Photo Essays

Few other bands can look back on such a diverse musical culture as the Moroccan group "Master Musicians of Joujouka" – not least due to their musical co-operations with western rock and jazz greats since the 1960s. A photo essay by Arian Fariborz

In Mauritania, northwestern Africa, slavery is a fact of modern life. It's estimated that 10-20 percent of the country's 3.5 million people are still enslaved in a system rooted in ethnic discrimination.

The civil war in Syria, which has taken the lives of thousands since 2011, is becoming increasingly brutal. Valuable cultural sites are also being destroyed in the fighting. UNESCO has now provided reports on the damage.

Raden Saleh spent many years - the "best of his life" - in Germany. In the mid-19th century, the Javan artist became one of the founders of German Orientalism.

In 2011 demonstrators gathered at Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against the old regime signalling the start of the Arab Spring in Egypt. A few weeks later the Mubarak regime was ousted and there was hope that Egypt was on a path to change. Today, one year into Mohammed Morsi's presidency, the protests continue at Tahrir Square - against the president and the ruling Muslim Brotherhood party. By Andreas Stahl

For almost 50 years, the Sahrawi people have been waiting for a referendum that would give them the opportunity to decide for themselves over their future and their homeland, the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. When Spain pulled out of the territory in 1976, the odds for Western Saharan independence looked good, until Morocco laid claim to the land and occupied two thirds of the territory, which it still holds today.

In an attempt to escape the Moroccan army, many Sahrawi fled over the border to Algeria, where they established refugee camps outside the city of Tindouf. They have since been waiting nearly forty years to return home. Laura Overmeyer visited the camps.

There are more than three million Muslims in Germany, and they now find "places of prostration" – the original meaning of the Arabic word for mosque, 'masjid' – in around 200 regular mosques, but also in countless other locations for prayers and gatherings. Many mosques in Germany are not used solely for religious purposes, but also as an arena for intercultural and interfaith encounters, aimed at contributing to the acceptance and integration of religion in Germany.

For one month a year, the daily routines of Muslims are determined not only by prayer rituals, but also by sunrise and sunset. During the hours of daylight, the faithful are required to desist from eating and drinking and instead exercise self-discipline and abstinence. But for many Muslims, Ramadan brings with it a whole host of other challenges.

Ramadan is a holy month for the world's Muslims. It is a month of peace and the time in which the Koran was first sent down from heaven to the Prophet Mohammed. The fasting takes place from sunrise to sunset and means abstinence from eating, drinking and sex. It is a form of worship. Those who fast should gain a better appreciation of the predicament of the poor and the destitute. Ramadan is also a month devoted to intensive prayer and social welfare. Our slide show presents impressions of Ramadan from the varied Islamic cultures all across Asia.