'Islamic State' | IS | Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World

Topic: 'Islamic State' | IS

A Shia imam and a Shia fighter in Iraq (photo: Reuters)

Sunni-Shia conflict

The enemy of my enemy

Anyone who thinks that the Sunnis in Tikrit and Mosul will welcome the opponents of Islamic State with open arms as liberators is mistaken. They fear the Shia militias even more than they do IS. This shows how the inner-Islamic religious war has polarised Iraqi society. By Stefan BuchenMore

Military offensive against IS in Iraq: Strike and counter-strike Offensive against IS in Iraq: Sowing the seeds of the next disaster Iran's foreign policy: All options are open The Iraq crisis and the West: The ugly new order in the "Fertile Crescent"

US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Obama's state visit to India on 25 January 2015 (photo: picture-alliance/AP Images)

India and "Islamic State"

Indian Muslims not heeding the siren call of IS

IS's recruitment of fighters for the "holy war" in Syria and Iraq has long been an international problem. In India, home to the world's second largest Muslim population, the security forces are also alert to the issue. By Ronald Meinardus in New DelhiMore

Conversion of Christians and Muslims in India: Homecoming or forced conversion?India's anti-corruption champion Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi's new broom very nearly makes a clean sweep Indian Muslims' attitudes to the election of Narendra Modi: Apprehension and hope Interview with the political theorist Rajeev Bhargava: "The BJP has to give up its obsession with Muslims"Elections in India: Muslims to play key role

Shia units of the Iraqi army near the suburbs of Ad-Dawr near Tikrit (photo: Getty Images/AFP/Al-Rubaye)

Military offensive against IS in Iraq

Strike and counter-strike

The Iraqi army hopes that taking back Tikrit will come to mean to it what Kobani means to the Kurds: a turning point and a motivational push in one. By Birgit Svensson in BaghdadMore

Offensive against IS in Iraq: Sowing the seeds of the next disaster Inside Kobani: The political game and the humanitarian crisis Iran's foreign policy in Yemen and Iraq: Arab fear of the "extended arm of Iran"Portrait: Qassem Soleimani: The man who pulls the strings

Sari Nusseibeh (photo: Bernhard Ludewig)

Interview with Sari Nusseibeh

"Israelis and Palestinians will have to start thinking seriously about a one-state solution"

Sari Nusseibeh is a Palestinian philosophy professor and was president of al-Quds University in Jerusalem from 1995 to 2014, where he still teaches. For many years, he was the most senior Palestinian official in East Jerusalem. In this interview with Sabine Peschel at the recent Goethe-Institut conference "Dialogue and the experience of the other" in Berlin, he speaks about Israeli–Palestinian negotiations, the upcoming elections in Israel, the legacy of the Arab Spring and the rise of Islamic StateMore

General election in Israel: Elections for nothing Interfaith dialogue in Palestine: Reviving a heritage of peaceful co-existence Israel's crisis politics: On hope and despair in the Middle East Reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah: No peace without Palestinian unity Alternative Nobel Prize for the Palestinian Raji Sourani: "We just don't have the right to give up hope"

Lamya Kaddor (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Interview with the Islam scholar Lamya Kaddor

Jihad as a form of youth protest

In her new book "Zum Töten bereit. Warum deutsche Jugendliche in den Dschihad ziehen" (Willing to kill. Why German youths are joining the jihad), religious education teacher and scholar of Islam Lamya Kaddor asks why some young Germans are attracted to the jihadi cause. Claudia Mende spoke to her about the radicalisation of young GermansMore

German jihadists: Turning their backs on the West Salafists in Germany: A simple world view and the promise of paradise Interview with intelligence operative Benno Köpfer: "You're allowed to be a Salafist in Germany"The German Islam scholar Lamya Kaddor: Why I as a Muslim woman don't wear a headscarf

Signpost pointing in opposite directions, towards Iran and towards Syria (photo: Fotolia/xstock)

Iran's foreign policy

All options are open

Is Iran part of the problem or part of the solution to the conflicts in the Near and Middle East? There are actually good arguments for both points of view. By Bahman NirumandMore

Saudi Arabia and Iran after the death of King Abdullah: No prospect of rapprochement The West's strategy in the Middle East: Hollow alliance The Middle East in 2014: New regional power games Nuclear negotiations with Iran: The nuclear waiting game Iran's foreign policy in Yemen and Iraq: Arab fear of the "extended arm of Iran"

Soldiers from the Iraqi army and Shia volunteer fighters prepare for the offensive to take back Tikrit from the jihadis of IS (photo: Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani)

Offensive against IS in Iraq

Sowing the seeds of the next disaster

With their keen fighting spirit, the Shia militias may well be an effective weapon in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq. However, this is quite literally a case of casting out the devil that is IS with the Beelzebub that is the Shia militias, says Karim El-GawharyMore

Strategies against Islamic State: The case against an alliance with Assad Strategies for combating IS: Plea for a wide-angled view of the Arab world Portrait: Qassem Soleimani: The man who pulls the strings Iraqi crisis: The expected death of a nation Fighting in the Iraqi province of Anbar: "Maliki is the new Saddam!"

Taliban in Helmand Province (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

"Islamic State" versus "Taliban Emirate"

One caliph too many

The IS terrorists' self-proclaimed caliphate does not recognise borders. For some time now, the black flags of "Islamic State" have also been sighted in Afghanistan. This is a direct challenge to their rivals from the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", better known as the Taliban. By Emran FerozMore

The emergence of Islamic State in Pakistan: "They don't negotiate, they don't make partners"Drone war in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Living in the shadow of the "angels of death"Interview with Afghanistan expert Thomas Ruttig: "The violence threshold is low"Portrait of Pakistani politician Imran Khan: Flirting with the Taliban

Female supporters of Islamic State (photo: dpa/picture-alliance/syriadeeply.org)

"Women of the Islamic State"

Prisoners of a barbaric system

Marriage at age nine is permitted, working is not; make-up is evil. A new treatise written by female supporters of IS sheds light on the image and role of women in the area controlled by Islamic State. By Prof Susanne SchroeterMore

Qantara dossier: Women in the Islamic World Interview with Gudrun Kramer: Muslims must take a critical look at controversial passages in the Koran Interview with Karen Armstrong: Islamist violence is "in part a product of Western disdain"

Demonstration in Amman in support of the Jordanian government in the fight against terrorism (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Adayleh)

After the murder of the pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh

Rage, not fear

Burning the pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh alive was meant to sow fear and discord in Jordan. It has in fact had the opposite effect. The Jordanian writer and literary critic Fakhri Saleh looks back on a harrowing and dramatic week in JordanMore

Killing of Jordanian pilot: United in sorrow, united against IS Global strategies for combating Islamic State: The intellectual battle against IS The international alliance against IS: No clear objective Military strikes against IS: Fragile alliance

Prof Gudrun Kramer (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte)

Interview with Gudrun Kramer

Muslims must take a critical look at controversial passages in the Koran

The majority of Muslims are quite rightly resisting attempts by jihadists to co-opt their religion. Yet at the same, both jihadists and their opponents justify their arguments by quoting passages from the Koran. Ulrich von Schwerin spoke to the Islam Studies scholar Gudrun Kramer about the relationship between Islam and violence, the interpretation of the Koran and possible ways of combating jihadismMore

Interview with Karen Armstrong: Islamist violence is "in part a product of Western disdain"Interview with Harry Harun Behr: "I don't know how Mohammed can be offended"Islam and violence: Conservative Muslims refute the violence of IS Muslims and the Paris attacks: "I distance myself from these murderers – not as a Muslim, but as a human being"

Interview with Karen Armstrong

Islamist violence is "in part a product of Western disdain"

Karen Armstrong, British scholar of comparative religion, finds that there is a long and inglorious tradition of distorting Islam in Europe. She criticises the notion that Islam is essentially more violent than Christianity and speaks about the genesis of Western disdain for the Arab world. Interview by Claudia MendeMore

Interview with Gudrun Kramer: Muslims must take a critical look at controversial passages in the Koran Democracy and freedom of speech: Charlie and Theo Interview with Turkish sociologist Nilufer Gole: "There is a collective will to live together"France after the attack on "Charlie Hebdo": Much more is at stake than press freedom

Protests against IS's killing of the Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh Amman, 6 February 2015 (photo: picture-alliance/epa/J. Nasrallah)

Killing of Jordanian pilot

United in sorrow, united against IS

IS's brutal killing of a Jordanian fighter pilot has shaken the people of Jordan and united the nation. The war and chaos in neighbouring Syria and Iraq no longer seem as far away as they used to. By Tania Kramer in AmmanMore

Islam and violence: Conservative Muslims refute the violence of IS Strategies for combating IS: Plea for a wide-angled view of the Arab world The genesis of Islamic State: A new chapter in the decline of the Arab world Islamic State (IS): A totalitarian, expansive and hegemonic project

Saudi Arabia's former king, Abdullah, and former Iranian President, Ahmadinejad, at a Gulf Co-operation Council summit (photo: Reuters)

Saudi Arabia and Iran after the death of King Abdullah

No prospect of rapprochement

The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been known to reach explosive heights on occasion. Deadly proxy conflicts are currently raging in a number of flash points in the Middle East. By Adnan TabatabaiMore

The West's strategy in the Middle East: Hollow alliance On the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: "Riyalpolitik", conservatism and modernisation The Middle East in 2014: New regional power games Iran's foreign policy in Yemen and Iraq: Arab fear of the "extended arm of Iran"

Harry Harun Behr (photo: IZIR, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

Interview with Harry Harun Behr

"I don't know how Mohammed can be offended"

The Muslim religious educator Harry Harun Behr promotes openness in theology. Stefan Toepfer spoke to him about violence, teaching Islam, the fight against radicalisation and the "Charlie Hebdo" caricaturesMore

Islam and violence: Conservative Muslims refute the violence of IS Qantara dossier: Reform Islam Interview with Farid Esack: "Pluralist societies are about give and take"

A photo of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs on a ruined building in Al-Dukhaneya on the outskirts of Damascus (photo: Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)

Peace initiatives for Syria

Negotiate locally, implement internationally

A comprehensive solution to the Syria conflict is still a distant prospect. And "freezing" the fighting will not succeed without UN monitoring. If the suffering of the people is to be alleviated and a foundation of trust laid for negotiations, local initiatives must be implemented with international support, says Kristin HelbergMore

Strategies against Islamic State: The case against an alliance with Assad Syrian refugees in Lebanon: "We will perish here!"Civil war in Syria: Everyday life in a country destroyed The kidnapping of the "Douma 4": The Salafist and the human rights activist