CM01: The Arabs Are Alive

Ziauddin Sardar tries to grasp the significance of the ‘Arab Spring’, Robin-Yassin Kassab spends some quality time in Tahrir Square, Ashur Shamis dodges the bullets of of Gaddafi’s henchmen, Abdelwahab El-Affendi traces the roots of the uprisings, Anne Alexander tunes into the digital revolution, Fadia Faqir joins women protestors, Shadia Safwan asks how long could Asad last, Jamal Mahjoub contemplates futures of the Sudan, Jasmin Ramsey joins the activists in Tehran, and Jerry Ravetz ponders the significance of Ibn Khaldun to the Arab Spring.

Also in this issue: Rachel Holmes visits the Palestinian Festival of Literature, S. Parvez Manzoor asks if Turkey is a good model for the Muslim world, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad is overwhelmed by leaks, Taus Makhacheva takes ‘Affirmative Action’, Aasia Nasir accuses Pakistan and Merryl Wyn Davies’s ‘last word’ on Saudi women drivers.

Plus a new short story from Bilal Tanweer and revolutionary poetry from Nizar Qabbani, Tawfiq Zayyad, Abul-Qasim al-Shabi, Ayat al-Qormezi and Naomi Foyle. Not to mention the Top Ten Towering Fatwas.

In this issue

The Arabs Are Alive

Ziauddin Sardar tries to grasp the significance of the ‘Arab Spring’, Robin-Yassin Kassab spends some quality time in Tahrir ...

Surprise Surprise by Ziauddin Sardar

Lord Naritsugu is a terrifying, sadistic ruler. He enjoys grotesque violence and kills and rapes at will. He treats his citizen as private ...

Tahrir Square by Robin Yassin-Kassab

Cairo felt different. Tahreer Square, of course, carried a new set of meanings. The traffic, the pollution, the Stalinist gloom of the Mugamma ...

Gaddafi and Me by Ashur Shamis

Friday 11th April 1980. I was in Kuwait on a fundraising trip. After a hard day of rejections – I couldn’t persuade anyone to ...

Cafe La Vie by Rachel Holmes

Café La Vie, Ramallah. Chat, chink of glasses and beer bottles. Sweet apple smoke narghila and the tang of lemon and almond trees ...

Top Ten Towering Fatwas

A spectre is haunting Muslims - the spectre of fatwas. All the powers of old Islam have entered into a holy alliance: to issue more and more ...