VIEW: Kital and jihad – Gulmina Bilal Ahmad Jihad, as is well known, is a constant struggle against one’s will or, in the terms of psychology, against one’s own id, i.e. the part of the self that is wilful and without any restraint What motivates a militant Taliban who is not fraught with poverty? The answer to this question is complex. There is no easy answer. However, at a dialogue organised to discuss the possibilities of peace, an interesting answer was given by a psychiatrist-turned-religious-scholar, Dr Muhammad Farooq. This gentleman is involved in the army-supported and led Swat Taliban children … Continue reading Kital and jihad

VIEW: Revisiting the Friday sermon –Dr Mahjabeen Islam The best and the brightest with an interest in Islam should be given scholarships in Islamic universities and then incentivised financially to take up spiritual leadership as a profession It is important to be solution oriented, I know. ‘The power of the Friday sermon’ (Daily Times, May 14, 2010) took the entire article to detail the golden opportunity that is missed by imams the world over to inhibit the start of disenchantment and the development of extremism. Now we can springboard for solutions. The situation with mosques in Pakistan is very different … Continue reading Revisiting the Friday sermon

COMMENT: Coming to grips with the past–Zafar Hilaly There are two obstacles that civil servants face when writing of the past. The first is the ban on passing on ‘secrets’ and the cumbersome vetting process. And second, the fear of jeopardising one’s life Apart from the past nothing else is secure in Pakistan. But is the past really worth knowing? Does it really matter? An English poet, Edward Thomas, once said that the past is the only dead thing that smells sweet. But here even the past stinks. German philosopher Friedrich Hegel thought that the past matters because events and … Continue reading Coming to grips with the past

HUM HINDUSTANI: Taming the teams –J Sri Raman Both Pawar and Patel belong to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), an important ally and partner-in-power of the Congress in New Delhi as well as the state of Maharashtra. Critics have castigated the Congress leadership for sacrificing principle at the altar of power and avoiding any action against either We cannot yet call it a season of show cause notices. But, in India, it is certainly already a time of threats of disciplinary actions and demands for them. If you are trying to gauge the country’s mood anytime, you will do well … Continue reading Taming the teams

Testimonies of ex Muslims who have embraced Christianity have become widespread on the television as well as on the internet. Some of these conversion stories may well be true, whilst most of them can easily be disproven. These false testimonies are being utilised as a means to indoctrinate the minds of non-Muslims with false information about Islam, with the main aim of generating a hatred towards Islam amongst the masses. This site will shed some light upon this subject with the main focus being on Ergun and Emir Caner. Ergun Mehmet Caner is a popular Christian speaker based in the … Continue reading THE REAL BIOGRAPHY OF ERGUN CANER

The madressah thenews.com.pk Ikram Sehgal Established at first as an institution of higher studies, a madressah (Arabic plural “madaris”) initially taught law, Islamic sciences and philosophy. During the 11th and 12th centuries, madaris specialised in law and jurisprudence. Today’s madressah is an Islamic religious school (seminary) where students, as young as nine or ten, at times even younger, learn religious education, schooled first of all in reading and then in religious studies. Initially a part of a mosque, madaris only later became separate institutions. With the introduction of Western education under colonial rule their curriculum underwent a change. A madressah … Continue reading The madressah – battery hen mullahs?

pakistaniat.com Adil Najam This is a painful post to write. Ideally I would have preferred not to have had to write this post. But I have over 300 messages in my in-box of people fussing over the so-called “Draw Muhammad Day” page on the social networking site Facebook and now the Lahore High Court’s decision calling for a ban on Facebook has forced the issue. And that is what pains me. I hope that Facebook administration will remove the page. Not because of any “banning” movement and not because of the Lahore High Court. Just because the page and the … Continue reading Facebook Fiasco: What Would Muhammad (PBUH) Do?

It’s the way they sell ’em! From rude food to crazy cleaning products, the world’s weirdest brands Would you eat a chocolate bar called Plopp or use washing powder called Barf? The odd names might be the reason these products haven’t made it to the UK… Swedes think this candy is dandy, they account for 95 per cent of sales. Wonder why… Drink enough of Pee Cola and you will feel the effects of the beverage which keeps Ghanaians on the go… Bottoms up with Arse wine! It’s a cheeky wine from French vineyards Fillipina women are very serious about … Continue reading From rude food to crazy cleaning products, the world’s weirdest brands

The unaffordable Eurovision song contest The annual festival of camp is being hit by the financial crisis – which means some countries need to rein in their spending Jonathan Moles guardian.co.uk, Norway is hosting this year’s Eurovision song contest after Alexander Rybak won in 2009. Photograph: Sergey Ponomarev/AP It’s all Denmark’s fault really. For years, the Eurovision song contest had been an annual test of new television and satellite technology dressed up as a music competition. Then, in 2000, Denmark held the annual camp-fest in a stadium with 39,000 people in attendance. Ever since, it’s been a contest to get … Continue reading The camp, unaffordable Eurovision song contest

Are magazines really dying out? Though the internet is a serious threat, its ephemeral nature is no match for the tangibility of print Lisa Maclean guardian.co.uk Creators and publishers of printed zines and magazines are dealing with the growing possibility of their medium being rendered obsolete by the expansion of online media – many already offering internet-only subscriptions and exclusive content for social networking followers. The potential of the iPad as a sustainable and viable platform is one that many creatives take seriously, however. But when Apple announced recently that iPad editions will have to have any nudity pre-censored, it … Continue reading Are magazines dying out?