When Patricia Crone and Michael Cook’s Hagarism was first published in 1977 it was immediately controversial. Hagarism argued that the problems with the historical material of Islamic tradition were so severe that it was worthwhile looking at what source material there is […]
Last year Yemen celebrated 50 years since the republic was established via military coup. Political systems and the distribution of power they involve do not just disappear, they tend to replicate themselves in disguised forms and it would hardly be a surprise […]
With the fall of Hosni Mubarak, victory in legislative elections and the presidential vote, and now the approval via referendum of a new constitution, Islamists have begun the work of putting their renaissance project into practice. Unlike Salafism, which dreams of a […]
The advent of protests in Sudan raises interesting issues about the origins of the Arab protest movements, a vexed question that has been the object of much speculation and analysis. Candidates have ranged from US academic Gene Sharp, to social media, to […]
There was an interesting discussion on Twitter yesterday on the comparison between Egypt and Algeria, a theme that has come up after the ruling military council in Egypt dissolved parliament last week, took on legislative powers in the interim, gave the armed […]
The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the concomitant blow to the Egyptian security establishment has been the main take-away issue for governments around the Arab world from last year’s political upheaval. Egyptian security played a central role in coordinating with security […]
Mohammed Mursi was the Muslim Brotherhood’s “spare” after the charismatic Khairat al-Shater was disqualified from running in Egyptian presidential election. Opponents would even hold up spare tyres at rallies to ridicule a man who seemed awkward in public and not comfortable with […]
The death of Nayef would seem on paper to open up a world of exciting possibilities for Saudi society. He was the man with the hotline to the clerics who tried to keep them in line, he viewed the Shia as a […]
The street is mobilising again in Egypt after the Mubarak trial. The reasons appear entirely reasonable. Judge Ahmed Rifaat was clear that the evidence he was presented was shoddy. It was not enough to convict the six interior ministry security chiefs and […]
It’s easy to say in hindsight but there should not be any surprise that Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq have come on top – by fair means or foul – in the first round of voting in Egypt’s presidential elections. The reason […]