This was a time when politics was tearing Islam from inside and others (non-Muslim intellectuals & philosophers) were assaulting it from outside. As a response to this, intellectual activity as a whole developed rapidly among Muslims, especially those at the centers of learning from Medina to Basra. Read more...
The inevitable caliphate?
Seen by many as the ultimate symbol of Muslim political unity, the idea of Caliphate has animated and inspired Muslim intellectuals and activists over the past century. Read more...
Ramadan, socialism and the neighbour’s car
Freedom, justice and ending the
occupation was our “revolutionary socialism” around which we teenagers in the
Gaza refugee camp secretly organised and declared strikes on the walls of the
camp in red graffiti, and quoted (or misquoted) Marx as we pleased, oftentimes
out of context. And when it was time for prayer, we all went to the
mosque. Read more...
The Middle East and the Return of History
Ever since Francis Fukuyama argued, more than two decades ago, that the world had reached the end of history, history has made the world hold its breath. Read more...
Why is the world in grip of jehadist menace?
Three momentous events, all in November-December 1979, are the genesis of a great deal of chaos the world faces today. Read more...
The End of the Islamic Revolution?
As President Hassan Rouhani approaches the end of his first year in office in the 35th anniversary of the revolution, we can affirm that the Islamic revolution in Iran has indeed come to an end. Read more...
Post-sanctions Iran: The next China?
It is the combination of pragmatism and resilience that underpins Iran's increasingly successful bid for (retaking) a pride of place among the world's leading nations. Read more...
Political Islam: Rise, fragmentation and possible fall
Political Islam covers a wide range of Islamic political movements involving different sects, sub-sects, nationalities and leftist, as well as rightist rhetoric and narratives. Read more...
Political Islam: Theory and reality
The ultimate goal of 'political Islam' is to create an international fraternity of Muslim nations that can slowly be guided toward a united caliphate. But how they intend to make modern Muslim nation states accept such a caliphate, they’re at a loss to say. Read more...
Islam vs. Islam
When religious people arrogate themselves to understand the divine purpose and are presumptuous enough to conceive themselves as instruments of divine will on earth, then -- and only then -- can they commit crimes in the name of religion. Read more...
Sunni-Shi’ite Tensions are Nothing New
We have become accustomed to viewing the political and social history of the region through the lens of the Sunni–Shi’ite conflict. Read more...
When Iraq was the bastion of a thriving cosmopolitan culture
Iraqi borders may have been decided by colonial design but Iraqi people are not a colonial product. Read more...
The myth of Sykes-Picot and its shortcomings
Sykes-Picot was not the sole determinant of the fate of modern Arab countries. Read more...
Fouad Ajami - a scholar without empathy
The chief criticism of Ajami was not that he was a bad scholar, but that he too often used that scholarship in the service of power. Read more...
The idea of the Hijab
The hijab may mean many different things to different people. For some, the hijab may allow them to retain their modesty, morals and freedom of choice but for others hijab causes issues with gender relations and is a tool to silence and repress women both physically and metaphorically. Read more...
Islamic Modernism Series II: modernism vs. traditional Islam
Islamic modernism started in the 19th century as a political response to Western intellectuals who claimed cultural and even genetic supremacy over Muslim civilisation. Read more...
Islamic Modernism Series I: traditional Islam
“The traditional Islam refuses ever to accept Islam as an ideology and it is only when the traditional order succumbs to the modern world that the understanding of religion as ideology comes to the fore…" Read more...
Globalization and radicalization
As result of the failure of nationalist and leftist ideologies in Muslim countries, Islam became both a factor of quasi-nationalism and a protest movement against anything that was Western. Read more...
A confused nation’s slow march to clarity
The problem Pakistan faces today has gone beyond democracy and the gibberish spouted in the name of freedom of expression. This doesn’t mean we roll up democracy and the media, only that we understand what is at stake. The Taliban don’t believe in democracy. They believe in freedom of expression only for themselves. The only language they deal in is that of force. The only language they understand is that of arms. Read more...
Middle East: Death by identity
The people of the Middle East suffer from an exaggerated identification with groups, whether political, religious or politico-religious. The myths and traditions of any sect, tribe or nation are not only alive and well, but reaffirmed daily by the instruments of modernity. Read more...
Iran and Turkey: Unlikely duo amid regional turmoil
There are three factors that need to be considered in assessing and understanding the motives behind the Turkish-Iranian rapprochement and possible cooperation: the deepening divide between Shia and Sunni in the greater Middle East, the optimistic chatter about a possible nuclear deal between Iran and the West, and the alarming developments in Syria and Iraq. Read more...
Iraqi state needn’t fall apart
The speed with which ISIL has moved its forces towards Baghdad has been used as evidence of Iraq’s artificiality and the divided nature of its population. The truth, however, is more complex but less pessimistic. Read more...
End of a pipe dream
The Turkish ruling party, Justice and Development Party (AKP), turned down a historic chance of architecting a 'liberal Islam' and now faces Afganistanisation abroad and Pakistanisation at home. Read more...
On anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Europe
Is European antipathy towards Muslims comparable to that first stage of hatred towards Jews, a hatred that culminated in one of the darkest pages of human history? Read more...
Why are there no Muslim philosophers?
To what extent can Muslims think as Muslims within the academia without being deemed too Muslim, and to what extent must their thought be made to conform to Western paradigms of thought? Read more...
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