Little Flecks of Silver
At dawn the view of Damascus was glorious. I loved to watch the sun rise whilst Kurdish pigeon fanciers flew their little flecks of silver over the green minarets that… Continue reading "Little Flecks of Silver"
A Blog about Middle Eastern & North African Politics, Society and Culture
At dawn the view of Damascus was glorious. I loved to watch the sun rise whilst Kurdish pigeon fanciers flew their little flecks of silver over the green minarets that… Continue reading "Little Flecks of Silver"
Whenever I walk towards the Brick Lane Mosque in the east end of London I always look at it as a continuation of a Dicken’s novel; from the Artful Dodger… Continue reading "I, Relic: the story of my grandfather and the Bengalis of the East End"
Muhammad al-Rifai was an unassuming figure who ended up as the nominal leader of the Muslim world. Opportunities to meet a caliph are pretty rare. Yet in London in the… Continue reading "The Caliph of Lisson Green"
I was part panel that discussed how journalists in the West should approach Islamism. The Panel: Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi @ajaltamimi, Janina Findeisen@j_findeisen, Kevin B. Lee @alsolikelife, Tam Hussein, @tamhussein and… Continue reading "Investigating Islamism"
On the 26th-28th June clashes broke out between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and a faction led by the al-Qaeda affiliated Hurras al-Din (HaD). Although an informal agreement ended the violence… Continue reading "Into the heart of Jihadism"
To The Mountains: My Life in Jihad from Algeria to Afghanistan (Hurst) has so far received critical acclaim from a wide variety of people from Lawrence Wright to Yusuf Qaradawi.… Continue reading "The Meaning of Jihad at the Frontline Club"
The Covid pandemic has been characterised by one prominent analyst as an ideological one; one which is illustrative of how liberal democracies and autocratic states deal with such a grave and… Continue reading "After the Pandemic: Democracy in an Age of Big Tech"
Momodou* is beautiful. At seventeen he is a super-middle weight but as he grows into full manhood, he will box quite comfortably as a light-heavy weight. As of yet he… Continue reading "The Reluctant Roadman: the true story of children enslaved in Britain’s county lines"
When Kabul fell in 1992, Abdullah Anas recalls in his memoirs, To The Mountain: My Life in Jihad from Algeria to Afghanistan, that he encouraged Osama bin Laden to join… Continue reading "Night Letters: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Afghan Islamists who Changed the World- Book Review"
“What do you reckon that is?” Abu Imad said, tapping the scope. He looked at me, rubbing his bushy beard thoughtfully. He wanted me to make the two-meter journey to… Continue reading "The American"