This piece is part two of a three part policy report on the secularization of the Muslim mind. You can read part one here and part three here. Fear and the “Bad Muslim”: Identity and Radical Islam Islamic fundamentalists… [are determined] to restore the superiority of the Islamic civilization by resuscitating the past. They seek to impose the Sharia, a code of law based on … Continue reading The US State and the Making of a Secular Islam
This piece is part one of a three part policy report on the secularization of the Muslim mind. You can read part two here. This report aims to highlight a subtle yet existential threat to the Muslim community in America: an assault on the Muslim mind, in other words, the Secularization of the Muslim mind. In contrast to the right-wing’s physical and verbal attacks on … Continue reading The Secularization of the Muslim Mind
Introduction There is a spectre haunting the Muslim world, by the name of political Islam. Whether in the form of violent terrorist groups or in the guise of political parties pragmatically using the democratic process to gain power, it seems that everywhere behind the stunted development of Muslim-majority societies is the troublesome presence of political Islam. Observers of contemporary affairs will note Islamic politics as … Continue reading Deconstructing Western Representations of Political Islam
A Book Review of The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity’s Moral Predicament by Wael Hallaq Introduction For a beginner, The Impossible State (henceforth referred to as TIS) is an incomprehensible tome. Throughout the book, Hallaq strings together technical terms effortlessly. It took me a few reads to even begin to understand Hallaq’s central thesis, let alone the finer details embedded across the text. Therein lies … Continue reading Musings on The Impossible State
The Qur’an was revealed by the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) to the Prophet ﷺ in the cave of Hira. The Angel Jibril began with the injunction, “Read.” It was this word that would be the very first of the divine revelation revealed to the Prophet ﷺ and one that would define our attitude towards knowledge and excellence in study thereafter. Islamic civilisation prided itself on being … Continue reading Harnessing the Pioneer Spirit of the Muslim
One of the greatest political challenges Islam faces is the relationship between religion and state, a political construct that dominates and tolerates no rival. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria highlighted this crisis, as the Muslim world continues to produce political bankruptcy through failed states, authoritarianism, and the ugly miscegenation of state and religion. Muslim scholars and civil society unanimously condemned … Continue reading Reclaiming the Islamic Political Tradition: Reflections after ISIS
