By Tazeen Javed The writer is a development consultant (tazeen.javed@tribune.com.pk) Those of us who were born during the Zia era or afterwards have heard one demand/pledge/rhetoric depending on who is uttering it, and that is we need an Islamic government. The question is: what is an Islamic government? Is it the Islamic caliphate where one caliph will rule over the entire ummah (global Muslim population)?  Is it a government of the Muslims, for the Muslims, by the Muslims? Or is it a government where Shariah law would be implemented? Have we ever wondered why we have this hankering for something … Continue reading What kind of government do we need?

By Dr Riffat Hassan The writer is professor emerita at the University of Louisville, US KARACHI: It is unfortunate that the basic intent of the Quranic teachings and prescriptions regarding women has frequently been disregarded in Muslim societies and communities. Women are often seen not as mentally and morally capable human beings who can be righteous by choice, but as mentally and morally deficient creatures on whom morality has to be imposed externally. Not satisfied with “the outer garment” prescribed by the Holy Quran for Muslim women in a specific cultural context, some conservative Muslims (both men and women) have … Continue reading Modesty not segregation, Islam not Mullahism

Allah is al-Aziz (The Mighty) Sheikh Salman al-Oadah The name al-`Azīz appears seventy-two times in the Qur’ān, usually in conjunction with other names of Allah. For example: “the Mighty, the Wize” [Sūrah al-Baqarah: 129] “the Mighty, the All-Knowing” [Sūrah al-An`ām: 96] “the Mighty, the Lord of Retribution” [Sūrah Āl `Imrān: 96] “the Mighty, the Forgiving” [Sūrah Fātir: 28] “the Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving” [Sūrah Sād: 66] “the Mighty, the Praiseworthy” [Sūrah Ibrāhīm: 1] The same pattern of linking the name al-`Azīz with other names can be found in numerous hādith. Allah is the possessor of strength who faces no incapacity. Nothing … Continue reading al-Aziz

Some Advice for Asking of Allah Sheikh Salman al-Oadah We should be conscious of how we conduct ourselves when we ask of Allah. There are a number of manners and etiquettes we should take heed of. 1. We should only beseech Allah for that which is lawful and good. We should also avoid beseeching Allah with anything that transgresses against other people. It is Allah who enjoined upon us to beseech Him in prayer, and it is Allah who says: “Do not transgress; for Allah does not love transgressors.” [Sūrah al-Baqarah: 190] 2. The best supplications are those which are … Continue reading Asking of Allah

Posted on July 12, 2010 thetruthbehindthescenes.wordpress.com paranormal.about Models of airplanes thousands of years old… vast works of art that can only be seen from the air… ancient texts that describe aerial battles. Are they proof that ancient civilizations mastered powered flight? Flight has been the dream of humankind since they watched in awe as birds soared effortlessly through the sky. But, according to accepted history, it wasn’t until the 1780s that two Frenchmen achieved lighter-than-air flight when they were lifted into the air in a hot air balloon near Paris. Then powered, heavier-than-air flight became the goal. And although it was … Continue reading Could Ancient Man Fly?

I don’t know how, but homeopathy really does work More of a mystery is why scientists continue to debunk it despite mounting evidence that homeopathy is effective Rachel Roberts guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 July 2010 11.30 BST Article history I was a dedicated scientist about to begin a PhD in neuroscience when, out of the blue, homeopathy bit me on the proverbial bottom. Science had been my passion since I began studying biology with Mr Hopkinson at the age of 11, and by the age of 21, when I attended the dinner party that altered the course of my life, I … Continue reading homeopathy really does work?

Warning: you are about to be dazzled by a flash minister If Mandelson’s memoirs only now tell the truth, how does the media deal with political reporting that often proves bogus? Mark Lawson guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 July 2010 21.00 BST Article history There’s a certain kind of movie, of which The Usual Suspects is the exemplar, in which a closing revelation shows everything that we have just seen to be an illusion: the events never happened and all the dialogue meant something else. The publication this week of Peter Mandelson’s memoirs – with, appropriately, a film-derived title, The Third Man … Continue reading Warning: Mandelson telling the truth

Thursday 15 July 2010 by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report Jay Bybee. (Photo: U.S. Government) Jay Bybee, the former head of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) who signed two infamous August 2002 legal memos which gave CIA interrogators the green light to torture “war on terror” prisoners, told a congressional committee that more than a half-dozen of the tactics detainees were subjected to were not “authorized” by the DOJ. In a closed-door interview May 26 with members of the House Judiciary Committee, Bybee, now a Ninth Circuit Appeals Court … Continue reading Author of Torture Memos Admits Some Techniques Were Not Approved By DOJ

by: Henry A. Giroux, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed (Image: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: geishaboy500, marttj) We live at a time that might be appropriately called the age of the disappearing intellectual, a disappearance that marks with disgrace a particularly dangerous period in American history. While there are plenty of talking heads spewing lies, insults and nonsense in the various media, it would be wrong to suggest that these right-wing populist are intellectuals. They are neither knowledgeable nor self-reflective, but largely ideological hacks catering to the worst … Continue reading The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism