When Delhi Rapists were ‘Provoked’
I would like you to enlighten me as regards suspicion caused by a Friday speech. The topic of the speech was contemporary as the Imam spoke half an hour about the Delhi rape incident. He said that the incident happened when two unmarried couples travelled at night, which Islam is not in favour. He also […]
Mappilas too Hop from their Hips
We’ve quoted Sami Alim, hip-hop historian to explain the word hip-hop, you can read the article here, click. “In hip-hop, personal and political memories converge and the most vociferous (which in the hip-hop glossary is a positive adjective) hip-hop expression, or any cultural expression for that matter, comes out of the most traumatic memory one has. […]
Rumi Cut Out for Consumption
Sometime in the 19th century, man chose sensuality over spirituality. And this has left him with a gaping hole in his inner self; an emptiness which he is constantly attempting to fill up with alternatives. He’s undergoing spiritual decay by an alienation from himself, his friends and the world around him, and he is aware […]
Choco Fruits Pudding
Rushing to get one’s hands on a luscious pudding after meal is a familiar sight in weddings and parties. Who doesn’t fall for a delectable treat when they invite us with their tempting appearance and arresting aroma? Everyone loves sweets, especially to conclude a meal as it gives a feeling of fullness. Sweet after food […]
The Willow Tree: A saga of sight and insight
In his Mathnawi, Rumi tells the story of a lover who goes to his beloved and knocks on the door: The beloved from behind the door asked: “Who is at the door?” The lover answered: ‘I.’ Disappointed, the beloved said. “Go away! It is not the proper time! Here is no place for such a […]
Ibn Arabi Throws Feminism into Relief
Islamic feminism is generally understood in two ways: on the basis of women’s activism and their academic involvement. The second category includes feminist readings of the Quran, Islamic jurisprudence and Prophetic Tradition. Feminist readings in Islam have been restricted to the women-centred Quranic readings of Amina Wadud and Asma Barlas for the last 20 years. […]
Much Beyond the Dance
Type Jalauddin Rumi in your image search box. In the first page view itself, you see the white-robed dancers with one hand holding aloft to the sky and the other holding down. Martin Lings, in What is Sufism explains it as two points in human existence: Ethereal and ephemeral. In Istanbul, where in the deluge […]
Abandoned in Abandon
One day I ended up with Pradeep Sebastian’s Groaning Shelf, an engrossing account of a book lover. The book has arrayed an assorted group of some interesting characters: Rick Gekoski, the book collector, who bought the very first edition of Vladimar Nebakov’s Lolitha for a whopping $ 4000 to later sell it for a more […]
What’s the Big Idea?
So what is your idea of Islam? To what extent and in what ways is there or should there be a choice? Do you agree with Mohammad Sidique Khan or with Tariq Jahan? On the one hand, Khan, leader of the 7 July 2005 London bombers, sought ‘martyrdom’. In his suicide video, he told the […]
Mathnawi : The Parliament of Symbols
No mystic of Islam is as well known in the west as Jalaluddin Rumi, called his followers Maulana, “our master” (Turkish pronunciation Mevlana), or Maulawi. The order inspired by him, the Mevlevis, known in the west as the whirling Devishes, early attracted the interest of European visitors to the Ottoman Empire and the first orientalists […]
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