Nigeria: An Ephemeral Peace
By Alex Thurston A ceasefire between the Nigerian authorities and Boko Haram in early July brought short-lived hopes for...
Here are the results for Alex Thurston.
Ahbash Rising: Religious Freedom in Ethiopia, Part 2
Protests in Ethiopia could have profound ramifications for Muslim-state relations in Ethiopia and beyond, writes Alex Thurston in the...
Ahbash Rising: Religious Freedom in Ethiopia, Part 1
In the first of two posts on the deterioration of religious freedom for Ethiopia's Muslims, Alex Thurston looks at...
To Hajj Without an Escort
By Alex Thurston During the week of September 24, Saudi Arabian authorities detained and subsequently deported over 1,000...
African Responses to "Muslim Innocence"
by Alex Thurston Protests against the Innocence of Muslims film have taken on a global scope...in sub-Saharan Africa, responses...
Are Salafis "Conservative"?
by Alex Thurston The media’s use of the term “ultraconservative” is also connected with some Salafis’ support for implementing...
Salafism for Dummies
by Alex Thurston Suddenly, Salafism seems to be everywhere: mainstream Salafism, political Salafism, Wahhabist Salafism,
Of Shrines and Syncretists
by Alex Thurston Teju Cole analyzes the destruction of the shrines by analogy: Mali is premodern Europe; Mali is...
Bad Sudanese? A "Marginal Revolt" is Underway
by Alex Thurston Should Sudan’s protesters topple President Omar al Bashir, I believe the media would get excited, but...
Kenyan Muslims Debate Anti-Terror Law
by Alex Thurston AMOK turns the logic of the law’s critics around: the bill will not target Muslims but...
Rethinking Mali's Political Culture
by Alex Thurston The MNLA and Ansar al Din have dominated the headlines about Mali this spring and...
Mauritania: Islamic Response to the Sahel Drought
By Alex Thurston 9/11 changed the trajectory of Islamic humanitarian agencies in Africa and around the world...The US government...
Mass Wedding in Kano
by Alex Thurston A recent story from Nigeria, one that touches on both marriage and shari’a, offers the possibility...
Schooling Muslims in Northern Nigeria: Politics, Policies and Conclusions
by Alex Thurston Government-run Islamic schools, then, are to be a source of “counter-radicalization” as well as a means...
Nigerian Universities: Islamic Studies in Secular Universities
By Alex Thurston
Nigeria has around 100 universities, most of them public, and many public and private colleges. Various tertiary...
Nigeria's Islamiyya Schools: Global Project, Local Target
By Alex Thurston
This is the fourth post in a series on Islamic education in Northern Nigeria. The first post...
"Traditional" and Reformist Practices: Advanced Islamic Education in Northern Nigeria
This post is the third in a series on Muslim schooling in Northern Nigeria. The first post gave an...
Northern Nigeria: Qur'anic Schooling and the Almajirai
by Alex Thurston
This is the second post in a series on Muslim education in Northern Nigeria. Read the first...
Education as Battleground: Schooling Muslims in Northern Nigeria
by Alex Thurston
This post is the first of a series on Muslim schooling in Northern Nigeria.
Steady acts of violence...
Identity, Crisis: Shari'a Law in Nigerian Politics
by Alex Thurston
In 1999, Nigeria...
Boko Haram in National Perspective
By Alex Thurston
Violence by Boko Haram,...
Shifting Politics in the World's Newest Nation
By Alex Thurston
South Sudan, though less than six months old as an independent nation, already faces challenges to its...
After the Referendum:Sudan Negotiates National and Religious Identity in the North
By Alex Thurston
The secession of South Sudan in July 2011 posed an existential question for (North) Sudan: what will...
Religion and Press Freedom in the Digital Age – Part Three: Interview with Kassahun Yilma
The third in a series of posts on issues at the intersection of press freedom, religion, digital media and...