Current international practice standards and extensive research from the fields of political science, international relations, sociology, religious studies, and communication all note the importance of civil society as a space for exchange and communication for…
[Book Review] Rashid Shaz. Kodra: A Narrative of Shi‘a-Sunni Understanding (New Delhi: Milli Publications, 2018). 239 pages. INR 300 hardcover. A romanticized view of Muslim history still makes Muslims comfortable. Their discussions are heavily loaded…
Sectarianism has become a key issue of both scholarly and political debate over the Middle East in recent years, particularly with war, unrest, and crisis in places like Iraq, Syria and Bahrain. This article focuses…
In June 2014, the Sunni “jihadi” group that called itself the Islamic State (IS) took over Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, in a shockingly easy operation. As the Iraqi army collapsed and its troops deserted,…
There is an ongoing debate among modern Muslim scholars as to whether politics and religion are intrinsically tied together in Islam, or that such a link has merely been a coincidence, imposed upon the religion…
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is home to what may be the continent’s largest Shi‘i community. Estimates for its size range as high as three million people, or somewhere between two to five percent of…
As we promised earlier, Maydan continues to present content from the Sectarianism, Identity and Conflict in Islamic Contexts: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives conference held at George Mason University in April 2016. We hope this series…
In 1993, I set out for the UK in order to start my doctoral studies. I knew few things about life in that country. My family was particularly worried whether I would be able to…
While the media and some politicians often reiterate that Sectarianism and the Sunni-Shiʻi rivalry date back to a split in the earliest days of Islam, and are the outcome of primordial rivalries resulting from that…
The centrality of religion in Saudi Arabia pervades both society and the state as a source of political legitimacy and a guide to public and private life. It is also a source of identity and…