According to news reports, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for five social activists. These individuals include Isra al-Ghomgham who could become the first Saudi female executed for political activism if things go the regime’s way in court. According to Human Rights Watch the charges against them include “participating in protests in the Qatif region,” “incitement to protest,” “chanting slogans hostile to the regime,” “attempting to inflame public opinion,” “filming protests and publishing on social media,” and “providing... Read more

Much has been written about the role the West and Russia have played in creating turmoil and imposing war on Muslim majority nations from North Africa to Afghanistan. Rarely has attention focused on the role played by the “Ummah”-the much hyped global community of Muslims united by the ties of creed that we hear about so often. What have the leaders and defenders of this supposed spiritual family of 1.8 billion people done while innocents are led to slaughter and nations... Read more

The most ubiquitous epithet in conservative and centrist circles these days is “regressive leftists” — liberals and leftists who are purportedly betraying their values by restricting the parameters of free speech and enabling extremists. These regressives are said to be stifling criticism of Islam and refusing to mention the role of religious ideology in terrorism. Whenever someone engages in the “intellectual” exercise of criticizing Islamic doctrine and pointing out the role it plays in the genesis of terrorism, they immediately... Read more

Over four hundred thousand Syrians have been killed in what is now six years of unrelenting war. More than six million people are internally displaced while almost five million are displaced in neighboring countries and Europe. Furthermore, this disaster is still unfolding as the horrors in Eastern Ghouta illustrate. As multiple simultaneous battlefronts ensue it is evident that the divergent interests of world and regional powers are sabotaging peace efforts. The fragmentation and power struggles that allowed the ascension of... Read more

  Last month the Pakistani government announced a new “national narrative” with the pro-patriotic moniker “Paigham-i-Pakistan” (Message of Pakistan). The document was prepared after consultation among religious scholars and parliamentarians. It includes a “Fatwa” (religious ruling) against terrorism endorsed by 1,800 clerics.  Among the speakers were the President, Foreign Minister and Interior Minister-indicating that the government wanted this to be as high profile an occasion as possible. A new national narrative is badly needed at a time when the forces... Read more