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 …
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In an effort to increase tourism, Saudi Arabia recently eased its strict dress code for foreign women, allowing them to go without the body-shrouding abaya robe still mandatory for Saudi women. FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images Alainna Liloia, University of Arizona Arab women, long relegated to the private sphere by law and social custom, are gaining new access to public …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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Eviction remains a threat for Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah. AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo Kristen Alff, North Carolina State University The bombing of Gaza may have ended, the sirens in Tel Aviv silenced for now. Yet as concern over a planned June 15, 2021 march by right-wing Israeli nationalists underscores, the threat of violence in Israel is never far from the …
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The storm over the construction of the grand mosque in Strasbourg has been long brewing. Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images Carol Ferrara, Emerson College Among the anti-Muslim slogans discovered sprayed across an Islamic community center in western France on the morning of April 11, 2021, was a reference to a mosque that hasn’t even finished being built yet. “EELV = …
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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 …
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An homage to Samuel Paty, a teacher murdered after showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Oct. 18, 2020. Adnan Farzat/NurPhoto via Getty Images Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University A French high school teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class was beheaded on Oct. 16 by an 18-year-old …
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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 …
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