More American Jewish Students Take Up Study of the Arab World

October 18, 2013   Miriam Berger studied Arabic at Wesleyan University, lived twice as a student in Jordan, did thesis research in the West Bank and, after graduation, worked in Cairo. And like many of the Americans she has met each step of the way, she is Jewish. “I don’t see it as a contradiction…

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Richard Dawkins criticised for Twitter comment about Muslims

The outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins was involved in an online Twitter row on Thursday after tweeting: “All the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.”   As users piled in to criticise him, the scientist continued: “Why mention Muslim Nobels rather than any…

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US Born radical cleric took winding path to become ‘Pied Piper of jihadists’

Born in New Mexico and raised in Yemen, Anwar Awlaki learned to preach in the U.S. As a young man, he studied in several U.S. states, including California. At the local mosque where he preached, he delighted in playing soccer with young children and taking the teenagers paint-balling. “He had an allure. He was charming,”…

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An overview of religion and economics in Nigeria

Whether attempted Northwest Airlines bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was radicalized in Nigeria where he was raised, or the UK where he attended university, is so far unclear. This NPR interview with West Africa corespondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton discusses Christianity, Islam, US-Nigeria relations, and radicalism in Nigeria, exploring the environment Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was brought up amidst.

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    Muslim investors profit by adhering to faith during the economic crisis

    As the financial crisis in the United States worsens, the conservative principals of a small group of devout Muslims have helped to insulate them from economic suffering. Their renunciation of the interest-based economy kept them away from traditional mortgages and away from making investments in financial service companies, whose stocks have plummeted. Islamic finance, a…

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