Minorities in Belgium have become prominent and successful in every walk of life, yet they eye a resurgent and radical racist right with a sense of trepidation, especially as elections loom just over the horizon.
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By providing alternative answers to common questions about the Middle East, this FAQ will help you make sense of this complex region.
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Decades after the release of The Satanic Verses and the calls for his death which followed it, Salman Rushdie remains one of the most wildly and widely misunderstood contemporary writers in the English language.
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Despite the official holy war between Islam and Christendom, Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid and Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne exchanged lavish gifts, including an elephant named Abu al-Abbas, and built a largely forgotten alliance. This reveals how Christians and Muslims can simultaneously be foes and friends and how sharing a religion is no guarantee of peace, just as belonging to different faiths is no assurance of war.
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The clothes we wear speak volumes about our individual and collective identities. However, the history of fashion reveals that “western” and “eastern” traditions are not cut from different cloth but are an intricate patchwork foreign and local influences.
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The migratory history of foodstuffs and cuisines reveals that our dinner tables, like our societies, are both melting pots and salad bowls of ingredients from many different civilisations.
Read MoreTwenty thousand people named Muhammad gathered in one place is not a world record – it is an everyday reality. Muhammad is the most common name in the world.
Read MoreMedia representations of Muslims are overwhelmingly negative. Where are the reports on our talented comedians, rappers and football players?
Read MoreLapsed Muslims may get a taste for alcohol but pigs will fly before they allow pork onto their dinner plates.
Read MoreThe Band’s Visit shows an Egyptian police orchestra striking a chord with the locals after getting hopelessly lost in Israel.
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