Learning little from our desert infatuation

April 1, 2014 Mohammed Abbasi

Islamabad diary Pakistan has still to recover from its last troop export to the holy kingdom. This was in the 1980s when Mard-e-Momin Gen Ziaul Haq was reconverting the Islamic Republic to Islam – or, to be accurate, his version of Islam. His understanding of Islam, understandably, was of the most primitive kind. Maulana Maudoodi he took to be his guide and, if imperfect memory serves, lectures on Maudoodi were dished out on Radio Pakistan. And we on whom these experiments in re-Islamisation were being carried out were helpless…because the spirit had been taken out of us and the … Continue reading Learning little from our desert infatuation

Pakistan/Iran – Souring diplomacy

March 28, 2014 Mohammed Abbasi

Iran suspects its guards had been taken to the Pakistan border region and that the onus of rescuing them from their captors lies with Islamabad. The reported killing of one of the five Iranian border guards abducted in the Sistan-Balochestan province of Iran last month has soured the mood in Tehran. Our western neighbor suspects its guards had been taken to the Pakistan border region and that the onus of rescuing them from their captors lies with Islamabad. While Pakistan swiftly condemned the kidnapping incident, and offered to act on any credible intelligence made available to it, its investigations so far have, … Continue reading Pakistan/Iran – Souring diplomacy

Saudi clerics urge Muslims to shun 99 Names!

March 25, 2014 Mohammed Abbasi

Saudi clerics urge faithful to shun ‘Islamic’ superhero series By AFP Saudi Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al Sheikh. PHOTO: AFP RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top clerics have declared an Islam-inspired cartoon series, which earned praise from US President Barack Obama, a “work of the devil” that Muslims should not watch. The television version of superhero comic book “The 99″ is being aired by Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC3, based in Dubai in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates. But in a religious decree carried by Saudi websites on Monday, the clerics ruled the series blasphemous because the superheroes of its title are based on the … Continue reading Saudi clerics urge Muslims to shun 99 Names!