De-centring Shiʿi Islam
In the introduction to this special issue, we make the case for ‘de-centring’ the study of Shiʿi Islam, conceptually, spatially and sociologically. After first noting the essentialization of Shiʿi identity within the contemporary public sphere, we question its spatialization within the modern world of nation-states and area studies, and contrast the physical and human geography of Shiʿi Islam.
Articles by M Clarke, P Bruckmayr, M Leichtman et al., E Szanto, R Mauriello
Workshop: Sectarianism in the Middle East – Think Tank
Sectarian conflict and polarisation has become a key feature of Middle East politics in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings of 2011. This workshop looked at some of the key drivers of this, such as the troubled legacy of foreign intervention, state failure, regional rivalries between Saudi Arabia, Iran and others, ruling strategies of authoritarian regimes as well as the spread of identity and sect-based political movements.
Shia as Internal Others: A Salafi Rejection of the ‘Rejecters’
Conflict and polemic between Sunni Muslims and Shiites have a long history. In the contemporary era, this polemic has been accentuated by the conflictual situation in the Middle East, and it is also colouring the minority Muslim situation.
Bi-Annual Anti-Shiism Report – Shia Rights Watch
The first half of 2017 has been a turbulent time for Shia Muslims all over the world. Anti-Shiism, or the active targeting of Shia Muslim to limit their visibility and expression, was prevalent in across the globe. Shia Muslims, including their sub groups, make up approximately 50% of the total Muslim population.
Shiite Survival in Ottoman Aleppo|
This article presents a translation of a waqf document from the Ottoman archives of Aleppo. The author’s contention is this waqfiyya bears witness to the resilience of Shiite presence in a predominantly Sunnite city.
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…
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.
EGYPT, For the People or Against the People? – Shia Rights Watch
While the history of Shia Muslims in Egypt is long and extensive, anti-Shiism is prevalent in this nation. Once called the forgotten minority, Shia Muslims in Egypt are lost amidst country’s political unrest. Shia numbers are always undermined in state-issued reports in aims of suppressing the population.
For the rest of the SRW’s recent mailing, including ‘Incidents of Anti-Shiism in May, 2017’, see here.
Two conferences spotlight Muslim world’s struggle to counter militancy
Two conferences this week spotlight the Muslim world’s struggle to come to grips with extremism and militancy. The conferences, the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh and a gathering in East Java of youth leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s largest Muslim movement, laid bare the difficulty of reforming cultures in the battle against extremism, called into question the commitment of Muslim states to combat radicalism and political violence, and put on display US President Donald J.
Experimenting in Mapping Online Anti-Shia Sectarianism on Twitter in the Middle East
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see if sectarianism itself was more dominant in one place than an other, at least online? Are some countries/cities more sectarian than others? Is sectarianism a localised phenomenon, despite what we might see in the news? If we knew this, we could then highlight where to prioritize tackling it.