Dire economic conditions are spurring an increasing number of women in Tajikistan to enter polygamous marriages. But it comes at a price. With few rights to underpin their existence, they bear a burden of social stigma that taints not only their lives but those of their children too. Madina Shogunbekova reportsRead more
To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, German journalist and Qantara.de contributor Cigdem Akyol has written a new history of what she calls "the divided republic". Marian Brehmer read the bookRead more
University lecturers critical of the regime are being dismissed, while those loyal to the regime are being rehired: Tehran's Islamic regime is apparently reshaping the country's universities even more strictly according to its own ideas. By Iman AslaniRead more
Morocco's devastating earthquake has led to a wave of solidarity with the victims, with many volunteers setting off under their own steam to help. But reconstruction will take a long time. Hans-Christian Roessler reports from AmizmizRead more
To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, German journalist and Qantara.de contributor Cigdem Akyol has written a new history of what she calls "the divided republic". Marian Brehmer read the bookMore
Morocco's devastating earthquake has led to a wave of solidarity with the victims, with many volunteers setting off under their own steam to help. But reconstruction will take a long time. Hans-Christian Roessler reports from AmizmizMore
Before the September 10 storm and flooding killed thousands, Libya's eastern port of Derna was best known for its revolutionary thinking, Islamist extremists and coastal scenery. Now the city is fighting for its very survival. By Cathrin SchaerMore
Excluding Kurdistan from a new infrastructure project in Iraq, designed to connect the Gulf with Turkey via road and rail, is purely political – despite the economic unfeasibility argument. Commentary by Sardar AzizMore
Dire economic conditions are spurring an increasing number of women in Tajikistan to enter polygamous marriages. But it comes at a price. With few rights to underpin their existence, they bear a burden of social stigma that taints not only their lives but those of their children too. Madina Shogunbekova reportsMore
University lecturers critical of the regime are being dismissed, while those loyal to the regime are being rehired: Tehran's Islamic regime is apparently reshaping the country's universities even more strictly according to its own ideas. By Iman AslaniMore
Hella Mewis refuses to give in. The head of a cultural centre in Baghdad has already been kidnapped once, but Baghdad is her home, and she’s staying. Lena Bopp finds out whyMore
Dots, crosses, lines: tattoos like these were inked on surviving Armenian women after the genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Historian Elyse Semerdjian uses the tattoos to tell their story. Interview by Anna-Theresa BachmannMore
Desperation is driving some Lebanese to take matters into their own hands. These days, robbing a bank to access your own money is likely to make you a folk hero. Karim El-Gawhary met two such 'criminals' in BeirutMore
Eklektik BerlinIstan's DJ Ipek – Ipek Ipekcioglu – is famous far beyond her home city of Berlin. Now the music producer has released her first album as part of the musical project "Karmaturji". Daniel Bax had a listenMore
The MENA Art Gallery in downtown Berlin is the brainchild of Italian researcher Enrico De Angelis and Syrian visual artist Zena El Abdalla. One transliteration of the colloquial Arabic for 'port' is 'mena', reflecting the intention to provide a haven for works by Arab artists, as Rama Jarmakani reportsMore
In May 2023, Algerian author Said Khatibi won the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Award in the young author category for his historical crime novel "Nihayat al-Sahra'" – in English, 'the End of the Sahara'. Claudia Mende caught up with Khatibi in Abu Dhabi for Qantara.deMore
Musicians from Afghanistan, Iran and Germany have come together to work on Bonn's Beethovenfest Campus Project 2023. The result can be heard on 14 September. By Anastassia BoutskoMore
Reminding people of the close ties that once bound Muslims and Jews in Iran and elsewhere, American-Iranian vocalist and songwriter Galeet Dardashti's "Monajat" travels through time to transcend seemingly impassable geographical and cultural borders. By Richard MarcusMore
More than 5,000 people have died, and over 7,000 people are still missing in the Libyan port city of Derna. Relief efforts are underway but face daunting challenges.
Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya, has placed his six sons in positions of political and military power. The deadly floods in Derna have seen his youngest, Saddam, rise to head of disaster relief management and the top of his succession charts. For Libyans, it spells more bad news, writes Leela JacintoMore
Why the distance, Mohammed VI?
When a devastating earthquake shook Morocco's High Atlas mountains, residents of poor areas where it struck turned for help to the state and the man who leads it, King Mohammed VI. Yet the monarch, with his sweeping powers, has kept a low profile, making just three appearances sinceMore
Nestled in the Rif Mountains of northwest Morocco, Chefchaouen – where Jews, Amazigh and Arabs settled to impart a unique blend of cultural identity – seems lost in a maze of myriad shades of blue. By Sugato Mukherjee
Muslims are already excluded from French political life: that’s the real 'abaya' issue
Abaya-wearing girls are seen not simply as students, but as envoys of global Islamism conspiring against the French nation, writes Kaoutar Harchi for The GuardianMore
Buddhism, Islam and religious pluralism in South and Southeast Asia
A new study shows Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia see strong links between their religion and country, as do Buddhists in Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.More
Financial Times: How to make lab-grown meat halal
Meat grown in a lab could be considered halal, according to advice from Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia to a U.S. food start-up, as the industry starts to explore certification for products to fit religious dietary rules.More
Surviving Greece's migrant boat disaster
In the early hours of 14 June 2023, a heavily overcrowded, rusty fishing trawler carrying as many as 750 migrants capsized off the coast of Greece. In this episode of BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents, three men describe surviving one of the worst migrant shipwrecks in decades.More
Modi government pushes for Sanskrit name
It began with a dinner invitation. How it ends could affect more than a billion people. State-issued invites sent to guests of this week's G20 meeting referred to India's president, Droupadi Murmu, as "President of Bharat". Is the country of more than 1.4 billion now to be called by its ancient Sanskrit name?More
Benedict VI: Christian-Islamic dialogue
Reading the late pope’s very brief reflections on Christian-Islamic dialogue, Jeff Mirus explores Benedict VI's position that while Islam really is "a religion of the book", Christianity simply is not. Grasping this is fundamental to constructively engaging in interfaith dialogue.More
Thousands of Muslim homes bulldozed by India's BJP party
India’s ruling Hindu Nationalist party is turning the bulldozer into a political symbol and, say opponents, a means of control.More
