June 30, 2016
Last week, 20-24 June, IMES held it’s thirteenth annual Middle East Consultation – The Refugee and the Body of Christ: Exploring the Impact of the Present Crisis on our Understanding of Church. ABTS Faculty Member and Head Librarian Walid Zailaa was inspired to weigh in on the conversation in the […]
June 15, 2016
by Mike Kuhn A new word keeps showing up in the news describing radical Islamic groups—takfīr. It’s the English transliteration of an Arabic word that means “to anathematize” or “to declare someone apostate or an infidel.” The ideology of takfīrī groups (e.g. ISIS, al-Qaeda, etc.) draws a very tight circle […]
June 2, 2016
Without question, June is consistently our busiest month of the year at the Institute of Middle East Studies. As such, we wish to highlight a number of the projects that we have been working on as we seek to fulfill our institutional mandate: To bring about positive transformation in thinking and practice […]
May 19, 2016
by Elias Ghazal Last week, my brother and his family travelled from Canada to Lebanon for a visit. My brother is no stranger to life in Lebanon. Although he never lived in Lebanon for an extended period, he grew up in the Middle East and he is very familiar with […]
May 13, 2016
by Arthur Brown This year’s Middle East Consultation, The Refugee and the Body of Christ: Exploring the Impact of the Present Crisis on our Understanding of Church, is now less than six weeks away. Plans are coming together well, and consultation registrations are at an all-time high. As consultation coordinator, […]
April 28, 2016
by Jesse Wheeler Life and Death At 4:30 AM, 16 February 2016, my wife went into labor. In joyful anticipation, we scrambled out of bed, got dressed, grabbed our bags and rushed to the hospital. Then… we waited. And waited. And… waited some more. The baby came two weeks early, […]
April 21, 2016
By Ashley al-Saliby As we observe this global moment, Western fears about Islam and Muslims seem to be surging again. There are political and religious leaders quick to point to anecdotes or news clips which only further incite tensions and hostility, emphasizing horror stories and brutal tragedies that can affirm […]
April 15, 2016
By Rabih Hasbany “Marhaba!” Marhaba is an Arabic word that simply means “hello” and is a commonly used greeting in the Middle East. I hear it on average 8 to 10 times a day, and especially so while spending a weekend in my family’s lovely village where everybody knows each […]