling to meet their consumers’ needs. On top of the pandemic, climate change has been causing record-breaking cold temperature changes worldwide. Enter the balaclava—France’s newest fashion trend. As Paris continues its fashion week, viewers can expect to […]
Years in the Making: How Hindu Nationalism Has Shaped Indian Policy Towards Kashmir
A phone blackout. Military troops deployed to enforce a statewide curfew. Foreign journalists banned from entering a region the size of Idaho. Thousands arrested — including protesters, activists and politicians. In the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, this has been the reality since August of 2019. And it could get worse. Jammu & Kashmir […]
China’s Uighur Muslim Camps: The Face of Non-Western Islamophobia
You can stop saying “assalamu alaikum” to your neighbor, shave your beard, tell your children not to speak of their prayers, even try to fake tickets for an international flight, but you can never truly escape the terror. The psychological trauma remains of knowing that every move you make, every word you utter can lead […]
Captain of the Team, But Is He the Captain of the Country?
Imran Khan is a cricket-star-turned-politician who used a mixture of religious zeal and anti-corruption anger to catapult himself from the cricket ground to the office of the Prime Minister in August 2018. He ran a bruising campaign that damaged his relationships with other political parties in Pakistan. However, upon deeper reflection, there were forces other […]
The World’s Largest Security State Has Created its Own Security Problem
Violence In Western China The capital of the Chinese province of Xinjiang, Urumqi, looks like many Chinese cities. The horizon is full of construction machinery creating new factories, high-rises, and office buildings. More striking is that the streets of the developed sector are largely populated with ethnic Han Chinese. The Chinese government has incentivized Han Chinese to move […]
Terrorism in Context: the Stigmatization of Islam in France
With growing religious tensions in France regarding Islamism and the threat of terrorism, the stigmatization of Islam is a significant concern for the stability of France. Central to this discussion is the rising rate of Muslim conversions in France. Maia de la Baume’s article “More in France Are Turning to Islam, Challenging a Nation’s Idea […]
Indonesia in the Democratic Recession
Muslim protesters calling for the imprisonment of incumbent Jakarta governor Basuki Purnama on blasphemy charges On February 15th, millions of Jakarta residents went to vote in their third gubernatorial election since democracy took hold. More than a simple exercise of voting rights, this election represents a referendum on the direction of Indonesian democracy. The […]
France’s Burkini War: Conflating Islam and Terrorism
On July 28, the French Riviera town of Cannes implemented a new law that would quickly become a trend: they banned the wearing of the “burkini”, a full-body covering swimsuit that allows conservative Muslim women to cover up while at the beach. A number of coastal French towns soon followed suit, leading to incidents such […]
The Reformation Conundrum
Why Ayaan Hirsi Ali is wrong. Islam does not need a reformation. The rise of ISIS has created a number of question about the nature of Islam, ranging from the state of the religion today to fundamental theological questions that arise from the justification given by individuals or groups who use the religion of Islam to […]
A Story of Sisyphus – Islamophobia
The start of 2015 has been wrought with extremism: from the Charlie Hebdo attacks to an increasingly violent ISIS, Islam has began the year with an increasingly detrimental reputation for terrorism and chaos. However, in light of the recent tragedy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where a Caucasian man murdered three Muslim university students, important questions […]
The Mis-Coverage of Chapel Hill
On the evening of Tuesday, February 10, three young Muslim students were fatally shot near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Newlyweds Deah Barakat, 21, and Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and Yusor’s sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Slaha, 19, were found dead in their apartment. Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was arrested as a possible suspect […]
Piercing the Veil: Islamophobia and Miseducation in the American South
Cleveland County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Alton Nolen, the man accused of beheading his former coworker Colleen Hufford at a food distribution plant in Moore, Oklahoma. Minutes after being fired, Nolen, a Muslim, entered a different section of the Vaughan Foods facility and attacked employees. The tragic incident, concurrent with a surging […]
The Re-Emergence of the European Far-Right
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2013 print edition, which can be found here. Walking through a neighborhood in England while campaigning for the 2010 parliamentary elections, Gordon Brown encountered Gillian Duffy, a loyal Labor Party voter. Brown, former Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party, was likely expecting a normal campaign meet-and-greet […]
The Mercurial Case of Misuari
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2013 print edition, which can be found here. The Bangsamoro region of the Southern Philippines has seen a great deal of turmoil over the past few decades as Muslims fight for greater autonomy and independence. The Southern Philippines has seen houses burn and cities terrorized in a decades-long […]