Issue 1: Openings
After a five-year hiatus, Muftah Magazine is back with a fresh look, biannual issues, and a renewed mission.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to Openings, the first issue in Muftah’s return.
We’re excited to be back after a five-year break, and even more excited to share this next chapter with you. For a fuller reflection on where we’ve been and where we’re headed, we encourage you to read the Editor-in-Chief’s letter below, which opens the issue.
As the title suggests, Openings is about beginnings—intellectual, political, and personal—but it’s also about continuing the conversations we’ve long cared about. We’re grateful for the opportunity to share this collection with you, and we welcome your thoughts and feedback. If you enjoyed the essays in this issue, please consider supporting our work by becoming a paid subscriber or making a donation. As an ad-free, independent magazine, we rely on you to help sustain what we do.
Gratefully,
The Muftah Team
On Openings: A Message from the Editor-in-Chief
Riad Alarian
Prospects of the Metamodern
Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm
Versions of Critique
Rita Felski
Open and Closed: Alex Odeh’s Murder Four Decades On
William Lafi Youmans
(Dis)placing the Year of the Elephant: Saudi Arabia’s Animated Journey to National Opening
Ahmed Elbenni
The Openings and Closures of Saudi Historical Revisionism
Sultan Alamer
On Openings in Confinement: When Only God Can See
Asim Qureshi and Walaa Quisay
The Gaza Genocide, Liberal Decadence, and the Lifting of Taboos
Daniel Tutt
The End is Trending: Virtual Immortality in the Digital Age
Nilou Davoudi
Notes on a Genocide
Yassir Morsi
Bitcoin’s Possibilities and the Errors of Fiat Economists
Saifedean Ammous
Money as a Technology: The Vulnerabilities and Governance Challenges of Cryptocurrency
Joe Bradford
Sumud as a Key to Global Liberation
Farah El-Sharif