What role does Qatar play in the Middle East and how does it differ from the other Gulf states? How has the Al-Thani tribe shaped the history of modern Qatar? And how is a traditional tribal society adapting to its status as a burgeoning economic superpower? Qatar plays a crucial part in the Middle East today. With the second greatest natural gas resources in the region, Qatar's economic clout is considerable. At the same time the Qatar story is replete with paradoxes: the state hosts the Al-Jaz...
A lucid and engaging breakdown of the history, culture, and politics that define today’s Middle East. Untangling the Middle East is a layman’s guide to the historypolitical, religious, and culturalthat led us to the current challenges plaguing the Middle East. It covers the major interests and actors in the region, and helps to spin a narrative of the evolution of violence and conflict in this age-old hotbed of unrest. There are no easy answers or simple explanations to be found here, only a...
Mirrored Loss tells the story of Amat al-Latif al Wazir, only daughter of 'Abdullah al-Wazir, the leader of Yemen's constitutional movement of the mid-twentieth century for democratisation of the autocratic imamate. Her relationship with her adored father, who was accused of treason, takes centre stage in this biographical narrative. Amat al-Latif, enjoyed a privileged childhood in a high-ranking family at the heart of Yemeni politics; yet the failed revolt of 1948 was the family's downfall, lea...
Salafi Social and Political Movements
Starting in late 2017, Saudi Arabia embarked on a series of reforms reversing many socially restrictive policies long associated with Salafism. These developments have triggered critical questions about the future of Salafism, crucially: is this the end for the most influential puritanical Islamic reform movement of the 20th century? This book introduces the history of the rise and spread of Salafism during the 20th century as a global Islamic reform movement. It also explains Salafi tools of me...
An up-and-down journey. Philip Blair - accompanied by a most loyal partner, and motivated by the sense that it is the road he is appointed to take - forged a career living and working in three distinct professions in six countries of the Middle East. Along the way there are some unexpected blips as well as a few touching - occasionally amusing - moments. Through this engaging odyssey, the reader learns both about the rich - though often disturbed - history of a region that has yet to find itself...
The British Empire at its height governed more than half the world's Muslims. It was a political imperative for the Empire to present itself to Muslims as a friend and protector, to take seriously what one scholar called its role as "the greatest Mohamedan power in the world." Few tasks were more important than engagement with the pilgrimage to Mecca.Every year, tens of thousands of Muslims set out for Mecca from imperial territories throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, from the Atlanti...
Emirates Diaries tells the story of how Peter Clark came to love the Emirates and its people. He got to know Abu Dhabi sheikhs and Dubai merchants and people at every level of society. The country was on the cusp of enormous economic expansion and this book is an affectionate picture of the Emirates when it was still like a chain of large informal villages. The people of the UAE were aware of their good fortune and were, he found, open, generous and innovative. Clark arranged for the explorer Wi...
Are jihadists dying for a fiction? Everything you thought you knew about Islam is about to change.Did Muhammad exist?It is a question that few have thought or dared to ask. Virtually everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, takes for granted that the prophet of Islam lived and led in seventh-century Arabia.But this widely accepted story begins to crumble on close examination, as Robert Spencer shows in his eye-opening new book.In his blockbuster bestseller "The Truth about Muhammad," Spencer revea...
