A modern Ottoman – the Turk Gulen wins the intellectuals’ poll
The Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, winner of the intellectuals poll undertaken by Prospect, has been hailed as “the modern face of the Sufi Ottoman…
To Muslims: Smash the Doors, Wash your brains..
Came across this excellent article by Farooq Suleria that rather candidly talks about the dearth of creativity in Muslims of today. I love the…
William Chittick on Islamic Mysticism
Farah at her blog has done a remarkable thing by selecting some excellent quotes from an essay called “Islamic Mysticism” by William Chittick Full…
Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s fatwa on alcohol
DOHA (AFP) – Prominent Qatar-based Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has sparked controversy by issuing a religious edict allowing Muslims to consume tiny amounts…
Prophet’s letter on the protection of Egyptian Copts
I am grateful to Saadi to have forwarded me the this amazing ancient text. ******** The Letter of Prophet Muhammad Below is the English…
More on Data Saheb
Lahore Metblog has published a lovely post on Data Saheb of Lahore today During the urs the shrine and its whereabouts are beautifully lit.…
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…
Islam, law and finance: the elusive divine
Fred Halliday begins his argument in the captioned article published by Open Democracy with these lines: In many European countries in particular (the Netherlands,…
Rethinking Islam and Hinduism
S Irfan Habib in New Delhi There has been a lot of noise about rethinking in Islam, particularly post September 11,2001. I feel it…
The Battle of Karbala (Mir Anis)
Mir Anis is a classical master of Urdu poetry whose elegies on the struggles between Imam Hussain, prophet’s grandson and the usurper, callous monarch…
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…
Spare the Animal and Show Your Piety: Eid ul Adha, 2007
I am cross-posting this thoughtful post by temporal that was published at the Pak Tea House: Eid ul Adha is on or around December…
Pakistan diaspora and the politics of the Hijab
The suggestion of violent disputes between a 16-year-old girl in Mississauga and her father over her desire to show her hair and live a…
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…
Of ignorance and knowledge – thinking of Professor Aghajari
I am a child whose teacher is love. surely my master won’t let me grow to be a fool* I have been told that…
Endowed with Love
Truly, those who are faithful and do righteous deeds, the Compassionate One will endow with Love. – The Quran, (19:96)…
Post-Islamism debates
Ali Eteraz on post-Islamism: …since 2001 we have devoted far too much time to the Islamic reform cult of personality. Faced with an increasingly…
Violence: targeting the lamp of Chishtiyan
Agar Gaiti Sarasar Bad Girad, Chiragh-e-Chishtiyan Hargiz Namirad If the entire universe is devastated by the storm the lamp of Chishtiyan shall not cease…