Click here to read this post in Arabic.

The theme of our next guest voice explores two concepts not usually associated with each other: Islamism and consumer culture.

Islamists - those who believe the Koran is a political manifesto as well as moral guide - often chose to live differently than the rest of society, and as an increasing number of enterprising businessmen are now discovering, where there are choices, there's money to be made.

Ursula Lindsey is an American journalist who has spent the past five years in Cairo, the self-styled seat of Middle Eastern culture, and writes a blog on Middle Eastern art and culture. Here she explores this brave new world of Islam as a lifestyle choice.

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In light of this week’s honor killing in Atlanta, Georgia, a Jordanian women’s rights activist argues for a global fight against the practice.

Shocking though the so-called "honor killing" of Sandeela Kanwal in Atlanta, Georgia last Sunday has been for Americans, it's an all-too-common occurrence in the Middle East. Activists like Lina Nabil, featured earlier on Islam's Advance, have dedicated their careers to combating honor crimes like these. Yesterday I asked her about her successful strategies for protecting women like Ms. Kanwal - and why combating honor crimes must be a global fight.

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Yesterday, the first Iraqi families were granted asylum to the UK as part of a British government program to resettle translators whose lives had been endangered after working for Coalition forces in southern Iraq. Among them were Haider Samad and his family. Those of you have followed this blog for the past few months will know Haider’s story. But although yesterday signals an end to Haider’s ordeal, it also marks a victory for a narrow Islamist rhetoric over more moderate voices in Iraq. More in this video.

I’ve written before about the role of development in tackling Islamic extremism. In Zarqa, the gritty, industrial city infamous for producing al-Qa'eda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the latest, grandest real estate project is under way.
The King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz city on the outskirts of old Zarqa will ultimately house 500,000 residents throughout an area the size of lower Manhattan.

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Earlier this year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, created controversy when he suggested that Britain’s Muslim community should be able to use Islamic Sharia law to mediate in family and marriage issues.

The Archbishop argued that British law, to remain relevant, must be responsive to the desires of the community it serves, and that there should be a space for religion, whether Christian or Muslim, in our public life.

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For $11.96 you can buy a copy of the Al-Qaeda Training Manual in paperback on Amazon.com.

One such order was recently placed by staff members at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom to make a point about academic freedom. Earlier this summer Rizwaan Sabir, a 22-year-old M.A. student at the university, and Hisham Yezza, an administrator, were arrested by British police for possession of the training manual and held for nearly a week under the sweeping powers of the U.K.'s 2006 Terrorism Act.

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