Issue 426 of New Internationalist

Reader-owned global journalism

October 2009

October 2009

Thirty years after the Iranian Revolution, political Islam is at a crossroads. But is the Islamic Republic really Islamic? Writer and broadcaster Ziauddin Sardar explains why he thinks it most definitely is not.

Who is funding Islamic extremism? Nafeez Ahmed gives the lowdown on support for ‘our terrorists’ – and it goes beyond the usual suspects.

Next month’s issue also offers dispatches from minority voices in the Muslim world. A gay Iraqi activist traces the changes – from discos to fatwas – in post-'liberation' Baghdad. A feisty Saudi Arabian feminist speaks her mind – and stays put in her own country. A Jewish Iranian embraces both her faith and her homeland.

Be prepared to be surprised.

Subscribe

  • Discover unique global perspectives
  • Support high quality independent media
  • Magazine delivered to your door or inbox
  • Digital archive of over 500 issues

Subscribe »

In this issue

  • The facts and figures of Islam
  • *Hadani Ditmars* calls for a return to Islam’s spirit of democracy and pluralism.
  • The streets have traditionally been the home of environmental activism. But could campaigners be just as at home in the courtroom? Olly Zanetti considers the evidence.

  • Books and websites for further reading on *Islam*.
  • Facts, figures and a brief history of life in Guinea.
  • Islamic fundamentalist militants are the enemies of Israel and Western governments, right? Think again. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed reports in this extended version of the article which appeared in the October 2009 issue.