Saudi Arabia Executes Four Protesters – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain

On 11 July, the Government of Saudi Arabia executed four men from the Eastern Province because of their participation in protests. According to the Saudi Ministry of the Interior, the men, Yusuf al-Msheikhass, Amjad al-Muaybed, Zuhair al-Basri, and Mahdi al-Sayegh, were guilty of a number of terrorism-related crimes. However, according …

Arab Gulf States: Assault on Online Activists

Gulf governments have sustained their campaigns to silence peaceful critics during the first half of 2017, Human Rights Watch said today, updating an interactive website, created in November 2016, featuring targeted human rights activists.

3 presentations on Shiism were among the papers presented at BRISMES in Edinburgh:

Radicalism, Reform and Migration: The Transformations of Shaykh Nimr Baqir al-
Nimr – Robert Riggs, University of Bridgeport

The Madrasa Habibiya at Firdus – Alireza Anisi, Iranian Research Institute for Cultural
Heritage and Tourism

The Limits of “Orthodoxy”?: Notes on the Anti-Abu Muslim Polemic of Early 11th/17th
Iran – Andrew Newman, IMES, University of Edinburgh

For the full programme, click here.

Incidents of Anti-Shiism in JUNE, 2017 – Shia Rights Watch

June 2017 Anti-Shiism Across the Middle East As anti-Shiism runs high, over 133 were killed in the month of June. New this month are attacks on Iranian soil and a death sentence given by social media posting in Pakistan.

Saudi demolition of historic Shiite homes stokes violence

Saudi Arabia is demolishing centuries-old homes in a Shiite town, leveling a historic district that officials say has become a hideout for local militants. The destruction has sparked shootouts in the streets between Saudi security forces and Shiite gunmen and stoked sectarian tensions that resonate around the region.

CISS Research Series Paper 2: A History of Shiʿism in Bahrain: 630 – 1524

Here you can read all the latest news on Shi’a Muslim studies and Muslim research from the Centre for Islamic Shi’a Studies (CISS).

Shia Muslims Population

According to Pew Research Institute, A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 1.6 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of…

State-backed discrimination against Shia Muslims in Malaysia

(2017). State-backed discrimination against Shia Muslims in Malaysia. Critical Asian Studies. Ahead of Print. doi: 10.1080/14672715.2017.1335848

How BAE sold cyber-surveillance tools to Arab states – BBC News

A year-long investigation by BBC Arabic and a Danish newspaper has uncovered evidence that the UK defence giant BAE Systems has made large-scale sales across the Middle East of sophisticated surveillance technology, including to many repressive governments. These sales have also included decryption software which could be used against the UK and its allies.

Commentary: Inside Trump’s Middle East mess

President Donald Trump’s attempt to bring peace and stability to the Middle East has backfired spectacularly. He has put a major U.S. ally, Qatar, in a serious geopolitical crisis and damaged the efforts of his own cabinet to calm regional tensions.