Dr. Ahmet T. Kuru

This article was first published in The conversation on March, 01 2024. I hadn’t expected my book tour in Malaysia to end with a confrontation...

These discriminatory policies have a global significance because India has the world’s third-largest Muslim population, after Indonesia and Pakistan. Out of the estimated Indian population of 1.4 billion, about 210 million – 15% – are Muslim.

Erdogan is a controversial figure, one who has frequently appeared in international media due to his brusque remarks and increasingly authoritarian practices, both abroad and domestically. During his premiership, he successfully changed Turkey’s political fabric

Instead of solely blaming Islam or Western colonialism, Muslim societies should practice critical self-reflection and dismantle the "ulema-state" to truly address political and socio-economic problems. At the institutional level, Muslim societies need open, meritocratic and competitive systems.

Nahdlatul Ulama is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership range from 40 million (2013) to over 90 million (2019) making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU's religious views are considered "traditionalist" in that they tolerate local culture.

Junaid Hafeez, a university lecturer in Pakistan, had been imprisoned for six years when he was sentenced to death in December 2019. The charge: blasphemy, specifically...

Why the Muslim world failed to democratize? What are the reasons behind the rise of authoritarianism and underdevelopment in Muslim majority countries? Professor Ahmet T. Kuru wrote Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison, which has become co-winner of the American Political Science Association's International History and Politics Section Book Award, to answer these important questions. GVS Assistant Editor Farah Adeed discusses these important questions with Prof. Kuru in this exclusive interview. A must-read for the students of Political Science, History, International Relations, and CSS aspirants.

A French high school teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class was beheaded on Oct. 16 by an 18-year-old Muslim...