“The Scowling ‘Shari’a’: Muslim Views on Prayer” by Niloofar Haeri

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash. Do Muslims pray even when they are not required to by “shari’a”? Or is being a Muslim a matter of performing exclusively compulsory religious acts, punctually and “to a T,” lest one get punished by the dreaded, bearded, and scowling “shari’a”? For reasons that we need not review here,

“France’s New Marriage Laws Could Trigger Islamophobic Abuses” by Matthew P. Cavedon

“France’s New Marriage Laws Could Trigger Islamophobic Abuses“ Matthew P. Cavedon France is enacting sweeping legislation targeting Islamist extremism. Its new “separatism law” aims to ensure that Muslims integrate into the secular community. A number of its provisions, including restrictions on publishing information about public employees and limits on homeschooling, have raised the ire of

“Human Struggle: Christian and Muslim Perspectives” by Mona Siddiqui

Human Struggle: Christian and Muslim PerspectivesMona Siddiqui In this section from chapter two of Human Struggle: Christian and Muslim Perspectives, Professor Siddiqui compares how Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and Rainer Maria Rilke wrote ‘letters’ to a younger student in which both men express their intellectual restlessness and search for faith, meaning and salvation. Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali

“The Reckoning of Religious Studies and Colonialism” by Laura Ammon

Photo by rolf neumann on Unsplash. The study of religion has a long history of service to Western imperial ambitions. Recent decades have seen religious scholars wrestle with the implications of this colonial legacy for the future of the field. This essay, divided into two parts, will explore the connections between religion and colonialism. First,

“Denmark’s Provincial Bias against Foreign Religious Languages” by Matthew P. Cavedon

“Denmark’s Provincial Bias against Foreign Religious Languages“ Matthew P. Cavedon Denmark has proposed a new law regulating religion. Under it, all sermons and homilies must be translated into Danish. This is being billed as a national security measure. It is also being attacked as a burden on small religious communities, an affront to linguistic minorities

“The Chorister’s Tale: Religious Freedom Analogies in the COVID Pandemic” by M. Christian Green

Photo by David Beale on Unsplash. No one has heard a peep from this chorister in nearly a year. Trained in law, religion, and the law of religious freedom, there was a time early in the pandemic when I wondered whether the social distancing mandates being adopted by state and, in some cases, municipal governments

“Religious Freedom Cases During the Pandemic: Round II” by Michael J. Broyde

Photo by Trnava University on Unsplash. Three weeks ago, in the case of South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, the United States Supreme Court stayed the enforcement of California’s occupancy limits on worship services during the pandemic. At some level, there is nothing new here, as the Court had done the same in a

““A Noble Alchemy”: Benefit of Clergy and the Early History of Leniency” by Matthew P. Cavedon

“‘A Noble Alchemy’: Benefit of Clergy and the Early History of Leniency” Matthew P. Cavedon Criminal justice reform efforts have recently focused on the consequences of having a record. There is a growing sense that society needs to show mercy to those who pay the consequences for doing wrong and amend their lives, rather than