Homegrown attacks have decreased in Pakistan for the last few years. It is mainly because of the operation “Zarb-e-Azb” that was carried on after the terrorist attack in a school in Peshawar resulting in the loss of 148 lives on December 16th, 2014. However, terrorism is a menace that does not see the limits of […]
Islam
Iran publicly hangs murderer of Friday prayer imam
Tehran: Iran on Wednesday hanged in public a man convicted of murdering the leader of main weekly prayers in the southern city of Kazeroun, state news agency IRNA said. Hamid Reza Derakhshandeh was executed at the scene where he killed the cleric on May 29, IRNA reported, citing the chief justice of Fars province, Kazem […]
Saudi Arabia eases travel restrictions on women from today
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday began implementing a landmark reform allowing women over the age of 21 to receive passports and travel abroad without permission from a male “guardian”, authorities said. The reform, announced earlier this month, weakens the restrictive guardianship system that has long been a symbol of repression against women. “The passport department has […]
Zakir Naik apologises to Malaysians for racial remarks
Controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik apologised on Tuesday for making racially sensitive remarks in Malaysia, a day after he was questioned by police for hours over the comments. Naik, who faces charges of money laundering and hate speech in India, has come under fire for comments that pitted Malaysia’s ethnic and religious minorities against the […]
From rapper to pilgrim: French celebrity Diam’s life-changing visit to a Muslim friend
JEDDAH: She had money, fame, influence and power. By the age of 23, she had millions of fans, sold more than 4 million albums and won numerous awards. Writing and performing numerous hit singles and records one after the other, by 2007, Mélanie Georgiades, better known by her stage name Diam’s, seemed to have it […]
Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Islamic artifacts
These items in the collection of the UAE’s Louvre Abu Dhabi demonstrate various aspects of Islamic artifacts. 1) Qur’anic verses The frieze, from an Indian shrine, consists of 13 elements that reproduce Verses 18-24 of Surah 59 of the Qur’an, known as Al-Hashr, “The Gathering.” 2) Chinese influence In attempting to imitate white-glazed Chinese ceramics, Abbasid potters succeeded […]
Daesh must never be allowed to regroup
Five months after the last Daesh stronghold in Syria was overrun by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), there are worrying signs that fighters belonging to the now defunct self-proclaimed caliphate are regrouping. The US envoy to the international coalition fighting Daesh, James Jeffrey, told reporters in Washington last week that thousands of the extremist organization’s […]
Enlightenment and Islam
In the early part of this month, during my sojourn to the Holy Land, the question which perplexed me most was whether there was a real connection between enlightenment and faith, and whether in their genesis these two are all-embracing or mutually exclusive. My deep reflections on various texts of the Holy Quran, and some […]
How Islam came to be associated with radicalism
Many Muslim youths wonder today as to how Islam came to be the byword for violent extremism and terrorism, despite the fact that the word is derived from the Arabic root implying peace, submission and obedience. In a religious sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law. The fact […]
Book review: Journey into Europe: Islam, Immigration, and Identity
Islam has been a living reality and a growing religion in Europe for more than a millennium. There are 15-20 million Muslims in the EU and the number is expected to increase substantially by 2025. Islam is as alien to Europe as are Judaism and Christianity, as all three creeds originated from the Middle East […]