Middle World

The enormous sense of optimism unleashed by the Arab Spring in 2011 soon gave way to widespread suffering and despair. Of the many popular uprisings against autocratic regimes, Tunisia's now stands alone as a beacon of hope for sustainable human rights progress. Challenging the widely shared pessimism among regional experts, Micheline Ishay charts bold and realistic pathways for human rights in a region beset by political repression, economic distress, sectarian conflict, a refugee crisis, and violence against women.

Different branches of the same religion are the exception more than the rule, and they have had a profound impact upon history. The schism between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches influenced relationships between nations across Europe, and religious intolerance based on different Christian faiths led to persecution and outright violence across the continent for centuries.

When Iranians overthrew their monarchy, rejecting a pro-Western shah in favor of an Islamic regime, many observers predicted that revolutionary turmoil would paralyze the country for decades to come. Yet 40 years after the 1978-79 revolution, Iran has emerged as a critical player in the Middle East and the wider world, as demonstrated in part by the 2015 international nuclear agreement. In Iran Rising, renowned Iran specialist Amin Saikal describes how the country has managed to survive despite ongoing domestic struggles, Western sanctions, and other serious challenges.

Muhammad wants to join the sheikh's camel race—but his camel, Jamila, is difficult and refuses to let Muhammad ride her. No matter what he does, she will not cooperate. With some help from his local imam and merchant, will Muhammad learn to train his camel in time for the race? Or will he be forced to watch from the sidelines?

This novel is in Persian language, written by Shahzoda Samarqandi. Book is published by H&S Media and distributed by Amazon.

Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually lost his faith. Discovering that he was not alone, he moved to North America and promised to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media - those of Atheist Muslims.

Scattered over the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lie the remnants of failed peace proposals, international summits, secret negotiations, UN resolutions, and state-building efforts. The conventional story is that these well-meaning attempts at peacemaking were repeatedly, perhaps terminally, thwarted by violence. Through a rich interweaving of reportage, historical narrative, and powerful analysis, Nathan Thrall presents a startling counterhistory.

Travel to Afghanistan. Find out the facts about this country in Asia.

Shortly after Emperor Hadrian came to power in the early second century CE, he decided to seal off Scotland from Roman Britain with an ambitious wall stretching from sea to sea. The sheer scale of Hadrian’s Wall still impresses people today, but as the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late fifth century, Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned and Roman control of the area broke down. Little is known of this period of British history, but soon the Anglo-Saxons showed up and began to settle the land, creating a patchwork of little kingdoms and starting a new era of British history.

Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17 for speaking out against injustice even when it was terrifying to do so. She was an ordinary Muslim girl who wanted to attend school, and she refused to stop protesting for her rights even after being attacked by a powerful group in Pakistan who wanted women to remain in the shadows. She continues to fight for women’s rights and free education for children all over the world.

The drama that shaped today’s Iran, from the Revolution to the present day. In 1979, seemingly overnight - moving at a clip some 30 years faster than the rest of the world - Iran became the first revolutionary theocracy in modern times. Since then, the country has been largely a black box to the West, a sinister presence looming over the horizon. But inside Iran, a breathtaking drama has unfolded since then, as religious thinkers, political operatives, poets, journalists, and activists have imagined and reimagined what Iran should be.

Welcome to Syria! Picnic with locals at the ancient ruins of Palmyra. Taste rich foods like kibbeh and fattoush. Learn about the people, places, and traditions of this fascinating Middle Eastern country.

A portrait of the current Israeli prime minister, one of Israel's more noticeable leaders in recent decades. Benjamin Netanyahu is currently serving his fourth term in office as prime minister of Israel, the longest serving prime minister in the country's history. Now Israeli journalist Ben Caspit puts Netanyahu's life under a magnifying glass, focusing on his last two terms in office.

Travel to Egypt. Find out the facts about this country in Africa.

تتناول هذه الرواية تاريخ قبيلة "غمارة" شمال المغرب؛ القبيلة الشاسعة بامتدادها الحضاري والتاريخي الطويل، كأهم المناطق التي أولت اهتمامًا حقيقيًا للعلم والدراسات القرآنية، وتخرج من معاهدها آلاف الفقهاء والباحثين في علوم الدين، مستحضرة تعاقب احتلالين، برتغالي وإسباني، على منطقة شهدت حربًا قاسية في العشرينيات من القرن الماضي، أو ما يعرف بـ"حرب الريف"،وتم قصفها بالأسلحة الممنوعة دولياً مما أدى إلى استسلام الأمير محمد عبدالكريم الخطابي والمجاهدين.

This is the most famous novel by the great writer Abdul Hakim Qasim, and it is selected from among the best hundred novels of the twentieth century.

تدور أحداث الرواية على مدار خمسة وسبعون عامًا بدءًا من الحرب العالمية الأولى حتى نهاية الانتفاضة الفلسطينية الأولى متتبعة ما عاشته فلسطين من تحولات عن طريق تتبع عائلة بكافة أجيالها، إذن هي رواية أجيال تنتقل بنا ما بين بيت ساحور، بيت لحم، القدس، وغيرها من المدن الفلسطينية.

حفر دافئة هي رواية عن الغربة وما يلاقيه البشر في الغربة، هي رواية تدور أحداثها في ليلة واحدة، هناك شخصية الراوي وهو سالم ولد عثمان، هو تونسي يعيش في الغربة وبالتحديد في باريس عاصمة فرنسا، ويصاب سالم بالأرق الشديد في إحدى الليالي فيقرر أن يكتب بعضاً من أفكاره وذكرياته ويسرد قصص أصدقائه.

Afraid her sister (and maybe even herself) could lose sight of their Vietnamese identity, twelve-year-old Bom writes a poetic memoir to help them both remember—a love letter in verse to sisterhood and the places we leave behind. Bom can't believe that her sister doesn't see herself as Vietnamese, only American. She says she doesn't remember Vietnam or their lives there, their family there, their house and friends. How could her sister forget the terrible journey through Saigon and the airplanes and . . . everything?

Women are expected to be many things. They should be creative, but not crazy; passionate, but not angry. They should be fertile, feminine and self-reliant, not barren, butch or solitary. Women, in other words, are caught between social expectations and a much more complicated reality. In The Defiant Middle, Kaya Oakes draws on the wisdom of women mystics and explores how transitional eras or living in marginalized female identities can be both spiritually challenging and wonderfully freeing, ultimately resulting in a reinvented way of seeing the world and changing it.