Changing times: Ijtihad and other questions Muslims must revisit
Dawn: Is suicide bombing justified? Can women lead prayers? Is there a feminist interpretation of Islam? These are some of the questions Muslims living in the West often face. They […]
Freedom of speech: Academics in the US hit out at HEC memo
ET: NEW YORK: Pakistani academics based in the United States have dismissed as draconian a Higher Education Commission (HEC) circular calling for heads of public and private degree awarding institutions to impose limits on formal or informal discussions. The circular —issued on October 28 with signatures of Prof Dr Mansoor Akbar […]
Islamic State fears grow in Pakistan and Afghanistan
ET: ISLAMABAD: The Islamic State organisation is starting to attract the attention of radicals in Pakistan and Afghanistan, long a cradle for militancy, unnerving authorities who fear a potential violent contagion. Far from the militants’ self-proclaimed “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, the name of IS has cropped up several times in […]
Kurdish women a force to be reckoned with for ISIS
Source: CNN Derik, Kurdish-controlled northern Syria (CNN) — Don’t be fooled by the pretty songs they sing in their downtime — these women are among ISIS’ most deadly enemies. Brandishing Kalashnikov assault rifles and wearing military fatigues, the women perform military parade drills at a memorial ceremony for slain fighters […]
Boko Haram: Kidnapped Girls Now Married
Source: The Daily Beast. In a new video released Friday night, the leader of Nigeria’s Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group, denied agreeing to a cease-fire with the government and said that all the schoolgirls the group kidnapped earlier this year have converted to Islam and been married off. “The […]
ISIS five commanders enter in Pakistan
thenewstribe.com — KARACHI: At least five commanders of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) entered in Pakistan from Australia, the country’s intelligence agencies revealed ISIS activities in a high-level meeting in Karachi today, November 1. According to the agencies report, the large quantity of gold has also been transferred […]
Where are the world’s most dangerous transit systems for women?
CNN.com —- Alarming findings related to women’s safety have come to light with the release of a Thomson Reuters Foundation survey that looks at harassment on public transportation systems in the world’s largest cities. According to the new report, six in 10 women in major Latin American cities report they’ve been physically […]
Lessons from Versailles for today’s imploding Middle East
Summar As the Middle East and North Africa implode, perhaps focus should be directed on the end of World War I – and specifically the settlement fashioned by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and French Prime Minister George Clemenceau at Versailles in 1919 . The […]
Egypt follows U.S. and Israeli strategies
Rami G. Khouri| The Daily Star One of the most troubling aspects of the phenomenon of militant Salafist-takfiri groups like ISIS is the appearance of smaller groups across the Arab world that share ISIS’ ideology and methods, and in several cases have sworn allegiance to it. This is no surprise. […]
Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah Aga Khan III and Pakistan
APROPOS the news item ‘Role of various leaders in Pakistan Movement highlighted’ (Oct 17), I would like to point out the efforts of Sir Aga Khan III for the creation […]
Male elephants have a sweet side
Presented by Lesley Evans Ogden for BBC Popular culture has painted male African elephants as aggressive, anti-social loners. But are they really the solitary beasts we’ve imagined, or are they just […]
Delhi’s Shahi Imam invites Nawaz, shuns Modi for son’s anointment
Source: Dawn NEW DELHI: Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, on Thursday invited Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his son’s appointment as the next chief cleric, but excluded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the guest list, the Times of India reported. Bukhari did however invite […]
Islamic law does not prescribe whipping or incarceration to those who consume pork
Source: Dawn Consuming pork is sinful and forbidden in Islam. However, Islamic law does not prescribe whipping or incarceration to those who consume pork. The religious doctrine may prohibit certain behaviours and consider them sins. This does not make those acts a crime. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has taken […]
Changing times: Ijtihad and other questions Muslims must revisit
Source:Dawn.com By Anwar Iqbal suicide bombing justified? Can women lead prayers? Is there a feminist interpretation of Islam? These are some of the questions Muslims living in the West often face. They attempt to answer these questions as best as they can. And in the process, they are often forced […]
Jihadist caught on German shopping trip
Source: The Local The 24-year-old German, Ismail Issa, will be tried on November 5th for supporting a terrorist group, after being caught when he returned to shop in his homeland last year, The New York Times reported. He was back in his home city of Stuttgart, where he was radicalized […]
Ashura of Muharram, a burdon on Pakistani economy?
Source: LUBP LINK While Deobandi and Wahhabi Islamists due to sectarian reasons and their inherent intolerant and violent nature are opposed to the Muharram-Ashura and Milad rituals, they and their fake liberal comrades also present seemingly rational arguments, e.g., law and order, economic implications, in order to support their demand […]
Evolution, Atheism, Christianity and Islam?
Epigraph: “The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.” Thomas Paine, one of the Founding Fathers of USA Pope Francis joins Pope John Paul II in evading conflict between Evolution and Original […]
India: A Time to Revitalize Indian Islam
By Usama Khalid, October 26, 2014 Should the Muslims of India change with the times, taking cognizance of the big political change in India, in order to ensure their survival? The coming to power of the Hindu chauvinists bodes ill for the traditionalist Muslims, the ones inflexible in their display […]
Suicide in Russia and How Islam Can Help
Suggested Reading: Islam and Psychology Every Thing You Wanted to Know about Alcohol and Addiction From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Suicide Social aspects[show] Suicide crisis[show] Suicide types[show] Epidemiology[show] History[show] In […]
Editorial: Lukman and Jokowi — A Force for Change- for Minorities
By Jakarta Globe on 12:50 am Oct 31, 2014 President Joko Widodo’s decision to retain Lukman Hakim Saifuddin as minister of religious affairs may have been a concession to the minister’s party, as some have argued, but it appears to be paying off in a big way for the people. Lukman has […]