Rethinking Islam with Sultan Shahin

2011-09-08T07:32:00.001-07:00

Muslims and Islamophobia
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Replying to the Swamy: Hindutva, Brahminism and the Dalit Question

By Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com Some weeks ago, Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party and former Union Cabinet Minister of Commerce, Law and Justice, created a major stir by publishing what was widely denounced as a hard-hitting anti-Muslim article in a leading daily newspaper. The media was agog for a while with news about the story, and an irate National Commission for Minorities even threatened to take Swamy to court for it. However, the controversy appeared to have died soon out thereafter. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimsAndIslamophobia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5324

2011-09-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Islam and Sectarianism
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Karachi Burning

By Najam Sethi Aug. 26, 2011 OVER 400 people have been killed in gang and party political warfare in Karachi in the last two months. No permanent end to the senseless violence is in sight because of several factors. The three- way struggle for turf and power in Karachi among the PPP, MQM and ANP overlaps with violent gang wars among the criminal drug, extortion, arms and land- grab mafias that have come to dominate the underworld of Karachi and established quid pro quo links with each of the three parties. The problem is that the PPP government is helpless to establish law and order because it cannot afford to launch any serious and sustained “clean- up” operation that targets and antagonises its provincial coalition partners whose support is needed to prop up its government in Islamabad. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndSectarianism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5328

2011-09-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

The Ideology Of Thought Control In Pakistan

By Maheen Usmani 1 Aug. 2011 Denial is not just a river in Egypt. It has become something of a personality cult in Pakistan. Nowhere is this cognitive dissonance more visible than amongst the educated who refuse to accept facts and logic, clinging instead to a neurotic persecution complex. Columnist Khaled Ahmed says: “The vast majority of literate Pakistanis take comfort in ignorance, skepticism and conspiracy theories. The self-glorification of an imagined past matched by habits of national denial have assumed crisis proportions today when Pakistan’s existence is under far more serious threat from fellow Muslims than it was in 1947 from rival non Muslim communities.” What lies beneath this inability to critique and lack of intelligent analysis? Undoubtedly, one’s education influences views on politics and society. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5267

2011-09-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

टीम अन्ना और देश के मुसलमान

असगर वजाहत देश में लोकतंत्र होने का पूरा लाभ देश के अल्पसंख्यकों को मिलता है, इसलिए अल्पसंख्यकों का फर्ज है कि वे देश में लोकतांत्रिक और विकास केंद्रित आंदोलनों में शामिल हों। अण्णा हजारे के कहने पर उनकी टीम के अरविन्द केजरीवाल और किरण बेदी प्रमुख मुस्लिम नेताओं से समर्थन प्राप्त करने के लिए दिल्ली की जमा मस्जिद के शाही इमाम सैयद अहमद बुखारी, जमाते इस्लामी हिंद, ऑल इंडिया इमाम आर्गेनाइजेशन,दारुल उलूम देवबंद के नेताओं से मिले जिन्होंने विभिन्ना कारणों से भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ अण्णा आंदोलन को समर्थन देने से मना कर दिया। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5333

2011-09-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

Islam and Pluralism
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

From Crime and Drug Addiction to Love of Books: Sudhir Sharma finds Refuge in Azamgarh

By Adab Nawaz, NewAgeIslam.com 26 August 2011 Azamgarh: Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustakalaya (SRSP) sits on a high plinth, overlooking green paddy fields and a swollen Ghaghra river. Mainly housing tomes in Hindi, SRSP is pride of Jokahra, a dusty village in Azamgarh, a district in UP with abysmally low literacy rate but high incidents of crime. It faces serious charges of nurturing several alleged terrorists, including Abu Salem. But more than the library, it's the librarain who is a centre of attraction for many. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPluralism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5331

2011-09-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

Islam and Pluralism
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

From Crime and Drug Addiction to Love of Books: Sudhir Sharma finds Refuge in Azamgarh

By Adab Nawaz, NewAgeIslam.com 26 August 2011 Azamgarh: Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustakalaya (SRSP) sits on a high plinth, overlooking green paddy fields and a swollen Ghaghra river. Mainly housing tomes in Hindi, SRSP is pride of Jokahra, a dusty village in Azamgarh, a district in UP with abysmally low literacy rate but high incidents of crime. It faces serious charges of nurturing several alleged terrorists, including Abu Salem. But more than the library, it's the librarain who is a centre of attraction for many. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPluralism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5331

2011-09-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

The Ideology Of Thought Control In Pakistan

By Maheen Usmani 1 Aug. 2011 Denial is not just a river in Egypt. It has become something of a personality cult in Pakistan. Nowhere is this cognitive dissonance more visible than amongst the educated who refuse to accept facts and logic, clinging instead to a neurotic persecution complex. Columnist Khaled Ahmed says: “The vast majority of literate Pakistanis take comfort in ignorance, skepticism and conspiracy theories. The self-glorification of an imagined past matched by habits of national denial have assumed crisis proportions today when Pakistan’s existence is under far more serious threat from fellow Muslims than it was in 1947 from rival non Muslim communities.” What lies beneath this inability to critique and lack of intelligent analysis? http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5267

2011-09-07T07:39:00.001-07:00

Islam and Sectarianism
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Karachi Burning

By Najam Sethi Aug. 26, 2011 OVER 400 people have been killed in gang and party political warfare in Karachi in the last two months. No permanent end to the senseless violence is in sight because of several factors. The three- way struggle for turf and power in Karachi among the PPP, MQM and ANP overlaps with violent gang wars among the criminal drug, extortion, arms and land- grab mafias that have come to dominate the underworld of Karachi and established quid pro quo links with each of the three parties. The problem is that the PPP government is helpless to establish law and order because it cannot afford to launch any serious and sustained “clean- up” operation that targets and antagonises its provincial coalition partners whose support is needed to prop up its government in Islamabad. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndSectarianism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5328

2011-09-07T07:38:00.001-07:00

Islam and Pluralism
22 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Faizabad's last rites performer doesn't worry about religion of the dead

Adab Nawaz, NewAgeIslam.com 23 Aug. 2011 A few kilometres before it reaches the holy city of Ayodhya, the ancient river Saryu bypasses Faizabad, founded by the Awadh Nawab Shujaudaullah who also made it the province’s capital. Today Faizabad neither has Ayodhya’s aura or its festering religious controversy nor Lucknow’s political skulduggery to keep it in national conscience. Shorn of the two popular kinds of mahants—the pious shloka-chanting and the rabidly communal trishul-weilding—and bands of raucous and rapacious politicians, Faizabad desperately seeks attention. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPluralism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5301

2011-09-07T07:37:00.001-07:00

Hindi Section
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

रोज़ा यानी सब्र का इम्तेहान

कमाल अहमद रूमी इस्लाम धर्म में अल्लाह ने अपने बंदों पर कुल पांच चीजें फ़र्ज़ (अनिवार्य) की हैं-कलमा, नमाज़, रोज़ा, हज और ज़क़ात। इन पांच चीजों में रोज़ा यानी रमज़ान बहुत अहम स्थान रखता है। इस्लामी कैलेंडर वर्ष का नौवां महीना रमज़ान है. इस महीने में हर मुसलमान के लिए अल्लाह ने 30 रोज़े फ़र्ज़ किए हैं। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5332

2011-09-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
29 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

The British Need Human Rights as much as Do Libyans

By Nick Clegg Deputy Prime Minister of United Kingdom 25 August 2011 *While British governments have called for greater human rights abroad, they have too often belittled them at home.* Libya stands on the brink of a new future, one that holds out the promise of democracy and freedom after 40 years of oppression. One of the most important tasks facing the interim government is the prevention of reprisals. That is why David Cameron and I have urged the National Transitional Council to exercise restraint and respect for human rights. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5348

2011-09-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Current affairs
25 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pakistan: In Search of A Hazare

By Shahzad Chaudhry August 23, 2011 I have often urged us, as a nation, to look beyond the distortions in our ideological foundations and carve a newer identity, more in line with the needs of the 21st century. Also, that it is okay for a nation to be seen evolving with time, maturing both its moorings as well as its promise. Ideological anchoring need not be based on religion alone. Each era must of essence have newer ideals and aspirations for a nation. The world has moved on from deep ideological associations in the political or the economic sense and has gradually evolved towards a more pragmatic, global cosmopolitan culture. There is now a wider definition of an ‘international’ character in all things — political, economic, social, cuisine and even music. Every nation dons both an international and a national garb; that is how it remains entwined into a global culture. This is what makes each relevant to others. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamCurrentAffairs_1.aspx?ArticleID=5321

2011-09-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

Islam, Women and Feminism
25 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Feminism, Colonialism and Islamophobia: Treacherous Sympathy with Muslim Women

By Leila Ahmed Aug 23, 2011 Ever since the attacks of 9/11, feminists in the West have increasingly used the theme of the oppression of women in Islam as justification for war and domination. This strategy of using this rhetoric of “saving the women” in the name of “civilization” is an old ploy used many times in the past by Western imperialists, writes Leila Ahmed. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamWomenAndFeminism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5319

2011-09-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
25 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Growth of Islamistan in Europe means No-Go Zones for Non-Muslims

By Soeren Kern August 23rd 2011 Islamic extremists are stepping up the creation of "no-go" areas in European cities that are off-limits to non-Muslims. Many of the "no-go" zones function as microstates governed by Islamic Shariah law. Host-country authorities effectively have lost control in these areas and in many instances are unable to provide even basic public aid such as police, fire fighting and ambulance services. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5320

2011-09-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
25 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Libya: End is Welcome, but Doesn't Justify the Means

By Simon Jenkins We may all applaud Qadhafi’s downfall, but it remains the case that Britain's intervention in Libya was wrong. The downfall of a dictator is always welcome. Especially welcome is the downfall of Qadhafi of Libya. He was not the worst of his genre, but for 42 years was the beneficiary of the crassest western intervention, veering between ineffective sanctions and ostracism and Tony Blair's cringing, oil-drenched “friendship.” More welcome still would have been his downfall clearly at the hands of his own people, not courtesy of western armies. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5317

2011-09-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
20 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pakistan's Urdu media and the bigotry and fanaticism in the society

By Dr.Ghazala Afaque Quazi 14 Aug. 2011 Who is responsible for the bias and narrow-mindedness in the society? If they talk of beheading their opponents on petty issues, who has given them the training? The limitation of the media that they can raise only a few issues can be understood but at least they can refrain from making provocative statements for cheap popularity and adopt a soft stand. They should set a standard of their newspapers that instead of provoking the sentiments of anger and grief, they express their opinions with seriousness. Source: Urdu Daily, Hamara Akhbar, Karachi URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5289

2011-09-06T01:49:00.000-07:00

Islam and the Media
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Well Said Nawaz Sharif, well done SAFMA

By Dr Mohammad Taqi The security establishment frets that a strong politician from Punjab, who always had the wherewithal to cut them down to size, has been consistently expressing his will to do so too “Your Excellency doesn’t understand. A man is a Punjabi or Bengali before he is a Hindu or a Muslim. They share a common history, language, culture and economy. You must not divide them. You will cause endless bloodshed and trouble” — Quaid-e-Azam to Lord Mountbatten. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimMedia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5329

2011-09-06T01:46:00.000-07:00

Current affairs
27 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

India-Bangladesh Relations: Much-awaited Visit

By Akmal Hussain The foreign policy of Bangladesh is very much characterised by its focus on the biggest neighbour India not only due to geographic location but also because of history, economic compulsions and security imperatives. But during the last four decades Bangladesh-India relations have progressed along a zigzag line. Bangladesh has sometimes come closer to India or maintained a distance, depending on the political preferences of the governing regimes. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamCurrentAffairs_1.aspx?ArticleID=5338

2011-09-06T01:43:00.000-07:00

Radical Islamism & Jihad
24 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Islamist Terrorism Hurts the Palestinian Cause: Nabil Shaath

By New Age Islam News Bureau New Delhi: Urging Muslims to turn to terrorism to avenge the oppression of Palestinians helps only in undermining the cause of Palestinian statehood, senior Palestinian Authority (PA) member Nabil Shaath says. “Terrorism is opposite to the aspirations of a liberation struggle. No one benefits from it. Let’s separate terrorism from the struggle to achieve liberation,” Shaath, a former acting prime minister of Palestine, said at a seminar in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on Tuesday. He said he was in the US after the 9/11 attacks. “I felt we will pay a heavy price for (Al Qaeda leader Osama) bin Laden’s actions. And we did.” http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamRadicalIslamismAndJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=5309

2011-09-06T01:42:00.001-07:00

Current affairs
24 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Why Are the Real Victims of India's Corrupt System Not Enthusiastic About Anna’s Movement?

By Bhanwar Megwanshi (Translated from Hindi by Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com) Anna Hazare’s ‘anti-corruption’ has received considerable support across the country. The ‘mainstream’ media is awash with stories about Anna and his fast. It is as if there is nothing else happening in India that is worth reporting about. But, at the same time as the media is busy projecting Anna and his movement, a vast section of India’s population—the country’s Dalits, Adivasis and religious minorities, who are at the bottom of India’s social pyramid and who suffer the most at the hands of the corrupt system that Anna and his supporters are supposedly denouncing—have maintained a studied distance from this movement. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamCurrentAffairs_1.aspx?ArticleID=5314

2011-09-06T01:40:00.000-07:00

Islam and Pluralism
24 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

RELIGION, RADICALISM AND PEACE

By Asghar Ali Engineer What happened the other day in Norway has not only shocked the world but also raised some important question. Does religion stand for peace or for murder? One thing is sure after 9/11 only Islam was being blamed for violence, war and jihad. Now it is obvious that such maniacs who go on killing spree are found in all religious traditions and even in highly developed nations. It is not only ‘backward Arabs’ or ‘fanatical Islamists’ who kill but even Christians from highly developed and democratic nations who kill innocent people. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPluralism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5310

2011-09-06T01:36:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
22 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

European intellectuals should stop tolerating inflammatory political rhetoric like the conspiracy theory of Eurabia

By Bushra Ishaq 20 Aug 2011 In the wake of the terrorism and mass murder in Norway on 22/7 many people have struggled to understand what the incident means. The terrorist justified his acts with a hatred of Islam and condemnation of the Norwegian government for accommodating Muslims. The attacks targeted the very idea which lies at the core of our country’s multicultural society. In his 1,500 page manifesto, Anders Breivik expresses his desire for “genuine Europeans” to defeat multicultural society and to “cleanse” the continent of Muslims. He emphasises the myth of Eurabia – the conspiracy theory of a Muslim takeover of Europe. Few in Norway support these thoughts and Breivik’s ideas are, to a large extent, cut-and-paste adaptations of ideas from right-wing extremists in other parts of Europe. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5299

2011-09-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
24 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Teaching Islam in German Schools: Religion Must Not Be Regarded as an Integration Problem

By Nimet Seker If it wants to be authentic and relevant to practice, religious education along denominational lines should not become an instrument of integration and should take the expectations of Muslims seriously. *Islamic education in mosques is often based on learning by heart and reflection on ethical and spiritual matters are often not given sufficient attention.* The introduction of Islamic education is already a done deal in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. Starting next year, Islamic education will be part of the regular curriculum. Currently, some 700,000 children from Muslim families go to school in Germany – until now they have not had access to Islamic education. In recent years, the state has put considerable efforts into introducing Islamic education and has given financial support to the creation of professorships for Islamic Studies at German schools of theology. This is where the future teachers of Islamic education and imams will be trained. Full text here: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5311

2011-09-06T01:23:00.000-07:00

Islam and the Media
25 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

The Truth about the Situation in Libya: Cutting through Government Propaganda and Media Lies

By Brian Becker Libya is a small country of just over 6 million people but it possesses the largest oil reserves in all of Africa. The oil produced there is especially coveted because of its particularly high quality. The Air Force of the United States along with Britain and France has carried out 7,459 bombing attacks since March 19. Britain, France and the United States sent special operation ground forces and commando units to direct the military operations of the so-called rebel fighters – it is a NATO- led army in the field. The troops may be disaffected Libyans but the operation is under the control and direction of NATO commanders and western commando units who serve as “advisors.” Their new weapons and billions in funds come from the U.S. and other NATO powers that froze and seized Libya’s assets in Western banks. Their only military successes outside of Benghazi, in the far east of the country, have been exclusively based on the coordinated air and ground operations of the imperialist NATO military forces. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimMedia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5322

2011-09-06T01:15:00.000-07:00

Islam and the Media
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Kudos and Condemnation for SAFMA

By Kamran Shafi WHAT else this week but loud applause for Nawaz Sharif for so courageously advocating peace with India at a recently held seminar ‘Building bridges in the subcontinent’ in Lahore? And utter condemnation for a private TV channel’s vitriolic host and her hate-filled red-capped guest who is known to be a propagandist of the Deep State, for their shrill and nasty attacks upon the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) that arranged the seminar, generally, and Mr Sharif particularly, merely because he held out the hand of friendship to India? http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimMedia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5327

2011-09-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

Islam and Politics
26 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Inside Syria's Failed Rebellion

By Praveen Swami President Bashar al-Assad's government has imposed order — but is yet to slay the three-headed dragon which threatens its survival. Thick black lines had been scored over the graffiti under the cherubic image of President Bashar al-Assad that guards the road into Hama{minute}a. The military's clean-up squad had been less than diligent though: the word kalib, dog, survived the paint-brush censorship, and the soldiers had forgotten to have the President's gouged-out eyes repainted. Inside the city, the rebels had left behind evidence no amount of paint could obscure: the burned-down military officers' mess on the Ard al-Khadra street, which mobs stormed in the hope of seizing weapons; the gutted office block which housed the justice department; the charred walls of the al-Hadr police station, pockmarked with machine-gun fire, where 17 police officers were lynched, before their mutilated bodies were thrown into a nearby canal. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPolitics_1.aspx?ArticleID=5325

2011-09-06T01:06:00.000-07:00

Islam and the Media
23 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pakistan’s surreal Urdu media — II

By Aakar Patel May 26, 2011 More than newspapers, news television knows the popular mind. This is because it responds to daily ratings and can calibrate pitch and tone accordingly. What appears on their television should worry secular Pakistanis. In what other nation would Zaid Hamid be an analyst? Let’s have a look at the roster of Pakistan’s other television stars. Kamran Khan is first-rate, easily the best TV journalist in Pakistan. He got nothing from US Ambassador Cameron Munter after Osama’s killing, but not for want of trying. He’s an excellent questioner and a good listener. His interview with Ishrat Husain went farther than anything before it in explaining Pakistan’s economic condition. Rahimullah Yusufzai appears on many shows but only Khan is able to extract value from the old reporter’s experience. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimMedia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5303

2011-09-06T00:37:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam
23 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

PTV’s ‘Jihadi Plays’ Help Army to Maintain Control over Society

Farooq Sulehria in an interview with Ayesha Siddiqa 19 Aug 2010 Lollywood is no different from the rest of the society. There has been an increasing radicalization of the society which is reflected in the cinema as well. Lollywood is more influenced because of the socioeconomic class. The lower-middle and middle classes reflect a bias for the Islamiscts. *Ayesha Siddiqa* is an independent social scientist with expertise in civil-military relations and political-economy. She has a doctorate in War Studies from King's College, London. She has authored two books on the military and Pakistani politics. Her book ‘Military Inc.’ was banned under the Musharraf dictatorship. She was the first Pakistan fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Ford Fellow. These days she is writing a regular column for the Express Tribune. In an interview with Viewpoint, she discusses Jihadification of Pakistan Television and Lollywood. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5306

2011-09-06T00:33:00.000-07:00

Islamic Culture
23 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Ramadan Fast for Swami Agnivesh, Lord Meghnad Desai

By Saeed Naqvi 19 Aug 2010 A youth and children ride a scooter near the Jama Masjid during Iftar on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in New Delhi last week. It was an extraordinary group of five that turned up at Delhi's Jama Masjid at 3.30 a.m. last week for saheri, or the last meal before the day's fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Saheri derives from saher, which means dawn. Only those in the vicinity of mosques make it a congregational affair. And when the mosque happens to be one of the world's great monuments, Jama Masjid, people sometimes travel long distances to participate in this remarkable confluence of faith and aesthetics. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicCulture_1.aspx?ArticleID=5308

2011-09-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

Islam and Spiritualism
23 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

How Repentance pays Off: The Quranic Concept of Taubah is a Highly Personal Act

By Khwaja Mohammad Zubair 10 August 2011 Indeed, it is more than an act. It reflects a moment of decision when one makes up one’s mind to give up a course of action and simultaneously adopt another course. Taubah is not merely the negation of the past; it is essentially a contract with the future. Taubah is personal in that no one else needs to know about it. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndSpiritualism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5307

2011-09-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

Islam and Tolerance
14 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Quran does not Preach Terrorism

By Mufti Md Zahid Qamarul Qasmi (Translated from Urdu By New Age Islam Edit DesK) The most painful aspect of the age in which the Holy Quran was revealed was lawlessness, chaos and bloodshed. The extent of lawlessness can be gauged by the fact that no legal government existed in the Arab peninsula. The governments that existed around Arab believed in ethnic superiority and inferiority and it is impossible for the establishment of justice in a human society that is based on superiority and inferiority by birth. The revelation of the last book of God, the holy Quran began in such an atmosphere. The first verse that was revealed sang the glory of knowledge and the pen. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndTolerance_1.aspx?ArticleID=5251

2011-09-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam
25 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pakistan in Grip of Raging Ethnic Violence

By B. Raman August 25, 2011 The cycle of violence in Karachi will continue as none of the contending parties is likely to force a strategic confrontation which could destabilise Pakistan. Hence, such periodic confrontations will continue till the criminal-politician-police nexus is broken The civil war-like situation in Karachi continues without respite. Seventy-three persons belonging to different communities and religious sects were reported to have been killed — many of them in targeted shootings and some kidnapped and tortured to death — during four days of fresh violence between August 16 and 19. The level of violence considerably came down on August 20. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5323

2011-09-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam

22 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

New Indian Muslim Leaders: Plights and Possibilities

Vastanvi, a new age leader of Indian Muslims, has certainly arrived and sure to make his presence felt and provide the much needed balance.

By M. Singh

August 03, 2011

The Fortress of the Faith, Darul Uloom Deoband, has decided to remove Gulam Mohamad Vastanvi, the controversial rector.

Vastanvi and his supporters have termed the findings of the inquiry committee incomplete along with allegations of internal politics, pressure and interest groups using the opportunity to maintain the their hold over the respected seminary. His supporters are taking legal advice to approach the court as the institute has to comply with the established rules and procedures as per Societies act.

http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5295

2011-09-06T00:15:00.000-07:00


Radical Islamism & Jihad
22 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Islamism within Pakistan's Army and the Nuclear Bomb

By Maajid Nawaz 19 Aug. 2011 Army officers have been arrested for membership, orange stickers calling for an uprising are being pasted in the cities, and trendy young activists with disarming sincerity are recruiting from Pakistan's English-medium campuses; who are Hizbut Tahrir (HT) and what do they want? Having been a member for 13 years, being on the leadership of the groups UK chapter, having helped to co-found the group in Pakistan and Denmark, and having served a 5 year prison sentence in Egypt for my membership to the group, kindly allow me to explain. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamRadicalIslamismAndJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=5302

2011-09-06T00:11:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
14 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Quran: Protector of Multicultural Society

By Sohail Arshad, NewAgeIslam.com Quran prohibits disgracing other religions and their gods. The Quran advocates multicultural society where believers of all other religions live in peaceful co-existence. Today the Muslim community and especially where they are in majority have risen in to violent groups, in the name of religion and establishment of the rule of Allah on earth. They are involved in suicide bombing. URL for English Article: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPluralism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5208 URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5258

2011-09-05T23:58:00.000-07:00

Islam, Women and Feminism
24 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Saudi Women Demand their Freedom and Dignity

By Mai Yamani 23 August 2011 The unexpected visibility and assertiveness of women has helped propel what has become known as the Arab spring. Major changes have occurred in the minds and lives of women, helping them break the shackles of the past and demand their freedom and dignity. Since January 2011, images of millions of women demonstrating alongside men have been beamed around the world. One saw women from all walks of life marching for a better future for themselves and their countries. They appeared prominently - eloquent and outspoken, chanting calls for democratic change. They walked, bused, telephoned, and tweeted, motivated partly by a desire for their own empowerment. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamWomenAndFeminism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5312

2011-09-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

Radical Islamism & Jihad
24 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Counting the cost of the 9/11 wars

Jason Burke 22 August 2011 If, just over a decade ago, you had looked north through binoculars from frontline Taliban positions 30 miles north of Kabul, you would have seen an old Soviet-built airbase, little more than a cluster of ruined buildings, rusting metal stakes, a single battered jeep and no serviceable aircraft at all on the scarred strip of concrete shimmering in the Afghan sun. The group of scruffy Taliban fighters in filthy clothes who manned the makeshift trenches on the heights above it would probably have served grapes and tea to you as they did to the rare reporters who visited them. If you had come back just a little later, say in the spring of 2002, you would have seen a startling difference. With the Taliban apparently defeated, the airstrip had become the fulcrum of a build-up of American and other international forces in the country that would continue inexorably over the next years. The feverish activity of the bulldozers, tents, jets and helicopters gave a sense that something extraordinary was happening. But its exact nature was still very unclear. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamRadicalIslamismAndJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=5315

2011-09-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam
22 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Islam at center of Moro fight: “The purpose of Jihad is to establish Allah’s sovereignty”

By Jeffrey M. Tupas 20 Aug. 2011 MAGUINDANAO—The warning was very specific: No smoking in front of Ameril Umra Kato or anywhere close enough for him to see or near his armed followers called the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5297

2011-09-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
20 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Do petrodollar-funded Islamist organisations represent American Muslims?

by Manda Zand Ervin August 19, 2011 One of the most politically toxic issues of our time is called Islam in the West, and Khomeinist Political Islam by the people of Iran. What was supposed to be another Abrahamic religion has become an apparatus for global blackmail; and it is being emboldened by power grabbers sitting atop the World of Islam's Ivory Tower, and fanned by the Western ideologues and the uninformed mainstream media. There have always been those who have made a good living out of chaos and mayhem; but the antidote to these people should be support for the sane victims, not the insane aggressors. While the silent majority of the American Muslims are going to work every day, paying their taxes, sending their children to school and saving for their college, they still have to worry about what the Islamists are going to come up with next, to yet again upset their lives -- and worse, how the Islamists will be appeased by some politicians and the mainstream media. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5292

2011-09-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

Islam and the Media
20 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pakistan’s surreal Urdu media — I

By Aakar Patel May 25, 2011 The Pakistani’s uncomplicated view of the world is revealed in his Urdu press. A sample is available daily in the verse of Riaz urRehman Saghar, the poet published on Nawa-i-Waqt’s second page. He’s entertaining, but his trajectory is predictable: Citizens victims, Muslims pious, hukumran corrupt, Pakistan honourable, Amrika bad, Bharat worst. (Urdu writers refer to India as Bharat, rarely as Hindustan.) After over 160 people were slaughtered in Mumbai, Saghar wrote verse scolding India for making it up (“khel rachaya Bharat ne”). Sharing the page with Saghar is Tayyaba Zia Cheema, Nawa-i-Waqt’scorrespondent from New York. She wrote this on May 20: “Yeh faisla ab Pakistani qaum ko karna hai ke woh zillat ki zindagi jina chahti hai ya usay ghairat ki mot pasand hai.” What a strange thing to say. Why must Pakistan die so that Ms Cheema can feel honourable in New York? And why hector Pakistanis from there? http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimMedia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5287

2011-09-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
24 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

American Muslims See ‘foreign law’ Bill as Attack on Shariah: Defenders Call it Buffer for Courts

By Andrea Billups 23 August 2011 DETROIT — A national drive against citing "foreign" laws in U.S. courts - one that critics say is a veiled attack on Islamic Shariah law - has reached the state with the nation's largest concentration of Muslims. The Michigan bill, which mirrors "American Laws for American Courts" legislation introduced in more than 20 other states, was introduced in June by state Rep. Dave Agema, Grandville Republican. He has argued that it has nothing to do with Islam or the faith's Koran-based Shariah law, but is designed to stop anyone who seeks to invoke a foreign law in state courts. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5316

2011-09-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad
20 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Has Al-Qaeda Opened A New Chapter In The Sinai Peninsula?

By Andrew McGregor August 17, 2011 Executive Summary: In the absence of police and government security forces, al-Qaeda-sympathetic movements, including al-Shabaab al-Islam (The Youth of Islam), have formed in the Sinai Peninsula. The demands of these Salafi-Jihadist groups reflect both local and regional concerns. Among their demands are calls for a full implementation of Shari’a, the revocation of Egypt’s treaties with Israel, the establishment of an Islamic Emirate in the Sinai and Egyptian military intervention against Israel on behalf of the Palestinians in Gaza. Despite a statement proclaiming the establishment of al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, core al-Qaeda has not yet acknowledged this new chapter of the movement. Sinai-based militants have repeatedly targeted a natural gas pipeline to Israel in a show of distaste for Arab-Israeli relations and to strike a symbol of the corruption of Mubarak’s regime. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamTerrorismJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=5293

2011-09-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
20 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

पाकिस्तान का उर्दू मीडिया

डाक्टर ग़ज़ाला आफ़ाक़ क़ाज़ी (उर्दू से हिंदी अनुवाद- समीउर रहमान, न्यु एज इस्लाम डाट काम) पाकिस्तान के उर्दू अखबारों को आप पढ़ें तो यक़ीन नही आता कि ये एक ही देश से प्रकाशित होते हैं। उर्दू के अखबारों में खबरों से लेकर पत्रों और कालमों में एक ही तरह की भाषा मिलती है और वो है भड़काने वाली भाषा। उर्दू अखबारों के कालमों और पत्रों में भी बर्दाश्त न हो सकने वाली सीमा तक भेदभाव और पक्षपात से भरा रवैय्या मिलता है। दूसरी ओर आप अंग्रेज़ी के अखबार उठा के देखिए, तो औरतों और अल्पसंख्यकों के अधिकारों से लेकर उन तत्वों पर भी खुली आलोचना मिल जायेगी जो धार्मिक भेदभाव को पाकिस्तानी राष्ट्र का हिस्सा बनाना चाहते हैं। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5288

2011-09-05T06:08:00.001-07:00


Islam and the West
22 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

The Task before Jews: Not fanning Islamophobia but opposing colonization of Palestinians, saving Israel from further isolation

By Roger Cohen 20 Aug 2011 IN his novel “Deception,” Philip Roth has the American protagonist say to his British mistress: “In England, whenever I’m in a public place, a restaurant, a party, the theater, and someone happens to mention the word ‘Jew,’ I notice that the voice always drops just a little.” She challenges him on this observation, prompting the American, a middle-aged writer, to say, yes, that’s how “you all say ‘Jew.’ Jews included.” http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5298

2011-09-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Indian Independence Day: Freedom and Democracy, a precious gift

By Zafar Agha Thanks to almighty God, that we Muslims have also right to vote as Hindus and it is this right that had made us independent. We are free, to elect our sarpanch, also we are free to change our prime minister. There is no doubt that there are loopholes in democratic system but we breathe in free environment and have the right to change our government. This right is not available to Muslims of other parts of the world. URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5268

2011-09-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam
16 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Saving Jinnah’s Pakistan

By Farooq Hameed Khan 14. Aug, 2011 Pakistan celebrates its 64th birthday this 14th August amidst extremely difficult times, faced with grave threats both internal and external, to its security and integrity. From fighting militancy in FATA and Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, to countering foreign sponsored insurgency in Balochistan and bringing peace to the killing battle fields of Karachi, the nation struggles to overcome these challenges with courage and determination. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5265

2011-09-05T05:04:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
19 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

सुब्रमनियम स्वामी ने बेबुनियाद और झूठी दलीलों के ज़रिए जनता को भड़काने की कोशिश की

सीमा मुस्तफ़ा [उर्दू से हिंदी अनुवाद- समीउर रहमान, न्यु एज इस्लाम डाट काम] मैं कई दशकों से सुब्रमनियम स्वामी को जानती हूँ। वो स्वतंत्र विचार वाले ऐसे व्यक्ति हैं जो अपने लेख में कुछ पाबंदियों का लिहाज़ रखते हैं, लेकिन उस वक्त मेरे आश्चर्य का ठिकाना न रहा, जब एक ऐसे लेख के साथ उनका नाम जुड़ा हुआ देखा, जिस पर पूरी तरह सांप्रदायिकता का रंग चढ़ा हुआ था, और ये पूरी तरह सहिष्णुता के विरुध्द था। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5279

2011-09-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

Radical Islamism & Jihad
18 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Why Is It So Hard to Find a Suicide Bomber These Days?

A decade after 9/11, the mystery is not why so many Muslims turn to terror -- but why so few have joined al Qaeda's jihad. BY CHARLES KURZMAN Aug 16, 2011 The rental car turned onto the sidewalk behind the registrar's office and rolled slowly down the brick path between a dining hall and the English department, a few steps from my office. "Beyond Time," an upbeat German dance song, played on the car's stereo. The driver, Mohammed Taheri-Azar, had just graduated from the University of North Carolina three months earlier, so he knew the campus well. Beyond the dining hall was a plaza known as the Pit, where students were hanging out at lunchtime on a warm winter day in early 2006. Taheri-Azar planned to kill as many of them as possible. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamRadicalIslamismAndJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=5276

2011-09-05T04:56:00.002-07:00

Islam and the West
20 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Reflections on Norway carnage: What is the extent of Islam's threat?

By Lawrence Brown August 19, 2011 In one form or another, conservative movements have accused liberals of having either an inability or an unwillingness to defend their country and its values. The Nazis promised to undo the effects of liberalism on Europe and defend Christianity, even while they contemplated removing the Old Testament from the Bible. At the Nuremburg war-crimes tribunal, Hermann Goering explained how the Nazis came to power. "It's always a simple matter to drag the people along. All you have to do is tell them they're being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5291

2011-09-05T04:56:00.001-07:00

Islam and Politics
19 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pak proposes and US disposes

By Najam Sethi 19 Aug. 2011 PRESIDENT Asif Zardari is working overtime to stitch up his alliances so that his government can withstand any conspiracy, singly or in cahoots with one another, by the army or judiciary or the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz or the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf to dethrone the PPP from Islamabad. Maulana Fazal- ur- Rahman’s Jamiat- ul- Ulema- i- Islam is being appropriately appeased in the Senate and National Assembly, ditto Altaf Hussain’s Muttahida Quami Movement by amendments in the Local Bodies system in Karachi and Hyderabad, the Balochistan government by new packages of goodies and the Awami National Party by dragging Federally Administered Tribal Areas into the domain of the political parties. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPolitics_1.aspx?ArticleID=5284

2011-09-05T04:54:00.000-07:00

Islam and Sectarianism
19 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Karachi A Virtual War Zone

By ANITA JOSHUA 19 Aug. 2011 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says Karachi is in the grip of a multisided wave of insecurity driven political, ethnic and sectarian polarisation. Even by Karachi's own standards, the recent spate of ethnopolitical violence has been brutal and prolonged. For well over a month now, Pakistan's largest city and commercial capital has been on the boil, with 318 people killed in July alone. And, according to a body count done by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), 1,138 people were killed in the first six months of this year. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndSectarianism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5281

2011-09-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
19 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Libyan transition to the Islamists

Echoes of Afghanistan Gaddafi's regime might be finished, but a bitterly divided opposition means Libya's troubles may just be starting By Abdel Bari Atwan Libya's Colonel Gaddafi is looking increasingly vulnerable as rebel forces, backed up by Nato, proceed with a well-planned campaign to surround and isolate his powerbase in Tripoli. The key towns of Zawiyah and Surman to the west of the capital and Garyhan to the south have already fallen into rebel hands. The apparent defection of interior minister Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah - who arrived in Egypt over the weekend with nine family members – is another serious blow to the regime. Gaddafi is besieged, exhausted and looking for a dignified way out. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5280

2011-09-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

क्या इस्लाम में रसूलुल्लाह के अपमान की सज़ा मौत है?

ए.फ़ैज़ुर्रहमान, न्यु एज इस्लाम डाट काम पाकिस्तान की धरती पर पिछले दिनों रसूलल्लाह (सल्लल्लाहू अलैहे वसल्लम) के अपमान के मामले में पूर्व गवर्नर सलमान तासीर और अल्पसंख्यक मामलों के मंत्री शहबाज़ भट्टी को बेदर्दी से मौत के घाट उतार दिया गया था। इन दोनों ने रसूलल्लाह (सल्लल्लाहू अलैहे वसल्लम) के अपमान की एक आरोपी आसिया बीबी से हमदर्दी का इज़हार किया था। इतिहास गवाह है कि हज़रत मुहम्मद (सल्लल्लाहू अलैहे वसल्लम) ने अपने विरोधियों के साथ प्यार और हमदर्दी भरा व्यवहार का ऐसा उदाहरण पेश किया है कि रसूलल्लाह (सल्लल्लाहू अलैहे वसल्लम) के सम्मान में दुर्व्यवहार करने वाला भी जल्द ही हज़रत मुहम्मद (सल्लल्लाहू अलैहे वसल्लम) का प्रशंसक बन गया, लेकिन पाकिस्तानी उलमा ने अपने देश में ऐसा माहौल पैदा कर दिया है कि रसूलल्लाह (सल्लल्लाहू अलैहे वसल्लम) के अपमान के आरोपियों से हमदर्दी का इज़हार करना भी नामुमकिन हो गया है, जिनके खिलाफ़ ऐसा कोई प्रमाण भी नहीं है, कि वास्तव में इन लोगों ने ये जुर्म किया भी है? http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5271

2011-09-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

Spiritual Meditations
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Quran speaks to the pure

By Sadia Dehlvi Ramzan is the month when God sent down the Quran, a month of blessings and intensive worship for Muslims. Like others devoted to the faith, I make the effort to read the entire Quran at least once during this sacred month. What I love about the Holy Book is that it constantly invites intelligent faith and reflection. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamSpiritualMeditations_1.aspx?ArticleID=5269

2011-09-05T04:44:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Why Islam totally prohibits suicides

Anything that a Muslim religious scholar or even a journalist writes in the Urdu Press, must reek of Islam-supremacism and contempt for other religions based on both lack of knowledge and understanding of our own as well as that of other religions. Our so-called Ulema come from kafir-manufacturing factories where there are not taught any respect for other punts of view within or without Islam. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5272

2011-09-03T04:13:00.000-07:00

slam and Sectarianism
12 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Was Mahatma Gandhi inclined towards Ahmadism?

Although presented in the usual xenophobic and sectarian style of the Urdu Press, the following article tells us how much Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian luminaries respected Maulana Mohammad Ali’s beautiful translation of the Holy Quran, even though any write-up by an Ahmadi scholar is anathema to our illiterate ulema (religious scholars) who are incapable of appreciating anything worthwhile beyond their microscopic vision. Incidentally, Maulana Mohammad Ali is also famous for his excellent exposition of the tenets of our religion in his book “The Religion of Islam”. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndSectarianism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5240

2011-09-03T04:12:00.001-07:00


Hindi Section
17 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

क़ुरान पाकः एक शांतिपूर्ण बहुसांस्कृतिक समाज का रक्षक

सुहैल अरशद, न्यु एज इस्लाम डाट काम इस्लाम में ईमान का एक हिस्सा ये भी है कि मुसलमान आखिरी नबी पैग़म्बर मोहम्मद (सल्लल्लाहो अलैहे वसल्लम) पर ईमान लाने के साथ - साथ सभी पैग़म्बरों और उन पर अवतरित हुई किताबों पर भी ईमान लायें। इस्लाम धर्म की आसमानी किताब क़ुरान मजीद ने दूसरे धर्मों और उनके खुदाओं को बुरा भला कहने से भी मना किया है। इस प्रकार क़ुरान एक बहुसांस्कृतिक समाज की वकालत करता है, जहाँ सभी धर्मों के मानने वाले शांतिपूर्ण सहअस्तित्व में विश्वास रखने वाले हों। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5273

2011-09-03T04:09:00.000-07:00


Islam and Pluralism
22 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Building Bridges: Norway attacks reinforce need for united stand against intolerance

By Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu 20 August 2011 The horrific and tragic incident that happened in Norway reminds us again of the importance of combating religious intolerance and promoting cultural understanding. Anti-Islam and anti-Muslim attitudes and activities, known as Islamophobia, are increasingly finding place in the agenda of ultra-right wing political parties and civil societies in the West in their anti-immigrant and anti-multiculturalism policies, as was evident in the manifesto of the Norway killer. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPluralism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5296

2011-09-03T04:08:00.001-07:00

Hindi Section
16 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com
क़ुरान दहशतगर्दी की शिक्षा नहीं देता
मुफ्ती मोहम्मद ज़ाहिद क़मरुल क़ासमी

क़ुरान मजीद जिस समय और जिस समाज में अवतरित हुआ, उसका सबसे तकलीफदेह (कष्टदायक) पहलू, अराजकता, अशांति और खून खराबा था। अराजकता का अंदाज़ा इससे लगाया जा सकता है कि अरब में नियमित तौर से किसी शासन का वजूद नहीं था, अरब के आसपास जो शासन स्थापित थे, वो नस्ल के वर्चस्व पर विश्वास रखते थे, और जो इंसानी समाज जन्मजात महानता और तिरस्कार के विचार पर स्थापित हो, वहाँ न्याय का स्थापित होना सम्भव नहीं। ऐसे माहौल में अल्लाह की आखरी किताब क़ुरान मजीद के अवतरित होने की शुरुआत हुई। इस किताब में जो सबसे पहली आयत अवतरित हुई उसमें शिक्षा और कलम की अहमियत को बताया गया, कि तुम इंसानों के निर्माण का पदार्थ एक ही है। इसमें इंसान के एक होने की ओर इशारा था। शिक्षा इंसान को कानून का पाबंद बनाता है, और इंसानी बराबरी के विचार से न्याय का जज़्बा उभरता है, और इंसानियत के आदर करने का विश्वास परवान चढ़ता है। इसलिए एक ऐसा देश जो शांति से वंचित था, और जहाँ अत्याचार और दहशतगर्दी ने कानून का दर्जा हासिल कर लिया था, इस्लाम ने उसको शांति, सुरक्षा से परिचित कराया, इंसानी भाईचारा का सबक़ पढ़ाया और रसूलुल्लाह (सल्लल्लाहो अलैहे वसल्लम) की भविष्यवाणी पूरी हुई कि एक महिला अकेली ऊँटनी पर सवार होकर सन्आ से यमन तक का सफर करेगी
http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5266

2011-09-03T04:06:00.000-07:00

Islam and the West
16 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Why the West is losing its step in the Arab Spring

By SUHASINI HAIDAR Instead of raising the spectre of regime change, the West must learn from its experiences in the Arab Spring and find more effective ways of helping the Syrian people. Foreign policy has very few tongue-in-cheek moments. Yet, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad called on the British government to show restraint while quelling its rioters, and suggested a full report on human rights violations in the United Kingdom, many Arab leaders found it hard to conceal a grin. Western (read American, British, French) interventions in West Asia this year have met with few success stories, and as the international community steps up the pressure on Syria after weeks of a brutal military crackdown on protests in Hama, Daraa and other towns, a drum roll is under way. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5264

2011-09-03T04:02:00.000-07:00

Current affairs
18 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Hindutva and the Dalit Question

By Bhanwar Meghvanshi (Translated from Hindi by Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com) Of late, the RSS has been making a tremendous hue-and-cry about what it calls the ‘social assimilation’ (samarasta) of the various castes. The curious fact, however, is that it has no intention whatsoever of promoting the genuine ‘assimilation’ of, leave alone equality between, the various castes. A clear indication of its attitude to the caste question is that from the very beginning it has been strongly opposed to reservations or any other form of protective discrimination for Dalits, Adviasis, OBCs and religious minorities. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamCurrentAffairs_1.aspx?ArticleID=5277

2011-09-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

Islamic Sharia Laws
16 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Growing Trend of Suicides: How and Why Islam Totally Prohibits Suicides

Anything that a Muslim religious scholar or even a journalist writes in the Urdu Press, must reek of Islam-supremacism and contempt for other religions based on both lack of knowledge and understanding of our own as well as that of other religions. Our so-called Ulema come from kafir-manufacturing factories where there are not taught any respect for other punts of view within or without Islam. Well, they are simply not trained into any system of thought other than the limited one of their own. Question of respect for others simply does not arise. Knowledge comes first. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicShariaLaws_1.aspx?ArticleID=5261

2011-09-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

Current affairs
19 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Dalit Rights Group Slams Modi Government’s Stand on Child Rights

By Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com 19 Aug. 2011 Gujarat under Narendra Modi is touted about as Hindutva’s most successful laboratory. The corporate world and influential sections of the ‘mainstream’ Indian media never tire of singing paeans to Modi’s ‘developmental model’, which they uphold as eminently worthy of emulation by the rest of the country. Scores of middle-class Hindus passionately advocate Modi as India’s next Prime Minister, who, they fondly hope, will propel the country into the league of the economic and military ‘super-powers’. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamCurrentAffairs_1.aspx?ArticleID=5283

2011-09-03T03:55:00.001-07:00

Islam and the West
15 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

NATO’S Massacre at Majer, Libya Killed 85 Civilians, including Women and Children, Reports Franklin Lamb

By Franklin Lamb August 12 - 14, 2011 Residents Say NATO's Air Strikes Killed 85 People, Including 33 Children, 32 Women and 20 Men Located about 20 miles east of the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna, six miles south of Zliten, and off Libya's southern coast across the Mediterranean from Rome, Majer was a picturesque village known for the fine quality of its dates and is claimed by locals to produce the best Tarbuni (date juice) in Libya. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=5259

2011-09-03T03:52:00.002-07:00

The War within Islam
18 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Do not disrupt our peace in Ramadan with unseemly debates

By EKREM DUMANLI It has been common in Turkey that during every Ramadan some people appear to disrupt the peace and glory of fasting. Meaningless discussions and baseless allegations become part of the media agenda, while the people, be it those who fast or those who do not, keep leading their lives. The media used to make aggressive and offensive reports more frequently in the past. Now these reports have changed in terms of content and method. But the old habit still persists. In the past, however, fabricated reports on religious fundamentalism were more popular. Instead, the media now makes room for baseless discussions that they present as scholarly discussions on Islamic jurisprudence. Do these discussions matter at all for regular people? No, they try to experience the divine atmosphere during Ramadan instead of paying attention to these discussions. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5275

2011-09-03T03:52:00.001-07:00

The War within Islam
18 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Do not disrupt our peace in Ramadan with unseemly debates

By EKREM DUMANLI It has been common in Turkey that during every Ramadan some people appear to disrupt the peace and glory of fasting. Meaningless discussions and baseless allegations become part of the media agenda, while the people, be it those who fast or those who do not, keep leading their lives. The media used to make aggressive and offensive reports more frequently in the past. Now these reports have changed in terms of content and method. But the old habit still persists. In the past, however, fabricated reports on religious fundamentalism were more popular. Instead, the media now makes room for baseless discussions that they present as scholarly discussions on Islamic jurisprudence. Do these discussions matter at all for regular people? No, they try to experience the divine atmosphere during Ramadan instead of paying attention to these discussions.

2011-09-03T03:50:00.000-07:00

The War within Islam
14 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Samaosa, Chicken and Jihad

Living in the Respectorate By Irfan Husain 13 Aug, 2011 TRULY, we live in strange times. Of late, a spate of odd, purportedly Islamic injunctions have landed in my inbox. Let me start with the oddest: in Somalia, the group of Jihadi terrorists calling themselves al-Shabab have banned the humble samosa. What these holy warriors objected to was not some forbidden filling in the triangular savoury pastry, but its shape. Apparently, they consider its ancient, three-cornered design to be “too Christian”: according to them, the samosa symbolises the Holy Trinity. Never mind that the familiar snack first appeared in Central Asia in the 10th century, and made its way to India in the 13th. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5257

2011-09-03T03:45:00.000-07:00

Muslims and Islamophobia
14 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Terror has Political Goals: Religion should be for Humanism

By Ram Puniyani 14 August 2011 After being attacked by the bombs of the terrorists (13/7, 2011), we are facing the barrage from the ideologues of Hate and divisiveness. Many ideologues of religious nationalism have come out with outpourings associating the religion Islam and so Muslims with terrorism and the need to confront this attack of terror by uniting as Hindus, voting a Hindu party, taking away the citizenship rights of Muslims, and declaring India as a Hindu nation (Subramanian Swamy 16/7, 2011). Swamy says the terrorism is an attack of Islam on Hinduism. Islam wants to take over India. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimsAndIslamophobia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5254

2011-09-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

Books and Documents
14 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

The Myth of the Holy Cow

Reviewed by: Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com *Name of the Book: The Myth of the Holy Cow* *Author: DN Jha* *Publisher: Navayana, New Dehi* *Year: 2009* *Pages: 207* *ISBN: 978-8189059163* *Price: Rs 200* ‘The central fact of Hinduism,’ wrote MK Gandhi ‘is cow protection’. Gandhi was not alone in making such a claim. Like him, most Hindu ideologues insist on the centrality of the cow to Hinduism. For them, the cow is not just a four-legged beast but, rather, the goddess Gau Mata, or even, for some, the repository of all the millions of Hindu deities. Worship of the cow, so it is argued, is a cardinal principal of Hinduism, along with vegetarianism. The supposed holiness of the cow and the Hindu ban on beef-eating, Hindu ideologues claim, go back all the way to the period of the Vedic Aryans. The belief in the sanctity of the cow is routinely marshaled by right-wing Hindus as a symbol to distinguish Hindus from others, particularly Muslims, who are treated with disdain on account of their supposed penchant for beef and their alleged constant readiness to slaughter ‘the mother cow’. In this way, the myth of the holy cow serves as a powerful tool to create and consolidate a powerful sense of Hindu communal identity transcending caste-class divides, which is premised on relentless hostility to the beef-eating Muslim ‘other’. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamBooksAndDocuments_1.aspx?ArticleID=5255

2011-09-03T03:39:00.000-07:00

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad
12 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

What Next - A Sunni Bomb?

By Pervez Hoodbhoy for NewAgeIslam.com The Islamic Republic of Iran stands at the threshold to the Bomb. In 2010 it had more than enough low enriched uranium (LEU, some 2,152 kilograms) to make its first bomb’s worth of weapons-grade uranium, which could have been done in roughly ten weeks if this LEU had been fed into the 4,186 centrifuges that it was then operating . Thousands of other centrifuges are also known to be operating at Natanz. Even if it had not received a bomb design from Pakistan’s A.Q.Khan, the six-decade old physics of implosion devices would still not be a mystery to Iran’s sophisticated nuclear scientists. With sufficient technical capacity, it appears that Iran now awaits only a political decision to make the Bomb. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamTerrorismJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=5242

2011-09-03T03:38:00.000-07:00


War on Terror
16 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Afghanistan: The noise before defeat

By Ajai Sahni August 15, 2011 Barack Obama may project an ordered withdrawal from Afghanistan as victory but the truth is that America’s strategic failure in Afghanistan under his presidency has been worse than during the years of George W Bush. Backed by the Pakistani Army and the ISI, terrorist groups on both sides of the AfPak border are gaining ground while the US struggles with incoherence and the ISAF seeks to engage with an oxymoronic ‘moderate’ Taliban http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarOnTerror_1.aspx?ArticleID=5263

2011-09-03T03:31:00.000-07:00

Muslims and Islamophobia
13 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Dr. Subramaniam Swamy’s Anti-Muslim Diatribe: Recipe for Disaster

By Yoginder Sikand, NewAgIslam.com Subramanian Swamy’s recent article, titled ‘How To Wipe Out Islamic Terror’, has provoked widespread comment in the media. Advocating a hard-hitting approach to the phenomenon of Muslim extremism and urging the Hindus to take to militant Hindutva-style politics, the former Union Cabinet Minister and President of the Janata Party can safely be said to represent the convictions of a sizeable section of middle-class, ‘modern’-educated ‘upper’ caste Hindus, who, despite the thin veneer of Western ‘liberalism’ that they sport, are deeply wedded to the pernicious doctrine of Brahminical supremacism in the guise of Hindutva. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimsAndIslamophobia_1.aspx?ArticleID=5248

2011-09-03T03:28:00.000-07:00

Islamic Sharia Laws
13 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Sexual Pluralism and Islamic Shariah in Pakistan

July 3, 2011 Shoaib Mansoor’s newly released film Bol has created quite a stir in Pakistan. It is being applauded and reviled at the same time. But perhaps the most ‘potent’ criticism from the public pertains to its portrayal of transgendered issues. This is a topic which supposedly even ‘enlightened’ Pakistanis are uncomfortable with — alongside their brethren in most Muslim countries. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicShariaLaws_1.aspx?ArticleID=5245

2011-09-03T03:23:00.001-07:00

The War within Islam
13 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Constructing a Portrait of Pakistan Through the Stories of Its People

By Jane Perlez During her travels across Pakistan, Pamela Constable, a veteran foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, dropped in on the campus of Punjab University in Lahore, a city of 10 million, the scene of terrorist bombings and the cultural capital of the nation. By cultural capital, residents generally refer to the fading Mughal monuments and, to a lesser extent, the lively contemporary art scene at the National College of Arts. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=5250

2011-09-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section

17 Jul 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

मेरा संघर्ष पेट्रोडालर इस्लाम के विरुध्द है -सुल्तान शाहीन

सुल्तान शाहीन अपनी वेबसाइट न्युऐज इस्लाम डाट काम(www.newageislam.com) के माध्यम से मुस्लिम कट्टरपंथ से लोहा ले रहे हैं।

मोहम्मद वजीहुद्दीन, दि टाइम्स आफ इण्डिया, मुम्बई

पूर्वी दिल्ली के पटपड़गंज इलाके के एक छोटे से कमरे में एक शख्स अपना ज़्यादातर वक्त कम्प्युटर मानीटर के सामने गुज़ारता है। अपने इस जुनून के मामले में वो लाखों लोगों की तरह हैं लेकिन सुल्तान शाहीन यूँ ही सिर्फ वेब के आदी नही हैं।अपनी वेबसाइट न्युऐज इस्लाम डाट काम (www.newageislam.com) पर सर्फिंग करने और अपनी वेबसाइट पर कुछ लेख लगातार पोस्ट करते रहने का एक मकसद है इस्लाम को जेहादियों और पेट्रोडालर की मदद पाने वाले सलफियों-वहाबियों के चंगुल से छुड़ाना है

http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5044

2011-09-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
13 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

US President Barack Obama greets Muslims on Ramadan

To the millions of Muslim Americans across the United States and more — the more than one billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a time of reflection and a time of devotion. It’s an occasion to join with family and friends in celebration of a faith known for its diversity and a commitment to justice and the dignity of all human beings. So to you and your families, Ramadan Kareem. -- US President Barack Obama during Iftar Dinner URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5246

2011-09-03T03:07:00.000-07:00

War on Terror
13 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Getting Bin Laden: What Happened That Night in Abbottabad

By Nicholas Schmidle From "A REPORTER AT LARGE" column of New Yorker magazine Shortly after eleven o’clock on the night of May 1st, two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters lifted off from Jalalabad Air Field, in eastern Afghanistan, and embarked on a covert mission into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden. Inside the aircraft were twenty-three Navy SEALs from Team Six, which is officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU. A Pakistani-American translator, whom I will call Ahmed, and a dog named Cairo—a Belgian Malinois—were also aboard. It was a moonless evening, and the helicopters’ pilots, wearing night-vision goggles, flew without lights over mountains that straddle the border with Pakistan. Radio communications were kept to a minimum, and an eerie calm settled inside the aircraft. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarOnTerror_1.aspx?ArticleID=5243

2011-09-03T03:04:00.000-07:00

Interfaith Dialogue
13 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Independence Anniversary: Happy Birthday, India and Pakistan

By David Watts As India and Pakistan celebrate their independence day their trajectories since 1947 could hardly have been more different. As India and Pakistan celebrate their independence days their trajectories since 1947 could hardly have been more different. As India celebrates her birthday the world is beating a path to her door. In the case of Pakistan, her existence has never been more in question as the war against al-Qaeda in her northern territories is pursued aggressively by the United States with drone attacks and Islamabad struggles with internal radicalism. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamDialogue_1.aspx?ArticleID=5244

2011-09-03T02:51:00.000-07:00

Radical Islamism & Jihad

18 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

How Indian Muslims see Pakistan

By Aakar Patel

Concerns about growing religious extremism in the neighbouring Islamic republic have been growing since 2001

How is Pakistan seen by India's Muslims? Since 2001, the view has turned increasingly negative. Let's have a look at such views in three very different Indian publications. One is the conservative Urdu daily Inquilab, read almost exclusively by Muslims. The second, the liberal online paper New Age Islam, published in Urdu and English. Lastly, the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's organPanchjanya, published in Hindi and read almost exclusively by Hindus.

http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamRadicalIslamismAndJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=4857

2011-09-03T02:49:00.000-07:00

Radical Islamism & Jihad
12 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Lahore’s Growing Talibanisation

By Raza Rumi August 8, 2011 The recent abuse of police power at Lahore’s premier hub of arts is a sad reminder of how ‘culture’ is under attack from the state and vigilantes alike. The rough handling of a woman curator at the Nairang Gallery is not an isolated incident. There is an unfortunate history of attacks on artists and cultural spaces in Pakistan. According to reports, last week a senior police official barged into the gallery and harassed and assaulted a woman, later accusing her of wearing improper clothes and labelled the gallery’s work as ‘fahashi’ (vulgarity). Eyewitness accounts suggest that the official, a local SHO, at first picked on a couple and questioned why they were sitting together! Later, he barged into a rehearsal of a Bharatanatyam dance performance; and assaulted the female curator of the gallery who asked why the SHO was intruding in the activities of the gallery. Even the staff members who intervened to rescue the young woman were reportedly thrashed. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamRadicalIslamismAndJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=5235

2011-09-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

Books and Documents
12 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

For Muslims it is a War within Islam, a Struggle to Rescue Islam’s Central Values from a Small but Virulent Minority

By Michiko Kakutani Rock the Casbah Simon & Schuster, July 2011 Hardcover, 320 pages ISBN-10: 143910316X ISBN-13: 9781439103166 Our Price: $26.99 When the long-time Middle East reporter Robin Wright’s last book, “Dreams and Shadows,” was published in 2008, her assessment — that “a budding culture of change” and empowerment had begun to permeate the region — was greeted as wildly optimistic. Three years later, given the wave of uprisings that began within the past year in Tunisia and Egypt and that has continued to roll through the Middle East, her views now seem extremely prescient. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamBooksAndDocuments_1.aspx?ArticleID=5237

2011-09-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

Islamic Society
14 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Karachi: An Encounter with a Street Child

By Amber Darr August 7, 2011 “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children” — Nelson Mandela I was waiting for the traffic to start moving on Karachi’s Khayaban-e-Shaheen last Saturday when my attention was drawn by gentle yet persistent knocking on my car window. Expecting a begging child, I automatically dived for spare change. However, the face on the other side of the window was not that of a child but of a young man’s: “Baji, havn’t you recognised me? I am Shah Nawaz”, he said (in Urdu). “Baji, I have seen you after a long time, please take these flowers from me”, he continued. He would not accept payment, but I insisted. Within seconds our encounter was over, but Shah Nawaz’s beaming face remained with me as we drove on, not as a happy memory but as a painful shaft of regret for not being able to rescue him from the streets when I had first met him more than 10 years ago. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicSociety_1.aspx?ArticleID=5252

2011-09-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Islam does not Preach Terrorism

By Mufti Mohd. Zahid Qamarul Qasmi The most painful aspect of the age in which the Holy Quran was revealed was lawlessness, chaos and bloodshed. The extent of lawlessness can be gauged by the fact that no legal government existed in the Arab peninsula. The governments that existed around Arab believed in ethnic superiority and inferiority and it is impossible for the establishment of justice in a human society that is based on superiority and inferiority by birth. The revelation of the last book of God, the holy Quran began in such an atmosphere. (EnglishTranslation from Urdu by New Age Islam Edit Desk available at:http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndTolerance_1.aspx?ArticleID=5251 URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5229

2011-09-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

Islam and Spiritualism
13 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Ramadan: Time for Reconciliation

By Sadia Dehlvi Aug 12, 2011 Ramadan is a time for intensive worship, reading of the Quran and purifying one's behaviour by engaging in charity and other good deeds. It is an opportunity to bond with friends and family. Islamic scriptures say that those who abandon their loved ones will not enter Paradise till they make peace with them. Getting together for Iftar meals is encouraged as a blessing so that families and friends make time for each other. Ramadan is a gift from Allah for fasting and prayer that reminds us of the primordial covenant made with the Supreme. Ramadan is an opportunity to look up to God, just like in Haj or in the daily ritual prayer, when the hands are lifted to the ears in an upward motion, pushing away trivia and saying, Allah ho Akbar, God is the Greatest. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndSpiritualism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5247

2011-09-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

मदरसों के स्तर में गिरावट आखिर क्यों?

सैय्यद नवाब अली सरयावी आज पूरा विश्व विकास की ओर बढ़ रहा है, लेकिन मदरसों के स्तर में दिन-प्रतिदिन गिरावट हो रही है, जबकि इनकी संख्या में वृध्दि हो रही है। आखिर क्या कारण है कि आज के समय में किसी मदरसे से कोई बड़े विद्वान, शोधकर्त्ता और वैज्ञानिक नहीं निकल रहे हैं, जबकि पिछली सदियों में कई विभूतियां सामने आईं जिनका शैक्षिक सम्बंध मदरसे से था, और यहीं से उन्होंने शिक्षा दीक्षा हासिल की और विश्व के ज्ञान व साहित्य के क्षेत्र में सेवा की, जिनको विश्व भुला नहीं सकता और हमेशा उनका कृतज्ञ व ऋणि रहेगा। इनमें से कुछ के नाम इस प्रकार हैं। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5226

2011-09-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

Current affairs
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Terror wears the mask of religion: it can be Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, or any other

By Vidya Subrahmaniam A court judgment delivered earlier this year holds important lessons for those engaged in investigating and fighting terrorism. Questioning the methods of terror investigation is always a challenge because it is so easily seen as defending the enemies of the nation. The exercise is monumentally difficult after a benumbing bomb attack — especially if it has been judged to be the work of a home-grown Islamist organisation. The raging anger at this time is in fact against too little, too careful policing, with voices clamouring for instant punishment to the perpetrators. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamCurrentAffairs_1.aspx?ArticleID=5233

2011-09-02T07:08:00.001-07:00

Urdu Section
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Mahatma Gandhi had great respect for Ahmadi literature

Although presented in the usual xenophobic and sectarian style of the Urdu Press, the following article tells us how much Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian luminaries respected Maulana Mohammad Ali’s beautiful translation of the Holy Quran, even though any write-up by an Ahmadi scholar is anathema to our illiterate ulema (religious scholars) who are incapable of appreciating anything worthwhile beyond their microscopic vision. Incidentally, Maulana Mohammad Ali is also famous for his excellent exposition of the tenets of our religion in his book “The Religion of Islam”. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5228

2011-09-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

Islam and Politics
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Muslims, By any Other Name

By Farah Naqvi The (word) games we play to avoid dealing with the problems of some of the poorest Indians. It's strange season again in the corridors of planning and power — the run up to the 12th Five-Year Plan. This is when myriad Planning Commission committees review the (somewhat predictable) non-implementation of policies intended to benefit some of the poorest Indians, and recommend changes, only to repeat the exercise five years later. Forgive my cynicism. It arises from the fact that once again, when it comes to Muslims, we are confronted with word games one hoped had been left behind. We are repeatedly told we cannot plan interventions for ‘Muslims qua Muslims', because it's not constitutionally appropriate; at best we can plan for ‘Minorities'. Hence, the strange situation of offering small ‘Minority' scholarships to Parsis (with presumably nearly 100 per cent literacy), and to Christians (with 80.3 per cent literacy rate) along with Muslims (59.1 per cent literacy rate in 2001, lowest among religious groups). http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPolitics_1.aspx?ArticleID=5234

2011-09-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

मुसलमानों के ख़िलाफ़ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी के लेख का जवाब

सुहैल अंजुम जनता पार्टी के अध्यक्ष और इकलौते लीडर सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी का मुसलमानों के खिलाफ़ लिखा गया लेख ज़हर में बुझा ऐसा तीर है जिसने न सिर्फ मुसलमानों के दिलों को तकलीफ पहुँचाई है बल्कि देश के सेकुलर मस्तिष्क को भी कष्ट पहुँचाया है। यही कारण है कि इस लेख पर मुसलमानों से ज़्यादा गैरमुस्लिम बुध्दिजीवी, पत्रकारों और लेखकों ने विरोध किया और स्वामी के खिलाफ कारवाई की मांग की है। स्वामी का लेख, लेख नहीं बल्कि एक ऐसा खतरनाक बम है जिसके निशाने पर इस देश की शांति और खुशहाली है, और यदि इस ज़िंदा बम को नाकाम नहीं किया गया तो इसके बड़े ही खतरनाक और विस्फोटक परिणाम सामने आ सकते हैं। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5227

2011-09-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Islamic Ideology
09 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Islam does not Sponsor Violence in the Name of Establishing the Rule of Allah

By Jahangir Alam Qasmi, NewAgeIslam.com Qabeel (Cane) killed his younger brother Habeel (Abel) out of jealousy as his offering was not accepted by Allah while his brother’s offering was. Instead of doing introspection into what went wrong with him, he killed his brother. That was the first instance of killing on earth. Referring to the incident the Quran says: “Because of that We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind. And indeed, there came to them Our Messengers with clear proofs, evidences, and signs, even then after that many of them continued to exceed the limits (e.g. by doing oppression unjustly and exceeding beyond the limits set by Allah by committing the major sins) in the land!.” (Al Maidah 32) The Quran has made it clear that killing someone who is innocent is synonymous with killing the entire humanity and if someone saves someone’s life, as if he saves the entire humanity. In Islam the value of a single individual’s life is as much as that of the entire humanity because God loves all the beings on earth equally. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicIdeology_1.aspx?ArticleID=5214

2011-08-30T01:33:00.000-07:00

Spiritual Meditations
29 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

The Spirit of Ramadan - Eid Mubarak

By Mike Ghouse Rituals signify the mile stones of our daily life. Every significant moment of the day is a ritual. It is an unwritten way of measuring our progression; a memory pattern to bring discipline to our actions. From the moment we are born to the last rites of our life and every moment in-between is laden with rituals, though some of us may deny it. Whether we go to the gym, eat our food; go to sleep, wear clothes, drive some place, in our intimate moments, or picking that phone up, we follow rituals. Discipline is necessary to do things on time, managing personal relationships, driving to a destination or keeping within budget to achieve the goals; the result is worth the discipline to most people. When joyous, whether we are a theist or not, we have to express that sentiment, otherwise a sense of incompleteness lingers in our hearts. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamSpiritualMeditations_1.aspx?ArticleID=5353

2011-08-30T01:28:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Mahatma Gandhi had great respect for Ahmadi literature

Although presented in the usual xenophobic and sectarian style of the Urdu Press, the following article tells us how much Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian luminaries respected Maulana Mohammad Ali’s beautiful translation of the Holy Quran, even though any write-up by an Ahmadi scholar is anathema to our illiterate ulema (religious scholars) who are incapable of appreciating anything worthwhile beyond their microscopic vision. Incidentally, Maulana Mohammad Ali is also famous for his excellent exposition of the tenets of our religion in his book “The Religion of Islam”. This book is far more relevant in our times than it was even when it was written. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5228

2011-08-30T01:26:00.000-07:00

Islam and Politics
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Muslims, By any Other Name

By Farah Naqvi The (word) games we play to avoid dealing with the problems of some of the poorest Indians. It's strange season again in the corridors of planning and power — the run up to the 12th Five-Year Plan. This is when myriad Planning Commission committees review the (somewhat predictable) non-implementation of policies intended to benefit some of the poorest Indians, and recommend changes, only to repeat the exercise five years later. Forgive my cynicism. It arises from the fact that once again, when it comes to Muslims, we are confronted with word games one hoped had been left behind. We are repeatedly told we cannot plan interventions for ‘Muslims qua Muslims', because it's not constitutionally appropriate; at best we can plan for ‘Minorities'. Hence, the strange situation of offering small ‘Minority' scholarships to Parsis (with presumably nearly 100 per cent literacy), and to Christians (with 80.3 per cent literacy rate) along with Muslims (59.1 per cent literacy rate in 2001, lowest among religious groups). http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndPolitics_1.aspx?ArticleID=5234

2011-08-30T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
11 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

मुसलमानों के ख़िलाफ़ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी के लेख का जवाब

सुहैल अंजुम जनता पार्टी के अध्यक्ष और इकलौते लीडर सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी का मुसलमानों के खिलाफ़ लिखा गया लेख ज़हर में बुझा ऐसा तीर है जिसने न सिर्फ मुसलमानों के दिलों को तकलीफ पहुँचाई है बल्कि देश के सेकुलर मस्तिष्क को भी कष्ट पहुँचाया है। यही कारण है कि इस लेख पर मुसलमानों से ज़्यादा गैरमुस्लिम बुध्दिजीवी, पत्रकारों और लेखकों ने विरोध किया और स्वामी के खिलाफ कारवाई की मांग की है। स्वामी का लेख, लेख नहीं बल्कि एक ऐसा खतरनाक बम है जिसके निशाने पर इस देश की शांति और खुशहाली है, और यदि इस ज़िंदा बम को नाकाम नहीं किया गया तो इसके बड़े ही खतरनाक और विस्फोटक परिणाम सामने आ सकते हैं। स्वामी के इस लेख को किसी दीवाने की बकवास कह कर नज़रअंदाज़ नहीं किया जा सकता है। ऐसा करने से उन तत्वों का उत्साह बढ़ेगा जो देश में हमेशा हिंदू-मुस्लिम दंगे कराने के प्रयास में रहते हैं, और सहअस्तित्व के सिध्दांत के विरुध्द, हिंदुस्तान को हिंदू राष्ट्र बनाने की मुहिम चलाने में लगे हुए हैं। स्वामी ने इस लेख में तथाकथित इस्लामी आतंकवाद को खत्म करने के तरीके सुझाए हैं, लेकिन वास्तव में उनका ये लेख देश में एक विशेष प्रकार के आतंकवाद को बढ़ावा देना वाला और मुसलमानों के विरुध्द दुर्भावनाएं भड़काने वाला है। ये लेख स्वयं में एक प्रकार के आतंकवाद का रूप है, और इसका सम्बंध उस कड़ी से है, जिसके नमूने स्वामी असीमानंद, साध्वी प्रज्ञा, कर्नल पुरोहित और प्रवीण तोगड़िया जैसे लोगों में देखे जा सकते हैं। स्वामी के इस लेख में उठाये गये हर मुद्दे का जवाब दिया जा सकता है, लेकिल इसकी यहाँ गुंजाइश नहीं है। इसलिए इसके कुछ विशेष मुद्दों का पोस्टमार्टम किया जा रहा है। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5227

2011-08-30T01:21:00.001-07:00

Islamic Ideology
09 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Islam does not Sponsor Violence in the Name of Establishing the Rule of Allah

By Jahangir Alam Qasmi, NewAgeIslam.com Qabeel (Cane) killed his younger brother Habeel (Abel) out of jealousy as his offering was not accepted by Allah while his brother’s offering was. Instead of doing introspection into what went wrong with him, he killed his brother. That was the first instance of killing on earth. Referring to the incident the Quran says: “Because of that We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind. And indeed, there came to them Our Messengers with clear proofs, evidences, and signs, even then after that many of them continued to exceed the limits (e.g. by doing oppression unjustly and exceeding beyond the limits set by Allah by committing the major sins) in the land!.” (Al Maidah 32) http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicIdeology_1.aspx?ArticleID=5214

2011-08-30T01:19:00.000-07:00

Urdu Section
02 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Why This Decline in the Education of Madrasas?

By Syed Nawab Ali Saryawi Following excerpts from Urdu article were translated by Arman Neyazi of NewAgeIslam.com The world today is on the path of progress but madrasas are on the decline although increasing day by day in number. What is the reason that now madrasas are not producing scholars, scientists and researchers of high standard? During the last centuries they produced many such people who served the world in a way which cannot be forgotten. World will always be indebted to them. Some of them are: Ibn Biljabr (father of Algebra), Ibn Sena (father of Medicine), Jaabir bin Hayaan (father of Chemistry), Khildoon (father of Sociology and Political Science), Al Quasimul Jebarbi (father of Surgery), Ibn Nafisi (father of Blood Pressure) and Ahmad Memar (architect) who had designed Taj Mahal. These are the people who took their education in madrasas and reached to the top in different spheres in the world. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5165

2011-08-30T01:08:00.000-07:00

Islam and Sectarianism
10 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Critiquing Communalism: Re-Thinking Religion

By Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com That there 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 and peacefully co-exist. If they at all do live in peace with each other, the assumption is that this peace is only temporary, that it is out of compulsion of circumstance or due to the fear of the law or the wrath of the state, and that, in the absence of these compelling circumstances, the different communities would otherwise have been engaged in never-ceasing conflict, whether symbolic or physical. http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndSectarianism_1.aspx?ArticleID=5222

2011-08-30T01:05:00.000-07:00

Hindi Section
10 Aug 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

एक दृष्टिकोण: रमज़ान, मेरे लिये ज़िल्लतों का महीना क्यों हुआ करता था?

शमशाद इलाही अंसारी, टोरोंटो- कनाडा (न्यु एज इस्लाम डाट काम) रमज़ान का महीना जारी है और कहा जाता है कि इस महीने में शैतान क़ैद कर दिये जाते हैं। इस महीने में इंसान बुराई से बचता है और इस धरती के अस्थायी जीवन के बाद जो स्थायी जीवन मरणोपरांत आरंभ होगा, वह उसमें सफ़ल हो,उसमें कोई दिक्कत न हो, जन्नत मिले, हूरें मिलें, ग़िलमान मिलें, शराबें, शहद और अपरिमित, इन्द्रयातीत सुख मिले, इसलिये रमज़ान में इबादत करना, रोज़ा रखना, चोरी न करना, झूठ न बोलना, किसी को सताना नहीं, गलत सोहबत न करना, व्याभिचार न करना, पाँचों वक्त की नमाज़ पढना(तरावीह के साथ)। पूरे एक महीने का ये सालाना कार्यक्रम पिछले १४०० सालों से जारी है। इसके क्या नतीजे निकले, इस मिशन में किसको क्या मिला, जो मर चुके उन्हें क्या क्या मिला? इसका न कोई प्रमाण है न ही यह कोई अनुसंधान का विषय है। http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamHindiSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=5218