Author: Mark Durie

20 May

Posted at 14:38h in Understanding Islam

Natural disasters can raise pressing questions for religious believers who believe in a sovereign God. One question which inevitably arises is, “What is God doing in this?” For the almost 2 billion Muslims who make up a quarter of the world’s population, this is an...

07 Jun

Posted at 14:31h in Understanding Islam

The Problem of Peace vs. Violence It is widely recognized that, on the topic of violence, the Qur’an speaks with more than one voice. Some verses speak for peace, and others for war. The conventional explanation is that the difference hinges on the migration of the...

01 Apr

Posted at 06:27h in Changing World, Faith & Worldview Blog, Faith and Culture, Identity, Restoring Worldviews
In the wake of the horrific Christchurch shootings, we need to engage thoughtfully with the ideology which influenced it. Just before the massacre, the self-confessed killer, Brenton Tarrant, distributed what is being called a manifesto, in which he unashamedly describes what he was about to do as a “terrorist attack”, and gives and account of his ideology. We need to understand this ideology, not to give it a platform, but to learn and to equip ourselves to stand against such hatred.

10 Mar

Posted at 09:16h in Marriage, Understanding Islam
This post first appeared with the Interface Institute. In May 2016 Theresa May, then Home Secretary, commissioned an Independent Review of shariah law in the UK, to inquire whether the activities of British shariah councils, sometimes called shariah courts, are incompatible with British law. Included in the terms of reference was the treatment of women, specifically arrangements for divorce, domestic violence, and children. The Review, led by Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at Edinburgh University’ Divinity School, was released in February 2019.