Islam: one religion divided

Although ancient history, the rift between Sunni and Shiite Muslims continues to be a factor in modern-day conflict. In order to understand the conflict it is important to know the difference between these two divisions of Islam, a difference I did not know until recently. Difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims: Both Sunni and Shiite […]

The More You Know: A Guide to Professional Etiquette in the Middle East

One of the main goals of the Global Leadership Certificate Program at Ohio University is to promote cross-cultural awareness and international communication. Many of us aspire to spend time abroad in the future, and some of us would even like to work in another country someday. In order to do that successfully, it’s necessary to […]

A Man’s Best Friend: Are the Feelings Mutual in the Middle East?

A man’s best friend is loyal, always by his side, never tells his secrets, and of course, gives him a big wet kiss when he is “down in the dumps.” This best friend is a dog, known to be one of the most loving creatures on planet Earth- at least in my opinion! Studies have […]

A Culture, not a Costume

Ohio University has a well-known reputation for having one of the largest Halloween celebrations in the United States, and yes, the pressure of a perfect costume is oh so real. Every year around this time, I scramble to come up with a costume that’s original and entertaining. As I browsed the web last week for […]

Remembering the Link between Doctrine and Behavior

In a year when ISIS and their brutality is at the forefront of America’s mind, it is an unfortunately common latent effect to hear of those that hold a negative generalization towards all Muslim people. Western Islamophobia and its like seems to rise synchronously with news stories and videos of Islamist extremism, and sadly so. […]

Are we Talking about the Same Jihad?

The linguistic adaption of a word from one language to another brings a whole host of inconsistencies and incompatibilities. I once had a friendly taxi driver who was shy to say his name. I considered this to be a silly thing to avoid, but he said Americans seem to like him less once they knew. I […]

Video shows discrimination against Islam

A video has lately spread on youtube, showing a veiled young girl walking down the street, and then gets hit by a man passing by. The man knocks her down to the ground, and then runs away. Now the reason he did it is obviously the religious difference he could spot, as she was veiled […]

Egypt Leaving a Mark

Egypt may be the unlikely winner of another round of conflict between Israel and Gaza that killed more than 100 people and caused major destruction. A speculative ceasefire was announced in Cairo where the Egyptian government played a major role. President Mohammad Mursi was a key player in brokering the ceasefire last week, even after […]

Illegitimate Children and Single Moms

Currently, there is an increasingly large number of children born out of wedlock as well as single parents raising children throughout most of the world. It is much more common in this day in age to see children who were raised by a single parent. This could in part be due to the increasing number […]

Anti-Muslim Filmmaker arrested

The US man (Sam Bacile) behind an anti-Muslim film that led to mass protests in the Middle East has been sentenced to a year in jail for probation violations. Wednesday’s sentence stems from a 2010 bank fraud conviction. According to a BBC report back in 2010 Bacile, had served 21-months in jail for using more than […]

The Civilized Man vs. The Savage; Pick a Side?

Even though this campaign’s design is not “wow”, it gets its message across. Not only is it presenting two sides, the civilized man and the savage, but it is telling you which side to take. “Support the civilized man,” when written as such, who wouldn’t want to pick that side? This is all understood from […]

Welcome to the Neighborhood

In late 2010 it was announced that the Muslim community in the small city of Murfreesboro, Tennessee was planning to build a mosque. At that time, there were 104 churches and no mosques within the city. CNN covered the unveiling of the plans and the fallout that ensued. In a televised special on the topic, […]

A Collective Society

On Tuesday, September 11, the ignorance of one man led to the deaths of innocent people. Coptic Christian Egyptian men in Los Angeles promoted a video created by man who calls himself “Sam Bacile” who is believed to be Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. He pretended to be an Israeli-American and claimed that his film was fact […]

Hezzbo-Who?

Lebanon is a Middle Eastern country located between Israel and Syria; some see it as a ticking time bomb of terror while others find comfort and a sense of nationality and pride. As one of the most religiously diverse countries in the Middle East, Lebanon often deals with religious and political disputes, most often within […]