The teaching of Islam is often limited to its religious practice. How Christians, Jews and Muslims borrowed freely from each other in the realm of art, music, and literature is seldom discussed.
Women praying in Birmingham to celebrate Eid al-Adha.
Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Islamophobia affects all those who encounter it – whether they are Muslim or not.
A spate of French towns have banned burkinis. It’s the latest move in a long history of unease over women’s (and sometimes men’s) clothing.
Tim Wimborne/Reuters
The burkini bans, now overturned by a French court, are selective and ridiculous. But controversy over women’s clothing, and competing cultural notions of appropriate garb, are nothing new.
Islam is not a monolith, and understanding its source code has value for everyone.
Amit Dave/Reuters
Undertaking a Muslim education – coming to understand the faith’s teachings and its ideas about humanity – can have enormous value for anyone who wishes to tackle social conflicts.
The militant extreme right is also capable of attracting young Australians to its cause.
Andrew Stevenson/AAP
The arrest on terrorism charges of a white ‘nationalist extremist’ from an avowedly right-wing organisation should alert Australians to the dangers of violence from that direction.
After a question from a Muslim audience member, Senator-elect Pauline Hanson said “your Grand Mufti won’t even come out and condemn the terrorist attacks that’s happened overseas”. Is that right?
Online and offline activism are merging, as recognised by this protest against the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Twitter
Racial abuse and violence and the intertwining of ‘offline’ and ‘online’ worlds call for new methods for opposing racism in public.
Clashes over the building of a mosque in Bendigo are a reminder of how easily strong public feelings about immigration can be exploited.
AAP/Brendan McCarthy
Australians need to have a broad conversation about immigration. This must go beyond border security to discuss immigration’s broad functions, social impacts and the national interests it serves.
Dallas Rogers speaks with Rhonda Itaoui about her research into Islamophobia and navigating the city as a Muslim in the wake of public fear over terror attacks and a lack of understanding about Islam.
Pegida is striving to project a respectable image.
PA/Hannah McKay
Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University