A traditional Islamic concept about protecting the faith and its followers has become a judicial weapon for Iran's rulers: charging opponents as so-called enemies of God with the threat of possible death sentences. Iran's accusations of "moharebeh" — literally "waging war" in Arabic — have opened deep rifts between ...

The ritual dance of the Sufi sect, a mystical branch of Islam, was created in Konya 700 years ago by the Persian poet Rumi. Practitioners, dubbed "whirling dervishes" by early European travelers, believe the act of repeatedly spinning allows them to forget their earthly body and move closer to God. "Dervish" is an adaptation of darwish, the Arabic word for ...

A powerful car bomb killed three people in an Iraq holy city Saturday on the eve of the war-torn nation's general election which Al-Qaeda has threatened to sabotage and to kill people who dare to vote. The blast near a Shiite shrine in Najaf, which killed two Iranian pilgrims and an Iraqi and wounded at least 54 people, came ...

A powerful car bomb near a Shiite shrine in Iraq's holy city of Najaf on Saturday killed two Iranian pilgrims and an Iraqi and injured at least 54 people, police and medical officials said. The blast occurred despite intense security measures put in place across Iraq in the lead up to Sunday's parliamentary vote, which has already been ...