Political Islam

Lavish religious ceremonies in Turkey draw angry criticism

Conservatives' extravagant religious rituals have drawn harsh criticism from every quarter.

Turkey

Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowments boosts its imams' media skills

Media trainings aim to give Awqaf's imams better verbal skills — not only against extremist views but also against their rival Al-Azhar.

Egypt

Brotherhood detainees feel their leaders abandoned them

A group of Muslim Brotherhood detainees have signed a letter from inside prison, asking the authorities to pardon them as they are ready to quit political work after feeling abandoned by the group’s leadership.

Egypt

Iraq considers appointing powerful clerics to high court

Iraq's legislature is mulling over a bill that would change the makeup of the country's top court to include Islamic scholars, stirring controversy over how much influence they should have.

Iraq

Trump allies push back on Muslim Brotherhood terror designation

Even some hawkish lawmakers question the legal validity and political wisdom of a blanket designation.

Egypt

Political Islamists brace to lose financial favors after Istanbul shift

After major gains in local elections last month, including a landmark victory in Istanbul, Turkey’s main opposition vows to turn off the funding spigots for Islamic entities, which have long underpinned the ruling party’s electoral machine.

Turkey

Ministry of Religious Endowment renaming mosques across Egypt

Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments began replacing the names of mosques with political or ideological connotations in a bid to counter what it says is political exploitation.

Egypt

Powerful Iranian shrine endowment gets moderate custodianship

The appointment of a moderate as custodian of the wealthy Astan Quds Razavi could be a boon to the Rouhani administration — but only if the powers of the hard-line Mashhad Friday prayer leader are curtailed.

Iran

Separate and parallel: Why are Iranian conservatives creating ‘safe havens’?

The Iranian state appears to be increasingly funneling its resources into preserving and satisfying its loyal base rather than toward all-out efforts to win the hearts and minds of the broader public and enforce ultraconservative practices.

Iran

IRGC commanders begin to reprimand Iranians for electing Rouhani

Ultraconservative commanders in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are now openly criticizing voters for electing Hassan Rouhani, whose performance they view as the root cause of the country's economic woes.

Iran

Iran, India eye closer cooperation amid tensions with Pakistan

Rising tensions between Iran and Pakistan is pushing decision-makers in Tehran and New Delhi closer to each other, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the region.

Iran

Rouhani leverages Sistani visit to maneuver on Iran's regional policy

Hassan Rouhani’s first state visit to Iraq as president has ushered in a series of important economic and political accords between the two countries — but his crowning achievement was his audience with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Iraq