Good news. I just learned that my book, Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks, will be translated into Turkish and published by the well-regarded Iletişim Press. There have been quite a few reviews, quite positive ones I’m gratified to report. Most recently, a review in Al Jazeera (in Arabic). I’m also giving a few talks, in [...]
Nicole Pope wrote a powerful article about the meeting of international Islamic scholars I attended in Istanbul last week (see my earlier post on the meeting here and the conference resolution here). The role of Islamic scholars in trying to stop both war-related and domestic violence in Afghanistan by undermining its religious justification is noteworthy. [...]
CHP member of parliament Safak Pavey recently returned from Syria where she and a group of Turkish lawmakers met with President Bashar al-Assad in an attempt to free foreign journalists believed held by his regime. Pavey crossed overland in Hatay and on her trip spoke with Syrian refugees. She learned that Christian refugees were being [...]
Here is the final resolution on Afghanistan issued by a large and varied group of top-level international Islamic scholars who met this week in Istanbul (see my blog post about the meeting below). The content was the result of two days of discussion and hours of haggling over the wording so that all the scholars [...]
I’m in Istanbul for a rather unusual event — the Third International Conference for Islamic Cooperation for a Peaceful Future of Afghanistan — a meeting of dozens of top Islamic leaders and scholars and Grand Muftis, including Deoband Ulema from India and a variety of Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and [...]
The woodsy mountainous state of Maine is known for its picturesque towns, the fortress-like solidarity of their old-timers, and the enormous moose roaming its woods and occasionally blocking the road. It’s the last place I would have expected the Gülen movement to apply to open a school. But why not? The proposed charter school in Bangor [...]
Nervana Mahmoud, writing in the Daily News Egypt, worries that Turkey’s schmoozing with other Muslim countries will expose Turkish society to the virus of radical Salafism. I have argued in my writings that Turkey’s extreme nationalism, Hanefi and Sufi-inflected forms of Islam immunize them to a great extent against non-Turkish transnational forms of Islamism. Naksibendi, [...]
Another review of my new book, Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks, has just appeared, this time in Muftah.org (click here). In case anyone is interested, all the reviews are listed on my website here.
Piety and profit, another mind-blowing example. You too can purchase a talking cup to instill the proper mindset (in case you think this is really too too trivial, religious explanations are pronounced by male elders):