Mohajirs Are People Too

It was quite obvious that unlike Punjabis and Pushtoons, mohajirs have figured out that if there is chaos in the airport it is not because of Allah’s will.

The Power of Faith

Religion has become a weekend thing, where offering Friday prayers means immunity from everything that is required of a Muslim.

Europe and the Film Culture

Despite the speculated aggressive reactions, the film “Fitna� was released on the Internet on March 27, 2008.

The Vicious Circle of Violence

The birthday of The Prophet Muhammad is a good time to remember that he was a man of peace. But the intoxicating violence now makes it difficult to go back to the origins.

Reinterpretation of Islam in Turkey

Reinterpretation of Quran (and Hadith) is allowed in principle although no effective reinterpretation has ever taken place in the Muslim world.

February 18th, 2008-Election Day

Election in Tribal Areas and Pukhtunkhua province has been marred by violence. There have been attacks on the offices and rallies of all major political party.

Islam as a political weapon in Pakistan

Manipulative Politics through the Bhutto and Zia Regimes

Aqsa Pervez: The Casualty of Patriarchy

Why are other Aqsas being slapped, punched, kicked, abused, followed, spied on, coerced, threatened, blackmailed, kicked out and married away? Why?

Death of Aqsa Pervez: A reflection on Canadian Muslim-Pakistanis

As parents, we need to understand and acknowledge that our children deserve even more understanding and support because they are caught between two distinct worlds.

Islam and Hijab-Murder in Canada

Gruesome murder of playful Pakistani Canadian kid in the hands of her father sends the poor soul to her grave and shock waves to the Canadian society.

Where is Ibn-Sina of the 21st Century?

The 800-pound gorilla in the Islamic room is not ignorance or violence but “Blind� faith in Quran and the Hadith.

The Sudanese Teddy Bear Saga

President Omar al-Bashir decided to overturn a court ruling convicting Gillian Gibbons for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, a rare victory for progressive, moderate Islam.

Why the American War on Terror is Failing Miserably

USA's counter terrorism effort in the Global War against Terror is frankly creating more terrorists than it is stopping.

Artifice of Scholarship : CSPI on FrontPage

Where will Mr. Warner hide when faced with the ignobility of logic deserting his beloved Christianity? What will he do when the devil of duality is discovered in his own sacred texts?

An Open Letter to Hizb-ut-Tahrir

What do you really mean by "re-establishing the Khilafat and carrying Islam to all Mankind by way of Jihad" on your website?

We the Silent Majority and the Muslim Fanatics

Why does Western media use the term ‘Islam, ‘Islamist’, ‘Muslim’ very often in the same sentence with words such as terror, terrorist, and fanatics?

Reflections During a US Visa Grind

An account of the current conditions for visitors to the US Embassy in Islamabad. Also a comment on the mindsets and values of Pakistanis and Americans.

The Proposition

The halala was solemnized. At 11, Iqtidar had his first experience of the flesh. Naghma was facilitated in her return to the man she really loved.

Can Religious Leaders Redeem the Future of the World?

138 prominent Muslim scholars have written an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI calling for religious harmony between Christians and the Muslims.

Whither Pakistan? The Presidential 'Election' and Beyond

It is my view that in the not too distant future Pakistan too will go through its own version of an Islamic revolution.

Bernard Lewis and the Neocon view of Islam

Lewis has had such a profound influence that according to the Wall Street Journal, “the Lewis doctrine, in effect, had become US policy�.

Runway Woes

Its 2:30 pm on a warm and humid Sunday afternoon. The budget airline from Abu Dhabi has just decided to bless our humble airfield in Islamabad.

Dillu Ram Kausari: The Hindu Poet who Loved The Prophet

One quatrain, in particular, shocked the entire community in India, both Muslims and Hindus.

The Greatest Sin

There is a premonition as Ahmed suddenly stands up and shouts, ‘I shall commit a sin, a sin like no other, a grave sin!’ Repeatedly.

The need for De-Bhuttofication of the Pakistan People's Party

In the last 5 years, PPP in the assembly at least has emerged as a strong force against obscurantism.

Purani Gali

A glimpse of life in the mid-sixties Islamabad. How madrasas have changed in Pakistan in the last forty years.

Twin Blasts in Rawalpindi leaves 27 dead, 70 injured

A chilling response to Musharraf's military operation in tribal areas

The Paradox Cult

The hypocrisy with which the cult leaders lure and seduce; poor and illiterate parents and their children alike, under the banner of Islamic teachings.

With friends like these

From the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan to the streets of Islamabad and Hyderabad, Islam suffers daily at the hands of its followers.

Jinnah and the Islamic State – Setting the Record Straight

What did Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, want for the country he was destined to create in 1947?

Why Doxiadis Cries for Islamabad

A planned capital sinks through the neglect of its basic infrastructure at the cost of new wasteful projects

Anatomy of Revenge

Evil things are never committed with such enthusiasm, pride and joy as when they are done out of revenge and especially if they are done in the name of religion.

Science and the Islamic world --- The quest for rapprochement

With well over a billion Muslims and extensive material resources, why is the Islamic world disengaged from science and the process of creating new knowledge?

Michel Houellebecq: France's New Literary "Enfant Terrible" and Islamophobe

Reviews of "Atomised", "Platform" and "The Possibility of an Island".

Does Islam, in fact, Encourage Paedophilia?

Sexual attraction to postpubescent teens has existed in every culture throughout history.

As The Drama Unfolds

Mulana Abdul Aziz calls for Jihad one minute and runs for his life the next second.

Militant Liberalism

Do we have liberals amongst us that are willing to carry a Kalashnikov in the name of values of Egalitarianism and Social Justice?

The YouTube Baby

Even though it may have seemed an exciting prospect for many watching a young (bearded) man standing up to the most powerful person in the country, yes, but about what was he standing up for?

Muharram 10: ’Ashura: Commemorating Imam Hussain- The Prince of Martyrs

A translation of a section from Jami’s Shawâhid al Nabuwwah

It is Never OK to Hit a Woman

According to Chris Rock (American comedian) if she is nagging then at some point you should be able to smack some sense in to her ...

Reclaiming the Middle Ground

No matter how we try to dissociate ourselves from our Muslim identity, it comes back to us in unexpected ways.

’Moderate’ vs ’Severe’ Muslims

Mohammad Yousuf: A tribute

I would like to say a sentence or two about the Pakistani who broke Sir Viv Richard’s long standing record for most runs in a calendar year, as many of you might already know that man is Mohammad Yosuf.

Islamic Education, Madrassah Reform, Rationality and Dawkins

The Muslims need to adapt a modern mindset which requires changes to traditional education.

Which Islam?

Although many of us despise the western style secularism, western science and philosophy, western democracy, and modernity, we do not have any reasonable and pragmatic substitutes for them. The result is an intellectual schism.

Marriage in Hiding

A muslim female cannot marry a non- muslim man and a Muslim man can marry any muslim, christian or jewish woman. Who decides who wants to marry who? The ones getting married and no one else.

Muslims ‘Unveiled’

Muslims should be willing to adapt to the host culture as much as possible

Hijacking of Islam

Most Muslims believe that the Quran is the infallible, eternal and unchangeable words of Allah but very few know how much the teachings of The Prophet had been revised over the past fourteen centuries.

My Ramadan

This year before Ramadan I thought to myself – “at last after four years Ramadan back home!” Interestingly enough, last year I had Pakistan to miss, but this year I am terribly missing Ramadan in college.

One Man’s Religion as Another Man’s Belly Laugh

The funny side of the Pope’s comments - why can’t people laugh anymore?

Muslim Reformers - A Peek Into the Past

The remarkable story of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, a polyglot, agricultural scientist, lawyer, judge, scientist, author, publisher, political leader, and most of all an educator (his greatest achievement which has survived up till now).

9/11: DOB of Islamophobia

People all over the world are marking the fifth anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack ever. It’s time they marked five years of the onset of Islamophobia too and searched for its permanent end.

Mullahs: Dulha Bhais of the World

The flames of hatred are easy to fan and difficult to extinguish. When the flames are stoked by religious fervor, they are even more dangerous.

With a Grain of Salt: Poor Tariq Ramadan

He answered the question about his views on the perpetrators of 9/11 by simply asking 'who gains?' and posited that no Arab or Muslim group will gain. As you can imagine, this went down like a lead balloon.

Interpretation of Islamic Extremism in Mass Media

Interpretation of Islamic Extremism by the western mass media

Islam and the Age of Globalization

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Professor Akbar S. Ahmed's latest brainchild is a project on Islam in the Age of Globalization, an in-depth look into how technology and the interactions of civilizations are affecting the practice and cultural trad

Riba and the Pakistani Economy

There has been a large amount of debate in Pakistan as to what exactly constitutes ‘riba’. Is it interest in all its totalities or does riba simply connatate excess? Indeed the question arises as to whether a complete interest free system can

The Height of Higher Education

Pakistan studies should become a part of the study of world history without recourse to jingoism and ‘patriotic excesses’. By doing so, two major sources of confusion and non-critical thinking will be removed from the domain of universities

The Fertility Debate

The role of women in determining their fertility is also a factor of politics and power established by the clerical class rather than what Islam actually specifies. Many Muslim countries assert that women do not have a right to deny pregnancy

'Dew from Truth’s Garden'

The following translation is of excerpts from a poem by the great scholar-Sufi saint from India, Imam Ahmad Riza Khan, eulogising the Prophet. In these verses he writes of the miraculous qualities of the various body parts of the Beloved Prophet

Would India be a Threat to the Islamic Conference?

What is the true motive behind India's eagerness to join the Organization of Islamic Conference? If it wants to do anything positive for its Muslim population, then the first place to start would be Kashmir and Gujarat

Is the Koran Truly Amazing?

Once you get a grasp of the trend of the Koran, its consistency of words and thoughts, you see a unity not seen in any book produced by the human mind

Questions from the burning Danish Embassies

The silent, moderate Muslims need to wake up and be heard

Have Muslims Become Caricatures?
Another point of view

Omar Marzauk, a Danish comedian, used to joke that he should have born a poodle, not a Muslim [in Denmark] “Dogs in this nation have their own burial grounds, and Muslims don’t,' he would say

Cartoons -- Freedom or Ridicule?

Islam, Marathons and Choice

I would like to say a few things on the religious opposition to women's participation in the Lahore marathon or any other healthy sporting activity. I lay no claim to liberal intellectualism or rigorous interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah. These words

Looking for a New Islamic Fiqh

Today Islam needs a new Fiqh to implement its Shariat. Not many Muslims appreciate the difference between these two very important and distinct terms

Songs of Dissonance

Out of all the tragedies this earthquake has brought, the loss of an educated and inspiring Junaid Jamshed is very dehumanizing.

What will I teach my daughter?

I memorized the thirtieth Para by the age of ten.

Standing Alone in Mecca by Asra Q. Nomani

The journey to Mecca and standing alone at the birthplace of Islam is a running metaphor in Nomani’s book. She is always alone, or so it seems, on the other side of most Islamic issues.

That’s me in the Corner Losing My Religion

The talk about modernizing Islam has been going on for centuries.

ISNA Thugs

ISNA management has been unable to relate to their American-born Muslim constituency which is the future of Islam in America.

Decline of Science in the Muslim World

They (Muslims) tried to find reasons and rationale for every thing in religious terms. This mode of thinking which some like to call Islamic occasionalism is part of the collective psyche of the orthodox Muslim world and has existed from the very beginnin

The Elusive Reconstruction

It is about time that we began to contemplate the implications of questions raised by the MMA, rather than dismiss them as extremist rhetoric.

Saudi Government to Demolish Prophet Muhammed’s home

It has been reported that a majority of 1,000 year or older buildings in Mecca have been demolished for commercial development.

Changing Muslim Hearts

'It sucks to be Muslim.' Those were the words uttered by my 15-year-old son as we sat glued to the TV, watching coverage of the unspeakable crime that had been committed against humanity a few days before on 9/11.

Recent Terror in Egypt

Egypt is where it all started as early as 1928. Indeed it was not as much a reaction to non-Muslims or even colonial rule as it was opposed to its own co-religionists.

Hazrat Khansaa

Khansaa’s (R.A.) poetry has its own value and her poetical genius has always been acknowledged not only during her life time but even today, not only by the pre-Islamic Arab poets but also by people of all the times and places.

Muslim Leadership: An Oxymoron?

A good Muslim leader can be simply defined as someone who has the ability to embrace the changing world of Islam

Iranian Puzzle

What the current election signifies and what it means for the future

The Book is also Just a Book

Forget about killing myself. I felt no anger, no hurt, no disgust when I read the Newsweek report regarding the ’desecration’ of the ’holy Quran’. The Quran is at various levels merely a symbol, and an individual one at that.

More Tales of Sufi Wisdom

Onlookers were amazed, the venerable old Sufi kneeling next to the stray dog

A Season of Faith’s Defection

The message of tolerance is necessary not only for the Islamic militants but also for the so-called secularists, who in turn are extremist to the point of judging a man by his facial hair, or the clothes he or she wears.

Islam vs. Islam

Junoon concert at the Stanford University, held on May 1... If there is such a thing as a clash of civilization, it is all happening within the Islamic sphere.

Hajj in contemporary times

Hajj is a tremendous show of untapped, unexploited and raw strength, which, if intelligently channelled can yield tremendous benefits to Muslim Ummah.

What is Islamization of Science?

If science developed by Muslim scientists is to be called Islamic science, sure, it can be created if the Muslim scientists concentrate and produce some original work in scienc. But this sort of symbolization is apocryphal...

What Does It Mean to be a Muslim in a Secular Country?

The younger generation that is born and bred in the western secular countries is exposed to much broader influences ...

Myths about the Golden Age of Islam

The history of Islam, especially the golden age of Islam, is full of instances of narrow parochial, sectarian and tribal divisions.

Culture Wars

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim is Mamdani’s most recent work. Inspired largely by the post Sept 11 scenario in the US, this book is one of the few important counter-narratives to the contemporary Western political analysis of Islam.

Questioning the Hadeeth

Questioning the Hadeeth: The hadeeth restrict a lot of our actions, thoughts and put a cloud over the whole spirit of religion. The solution is to analyze this science. How reliable are the hadeeth?

When did Freethought Cease in the Muslim World?

The period in which rationalism was tangled with orthodox thought lasted for about four to five hundred years. In spite of the stresses and strains, this was a very productive period of intellectualism in the Muslim world...

The Rock Star and the Mullahs

Salman Ahmed is a man on a mission: to challenge Pakistan’s hardline mullahs on why they believe music is not allowed in Islam.

The Triple Conspiracy

On July 4, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board is likely to adopt a resolution scrapping the ’triple talaq’. Many Islamic countries, including Pakistan, do not follow the system. Even within India, there are differing opinions. But the sys

Origins of Hijab

After the conquest of Mecca, the Muslims were practically the unchallenged rulers of Arabia and the social conditions in Medina were also not menacing for the women. But, since hijab had been formally ordained by the Quran, there was no going back...

Muslims Vs. Modernity

A modern Muslim can revert to fundamentalism as was the case with Mohammad Atta, the September 11 terrorist, and countless other Lebanese, Iranian, Algerian, Egyptian and Iranian elites. What causes this reversion?

Hoping, Without Hope

Karachi in the grips of sectarian violence ... Who will stop this? Or rather, what will stop this?

Rights (un)Defined

A women’s magazine recently took out an “Ibne-Adam” edition

Who is a Muslim?

...there were two qualifications: that you believe in one God and that you believe Muhammad was a prophet...

Now it’s mannequins

There seems to be no end to the non-issues the NWFP government readily involves itself in. The most recent of these is now a ban placed on the display of mannequins in clothing stores.

A Case for Banning Polygamy

The practice of polygamy preceded Islam, and Quranic injunctions sought to first limit and eventually dispense entirely with the regressive custom.

A Movement in Religious Nationalism: Jami’at-ul-Ulama-i-Hind

With the decline of Moghal empire in India and failure of Sepoy mutiny, prominent followers of Shah Wali-Ullah like Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi (1833-77) and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi set up an Islamic madrasa at Deoband on May 30,1866 to promote Wahabism, a radi

Mahathir’s Speech - An Alternative Muslim View

Dr. Mahathir is an educated professional, yet his speech, rather than being diplomatically seasoned, was crude and 'dumbed down.'

Are Secularism and Islam Incompatible?

Ever since, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk abolished the Khilafat and separated Church from state, a great debate has raged in the Islamic world. Perhaps no where is it more intensely debated than in Pakistan, where Jinnah very clearly and consistently declared t

Why is the West so angry with Dr. Mahathir?

It looks as if the intrepid Mahathir, known for speaking his mind fearlessly, has disturbed a hornet’s nest in many a western capital.

Religion without Science is Blind

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind -- Albert Einstein

Pervez Hoodbhoy-Paul Kurtz correspondence

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Edward Said was slandered by Ibn Warraq, a man with pretensions to being a secular humanist and the author of several books.

Sex and the Saudi

Imagine you’re a Saudi man, tired from a day of beating your Bengali worker...

Fading Exclamations

Osama a Muslim hero or villain: a pied piper or puppet: a rebel, an idealist or an agent? Whoever he maybe he is the best thing to happen to Islam

Conflict of Science with Theocracy

Although all the various governments in the Muslim countries are not constitutionally theocratic in structure, all of them do indeed have constitutional provisions forbidding divergence from the fundamental beliefs based on religious tradition and the Hol

My Perspective on Islam

Humanists cannot endorse terrorist targeting of innocents no matter how just the cause

The Conversion Chiaroscuro

Didi became a Hindu. Long before the RSS and the Pope got into a tiff about conversions. At that time it meant nothing to me.

Women in Religious Scriptures

Gender relationships in religious frame-work

Air Cdre Rizwanullah Khan Shaheed Memorial Trust

how will we make sure that the contribution to this world happens anyway, in the name of the dearly departed

How Muslims Can Win The Coming Wars!

The most important war of all

Documentarians Hope to Enlighten Americans about Prophet

the program provides a more balanced explanation of Muhammad's prophetic message of justice and mercy

Why I Am Not A Muslim?

Life is spent in the fastidious guarding of a few empty possessions that sit around like a congregation of useless whores

Indigo X

No more shalwar, no more kameez...

Closet

obviously there are thousands of Khurram out there with their conflicting mind sitting in the darkness of the closet looking for the light

What is Islam?

What's a pig got to do with it?

The Politics of Rape

Why the Meerwala Jatoi panchayat thought they would get away with it

ISNA 39th Annual Conference

More than 32,000 attended the 39th ISNA conference in Washington.

The Aga Khani

Since the Aga Khani does not fit a stereotype the believer cannot be recognised

Visit to Krishna-Janam-Bhoomi

My first visit to Mathura-Vrindavan

We, The Muslim Americans

We envisioned a happy co-existence

Reaction

Terrorists Breeding In Your Gentrified Neighbourhood of Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.

An Alternate View

Who has the belly for that?

Open Letter to O. B. Laden

Bin Laden! Yes, I am talking to you. Person to person.

The Meaning of Pakistan

Metaphysical Politics of Pakistan

This Visit To Pakistan

one notices some interesting adaptations in the life styles of upper classes

Women in India: Are We Better Off?

What should the wife do if her husband beats her and troubles her?

Facts O-level and facts low level

the matric textbook reads like a badly done PR job by a government spokesman

Family Laws in Bangladesh

family law codes are inconsistent with the Constituion on three counts

Mecca or Mohenjodaro?

A living religion is more eloquent than a dead civilization

Songs of love and devotion

All religions came from the same Source

Of Boylove and Boylovers

We (even in the oh-so-liberal West) live in a more conformist society that we are led to believe

Lies of the Western ‘Science of Islam’

Mass killing in the name of the state is legitimate and justified; sporadic acts of violence in the name of religion (read: Islam) are illicit and immoral

Pagans and Competitive Conversions

On conversions and reverse conversions

Growing up an American Muslim

You’re related to Saddam aren’t ya?

Miracle Workers at Shifa

Battling disease and taboos: from male genitalia and female sexuality to kidney stones and hypertension.

A Day with an Orthodox Rabbi

Hebrew for God willing also sounds like insha’allah.

Disowning Altruism

Is any feeling for the interests and good of others compatible with the world-view forced on you by the 2-year entry program at Goldman Sachs

Selective Islam in Pakistan

I feel there are certain western countries with far more Islamic traits than us, especially in the way they protect the rights of their citizens.