As crisis after crisis grips Muslims around the world, from mayhem in the Levant and massacres in West Africa to genocidal state-backed violence in South and East Asia, it has become common to hear calls for the Muslim ummah, or community of believers, to respond. Disasters and challenges are by no means unique to our...
This month marks seventy years since a seminal moment in modern Middle Eastern history: the military coup in Cairo of July 1952, which replaced a corrupt monarchy with the military rule that has continued, virtually uninterrupted, since then. With the brief exception of Mohamed Morsi’s elected government in 2012-13, every Egyptian government since has been...
The Nationality and Borders Act was passed on the 28th of April 2022. The act introduces a two-tier system that reduces the material support available for refugees who arrive via irregular (non-official) means, punishing them for using routes deemed as unsafe, such as sea routes to countries. Over the last decade asylum seekers unable to...
Jahangir Mohammed argues new solutions to Palestinian suffering and occupation need to be found. The West has failed for over a hundred years to resolve the Palestine question and now Muslims must find their own solutions. Controversially he suggests that one option might be for Turkey to reclaim its former territory. Is It Time for...
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022. The two nations have a long and inter-linked history. Their separation after the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the creation of an independent Ukraine. In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the West led by the US and the EU has declared financial sanctions on the...
As Pakistan faces elections following an aborted no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Imran Khan, Jahangir Mohammed, Director of the Ayaan Institute, says Pakistan needs politicians who will work in the people’s interests rather than for rich elites and the West. Earlier today Pakistan’s Parliament expected to vote on an opposition party no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran...
Jahangir Mohammed, Director the Ayaan Institute, says the answer to the burning question “Who wrote the Trojan Horse letter?” may lie in good old-fashioned Islamophobia and racism. The New York Times Podcast on the Birmingham Trojan Horse affair has given life to a dying story. Hamza Syed and Brian Reed are to be commended for their determination...
Fatih Kırşanlı of the Ayaan Institute argues that corruption is endemic in the Muslim world and tackling it must become a priority. Corruption is a global phenomenon. It is usually defined as the misuse of public office for private gain. Although there is no consensus on this definition due to cultural norms and values, it...
A new podcast produced by Serial Productions and co-hosted by Hamza Syed and Brian Reed has shone a light on the sordid Trojan Horse Affair. At the heart of the affair was an anonymous letter that alleged a secret plot, codenamed Operation Trojan Horse, orchestrated by Muslim professionals to take over and ‘Islamise’ Birmingham’s schools....
Both Eastern and Western European countries are using desperate refugees as instruments of political warfare, argues Hamza Chaudhry of the Ayaan Institute. Though global attention is currently diverted towards a possible Russian military incursion in Ukraine, the Belarus – EU migrant crisis remains ongoing. An estimated 3000 to 4000 migrants remain in limbo, trapped at...
