Most recent articles by Stefan Weidner
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Terrorism debate"Imagine there's a war and nobody notices"
Against the backdrop of the latest terrorist attacks in Paris, some think we should carry on enjoying our Western lifestyle and ignore the possibility of war. What an illusion! A contribution to the debate by Stefan Weidner
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Navid Kermani′s Peace Prize acceptance speechFreeing Islam from the clutches of the fanatics
For the first time, Germany′s most important cultural prize has gone to a child of Muslim immigrants, the German-Iranian writer and Islamic studies expert Navid Kermani, born in 1967. According to Stefan Weidner, his combative speech may well go down in history
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Hamed Abdel-Samads Buch "Mohamed: Eine Abrechnung"From critique of Islam to post-Salafism
The Egyptian-German Hamed Abdel-Samad is one of Germany′s best-known Muslim media pundits – and at the same time one of the country′s most popular critics of Islam. Following a book on Islamic fascism, he has now brought out his ″reckoning″ with the prophet Mohammed. Yet Abdel-Samad remains wedded to the thought structures of Salafism, says Stefan Weidner in his book review
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The IS manifesto for womenBaiting the jihadi brides
It is not only men who are joining the ranks of "Islamic State", women are too. Many are being encouraged to do so by the manifesto of the IS women's brigade al-Khansaa, which has been translated into English and German. Primarily aimed at Muslim women with limited education, the IS ideal is not very far removed from role models that prevailed in conservative social strata in the West until well into the twentieth century. By Stefan Weidner
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Book review: Sadakat Kadri's "Heaven on Earth"What is justice?
This brilliantly written book on Sharia law by the Indian-born British lawyer Sadakat Kadri has been a huge success in Britain. "Heaven on Earth" provides readers with a comprehensive overview of the history of Sharia law from its origins to the present day, as well as the difficulties faced in its application. Now that it has been published in German translation, Stefan Weidner takes a look at this successful book
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Curriculum initiative by British MuslimsUsing religion to fight terrorism
On the initiative of the Islamic scholar Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, British Muslims have introduced an "anti-terror curriculum" designed to supply Muslim clerics with arguments against the misuse of theological arguments by terrorist organisations such as IS. By Stefan Weidner
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The post-Pegida periodPegida may be running out of steam, but its ideas live on
The Pegida activists' winter fairy tale is drawing to a close. We owe this not only to the movement's internal disputes and confused agenda, but also to a large number of counter-demonstrations. Civil society is apparently united in opposition to right wing demonstrations. All's well that ends well? Answers from Stefan Weidner
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History of the CaliphateWe are all caliphs!
The history of the Caliphate is, with a few exceptions, an unstable and unhappy one. In this essay, Stefan Weidner explains why the self-appointed caliphs of today, like the ISIS leader in Iraq, have little in common with the caliphs of old
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Translations of Classical Islamic LiteratureFrom the Emotional Orient to the Distortion of Islam
Why does classical Oriental poetry still sound so ornate to western ears? Blame the translations. These are still following the model of the eighteenth century, when the myth arose that Islamic poets were sentimental geniuses in the realm of emotion and romance. An essay by Stefan Weidner
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German Wehrmacht Document on IslamIdeological Vacuum
If it were not for the fact that the author of a code of conduct for Wehrmacht officers in Muslim countries – the army doctor Ernst Rodenwaldt – was a proven Nazi sympathiser, those in today's anti-Islamic milieu would most certainly hold him for a Muslim sympathizer. Stefan Weidner on an unusual historical manuscript
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Alexander Flores's ''Civilization or Barbarism?''Islam in the Historical Context
In his book, Alexander Flores confidently clears the decks of received wisdom on the Muslim faith. Flores limits his monograph to essential information and in doing so, avoids both apology and polemical discourse in equal measure. By Stefan Weidner
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Debate about Günter Grass's PoemThe Best of Intentions, the Worst of Outcomes
Günter Grass is not an anti-Semite, as his critics and the politically conservative media are claiming; however, for an objective discussion about the dangers of a possible military strike against Iran, his poem is counterproductive, says Stefan Weidner