Posts Tagged ‘Egypt’

This past July, in Dresden, Germany, Marwa al-Sherbini, a 31-year-old Egyptian pharmacist was murdered in a courtroom. I wrote about this story right after it happened and received many responses to the event. Many were troubled by the fact that this women was stabbed at least 16 times in full view of witnesses, including her husband and three [...]

This past month, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, shocked many by issuing a ban on students and teachers wearing the niqab, or face veil, in Al-Azhar University or its adjoining schools, specifically in all female settings. Tantawi’s decision to issue this ban stemmed from an interaction that he had with a [...]

Where can someone start with the story that has occupied Egyptian news media outlets for the past few days? It sounds so outrageous and so sad. How can a 32-year-old pregnant woman get murdered in a courtroom in Germany in full view of  witnesses? But it did happen and now Muslim communities around the Middle [...]

Despite the debate over whether any type of music is permissible in Islam, different types of Islamic rap have popped up around the world.

Social networks such as Facebook are increasingly used to organize political demonstrations like this April 6, 2008 strike and promote their coverage in mainstream news reports.

Author Alaa al-Aswany wrote an op-ed about President Obama’s silence about the Gaza conflict in “Why the Muslim World Can’t Hear Obama,” published in The New York Times. He contends that President Obama’s rhetorical gesture to reach out to the Muslim world in his inaugural address and in an interview with Arab news station Al [...]

The blog Hatshepsut is about women, politics, and academia in Egypt. What attracted my attention most is the series “Overheard in Cairo.” Like Overheard in New York City it features short clips of dialogue submitted by attentive listeners eavesdropping for the sake of everyone’s enjoyment.

Inside Islam radio host Jean Feraca interviewed Alaa al-Aswany, also known as the Sinbad of literature, on Here on Earth yesterday. The radio show podcast is attached to this post.