Hijab Has Come Full Circle in India

Hijab Was Not Strictly Worn By Girls until Recently Main Points: 1. During the 19th century Muslim women of India remained in purdah. 2. Thanks to spread of education, Muslim girls came out of purdah in India in the 20th century. 3. Girls going to schools and colleges did not use hijab. 4. Hijab and Niqab among girls caught up with Muslim girls only after the 90s. 5. Muslim girls came back to purdah in the 21st century. ----- By New Age Islam Staff Writer 29 September 2022 The satirical poet of Urdu wrote in the 1020s: Be Purdah Nazar Aayin Jo Kal Chand Bibiyan Akbar Zameen Me Ghairat-e-Qaumi Se Gadd Gaya Maine Jo Puchha Aapka Purdah Wo Kya Hua Kahne Lageen Ke Aql Pe Mardon Ki Padd Gaya (The other day I saw some girls/ women unveiled. I was embarrassed and asked...

Nothing Veiled About the Hijab: Veiling Has Become The Most Obsessive Topic Of Public Debate

By Moin Qazi, New Age Islam 28 September 2022 One of the Islamic symbols that have been engaging widespread attention across feminist, Orientalist, social, religious, and political discourse is the veil-the hijab (a scarf wrapped tightly around a woman's head to conceal every wisp of hair). Veiling has become the most obsessive topic of public debate. Photo: The Hindu ---- The Supreme Court has recently concluded a hearing of petitions filed by several Muslim organizations challenging the verdict of the Karnataka High Court upholding the ban on the hijab. One of the observations of the Supreme Court during the hearing was that the courts are not well equipped to interpret the Quran. However, if we apply our minds to the vast literature on the customs and practices of the Holy Scriptures...

Tom Alter: A Whiteman Who Wrote and Spoke Impeccable Urdu

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 29 September 2022 In these times of linguistic chauvinism and Urdu being branded as the language of Muslims, I often remember actor and lover of Urdu, Tom Alter whose death anniversary falls on September 29. He shuffled off the mortal coil 5 years ago. I remember, when he departed, I wrote a tribute, Aap Mujhe Farsi Sikhayenge? The Tribune, Chandigarh carried my article. I still rue that I couldn't teach him Persian. Tom Alter ----- A fascinating character, who loved to converse in Urdu and would jot down Asha'ar in his cursive Nastaliq, Tom Alter was perhaps the most enthusiastic and serious lover of Urdu, I've ever met in life. His love and fondness for Urdu language was exemplary and a lesson to those who fret over languages. In these times, when...

Maulana Habibur Rahman of Indonesia and Maulana Jarjis Ansari of India Represent Two Approaches to Social Reform

Reformist Approach Not Hostility towards Social Evils Should Be Adopted Main Points: 1. Religious preachers in India only deliver speeches in jalsas. 2. They do not reach out to the target audience. 3. Most of their speeches revolve round sectarian beliefs. 4. No serious efforts are made to fight social evils. ----- By New Age Islam Staff Writer 27 September 2022 Maulana Jarjis Ansari ---- In November 2018, an Indonesian preacher Maulana Hobibur Rahman entered a night club in the evening where lady dancers were performing dance to the customers as usual. It was the time when the Muslim extremists of Indonesia had unleashed a violent campaign against the entertainment industry and the LGBT. Night clubs, dancers and other entertainment professionals were being attacked....

When MEN Cry

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 27 September 2022 Rone Se Aur Ishq Mein Bebaak Ho Gaye Dhoye Gaye Hum Aise Ke Bas Paak Ho Gaye Mirza Asadullah Khan 'Ghalib' (Tears in love made me all the more uninhibited/ It cleansed and purified me) “Tears Aren't Male or Female Emotions Have No Gender Let It Be A Happy Or A Sad Tale We All Cry Whether Tough or Tender” My translation of Rumi's one of the last quatrains written in Ottoman Turkish A poignant picture of all-time greats Federer and Nadal with tears in their eyes, has moved the world. TOI carried the picture on the front page of its Sunday edition. Men shedding tears isn't a very common sight. But when they cry (in public) they make themselves endearingly humane as crying is a humanising act that transcends gender stereotypes...

Anti-Hijab Protests: Iranian Women Lead the Way, Again

By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam 27 September 2022 Scores of Women Are Fed up with the Regime’s Requirement Of Compulsory Veiling Main Points: 1. Mahsa Amini, Who Died From Severe Beating She Received From The Iranian Morality Police, Has Become The Symbol Of Resistance. 2. The Veil Creates A Division Between Pious And Non-Pious Muslim Women, With Piety Being Defined In Narrow Sectarian Way. 3. The Islamic Brotherhood Was Able To Establish The Veil Through Which Muslim Religiosity Should Be Viewed, Albeit By Very Different Means. 4. The Iranian Women Are Saying That There Are Other Ways Of Being Religious; That The Veil Should Not Be A Marker Of Religiosity. ----- An undated picture obtained from social media shows Mahsa Amini. (Reuters) ---- The brave women of Iran...

Why Jihad, In the Sense of Qital, is Not Taking Place in India? Jihad in Islamic Jurisprudence in Indian Context - Part 3

By Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam 26 September 2022 A Community Of Another Country Entering Into A Treaty With The Head Of State Of One Country Is Equivalent To Two Heads Of State Entering Into A Treaty. Since Our Forefathers Signed An Agreement Then And We Renew It Every Five Years, Our Obligation Is To Live As If Both People Have Equal Rights Without Seeing That All The Other People Of This Country Are Outside Or They Are The Only Ones Inside ----- (This article discusses the jurisprudential discussions on Jihad according to Shafi School of law and Tafsir Razi and other prominent Seerah literature) Part 1 The question arises in the mind of many people why Jihad, in the sense of Qital, is not taking place in India. This article aims to find the answer. Ibn Hajar (may Allah be pleased...

Barelvis Today: A Struggle Within

By Mohammad Ali, New Age Islam 26 September 2022 The Followers Of Ahmad Raza Demand Absolute Conformity With The Literal Understanding Of His Fatwa And Forbade Anyone Within The Group To Contend With It. Consequently, the Barelvis Started Applying Every Ruling Regarding How Muslims Should Treat Non-Muslims to Deobandis and Ahl-e-Hadith Main Points: 1. This essay argues that Barelvis are not a homogenous community 2. It points out the ongoing struggle within the Barelvi School ----- A couple of days ago, the 104th Urs, the death anniversary, of the founder of the Barelvi School, Ahmad Raza Khan was commemorated in Bareilly. Ahmad Raza is considered to be one of the most influential Ulama, theologian-jurists, whose rulings and writings shaped the religious demography of Muslims...

Muslims Needn't Crawl

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 26 September 2022 Itna Bhi Na Jhuk Ke Koi Paaemaal Kar Jaaye Tujhe Apni Na Sahi, Ghairat-E-Qaum Ki Toh Soch Zara Yaas Yagana Changezi (Don't make yourself so low that you're trampled underfoot / You needn't care for your pudency but think of the sense of honour of the community) When a race chooses to crawl; Sooner or later, it does fall Author's own translation of his Bangla verse One of the most cringe worthy manifestations of human behaviour is sycophancy. Umer Ahmed Ilyasi calling RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat the Father of the Nation is an embarrassing instance of apple-polishing. While one can understand the apprehensions of Ilyasi as India is fast becoming a Hindu Rashtra, there's no need for Muslims to be ingratiating with the RSS satrap and other...

Who Enabled The Popular Front Of India (PFI) For Islamist Radicalisation? The role of Maulana Maududi's Jamaat-e-Islami amd Syed Qutb's Ikhwanul Muslemin

By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam 25 September 2022 Syed Qutub Interpreted The Following Part Of The 44th Verse Of Surah Al-Maida To Buttress The Same Argument: “Those Who Do Not Rule [Over The Earth] By What Allah Has Revealed Are Indeed The Infidels” ------ Hasan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) aka Ikhwanul Muslimin in 1928 in Egypt. But it was replicated with greater ideological momentum in British India. With the establishment of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1941 by the Indian Islamist ideologue, Syed Abul A’la Maududi whose writings actually inspired global Islamist movements including the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran, the doctrine of “Hakimiyyah” (an Islamic dominion on earth) gained palpable traction in the new generation of Muslims in India. In this theological...

The Creation/Evolution Of Human Species

By T.O. Shanavas, New Age Islam 24 September 2022 The Qur’anic verse 29:20 decrees that Muslims must explore and discover His process of creation: “Say [Muhammad to your people]: ‘Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation: for Allah has power over all things” (Quran: 29:20). If it is humanly impossible to discover and explain God’s process of creation, all-knowing God would not have decreed to research and learn “how Allah did originate creation … will produce a later creation.” Moreover, the verse spells out that all tools necessary to learn the process of the divine creation available on the earth (“travel through the earth and see how …”). Although Almighty God’s means to act is infinite, based on the above verse, whatever...

Developing A Culture Of Education And Social Harmony In India

By Husain Sherani Translated from Urdu by Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam 24 September 2022 How To Strengthen Social Cohesion And Inclusive Culture Of India Main Points: 1. We see examples of how people respect one another's beliefs and traditions while also knowing that there is a malicious intention to undermine India's cultural harmony. 2. Sometimes a Hindu appears to help a Muslim, and vice versa, depending on the circumstance. 3. The two Muslim students provide as another example of India's rich, traditional culture. 4. The Muslim leaders must focus on taking the required actions to raise public awareness of the benefits of education and to give the next generation in their own communities a priority in terms of education. ------ On the one hand, political...

Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy Condemns Iran's Authoritarian Laws, Urges Indian Muslims to Extend Support

The Wire Staff 23 September 2022 FILE PHOTO: A newspaper with a cover picture of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police" is seen in Tehran, Iran September 18, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ----- Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) has condemned Iran’s “authoritarian laws and their murderous enforcement”, saying it is “inhuman and barbaric to kill a fellow human being merely for not covering her head”. A 22-year-old Iranian young woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of police, allegedly due to wounds she sustained after the police thrashed her for taking off her head cover. Several protesters demonstrating against the murder in a peaceful manner have also been killed. IMSD said that in...

How Nationalist Were the Indian Ulama?

By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam 23 September 2022 They Never Compromised Of Religious And Cultural Exclusivity Of Muslims Main Points: 1. The Ulama like Fazle Haqq Khairabadi and Shah Abdul Aziz were not anti-British, rather they cooperated with them and maintained cordial relations. 2. Founding Deobandis like Qasim Nanotwi and Rashid Gangohi played no role in the rebellion of 1857, as it is made out to be. 3. The Ulama became anti-British during the 1920s and that’s why they established the Khilafat Conference. 4. They came together with the Congress and advocated for one nation policy as opposed to Muslim League’s two nation policy. 5. However, they continued to advocate religious and cultural separatism of Muslims, which ultimately strengthened the idea of Pakistan. ----- The...