Tag: history

Politics

Did India Previously Support Palestine? What Happened?

In the same manner [Hindu] Indian Americans post-9/11 sought to gain power and respectability by allying themselves with what opposed Muslims, the narrative that portrays Hindus as victims of Muslim terrorism is furthered by drawing parallels with the distress of Jewish communities over terrorism in Israel. For India, Israel – and Zionism – is the manifestation of domestic fantasies, a vehicle through which people of the world can hold Islam and its seemingly endless list of crimes at bay with.

In perfect accordance to the BJP supporter playbook, despite previous attempts at centrist engagement with both Israel and Palestine, India now uses the Palestinian struggle to build on the anti-Muslim climate in the dregs of British colonial rule: Palestine’s struggles are due to perceived wrongdoing, the people are reaping what they sow like the Muslims in India, etc. What is humorously macabre is that Zionists insult and reject Indian support. Not only do Hindutva supporters tolerate this degradation, they continue drooling for their approval. Continue reading Did India Previously Support Palestine? What Happened?

Farhana KhanLeave a comment
Book Reviews

Mustafa Briggs’ Beyond Bilal

A Book Review of Beyond Bilal by Mustafa Briggs How did the Yoruba, an ethnic group of southwestern Nigeria, become Muslim? How did Islam gain such widespread prominence throughout Black Africa? Growing up as a Muslim Nigerian-American, these were questions I had from a very young age. In masajid halaqat (spiritual gatherings in mosques to discuss the Qur’an and Sunnah), Islamic elementary and middle schools, … Continue reading Mustafa Briggs’ Beyond Bilal

Abdulrahman AbdulkadriLeave a comment
Essays

Abderrahmane Taha: A Sublime Life of Tajdīd

Taha Abderrahmane is a larger-than-life philosopher from Morocco— his life has spanned a plurality of Muslim crises and he has sought to set forth, through logic, Kalām, language, and Usūl al-fiqh, an entirely new way of living by which non-Muslims may see the dazzling wonder of Islamic civilization, and by which Muslims may abandon all forms of Taqlīd towards Western epistemology, ontology, and phenomenology. Continue reading Abderrahmane Taha: A Sublime Life of Tajdīd

Mulla Saaleh Baseer
Society & Culture

Vampires, Witches and the Walking Dead in Ottoman Lands

“’On the Night of Karakoncolos, the obur would awaken to feast on human blood. Relatives of the victim would urgently seek out a village elder with expertise in finding the creatures. They then would go to the grave from whence the obur had emerged and exhume the body…’ [reported] Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi, on one of his expeditions around the empire in the 17th century.” Continue reading Vampires, Witches and the Walking Dead in Ottoman Lands

Liam MurrayLeave a comment
Shorts

The Historical Nursing Event: Rufaidah bint Sa’ad

As October is Islamic Hertiage Month, it is befitting to discuss an important Muslim figure in the history of nursing: Rufaidah bint Sa’ad. Muslim civilization boasts a rich tradition of medicine; the science of medicine, known in Arabic as Al-Tibb Al-Nabawi (Prophetic Medicine), began with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and continues to be practiced today. Due to Islam’s emphasis on ethics such as taking care of others, altruism, cleanliness, seeking cures, and holistically taking care of one’s body and health as it is a trust from God, it is no surprise that women also took to learning methods of healing and care.  Continue reading The Historical Nursing Event: Rufaidah bint Sa’ad

Traversing TraditionLeave a comment
Society & Culture

Forgotten History: The Hamidiye Hijaz Railway – A Trans-Ottoman Railway

We always learn lessons from history; it acts as a guiding light whereby we make decisions based on our past mistakes and success. Therefore, it is important to learn history — especially one’s own. The collective amnesia of Islamic history has lead us to a stage where we are looking for answers on social media, lured in by orientalists and academics and believing in false … Continue reading Forgotten History: The Hamidiye Hijaz Railway – A Trans-Ottoman Railway

Ahmed5 Comments
Society & Culture

On Being a Muslim Minority: Introducing Chinese Muslim Intellectual Jīn Tiānzhù

This article presents the introduction section of a book called 清真釈疑 Qīngzhēn shìyí (Eliminating Doubts Against Islam), written by Jīn Tiānzhù (金天柱). This is arguably the first book written about how minority Muslims living in East Asia have confronted misconceptions about Islam. Continue reading On Being a Muslim Minority: Introducing Chinese Muslim Intellectual Jīn Tiānzhù

Dr. Qayyim Naoki Yamamoto2 Comments
Philosophy

Differences in Approaching History Between Reform Oriented and Traditionalist Muslims

Contemporary rifts between reform oriented and traditionalist Muslims might be traced back to differences in their respective philosophies on the progress of history. By first examining the three most prominent enlightenment philosophies of history, which share much in common, and then contrasting them with pre-modern philosophies of history, I will lead us to the possible formulation of an Islamic philosophy of history.  Continue reading Differences in Approaching History Between Reform Oriented and Traditionalist Muslims

Traversing Tradition3 Comments
Shorts

The Fountain of Youth

Across the ages, continents and sciences, Muslims, even teenage Muslims, contributed to the scholarly fabric that has been passed down to us from generation to generation.

‘Take advantage of your youth before your old age’. This statement of the Messenger ﷺ was not lost upon the Muslims of the past. Taking advantage of time and youth can be done in several ways. One of these ways is embedded in the culture of teaching and learning that permeates throughout the Islamic world. The contributions of scholars of the past in the Islamic world across the various religious and secular sciences are far too many to be enumerated. Such contributions and advances were only made possible by the underlying social infrastructure, intellectual meritocracy and collective social concern. Continue reading The Fountain of Youth

Traversing TraditionLeave a comment