Francis, faith and the future on April 26, 2016As white smoke finally billowed from the chimney at the Sistine chapel in Vatican on March 13, 2013, the world waited in anticipation for the new Pope, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, elected by the papal conclave. This was an exciting moment not only for the Christian religion but for […]
Gods soldiers, Ghamidi and the great game on April 25, 2016February 22 marked the day when Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, the founder of the infamous Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), and the ideological godfather of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) — the radical group that has accepted responsibility for the recent killings of the Hazara Shiite minorities in Quetta — was assassinated by suspected Shiite militants in 1990. As […]
God, Caliphate and Valentines Day on April 25, 2016Valentine’s Day was celebrated enthusiastically in Pakistan recently. From a sociological perspective, it was quite interesting to analyse the celebrations, contradictions and cultural confusion that surrounds the event. While observing the festivities and elaborate preparations for the occasion across the city, it was interesting to come across a pamphlet published and distributed by the Islamist […]
Sanctity and sensitivity II on April 24, 2016Issues about embodiment are being widely discussed and senior religious clerics in Saudi Arabia, which exercises a strictly puritanical, iconoclastic Wahabi interpretation of Islam, have been alarmed too. “Depicting prophets is against the laws of Islam. It violates the sanctity and sacredness of the Prophet (PBUH),” says Al-Hekmi. “There is no justification whatsoever for the […]
Sanctity and sensitivity I on April 23, 2016Work on the film Muhammad (PBUH), being directed by the critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated Iranian film director Majid Majidi, is underway. It will be a three-part historical epic about the Prophet’s (PBUH) life and the spread of Islam. This article seeks to describe and analyse various aspects of this important project. Majid Majidi’s latest film venture […]
The text on Tylers torso on April 22, 2016In mid-March two shocking pictures of a 19-year old Tunisian schoolgirl, Amina Tyler, surfaced on the Facebook page of a feminist group, Femen-Tunisia. The images were overtly sexual and provocative, with the girl baring her upper body, and the line “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour” written across […]
A discourse of defiance on April 20, 2016The Jamat ud Dawa (JuD), despite the controversies that surround it, is brimming with activity. In the past few months, the Islamist organisation has been quite active in anti-US protests as well as anti-India rallies and, quite interestingly, has been able to develop a noteworthy presence on social media like Twitter and Facebook too. It […]
Inside Lady Gagas laboratory on April 19, 2016Often feeling compelled to understand Lady Gaga’s worldview, I recently came across a fan area titled the “lab of hookers” in Gaga’s dedicated website for her “little monsters.” This article seeks to delve into this ‘laboratory’ and probe it, examining the recurring themes of freedom and the body in Gaga’s work as well as the […]
Outraged faith on April 19, 2016This has been a season of outraged faith. And it seems that both the actions that are creating new environments of tension and the reactions are here to stay. This article seeks to shed some reflections on four issues related to religion and freedom of expression in contemporary times that, in one way or the […]
Osamas bad day on April 15, 2016Mark Owen’s much awaited book No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden is available now and it provides rich insight into his version of the story of Operation Neptune Spear, the secret military operation in which Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad on May 1, 2011. The […]