A walk down the main street in Hamtramck, Michigan, feels like a tour around the world. A Polish sausage store and an Eastern European bakery sit alongside a Yemeni department…

Author Tharik Hussain discusses how his travels to the Balkans shed light on issues like identity and belonging, the roots of Islamophobia, and the European fear of the ‘Turks’. The…

In the 15th-16th centuries, three corsair brothers from the Ottoman Empire dominated the Mediterranean Sea, one of whom became the prototype for numerous legends and literary works of European authors….

Al-Azhar, being both a religious and a political symbol, has been one of the most influential institutions not only in Egypt, but in the entire Middle East since its inception,…

Cultural exchange between China and the Islamic world has been going on for centuries. The Great Silk Road facilitated the exchange of not only goods, but also religions and ideas. The…

When the Mongol army under the leadership of Khan Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan, captured Baghdad in 1258, the Mongols plundered the precious treasures of the House of Wisdom –…

The term sipahsalar was widespread in the Islamic world and even in the Christian countries of the Caucasus and denoted a high-ranking military leader. This term was formed by the Persian words…

In his “Siyasat-name”, the prominent statesman of the Islamic world, Nizam al-Mulk, shares his experience in public administration. Siyasat-name (Book of Government), also known as Siyar al-Mulk (Life of the…

The love of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II for animals, in particular for cats, has become a legend. Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, who ruled from 1876-1909, is called the last autocratic…

Located in the heart of Tunisia, this mosque is also known as Jami al-Kabir (Great Mosque) because it is the largest in the city. The first mosque on this site…