Akbar Ahmed

With the Taliban back in control in Afghanistan and the TTP once again on the march along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, tribal societies, their leadership and organization must be better understood by those dealing with them. Without this understanding, there will be little hope of successfully managing conflict with the recently re-emerged Taliban […]

It is one of five pillars of Islam, and when you receive your summons from on high (the “invitation”, as we call it, euphemistically), it cannot lightly be refused. So, each year, more than two million of us, prince and pauper, black and white, cast off our trappings and join as absolute equals in a […]

“I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gate.” This saying is attributed to the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings upon him). It not only immortalizes Ali but also captures his defining characteristic. Ali —called Hazrat Ali as a mark of respect–was the quintessential scholar. But he was also a warrior, the […]

There is that heart-reading and mysterious episode at the end of Babur’s life. Humayun is fatally ill and is on what appeared to be his death bed, and all medicines and doctors have failed.  Babur is aware that he has just won India, but he will not have an heir to pass it on to […]

By writing his epic poem Bibi Mubarika and Babur, Sahibzada Riaz Noor has not only done a favour to literature but also history. He has given us not only a poem rich in imagery, colour, and emotion but a history lesson full of insights. (For the sake of transparency, I must state that I wrote […]

The important lesson of this Golden Age is the reminder that using reasoning and empirical findings to arrive at logical conclusions represents the most fundamental of human activities. This belief has its roots in Greek philosophy, especially that of Aristotle. Such a rational approach allowed people to ponder philosophical questions as much as their relations […]

The great philosopher Ibn Rushd (known in the West as Averroes) almost single-handedly restored Greek philosophy, especially that of Plato and Aristotle. Thereby filling in the black hole of knowledge that surrounded Ancient Greece in Europe. St Thomas Aquinas, the famous Italian Dominican friar, offered a philosophic maxim influenced by Ibn Rushd: “God would never […]

Maimonides consistently emphasized the importance of philosophy in finding the best of human society, defining the subject in broad terms in the Guide: “The person who wishes to attain human perfection should study logic first, next mathematics, then physics, and, lastly, metaphysics” (“Quotes,” University of California, Berkeley).The writing of Maimonides contains a stark beauty that […]

There are perhaps few figures in Jewish history who can match the stature of the celebrated Rabbi Maimonides. For the Jews the inscription on his tomb stone in Tiberius, Israel, describes his extraordinary status : “From Moses to Moses, there has never been another Moses.” For the Muslims he was Ubayd Allah-a faithful servant of […]