Islamism
A Serious Question
The question of alcohol regulation in Syria, recently raised by secular advocates, is far from a minor detail. It strikes at the core of the discussions about the future nature…
To Kill a Novelist
The attempted assassination of the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz is remembered as a story of Islamist extremism. Yet the original controversy sparked by his work, particularly “Children of the Alley,” was more to do with his powerful political vision than his views on religion.
Where Laïcité Collides with Islam
Behind the French legal code separating state and religion, and why Emmanuel Macron's attempt to incorporate Islam into it is provoking anger among Muslims.
The Caliph of Lisson Green
Opportunities to meet a caliph are pretty rare. Yet in London in the 1990s, you could bump into a protector of the entire Muslim world on the Central line. He wore no finery, of course, and his palace was a two-bedroom government apartment in Dagenham.