Reform In The Muslim World

The majority of Saudi responses to the affair of Rahaf Al-Qanun, the teen who fled her family in Saudi Arabia and sought asylum in the West, described her case as a "family affair" that has been blown out of proportion by "anti-Saudi forces" aiming to blacken the country's image....

In his July 8, 2018 column in the Saudi daily Al-Jazirah, Muhammad Aal Al-Sheikh slams Arab and African Muslim immigrants who choose to live in the West and even risk their lives to reach it, yet express hatred and contempt towards the West and regard it as infidel. He criticizes...

In an article in the Saudi government daily 'Okaz, journalist and legal expert Osama Yamani recounted a conversation he had with a friend, who criticized the Arabs and Palestinians for repeating the same "loathsome and impractical" discourse about Israel for decades while tr...

During a December 21, 2018, interview on France 24 Arabic TV, French-Moroccan journalist Zineb El Rhazoui discussed death threats she had received and violent comments that had been made about her after she said on TV that Islam must learn to accept criticism, abide by French law...

In the run-up to Christmas, and with the appearance of Christmas trees and Christmas decorations at places of business across Qatar as well as Christmas parties and events at hotels in the country,[1] Qataris began debating questions that come up in the Muslim world every year: S...

A photo published December 27, 2018 showed Jordanian Information Minister and government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat stepping on an Israeli flag painted on the floor of the entrance to the Trade Unions Complex in Amman. The trade unions are known for their hostility to Israel an...

The following are selected MEMRI TV clips from The MEMRI Reform Project (visit the MEMRI TV Reform In The Muslim World project page).   Lebanese Sociologist And Author Dr. Rita Faraj: Islam Is Clashing With Modernity And Needs To Reform Its Institutions Dr. Rita Faraj...

Sheikh Saeed Numan, an Egyptian cleric at Al-Azhar University and a former member of the Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, said that a marriage contract can be made between a female fetus and a male fetus by their respective guardians, and it would simply be suspended until the children ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) launched the new webpage for its MEMRI Reform Project to coincide with the 70th Human Rights Day, marking the day the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Reform Project amplifies the vo...

Introduction In recent months, King 'Abdallah II of Jordan has been facing growing criticism within the country and calls to limit his powers, from both popular elements and political circles. On October 6, 2018, the "National Follow-Up Committee," a group of 143 politicians ...

On December 1, 2018, Egyptian and other Arab media reported that, for the first time, a Coptic Mass had been held in Saudi Arabia, in the city of Riyadh. The Mass was performed by Ava Morkos, Coptic Bishop of Shobra Al-Kheima in Egypt, as part of his visit to Saudi Arabia.[1] The...

On September 8, 2018, an Egyptian court handed down death sentences to 75 Muslim Brotherhood (MB) activists who were involved in the demonstrations at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in 2013,[1] among them senior members of the organization such as 'Issam Al-'Arian and Muhammad Al-Baltaj...

In the recent months, there have been a number of murders and suspected murders of high-profile Iraqi women. In August 2018, two prominent women in Iraq's beauty industry died in mysterious circumstances: on August 16 plastic surgeon Dr. Rafif Al-Yasiri was found dead. The owner ...

Layla, a nurse who had worked for ISIS in Syria, said that she had been forced to perform abortions on ISIS slave girls when they became pregnant. She described how she had sedated her children so that she could safely escape with them to Lebanon under garbage bags in the back of...

A draft law to ban the niqab (full-face veil) in public places, which was recently submitted by Egyptian MPs, stirred a heated public debate in the country, and articles for and against it were published in the Egyptian press. The issue of the Islamic dress code for women per...

During a segment on Abu Dhabi TV, Emirati cleric Waseem Youssef said that today's generation is growing up playing "Fortnite," which is about "killing, destruction, stealing, and slaughtering," and that "[it is] producing a generation of murderers." He bemoaned that "Fortnite" te...

Speaking at the 27th Annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference, held on October 31-November 1, 2018 in Washington DC, UAE businessman Khalaf Ahmad Al-Habtoor urged the world to take firm action against Iran "by eliminating its global terrorist arm Hizbullah." He argued that the curr...