Ethics & Religion

An Orthodox priest takes part in a rally in protest against an official visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople to Kyiv in August 2021. Anna Marchenko\TASS via Getty Images J. Eugene Clay, Arizona State University As Russia amasses troops on the Ukrainian border in preparation for a potential invasion, tensions between the two countries are also playing out …

Thousands of Afghans rushed to Kabul’s airport trying to flee the country as the Taliban seized power. Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images Michael Blake, University of Washington Chaotic scenes in Kabul accompanied the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The fundamentalist Islamic group was able to retake power after President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw the …

The Ghazanchetsots Cathedral was damaged earlier this year during fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images Christina Maranci, Tufts University A six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region in the South Caucasus, ended on Nov. 9 after Russia brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Under the deal, several ethnically Armenian provinces in Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenians …

Like their ancient ancestors, contemporary Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and consider baptism the most important of their religious rituals. Hadi Mizban/AP James F. McGrath, Butler University In March 2021 Pope Francis became the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Iraq. The number of Christians in Iraq has fallen sharply in the past two decades amid mass …

  Three years after the Myanmar Army orchestrated genocide in Rakhine State, the Rohingya crisis continues. Almost 1 million survivors of the Army’s brutal crackdown are stuck in transient settlements in Bangladesh, stateless for over three years. Back in Myanmar, at least 600,000 Rohingya remain internally displaced, and over 100,000 sequestered in camps Human Rights Watch calls “an open prison without end.” The recent arrest of 99 …

A student on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, trying out the hijab on World Hijab Day, 2017. AP Photo/Russell Contreras Kalpana Jain, The Conversation In 2013, Nazma Khan – who immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh at age of 11 – started World Hijab Day. Growing up in the Bronx, New York, Khan experienced …

One year on, Muslim women reflect on wearing the niqab in a mask-wearing world Muslim women say they are having an easier time wearing the niqab during pandemic times. hjrivas/Pixabay, CC BY Anna Piela, Northwestern University One year into the pandemic, protective face masks have come to signify different things for different groups of people. To some it’s an issue …

Halima Aden, the first Muslim model to wear a hijab and burkini on the cover of the swimsuit edition of the Sports Illustrated. Yu Tsai Kayla Renée Wheeler, Grand Valley State University Media reports have celebrated Halima Aden becoming the first woman to be featured in the Sports Illustrated annual swimsuit edition wearing a hijab or a burkini. In the …

A women is more than what she wears. Darrin Henry/Shutterstock Peter Hopkins, Newcastle University Rio 2016 is proving not just to be a platform for sporting prowess, it is also helping to shake up some traditionally-held cultural misconceptions too. In the West, many regard traditional Muslim dress like the hijab as a sign of oppression, with women forced to wear …

Muslim schools can provide a place for girls to study while wearing headscarves. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images Carol Ferrara, Emerson College Following recent terror attacks in France, President Emmanuel Macron appears intent on pushing forward with his plans to combat what he sees as “Islamic separatism” – starting with the schools. A new bill announced on Nov. 18 will …