The golden age of Islamic civilization, the thousand years from about 700 to 1700 CE during which Muslims ruled from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and were the driving and leading force in human history, laying the foundations of much of what is now considered ‘modern’, have been carefully airbrushed out of modern western history books.

The challenges and moral dilemmas facing Muslim families requires an understanding of the shifts in ideological, social, religious and political forces that are shaping the structure and function of families in North America.

It would not be cynical to conclude that Algeria’s presidential election campaign will not produce new faces untainted by association with traditional power-elites,which are the usual arbiters of power in the country.

At a time when the Philippine mililtary is under immense pressure from the mujahideen of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao, the Manila regime has tried to give the rival Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) a new lease of life.

Even as the Indonesian regime was about to make the startling announcement that East Timor would be given a choice between greater autonomy within Indonesia or becoming independent...

When Muslims hear the word ‘peace,’ the ‘peace process,’ or ‘peacekeepers,’ they should be deeply concerned. The Muslims’ experience with each has been nothing short of disastrous. The cases of Palestine and Bosnia immediately spring to mind.

Abdullah Öcalan is a brutal and murderous terrorist. Let us make no bones about that. But the sight of him on television, a pathetic, blindfolded figure paraded for the cameras in front of two large Turkish flags while tens of thousands of Kurds demonstrated their anger at his arrest in cities across Europe, was evocative nonetheless.

Former Chechen mujahideen leader, Shamyl Basayev was elected leader of Ichkeria’s unofficial new Mekh Khhel (Shura Council) on February 20. The 35-member Council was established by opposition leaders on February 9, apparently in an attempt to create a de facto alternative to president Aslan Maskhadov’s increasingly isolated and beleaguered government.

Persistent charges over several years by Christian Solidarity International (CSI) that slavery is rife in Southern Sudan finally backfire as Khartoum, in an unprecedented move, invites the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to investigate the allegations, and the agency accuses the Swiss-based but British-led Christian group itself of encouraging slavery in the area.

Even as Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was being dined in Lahore, Pakistan, at least 34 persons were killed in the troubled Kashmir Valley over the two-day period on February 19 and 20.

Turkish prime minister Bulent Ecevit could hardly conceal his glee when he announced on February 16 that Ankara’s most wanted man had finally been captured. Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), had been arrested by Turkish Special Commandos and brought back to Turkey ‘to account for his deeds before an independent court.’