The public broadcast in Canada of the call to prayer during Ramadan this year caused some tensions. What the preliminary research has shown however, is that it wasn’t the noise people objected to.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s Narendra Modi government has been successful in scapegoating, discriminating against and marginalizing minorities, putting lives at greater risk.
Social distancing has made giving to the poor – an obligation under Islam – harder this Ramadan. Meanwhile Muslim nonprofits are feeling the strain of the economic downturn.
Saudi Arabia is barring international visitors for the hajj. A scholar explains a long history of disease, politics and war that have previously prevented people from making the journey to Mecca.
Islamic law requires Muslims to ritually clean their body before praying. This guidance has particular relevance at a time when hand-washing is important to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Haji-Daoud Nabi was a lifelong friend, who helped inspire my research in Afghanistan on how violent events shape people’s sense of community. I never thought my work would one day apply at home in NZ.
India’s leader has appealed for ‘peace and brotherhood’ after last week’s violence left 43 dead in Delhi. In Modi’s India, however, brotherhood requires religious minorities to know their place.
Anders C. Hardig, American University School of International Service
In recent years Bangladesh has seen an increase in attacks on religious minorities. A scholar explains how certain extreme views on how Islam is to be followed are taking center stage in the country.
Evelyn Alsultany, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
In retweeting a doctored image of Nancy Pelosi standing in a hijab in front of an Iranian flag, Trump is playing into fears that Iran and Islam are evil and anti-American.
Holiday movies offer us a glimpse into how the world is could be, often in sharp contrast to our lives as they are. In that way, the annual act of viewing them is like a religious ritual.
The US Constitution is supposed to protect freedom of religion. But in the 20th century, white Christian nationalists used this ideal to discriminate against Jews and justify their exclusion.
India’s Supreme Court has allowed a Hindu temple to be built on the disputed site of a 16th-century mosque. The verdict could have long-term ramifications for India’s tradition of religious diversity.
The New York Times has published 400 pages of Chinese government documents on the ‘re-education’ camps for Muslim detainees in Xinjiang. Here’s what you need to know.
Lebanon’s 1989 peace deal ended a civil war by sharing political power between religious factions. That created a society profoundly divided by religion – something today’s protesters hope to change.
Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, Religion and Civic Culture Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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