The numbers of French Muslims and Muslims in France are exaggerated

12 January 2013 The Nouvel Observateur has sat down with the French-Syrian historian and co-author of the book ‘Notre France’ (Our France), Farouk Mardam Bey, to discuss his work on identity, integration and the idea of France. Bey describes his work as a product of the previous French presidential campaign, when polemic debates on French…

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Saladin Ahmed’s ”Throne of the Crescent Moon” An Arab-American Fantasy Epic

Saladin Ahmed’s fantasy novel “Throne of the Crescent Moon” is inspired by One Thousand and One Nights. In his review, Richard Marcus says the epic adds much needed diversity to the fantasy genre Being a fan of a particular genre of work doesn’t blind you to its flaws. So being an unabashed admirer of both…

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Book Review: Nathan Lean’s “The Islamophobia Industry, How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims”

Ahmed Sharif was a 44-year-old Muslim Bangladeshi taxi driver in New York City. It was August 24, 2010, a time that marked the height of vitriolic protests against a planned Islamic center to be located in lower Manhattan, a few blocks away from the site of Ground Zero. Sharif picked up 21-year-old Michael Enright for…

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New Book: Religion in Public Spaces – A European Perspective

Religion in Public Spaces: A European Perspective Ashgate, September 2012 Edited by Silvio Ferrari and Sabrina Pastorelli, both at The University of Milan, Italy Series : Cultural Diversity and Law in Association with RELIGARE This timely volume discusses the much debated and controversial subject of the presence of religion in the public sphere. The book…

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The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity

The world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are united in their belief in God and the Prophet Muhammad and are bound together by such religious practices as fasting during the holy month of Ramadan and almsgiving to assist people in need. But they have widely differing views about many other aspects of their faith, including how important…

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