A Blog about Middle Eastern & North African Politics, Society and Culture
Sitting across Mahdi al-Harati in the hotel lobby it is difficult to see why anyone would want this quiet Libyan dead. His insulin rests on the low table alongside his… Continue reading "Mahdi al-Harati: A Libyan Garibaldi?"
The 9/11 attacks gave birth to a Manichean world which is, as I write this, being played out in Syria and Iraq amongst other places. With this world in mind… Continue reading "Review: Unwinnable: Britain’s War in Afghanistan 2001-2014 by Theo Farrel"
I entered Najiyeh, a small town of no consequence, without their permission. The town claimed to be an ISIS principality. The claim seemed ridiculous but as we drove in to… Continue reading "Paradise Lost: The Rise and Fall of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi"
What follows is Part II of an interview about the Sharia with Al-Maqalaat by Tam Hussein @tamhussein. Part I can be found here The Dawn of Islamic Theocracy: Monumental Sacrifice… Continue reading "Fading contrasts in the future of global Jihadism: Military strength driven by perceptive tolerance"
The Afghan Jihad: An Annotated Interview with Musa al-Qarni about Abdullah Azzam and Ahmed Shah Massoud and the tension with the ‘Afghan Arabs’ In my research into the Arab Afghans… Continue reading "Musa al-Qarni on the Afghan Jihad"
After the death of the Prophet Muhammed the early Muslim community became acutely aware of the need to preserve their Prophet’s legacy. This idea of preserving revelation became even more… Continue reading "When Arabic and Hebrew Irregulars Worked Together"
Tourists and bohemians love rummaging through the stalls on Portobello Road with its shimmering trinkets and shaggy clothes fit for an art student. To the locals it’s a “joke ting”… Continue reading "What happened to ‘Man like Fatlum?’: The inside Story of the British Suicide Bomber of Ramadi"
In an important new book Durham University fellow Christopher M. Davidson, author of many books on the Gulf, sets out to explain why despite all the modernising forces that… Continue reading "A Crisis Waiting to Happen: Book Review of Christopher M. Davidson’s ‘After the Sheikhs’"
By @tamhussein Recently, Anjem Choudhary, 49, and Mizanur Rahman, 33, were imprisoned for their active support of the Islamic State. Choudhary’s imprisonment ends, for a small period at least, his… Continue reading "Prison Radicalisation: Dealing with Muslim Inmates with Terror Convictions"
An interview about the Sharia with Al-Maqalaat @AMaqal by Tam Hussein @tamhussein Background Context of this discourse began when the interviewer tweeted an interesting article, Stoning and Hand Cutting- Understanding the… Continue reading "The Dawn of Islamic Theocracy: Monumental Sacrifices for Consistent Stability"