Herzl’s Troubled Dream: The Origins of Zionism
Zionism has been seen either as a movement of national liberation or as a form of settler colonialism. In reality, it is both.
Islam
Words and Deeds
Controversy surrounding the ‘Satanic Verses’ is centuries old.
‘Muhammad, the World-Changer’ by Mohamad Jebara review
Muhammad, the World-Changer: An Intimate Portrait by Mohamad Jebara is a balanced rendering of the Prophet Muhammad’s life.
Pilgrims Processed
Muslims from Asia who wished to travel to Mecca on the Hajj were exploited by a trade in human cargo that grew with the opening of the Suez Canal.
‘The Fatamids’ by Shainool Jiwa review
A case for the study of Islam’s ‘other’ history.
Who Were the Mamluks?
How the Mamluks, the slave-warriors of medieval Islam, overthrew their masters, defeated the Mongols and the Crusaders and established a dynasty.
Sufism: Into the Mystic
An introduction to Sufism, the mystical-ascetical movement within Islam, whose followers have often been the target of ISIS jihadis.
Charlemagne, Muhammad and the Fall of Rome
Henri Pirenne transformed the way historians think about the end of the Classical world and the beginning of the Middle Ages.
Islamic Heartlands and India in the 18th Century
The chance survival of a ‘postbag’ of letters reveals a lost world of merchants, pilgrims, bankers and scholars.
Islam’s ‘Toxic’ Schism
Embodied in the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Sunni-Shia divide is a schism that threatens to tear the Islamic world apart. Though its origins go back to the beginnings of Islam, its present toxicity is a recent development.