On September 26, 2022, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, considered for many years one of the
senior scholars in Sunni Islam, died at 96.1 Qaradawi, born in Egypt, arrived in the early 1960s
from Egypt to Qatar, which became the center of his activity.
Overview
On October 31, 2023, the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), a radical Islamist
organization based in Qatar, held a press conference to announce a fatwa entitled “The duty
of Islamic governments regarding [the necessity to respond to] the Zionist invasion of Gaza.”
It called on the regimes and armies of the Muslim countries for urgent military
intervention to save the residents of the Gaza Strip and provide material, religious,
political and legal assistance.
For [many Muslims], the Koran, every word of it, is the dictated word of Allah (God) as told by the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) to Allah’s prophet Muhammad….
Ten years ago, U.S. soldiers being deployed to the Middle East who flew to Qatar or Kuwait on the United Arab Emirates airline, before the UAE’s supreme leadership in spearheading the Abraham Accords, reported that on maps in flight brochures, a country named Israel did not exist. Many seem to be working now to make that a reality, not just on a map.
Iran has not only been threatening the US with attacks, it has attacked US assets in Syria and Iraq 83 times since Biden became president, and at least 24 times in the past two weeks. Iran also recently threatened again to annihilate Israel, and has reportedly begun ordering its elite militias based in Syria into southern Lebanon “to participate in attacks on Israel.”
As war rages in Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to escalate, causing grievous harm to civilians and threatening stability across the Middle East. Crisis Group experts offer a 360-degree view of how various capitals in the region view this crisis and their own interests therein.
On October 20, the Russian state statistical agency, Rosstat, issued a second report predicting that Russia’s population will continue to decline and be down more than seven million people by 2046. Rosstat’s first report came at the end of September and presented estimates that the Russian will decrease significantly in the coming years.
A terror group which globalised the concept of Jihad and have existed for more than three decades is not dependent on just one leader for its survival
With the recent killing of Al-Qaeda (AQ) chief Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghan capital Kabul a lot of speculation is happening on the future of this terror outfit. Some analysts even going to the extent and suggesting that Al-Qaeda is nearing its end. But certainly that is highly unlikely. The group survived its ideological chief Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011. In fact with the killing of Zawahri Al-Qaeda may regenerate itself and become more dynamic. Ayman al-Zawahri was an Egyptian-born jihadist who became al-Qaida’s top leader in 2011 after his predecessor, Osama bin Laden, was killed by a U.S. operation. Zawahiri was not a very charismatic personality, nor was he effective at connecting with the younger generation. As a leader of AQ for over a decade, he could not bring back the lost capabilities. But he managed to keep the terror brand alive amidst the rise of Islamic State (IS). A new leader might not have these shortcomings. The trajectory of the movement might shift dangerously with a new and more effective communicator, reaching and inspiring a new generation. This happened previously with Anwar al-Awlaki re-invigorated Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the late 2000s. Reaching out to new audiences in new ways and identifying with Westerners in particular. Ironically, a new leader might benefit the movement, offering an opportunity to reinvigorate itself.
It is an understatement to say that the United Nations, as an idea and in action, is inherently flawed – particularly when trying to keep the peace.
Israel’s war on Gaza and recent ceasefire calls personify this reality, highlighting persistent deficiencies in the rules-based international order.
Instead of Russian and Western drafts of a peace treaty, there will now only be one: Azerbaijan’s.
Last month, Azerbaijan used force to seize control over Nagorno-Karabakh, a long-disputed ethnic Armenian enclave, displacing almost the entire Karabakh Armenian population. It might seem that their exodus has paved the way for a comprehensive peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia: after all, if the Armenian presence in the region is no longer a political factor, what is there to argue about? Yet Karabakh was not the only source of conflict between the two countries. Behind it loom other territorial disputes.
Moscow’s relationship with the militant group Hamas is part of a Middle East strategy meant to boost its standing in the Global South: an effort that has long involved building ties with both Israel and its sworn enemies.