FAQ ME: Answers that make sense of the Middle East
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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The queen, the princess and the prophet
Although it is improbable that Elizabeth II is a descendant of Muhammad, one of the British queen’s ancestors was likely a refugee Muslim princess. However, the enduring popularity of this theory speaks some harsh truths about post-colonial reality and sheds light on the intertwined history of Islam and Christendom.
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The misinterpretation of Salman Rushdie and The Satanic Verses
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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When a Christian king and a Muslim caliph united against their common foes
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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Cultural adornments: How clothes fashion identity and mask bigotry
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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A recipe for mashing civilisations
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 MoreArab atheists: A demonised minority
Atheists are widely misunderstood by many Arabs and Muslims. There are those who believe us to be Satanists or that
Read MoreRemembering Jewish Arabists and Arab Jews
In these polarised times, the social, political and cultural influence and fluid identities of Arab Jews and Jewish Arabists is largely forgotten when it should be commemorated and celebrated.
Read MoreHow not to make Europe great again
A new alliance of Italian, Polish and Hungarian far-right parties promises a renaissance that will make Europe great and Christian again. The trouble is the original Renaissance was not Christian, and Europe has never been better.
Read MoreLessons in religious intolerance
By Khaled Diab Using offensive images of Muhammad in the context of a lesson on blasphemy is entirely justifiable pedagogically,
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