Mehmed II, Mahomet II[1] or Mohammed II (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثانى‎, Meḥmed-i s̠ānī; Turkish: II. Mehmed or Turkish:II. MehmetTurkish pronunciation: [ˈmeh.met]; 30 March 1432 – 3 May 1481), best known as Mehmed the Conqueror (el-Fātiḥ, الفاتح), was an Ottomansultan who ruled first for a short time from August 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to May 1481. At the age of 21, he conqueredConstantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and brought an end to the Eastern Roman Empire. Mehmed continued his conquests in Anatolia with its reunification and in Southeast Europe as far west as Bosnia. Mehmed is considered a hero in modern-day Turkey and parts of the widerMuslim world. Among other things, Istanbul's Fatih district, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Fatih Mosque are named after him. Early reign[edit] Accession of…

In spring 2014 I went to Pennsylvania to see one of my dear American friends whose sister had passed away after a short battle with cancer. Having worked at a hospital and witnessed people whose lives had been harvested by the sickle of this disease, I have learned that, with some types of cancer, it is much better to exit after a short battle than after a long one. In a sense, my friend’s sister was fortunate to depart within a couple of months rather than go through the painful processes of chemotherapy, radiation, followed by usually a high chance…

If you're buying a rental home in the U.K. you're making the Bank of England nervous. Governor Mark Carney and his colleagues have repeatedly said a surge in buy-to-let property investment may pose a risk to financial stability. With the central bank's Financial Policy Committee grappling with that question, it's trying to get extra powers to intervene in the market. A U.K. Treasury consultation on new tools for the institution closes on Friday.  http://assets.bwbx.io/images/iXRnkwDzvuAw/v2/628x-1.png 628w, http://assets.bwbx.io/images/iXRnkwDzvuAw/v2/750x-1.png 750w, http://assets.bwbx.io/images/iXRnkwDzvuAw/v2/-1x-1.png 1200w" style="box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;border:0px;max-width:1200px;display:block;position:relative;margin:0px auto;z-index:1;width:740px"> Policy makers are worried because almost seven years of record-low benchmark borrowing costs and measly savings rates have bolstered appetite for property. At…

We live in an extraordinary transitional period in the history of Muslim-West relations. Islam and Christianity are the two largest and fastest growing world religions; as they engage each other globally and domestically, they impact religion, politics and international affairs. In 1992 I was invited by Georgetown University’s administration to discuss a proposal from the Foundation for Christian–Muslim Understanding in Geneva to create a center that would focus on Muslim–Christian relations in international affairs. The initial vision for the Center came from the concerns and vision of Hasib Sabbagh, a prominent Palestinian Christian businessman and philanthropist, and a small group of…

Edward Said, in full Edward Wadie Said, sometimes Edward William Said   (born November 1, 1935, Jerusalem—diedSeptember 25, 2003, New York, New York, U.S.), Palestinian American academic, political activist, and literary critic who examined literature in light of social and cultural politics and was an outspoken proponent of the political rights of the Palestinian people and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Said’s father, Wadie (William) Ibrahim, was a wealthy businessman who had lived some time in the United States and apparently, at some point, took U.S. citizenship. In 1947 Wadie moved the family from Jerusalem to Cairoin order to avoid the conflict that was beginning over the United Nations partition of Palestine into separate…