Beyond Boundaries: Rethinking the Civilisational Relationship between Islam and Christianity and its Impact on Western Muslims

By Adis Duderija, New Age Islam 31 January 2024 Introduction For over a millennium, the prevailing historical conception in the West has viewed Islam and Christianity as radically separate and opposing civilizational entities. However, emerging scholarship invites us to ponder this framing anew, exploring whether alternative perspectives may better reflect the nuanced realities of their intertwined development. In his seminal work "The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization", a book that I use in my course on Islam and Muslim Communities in the West at Griffith University, Richard Bulliet, among other things, considers potential obstacles hindering acceptance of Islam and Christianity as interlinked within a shared cultural matrix, then subjects each assertion to critical scrutiny. Drawing...

Muslim World-Wide Population Explosion - A Myth

By Dr. M.I.H. Farooqi, New Age Islam 31 January 2024 With the present population of around 1.8 billion (est. 2023), Muslims constitutes about 25% of world's population. There are some reports by different international agencies (2011) that by 2050 Muslims will outnumber Christians in the World. Muslims are expected to grow twice as fast as the overall global population. It is also claimed that this growth of Muslim population will create many problems in the Islamic World including law and order as well as the break on the efforts for economic prosperity. But recent surveys conducted by Agencies like World Bank, United Nations Population Fund) and other International Agencies give a different picture. These surveys show that rise of Muslim population is not as fast and as dramatic as...

Discriminatory Divinity, Schismatic Spirituality

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 31 January 2024 The Madras high court on Tuesday (January 30) directed the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department to install boards in all Hindu temples stating non-Hindus were not permitted beyond the kodimaram (flagpole) area in the respective shrines and said Hindus also have fundamental right to profess and practise their religion. Now courts have taken it upon themselves to divide the society! On the advanced forum of NAI, a couple of readers recently opined that it's time for bidding adieu to all man-made religions. See the debilitating impact of religion on humans that even judges, supposed to be 'saner' individuals, are getting affected and influenced by this bane of mankind. Now, will the temple authority ask people, visiting...

Should the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation Be Dissolved as It Has Lost Its Raison D'etre

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 30 January 2024 The OIC Was Formed for The Cause of Palestine Main Points: 1. The OIC has done virtually nothing for the solution of the Israel-Palestine problem. 2. It has not been able to restrain Israel against Gaza and West Bank. 3. Its members are 57 Islamic countries including Palestine. 4. It has not been able to stop genocide of Palestinians by Israel. 5. It has only condemned Israel's bombardment of Gaza. 6. In fact some of its member countries have established diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. ----- The interim, judgment of the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to stop killing common Palestinians, destroying structures and infrastructure and preventing medical and essential supplies like food,...

Revisiting The Conspiracy Behind the Assassination of M K Gandhi

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 29 January 2024 Every year on January 30, M K Gandhi's martyrdom is remembered across the globe with a sense of universal reverence. Though a Hindu fanatic and independent India's first terrorist's bullets truncated the life of a 78-yr-old weak individual, the voice of Truth and Non-violence hasn't lost its relevance. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ------ In fact, Gandhian non-violence has become a universal philosophy to be followed by all sane people. Way back in 1960, the English editor of The Statesman, Calcutta, wrote an essay on Gandhi and analysed the psyche of all those people who were involved in Gandhi's assassination. By the way, The Statesman had a British editor till 1967. I cannot recall the name of the editor who wrote on Gandhi's killers...

Mahatma Gandhi Was Much Admired by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Even Suhrawardy

By Saquib Salim, New Age Islam 30 January 2024 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is the most respected and admired as well as criticized and despised public figure from India. Myths, disinformation, and half-truths are often used to question his commitment to humanity in general and Indians in particular. Mahatma Gandhi inspecting the houses destroyed in the post-partition violence ----- Every year we see several Facebook posts, tweets, etc. on 15 August questioning why Gandhi was not in Delhi when India attained independence. A photograph in which Gandhi is seen with H. S. Suhrawardy, the then Muslim League leader and Chief Minister of Bengal at his house in Kolkata on 15 August 1947 accompanies such rants. It's a fact that Gandhi was in Bengal as India attained freedom from the British...

‘Beyond The Babri’: Ayodhya Is As An Abode Of Shared Religious Heritage And Spiritual Symbiosis In Indo-Islamic Tradition!

By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam 29 January 2024 Why should Muslims in India associate themselves with Ayodhya only because of the bulldozed Babri Masjid? Why can’t they look at Ayodhya—beyond the Babri— as the land of Ambiya and Auliya as well as Rishi-Munis; an oasis of spiritual symbiosis, an abode of shared spiritual heritage? Why should we allow the episode of Babri Masjid dominate our religious thoughts and colour our collective cultural understanding? Ram Mandir, Ayodhya ------ After the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, which has been hailed by the President of India Droupadi Murmu as a “Landmark in India’s continued re-discovery of its civilisational heritage”, now the question is what’s next? What is the road ahead for India and its dense population of different...

Place of Music in Islam

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam 29 January 2024 Islam Prohibits Vain Entertainment Main Points: 1. The Quran prohibits Lahw-al-Hadith meaning vain entertainment. 2. Women of Madina greeted the holy prophet with songs accompanied by duff. 3. Avicenna considered music useful in treatment of maladies. 4. Abbasid caliphate promoted music therapy. 5. Sufis considered serene music permissible. ------ Recently, a mufti of Kashmir in India issued a fatwa declaring a three member women musical band un-Islamic. The fatwa sparked a controversy and a debate on whether music was allowed in Islam and the basis of its permissibility or impermissibility started. We find some instances where the holy prophet of Islam pbuh did not object to playing music. The women of Madina had greeted...

When Will Good Days Come - Will We Die Waiting for Them?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 28 January 2024 "Agar Tujh Ko Fursat Nahin Ho Toh Na Aana Magar Ek Achchha Nabi Bhej Dena " Mohammad Alvi (Almighty if you don't have the time to come down yourself, send a good prophet instead)." Do you know, Urdu poet Muhammad Alvi, whose death anniversary falls on January 29, is remembered for the aforementioned 'blasphemous' couplet? Ironically, Chautha Aasmaan - the collection of Alvi's ghazals that contained the lines that offended the Darul Uloom Shah-e-Alam, Ahmedabad - won the national Sahitya Academy Award for the best book of Urdu literature in 1993! Mohammad Alvi ----- One of the most perceptive Ghazalgo of our times, Alvi had a simple style and a direct way of approaching his readers. Read this couplet and you'll agree: Dhoop Ne Guzarish...

Waqf Properties: Biggest ‘Undiscussed’ Scam In India

By Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam 27 January 2024 Waqf Properties Are Becoming Fiefdoms Of Elites Of The Muslim Community As The Huge Properties Are Not Used In Optimal Strength ----- Main Points: 1. India, with its significant Muslim population of over 172 million, possesses thousands of Waqf properties 2. The primary objectives are to preserve the property and maximize revenues for the recipients 3. Waqf land, dedicated in the name of Allah, has been unlawfully transferred or leased out for personal gain, often involving collusion among politicians, police, bureaucrats, and land mafias 4. One notable initiative is the Waqf Management System of India (WAMSI) Portal introduced by the minority affairs ministry, aimed at digitizing data of Waqf...

Personality Worship Among Muslims Resulted In Many Beliefs That Are Not Supported By The Quran

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 27 January 2024 Sectarianism Is The Result Of Personality Worship Main Points: 1. The belief in Taqleed is the result of personality worship. 2. Contradictory explanations of Quranic verses were presented by different scholars. 3. Extremism and violence became a way of Muslims because of personality worship. 4. Muslims do not scrutinise the views of religious scholars with the help of Quran because of personality worship. ----- Islam does not approve of personality worship, especially in matters of faith. It enjoins on the Muslims to revert to the Quran and Hadiths for guidance in religious or social matters. In the Quran, God says: "Today I have perfected your faith for you, completed my favours upon you and chosen Islam as your way."(Al...

Faith Is Our Inexorable Fate

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 27 January 2024 "It is obvious from the statistical (empirical) analysis that Belief in God is the default position of humanity from day one. It is so, not because of an aberration of thought but because of a genuine need of humans to be at internal peace." Waheeduddin Ahmed "Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed." Friedrich Nietzsche I agree with Mr Waheeduddin despite being an apatheist. Faith is humans' inexorable fate. Here I'm completely avoiding the most stupid debate regarding god's existence or non-existence. That's perennially inconclusive because it always leads to bitterness. Humans' belief in god is a natural evolutionary process. Oxford psychologist Justin Barrett believes that the human...

Science And God: Belief In God Is The Default Position Of Humanity

By Waheeduddin Ahmed, New Age Islam 26 January 2024 Reason Has Been Challenging Faith Ever Since The Beginning Of Human Consciousness. The Age Of Reason Came And Went. God Did Not Give An Inch. The Age Of Atheism Opened Its Books With Socrates And Democritus. Friedrich Nietzsche In Germany Declared That God Was Dead. ----- How do religion and science deal with the fundamental question of being, i.e., how everything came into existence? An example of the religious point of view on the subject is the Bible’s declaration: He said Be and it came into being. “It, we presume is the whole universe as it came into being instantaneously in a certain initial form. Since we witness that the universe is not static but dynamic, its initial form must have been quite different from what we see...

Why Do You've To Be So Touchy?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 26 January 2024 The Supreme Court on Thursday, January 25, stayed criminal proceedings against Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya who allegedly made objectionable remarks about ‘Ramcharitmanas’, a sacred Hindu text based on the Ramayana. “Why do you have to be so touchy? It’s his opinion… It’s a matter of interpretation. How is it an offence?” A Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta asked the Uttar Pradesh Government counsel. There's no denying the fact that Tulsidas' 'Ramcharitmanas' has objectionable passages. The most infamous being: Dhor, Ganwaar, Pashu, Shudra, Naari/ Sab Taadan Ke Adhikari. It's so obvious and self-explanatory that it needs no further interpretation. You cannot absolve Tulsidas of gender and caste bias. Moreover,...

If You Criticise Someone Else's Faith, Someone Else Will Criticise Yours

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 25 January 2024 "Rizz says that Islam is "a religion that simply couldn’t be from God." Actually, that can be said about all religions, including Christianity..........................." Mr Ghulam Mohiyuddin "When you condemn a faith, don't restrict yourself to condemning just one. Condemn all, including yours, for, all faiths are equally dubious, flawed and worth-discarding. " Bertrand Russell Rizz, like all Christians, may be delusional about his personal relationship with a PUTATIVE Jesus, but is there any historical evidence to make us believe that the fantastical stories of Jesus in the gospels are fact rather than fiction? Jesus is said to have miraculously fed thousands of people and raised the dead. When he was crucified, a great unnatural darkness...

Idea Of India In The Times Of Sectarian Nationalism

By Ram Puniyani, New Age Islam 25 January 2024 We Need The Ideology Which Binds The Weaker Sections Of Society, The Dalits, Religious Minorities, Women, Workers And Adivasis. They Have Many Common Values To Protect And That Is The ‘Idea Of India’ Which Came With Freedom Movement. ------ Satyapal Malik, the ex-Governor of many states stated that the role of Pulwama and Balakot was very much there in the victory of Modi-BJP in the previous 2019 General elections. He also predicted some other major spectacle may happen before the 2024 elections. The hysteria created around the temple consecration is a spectacle of high order. At the same time Suranya Aiyer, a lawyer and author has undertaken a fast and penitence, calling it 72 hours of love and sorrow to fellow Muslims. She proclaims her...