Islam is very democratic in its application of things. After all, in its truest essence, democracy is not only elections, but a variety of things. These include pluralism, free speech, freedom of association, basic human rights and so on. Islam encourages all of these within its own framework. As far as the objection that in […]
Is there anything wrong with the idea that people should have the right to rule? Many people argue that there actually is something unacceptable and Islam does not permit such a thing; a blasphemy, maybe. To say that the people have the right to rule, they argue, is to give away a right reserved for God alone […]
It is true that while Islam may not be a proponent of liberal western democracy as we know it, but in its very essence Islam is quite democratic. “Consultation” is a fundamental concept in Islam. If anything, the Islamic ideal is nearest to a constitutionally restricted democracy whereas democratic principles are ordained under, within and […]
Sometimes I just wonder whether the state we will in is even a state anymore. If by the state we mean the government, then what is the government even doing? Very frankly, I feel no security seeing the police around. Far from that, I often avoid encountering or approaching them for help. Experience tells us […]
The phrase-“Give unto God what was God’s and to Caesar what were Caesar’s”- is such a charming phrase, full of all that is naïve, and based on wishful thinking. Let me elaborate on secular grounds, using reason alone against the dogmatic principles associated with revelation, that there exists a very obvious contradiction in the statement, […]
Some men are great, some are remembered and some go on to live forever in the minds of millions. Alexander was great but what did he do but conquer lands? Einstein was a genius but what did he do but lead humanity to its worst nightmare, i.e. the nuclear bomb? Many philosophers are believed to […]
Faiz Ahmed Faiz was once attending a ceremony in his honour in Delhi, while residing at the home of the Pakistani high commissioner. Faiz tells us that the son of the commissioner came to him for an autograph. In return, Faiz inscribed his signature along with one of his verses. The boy looked at it […]
Call him an assailant, an attacker, a gunman, a guy with a bad temperament; anything but a terrorist. After all, does he look like a terrorist? No, not at all! He has blond hair and white skin. He’s not Muzzlim. Well he did kill above ninety people, and yes he should not have done that; […]
When I was eight years old, my family returned to Pakistan from the United States and a lot of things in the world suddenly changed for me. I remember (and my relatives won’t ever let me forget) that one of my very first statements was, “Why is everything broken?”. I’m pretty sure, I meant to […]
What have we come to? Are we not a mess? It is as though our humanity has been stripped away from us. Violence, violence, and more violence, plus so much of indifference! We have lost our ability to feel; to feel the sacredness of the value of life. Human suffering is gradually meaning to us […]
