From Democracy to Sharia
The ‘Arab Spring’ shows that democratic process is useless without democratic culture.
Al-Azhar University
Compulsory Blindness
A few years back, I wrote a book called “Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad.&rdquo...
Op-eds
Releasing the Blind Sheikh?
It is too early to tell, but not too early to be very worried.
Op-eds
Taliban Incite Afghans to Kill ‘Crusaders’ Over Koran Burning
The Taliban have urged all Afghans to move beyond "mere protests" and attack US military personnel throughout the country for burning copies of the Koran. The Taliban's call has been echoed...
Op-eds
‘Islam Is Islam, And That’s It’
The Arab Spring was not hijacked
Op-eds
Fears and Smears
Islamophobia is not an irrational fear, nor is it the fear of Islam.
Op-eds
Moderation, Saudi-Style
Women will always be serfs under sharia.
Op-eds
Of Mafiosi and Mullahs
Intelligence is how you take down organized crime and organized terror.
Op-eds
History, Hardliners, and Humility
Liberty must always be exercised, and may only be maintained, “in a way of subjection to authority.” This sounds like it could have been written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the trailbla...
Op-eds
Why France is Right Abou the Burqa
In his 2009 Cairo address to the Muslim world, U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned no fewer than three times the issue of the headscarf, or hijab. Each time, his purpose was to stress "the righ...
Op-eds
Egypt Must Resist Relapse to Despotism
Since President Hosni Mubarak fell in February, Egypt has become a freer country in many ways. But the ruling military council is continuing his tradition of using the threat of an Islamist takeo...
Op-eds
An Ill Season
Screaming “With our blood and soul, we will defend you, Islam,” jihadists stormed the Virgin Mary Church in northwest Cairo last weekend. They torched the Coptic Christian house...
Op-eds
Uncharitable
‘In the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation,” President Obama claimed during his 2009 Cairo speech. “...
Op-eds
Annals of the Arab Spring: Egyptians Demand Blind Sheikh’s Release
The Islamic Group (Gama’a al-Islamiya) is the Egyptian terrorist organization led by Omar Abdel Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh” currently serving a life sentence in a U.S. penitentia...
Op-eds
The Audience Is Listening
There is always great intrigue in Barack Obama’s speeches. Not much heft, mind you, but substance is not the point. In this Chicago-style presidency, what is said is often less telling than...
Op-eds
Why They Celebrate Murdering Children
Do you think the State Department noticed that no one in Arizona, Mexico, or even Mars took to the streets to celebrate the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords? No one seemed to think it was a “...
Op-eds
The Battle for Libya: Implications for Africa
As battle lines crisscross between the rebels marching west to overthrow him and loyal military units taking the offensive against rebel-held towns in the eastern Libya, Colonel Muammar al-Qadhaf...
Op-eds
Who Attacked Lara Logan, and Why?
For the world’s billion-plus Sunni Muslims, al-Azhar University in Cairo is the center of the theological universe, its faculty and scholars the most authoritative voice on the meaning of I...
Op-eds
Bangladesh Today, Egypt Tomorrow
James Clapper issued a clarification last week. Within hours of testifying to Congress that the Muslim Brotherhood is a “largely secular” organization, he clarified that he had meant...
Op-eds
The ‘Secular’ Muslim Brotherhood
How fitting that it was Juma — Friday, the Islamic Sabbath day — that convinced Hosni Mubarak to end his 30-year reign as Egypt’s ruler. This was only hours after James...