Living Lohawarana – a Lahori rambling
My piece for Himal Magazine’s October issue There was a Lahore that I grew up in, and then there is the Lahore that I…
The dilemma of an educated [Indian] Muslim youth
Saif Khalid, a patriotic Indian writes on the predicament of those who want to stay away from the missions, the purges and typecasting of Indian…
Delhi and Islamabad blasts: Deadly tale of two cities
A reader directed me to this lovely post. 13/09/08: A series of bomb blasts ripped through the crowded market places of Delhi claiming a…
Bureaucratics
Bureaucratics – Images by Jan Banning Bureaucratics is a project consisting of a book (ISBN 978-1-59005-232-7) and exhibition containing 50 photographs, the product of…
Do not despair, my soul…
Do not despair, my soul, for hope has manifested itself; the hope of every soul has arrived from the unseen. Do not despair, though…
Revisiting the concept of Jihad in Islam
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)* The word ‘jihad’ is derived from the root juhd, which means ‘to strive’ or…
Islamabad is burning – down with terrorism
What jihad, what Islam and what kind of Muslims these butchers are – they kill innocent people, the underclass outside a posh hotel in…
This Love — Quatrain from Rumi
This Love is the king, yet a throne cannot be found. It is the essence of the Koran yet a verse cannot be found.…
Fana: When the ego gets annihilated
Source Sufi thought is centred around the two fundamental doctrines of the Transcendent Unity of Being or wahdut al-wujud and the universal or perfect…
No One Is Left Hungry at Ajmer
“No one goes hungry in Ajmer during Ramadan” – NDTV – New Delhi, India By Rajan Mahan, For Muslims of south Asia, the Sufi…
Closing the gap
Delhi based writer Tridivesh Singh Maini sent this piece that was published here The Indo-Pak relationship has been so enmeshed in political issues – mostly disputes –…
Indonesia’s green madrassas
Rather than harping on the divisive rhetoric of tribe, sect and political persuasion, we have a theological and teleological imperative to green our society…
Hyderabad – Past And Present
The Untold Charminar -Reviewed By Asif Noorani Way back in 1954 when I greeted a grand old lady, who had migrated to Karachi from…
Through a screen, darkly
Pakistani cable operators, following the cyclical escalation of imagined hatreds, discontinued the transmission of Indian satellite channels in 2002. The absence of Indian TV…
Revelations of war crimes and moralizing idealism
By Charles Bogle (found here) The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, by Ron Suskind. New…
Origins and traditions of Sufism and its music
By Rasha Elass Sufism is the ascetic element of Islam and it derives from the Sunni tradition. Scholars trace the word to two possible…
The Zardari conundrum
By all statistical estimates and anecdotal evidence, Pakistan’s middleclass has grown during the last decade. The visible manifestation of this historically significant trend was…
Utopia for me- Pieces of my heart
My piece published in the News on Sunday yesterday – Karta hun jama phir jigare lakht lakht ko (I seek to gather the scattered…
Imam Hussain: The Beloved of the Beloved
By Syed Salman Chishty Shah Ast Hussain Among the Belivers are Men ,who delivered their promise to Allah (Ayah 23/ Surah Al-Ahzab) On the…
South Asian Cooperation and the Role of the Punjabs
South Asian Cooperation and the Role of the Punjabs. Tridivesh Singh Maini. New Delhi: Siddharth Publications , 2007 South Asian Cooperation and the Role…