A personal God?

Found this post on a web-list: The “Creator” (according to a saying of the Prophet) says: “I AM for you, what you think of…

…inwardly we preceded everyone

If for fruit the gardener Felt no desire or hope Why then would He have planted The root of the tree **** Inwardly then,…

Is Secularism Dangerous For Pakistan?

What is secularism? Is it anti-religion? Are there more than one interpretations of secularism? Are different countries practicing different kinds of secularism at the…

Use of Religion in Politics Interview With Murtaza Solangi

Murtaza Solangi and Tanzeela Mazhar discuss how political parties in Pakistan have often resorted to the use of  religion in politics…

Raza Rumi says Parliament is the institution to enforce Islamic Laws in Pakistan

Raza Rumi’s analysis on Pakistan as an Islamic country. He asserts that it is the role of parliament to enforce Islamic Laws in Pakistan…

The state may be hedging that mainstreaming JuD will wean its cadres away from militancy

September, 2017: The state may be hedging that mainstreaming JuD will wean its cadres away from militancy (The Print) In the fourth of a four-part…

Freedom to broadcast hate

This report by the BBC is extremely insightful. It talks about how broadcast media are fanning sectarian passions across Middle East – on all…

Would you permit me?

Nizar Qabbani In a country where thinkers are assassinated, and writers are considered infidels and books are burnt, in societies that refuse the other,…

Ramzan – A month of Piety

Contributed by Sadia Dehlvi As children we aimed our eyes at the horizon trying to spot the small sliver and once the Ramzan moon…

GOD-FORSAKEN RELIGIONS

A poem by Cecil Rajendra Any religion that sidelines excludes any one. Any religion that does not open doors to every one. Any religion…

Pak Nobel laureate’s Ahmedi status hurdle for documentary

I was quoted in this story – a slight spin but an important point nevertheless.. Two young Pakistanis are battling all odds to make…

The closed minds that deny a civilisation’s glories – where I was quoted

I was most pleased to read this piece by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown entitled The closed minds that deny a civilisation’s glories. I would like to…

Amankaar Tehrik (peace movement) in Pakistan challenges the status quo

Courtesy Fouzia Saeed DISSPELLING THE MYTHS ABOUT TALIBAN Myth: The root cause of Terrorism is extreme poverty and lack of education Reality: This is…

Mysticism has assumed role of popular religion, says Indian scholar Dr Fatima Hussain

Dr Fatima Hussain said the current intellectual propensity was to debunk religion on the pretext that it had been a cause of bloodshed throughout…

Turkey in Radical Revision of Islamist Texts

Turkey is working on a revolutionary new interpretation of the Prophet Mohammed’s reputed sayings, known as the Hadith. The project is aimed at allowing…

Rumi – We are all one family

We are all children of God and His infants As the Prophet had said, All belong to his family From Mosquito to elephant, all…

Bulleh Shah – a few poems

Bulleh Shah ‘s poetry addresses most maladies that we face in this day and age. Recently, I was asked to help a friend with…

A few notes on the 10th of Muharram

God’s wisdom is beyond comprehension. The 10th of Muharram is simultaneously the most celebrated day in the Islamic Calendar, and simultaneously the most sorrowful…

Shah Ast Hussain

10th Moharram is a day of mourning for all Muslims. The tragic incident at Kerbala where the righteous Hussain refused to submit to the…

A paranoid, abhorrent obsession

It was a pleasure to have read Pankaj Mishra in the Guardian: Last week Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-Dutch polemicist, spoke to a gathering…