My article ‘The Other Faces of Democracy’ which appeared in this column last month, received several responses from the readers. One of them quoted Sohaib N. Sultan’s article entitled ‘Forming an Islamic Democracy'(www.islamonline.net). The article defines democracy as ‘a government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives’. It further elaborates that a…
I was in my hotel room in Bangalore, India, watching the breaking news concerning the election results in Kenya reported by CNN. The results retained the President at the helm, but failed to satisfy the opposition. They claimed the election results were rigged in order for the previous regime to remain in power. The opposition…
We have explained before that, in the Islamic intellectual and scientific tradition, the Cosmos as a whole-or the World of Nature-is conceived of primarily as an open, grand, created Book, comprising Divine Signs. For those who subscribe to such an understanding, doing science essentially becomes attempts to read and interpret the Open Book of Nature…
In this column on the 6th of November 2007, we have narrated the Prophet Muhammad’s statement that, the major portion of Religion (al-Din) is defined by “sincere conduct” (al-nasihah) towards Allah, His Book, His Messenger, leaders of Muslims, and Muslims in general. We had the opportunity, then, to discuss only the first three fundamental dimensions…
The impact and aftershock following Benazir Bhutto’s assassination has sent Pakistan into turmoil. THE year 2007 ended tragically with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, former premier of Pakistan and one of the most influential figures in Pakistani politics and the global arena. The assassination, which took place during one of her election rallies, also killed…
(Note: This version differs from the one published in The Star as a number or paragraphs have been omitted obviously due to space constraints. Those missing sections are here indicated by double square brackets [[ ]]). My article, “Islam is simple and easy,” basically pertains to the matter of prayer during air travel and in…
In an article recently published by The International Herald Tribune, the author (Adrian Pabst), bluntly remarked that a dialogue “will amount to little more than the polite platitudes of politicians and diplomats”. This remark was made in his reaction to a proposal that a dialogue be held between Christianity and Islam. What Christians and Muslims…
We are now in the last month of the Muslim calendar, the month of dhu al-hajjah, loosely translated as the month of the pilgrimage. According to the twelfth century metaphysician al-Ghazzali, unlike other actions the hajj comprises the salient feature “exclusive worship (al-tajarrud li-‘ibÄdatillah)” which reflects “perfect servitude and obedience to Allah (kamÄl al-riqq wa…
In IKIM Views of 13 November 2007, we have explained that in the Islamic intellectual and scientific tradition the cosmos is often regarded as the Created Book, somewhat analogous to the Qur’an as the Revealed Book. The basis of its being so regarded, we have also clarified, is the fact that all the individual entities and events comprising…
It was another Sunday morning. It had been raining the night before and was still raining the following morning. The sky was still overcast; the sun had not been seen for days. Not exactly the kind of ‘welcome’ to the day; certainly not the kind of day which could put one in a bright cheerful…
