IRAQ has effectively legalised child marriage, with girls as young as nine being able to marry after amendments to decades old laws. The change on Tuesday has increased the interpretation of ...

fueling clashes between the two sects. Islam is divided into two main branches: Sunni Muslims, who make up about 85% of the Islamic world, and Shia Muslims, who represent around 15%. Conservative ...

The fall of Bashar al-Assad after a violent 13-year civil war was hailed as a new era for the embattled country. But, after just two months, many are fearful that one dangerous regime has been ...

The new law will require a Muslim couple to choose either the Sunni or Shia sect when concluding a marriage contract. They can then choose that sect to represent them in "all matters of personal ...

Edited by Liam Stack Sunni rebels swarm a Shia mosque near the ... This week more than 100 members of the president's Alawite sect, a heterodox offshoot of Shiism, were killed in the village ...

a country which constitutes 74% Sunni population was being ruled by Bashar al-Assad, affiliated with the Alawite sect, a syncretic sect with links to early Shi’ism, for 24 years. However ...

Salam is widely viewed as a reformist. He is a Sunni Muslim – the only sect allowed the position of prime minister – and was a candidate for the premiership twice before in recent years.