The ‘Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia by Francis Robinson. Pub: C. Hurst & Co., London, UK, 2001. Pp: 267. Hbk: £40.00.

The victory of the ‘Islamist’ Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey’s general elections earlier this month was greeted with incredulity and consternation among both Turkey’s secular elite and its Western allies, who have been wont to hold Kemalist Turkey up as a model of the separation of Islam and politics for other Muslim countries.

The ICIT held a second International Seerah Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, last month. Here we publish the paper presented at the conference by IMAM MUHAMMAD AL-ASI.

Although the Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA), a coalition of six Islamic parties, did unexpectedly well in Pakistan’s elections last month, the role of its component parties has not been widely discussed.

The electoral victory of the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti, AKP) in Turkey has opened a new era in Turkish political life. The parliamentary election held on November 3 resulted in the sweeping victory of a ‘conservative’ Muslim party despite its leader, Recep Tayyib Erdogan, being banned for "inciting ethnic and religious hatred among people."

After more than two decades of being at the forefront of armed struggle against Egypt’s latter-day pharaohs, the jailed leaders of the radical al-Gama’ah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Group) have renounced the use of violence.

Hamas leader Khaled Misha’al said on November 9 that Palestine’s main Islamic movement would not give up military operations against the Israeli occupiers of Palestine.

The US’s long-planned war on Iraq moved a significant step closer on November 8, when the US succeeded in extracting from its reluctant allies in the UN a legitimising resolution providing it with a fig-leaf of legality for its plans to topple Saddam Hussain and occupy Iraq...

When six Yemenis travelling in their car 175 km east of Sana, the capital, were blown up by remote control on November 3, US officials were quick to claim the credit. They said that the CIA carried out the targeted assassination...

The US is stepping up its military presence in the Horn of Africa, one of the world’s most unstable regions, as part of its global ‘war on terrorism’ and to support its allies, as General Tom Franks, the commander of US troops in the Gulf, has said at a news conference at the Pentagon.

A new US immigration policy that discriminates against some Canadian citizens born in the Middle East and South Asia has been widely condemned in Canada. The controversial policy came into effect on September 11.

The overwhelming victory achieved by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the Turkish general election on November 3 has been described as a “political earthquake” and a “revolution”.