Urdu Section19 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.ComBlasphemy laws of Pakistan: Indian clerics are no less extremist and obscurantist - Part 1As the following series of articles by a Deobandi cleric Maulana Nadeemul Wajidi published in several Urdu newspapers show, so-called Ulema in India are no less obscurantist and extremist in their views. They justify killing in the same way as do the Pakistanis. They are as happy at the killing of Salman Taseer, Governor of Pakistani Punjab, as are their Pakistani counterparts. These articles reveal the way this assassination is being justified in India’s Muslim Press. The minds of common Indian Muslims are being poisoned in the same way as has been done in Pakistan. The couplets by Zafar Ali Khan Zafar the Maulana...

Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam19 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.ComCritiquing Communalism: Re-Thinking ReligionThere is no single universally-approved definition of 'communalism', the term having been defined in many diverse, indeed often contradictory, ways. But, as a working definition, one could define it as an ideology and politics that are based on the wholly untenable notion that human communities are defined on the basis of an extremely reified notion of religion, and that the interests of each community so defined are wholly or to a large extent opposed to those of other communities defined in the same way. Inevitably, therefore, communities defined in this way are seen as antagonistic to each other, and it is believed that they can never harmoniously...

Urdu Section19 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.ComClerics on the march in Pakistan- Not about blasphemy, all about politicsThis is not about blasphemy or the honour of the Holy Prophet. This is now all about politics, about the forces of the clergy, routed in the last elections, discovering a cause on whose bandwagon they have mounted with a vengeance.The blasphemy issue ignited by Aasia Bibi’s conviction was virtually over in November, the government making it plain that it had not the slightest intention of amending the blasphemy law, and no government figure of any consequence stepping forward to support Salmaan Taseer on the stand he had taken.There the matter should have rested if Pakistan’s clerical armies were not masters of manipulation and cold-blooded...

Current affairs19 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.ComLook at Pakistan: Secularism is the only optionThose who snigger at India’s secularism should perhaps take a step back from the fence that separates us from Pakistan. Only then will they realise how fortunate we actually are. All the forces of primeval passion, let loose by the Partition, were baying for a Hindu state mirroring that of Pakistan; blood for blood, and so on. Pakistan has not made matters easier either. Every time it gets too hot and crowded in their kitchen, they open the window and throw junk in our backyard. There have been more times than we would like to remember when we have given in to ethnic passions. That we did not go all the way is because secular values are still with us,...

Spiritual Meditations19 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.ComSufi’s light on divinityThe mystic and philosopher Shaykh Muhyiddin Ibn al Arabi is amongst my favourite early Sufis. Born in Murcia, Moorish Spain in 1165, he came to be called Shaykh ul Akbar, the great master. One of the most prolific writers in Islamic history, Ibn al Arabi’s writings immensely impacted Muslim communities throughout the world. He remains a refreshing voice that throws light on the human condition in any time and any place. Rooted in Islamic sciences, his work is universal, accepting that each person has a unique path to the Truth.The 19-year-old Ibn al Arabi met the renowned philosopher Ibn Rushd (d. 1198) whom the West knows as Averroes. The philosopher asked the young mystic,...

Islamic World News19 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.ComSuicide is against Islam: Al-Azhar Fifteen dead in another Iraqi suicide attacks Saudi Arabia bans blogging without permit Tunisia blaze triggers suicides in Arab Africa Two torch themselves in Egypt, taking cases to 10 Egyptian dies of burns after self-immolation Pak pursuing terror as instrument of state policy: Indian Foreign Secretary New Deoband chief lauds Modi's Gujarat American security guards for Zardari's security Al-Qaeda suffered major setbacks, says ex-militant Why can’t a girl contest university elections Open all the locked mosques in Delhi Reforms in the Hajj Committee need of the hour J&K police constable arrested for links with Hizbul Mujahideen Britain all...