Hassan Mahamdallie thinks that the colour line will blight the twenty-first century, Shanon Shah argues that Islam and race have combined to produce a complex identity, Robert Irwin exposes the dark side of the Arabian Nights, Hugh Kennedy relates the story of the revolt of the Zanj slaves, Ziauddin Sardar denounces the bigotry of the Gulf states, Avaes Mohammad revisits his home town, Blackburn, Jim Wolfreys is appalled by the rise of Islamophobia in France, Gary McFarlane examines the career of the American anti-slavery fighter John Brown, Ruth Waterman taps into the memory of Bosnia, Tasnim Baghdadi plays with her hybrid identity, Samia Rahman discovers cool Muslim women, Naima Khan accuses South Asian Muslims of looking down on blacks and Africans, and Sa'diyya Shaikh finds that Ibn Arabi can help us to become more human and humane.

Also in this issue: Barnaby Rogerson performs the pre-Islamic hajj, Abdelwahab El-Affendi drives the leaders of the Arab Spring around London, Declan Ryan is enchanted by Ruth Padel, a short story by Aiysha Jahan, poems by Dorothea Smartt and Elmi Ali, Last Word on Trinidad, and a list of Ten Xenophobic Parties to Avoid.