Saudi Funding Fans Ultra-Conservative Islam in India; the Political, Ideological Response to It Remains Meek

 By Sunil Raman Nov 23, 2015 For years, the growing following and influence of ultra-conservative Islamist ideology in parts of Europe including Belgium, France and even Scandinavian countries has been talked and written about. Sometimes attacks on small scale were ignored as petty crimes or for reasons of political correctness, these were pushed under the carpet as Europe tried hard to project its image as a multi-cultural and multi-religious project where people of all faiths were free to follow and propagate their religious beliefs. Until the 7 July, 2005 London attacks, Britain loved to show its openness to ideas and people even if they as UK residents preached hatred and opposition to Westminster style of democracy. A...

A Little Game for Interfaith Harmony!

By Roshan, New Age Islam 23 November 2015 At the root of conflicts in the name of religion is the belief among numerous (though, mercifully, not all) religionists that the particular religion they claim to follow and the community based around it are the best of all and that all the other are decidedly inferior. This warped belief can easily conduce to religious absolutism and communal supremacism. As history as well as current events show, these can lead to deep-rooted aversion to other religions and their adherents, and even to brutal wars in the name of religion and God. Socialisation into religious absolutism and communal supremacism often happens in childhood, through parents and significant others who had been similarly socialized by their parents when they were young. Children...

ISIS/Takfiris Are Friends of Satan, the Enemies of Allah and His Messenger, Foremost In Shirk, Hypocrisy and Apostasy and No Muslim Must Support Them in Any Form or Fashion

By Dr. John Andrew Morrow, New Age Islam November 23, 2015 “My Mercy prevails over My Wrath,” says Almighty Allah in a sacred saying (narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah). For Takfiri terrorists like IS, the so-called “Islamic” State, it is wrath that prevails over mercy. When asked to curse the polytheists, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, responded that “I was sent as a mercy” (Muslim). If anything, the rapists, torturers, and mass murderers who have infiltrated Syria, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Nigeria, and other parts of the world, can only be seen as a curse, the likes of which have not been seen since the Mongol invasion of Genghis Khan in the 13th century. While...

Jihadist Atrocities and the Salafi-Wahhabi Doctrine of Al-Wala-Wal-Bara (Loyalty with Salafi-Wahhabi Muslims and Enmity against all non-Salafi-Wahhabi Muslims and non-Muslims)

By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam 23 November 2015 We cannot accept any religious justification for the killing of innocent and non-combatant civilians whatever the motive, whatever the method or wherever the reason. However, if we Muslims are really concerned about war on terror, every narrative of victimhood, denial and conspiracy theories should be deconstructed and dismantled. Action-reaction theory is also run of the mill. The recent Paris attack showed an obnoxious picture of the violent extremists wantonly killing and terrorizing innocent civilians. It was not only an attack on peace and harmony prevailing in France but a clear indication of rapid rise in the global extremist ideology.  It was a direct result of...

An Act of War - And Other Unfortunate Phrases

By Richard Jackson, New Age Islam 23 Nov 2015 Watching the terrible events unfolding during and after the Paris terrorist attacks, I have a helpless sense ofdeja vu. It reminds me of the movie, Groundhog Day, only much more deadly and depressing. It feels like we have been here so many times before: the same anguished images, the same suffering, the same questions and sense of disbelief. Most depressingly, listening to the rhetoric coming from Western leaders, I can’t see any way we can avoid experiencing the same day again – whether in a few months or years time. As I explained in my book Writing the War on Terrorism (2005, Manchester University Press) about the language of counterterrorism, when the 11 September 2001 attacks...

Coping with ISIS-generated Islamophobia: 'Fear is winning over hope because fear is based on selfishness and blame and hope is based on compassion and responsibility'

by Syed N Asad MD, Naples, FL, USA, New Age Islam 22 November 2015 Post Paris terror attack has generated a new venue for politicians, a sensitive and troubling topic for conversation among families, neighbours and friends. Last evening while out to dinner with another couple the discussion after some initial pleasantries soon shifted to ISIS and Islamophobia. We raised the question, what can we do to reduce fear mongering, hatred and discrimination so blatantly gushed by the republican candidates: Donald Trump: Suggested closing American mosques and forcing Muslim Americans to register in a national database. Ben Carson: Compared Syrian refugees -- families fleeing the terrible violence of war -- to rabid dogs. Jeb Bush: Suggested a religious test for refugees to be allowed to enter...

A Little Game for Interfaith Harmony!

By Roshan, New Age Islam 23 November 2015 At the root of conflicts in the name of religion is the belief among numerous (though, mercifully, not all) religionists that the particular religion they claim to follow and the community based around it are the best of all and that all the other are decidedly inferior. This warped belief can easily conduce to religious absolutism and communal supremacism. As history as well as current events show, these can lead to deep-rooted aversion to other religions and their adherents, and even to brutal wars in the name of religion and God. Socialisation into religious absolutism and communal supremacism often happens in childhood, through parents and significant others who had been similarly socialized by their parents when they were young. Children...

Of a Sufi and Magical Realism

By Kuldeep Kumar November 13, 2015 Myth and memory lie in sweet coexistence at Ghazi Miyan’s tomb in Bahraich. Now historian Shahid Amin captures the saga of the warrior saint between covers India is a land of contradictions and nothing typifies this so starkly as the legend of Ghazi Miyan. There is a lot of talk of magical realism in literature but the legend of Ghazi Miyan introduces it in history – past as well as present. In Shashi Tharoor’s novel “Riot”, which liberally makes fictional use of the names of real people and places, Professor Mohammed Sarwar informs V. Lakshman that he is “working on the life of a man called Syed Salar Masud Ghazi, popularly known as Ghazi Miyan, a hugely revered Muslim warrior-saint.” He also feels that while a lot is said about the “composite culture...

How the UK Is Strengthening Interfaith Bonds after Paris Attacks

By Carol Kuruvilla 11/20/2015 "Religion can be part of the solution, too." Inter Faith Week has been celebrated in the UK since 2009. But this year, the terrorist attacks that gripped Paris last Friday gave the campaign a sense of urgency. More than 350 interfaith events have taken place in England, Northern Ireland and Wales through Saturday, November 21. The dates were planned far in advance, but the week couldn't have come at a better time for members of the East London Mosque. Salman Farsi, a spokesman for the East End mosque, said that for years his house of worship has been a target for far right groups. “Often global events related to terrorism causes a spike in hate mail and physical attacks on members of our community,”...

HISTORY AS ETHICAL REMEMBRANCE: Dhaka University, Shaheed Minar and CP Gang’s ‘Bessha’ Banner – XI

By Rahnuma Ahmed November 21, 2015 Tales of resistance, Jahangirnagar 1998: “Amra shobai dhorshita” ON AUGUST 17, 1998, the headlines of the daily tabloid Manabzamin declared, “Cadres have raped three students [at Jahangirnagar].” There was deathly silence on campus. On August 18, news of campus rape was published in the daily Dinkal. The Manabzamin news clipping was hung in all four women’s hostels and at different campus locations. At night, members of the student organisations Chhatra Front and Chhatra Union put up posters demanding that the rapists be identified and punished. On August 19, the Chhatra Front brought out a procession of 40–50 students in the morning; Ganotantrik Chhatra Oikko brought out a procession at midday demanding...