The ‘Splainer (as in “You’ve got some ‘splaining to do”) is an occasional online feature in which Kimberly Winston and other RNS staff give you everything you need to know about current events to hold ...

In order to understand what is unfolding today, we need to review the Islamic State’s past transitions, tease out the logic that informs how new leaders are chosen, and discover what practices it ...

If there were an ex-Pope, if he had a beauteous daughter, if she became secretly engaged to the eldest son of “The Richest Man in the World,” then Catholics would be as excited as Moslems were last ...

This mausoleum in Khuldabad, commissioned by Mir Osman Ali Khan, was intended for the last Ottoman caliph, Abdulmecid II, who ...

Al-Baghdadi can keep touting himself as the new caliph, but most Muslims know enough history to recognize him for what he is - a murderous tyrant using religion as to acquire rank political power. So ...

After the prophet Mohammed died in 632, the Islamic community chose a caliph to lead the faithful. That institution lasted almost 1,300 years until it was abolished in 1924. Since that time, no ...

A careful study of the first caliphate (632-661 C.E.) demonstrates that the ISIS caliphate launched by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in Iraq is a non-starter. A viable Islamic caliphate would most certainly ...

ISIS confirmed the death of its leader and announced a replacement, apparently corroborating U.S. claims that Abu Ibrahim al Hashemi al Quraishi was killed in Syria last month. The terrorist group ...

Reporting from San Diego — Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, as the clock’s about to strike 12, Sherman Mendoza will steel himself to do something one last time: toast the new year with friends ...

New Bedford, Mass. native Caliph is someone that's getting some buzz in his region. “The Mood,” his collab with Boston's Jefe REPLAY, is getting some burn online and his latest single "How Do You Know ...