Origins of Hinduvta Movement

The Hindu consciousness found its principal expression in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the empire of Shivaji and later in Maratha confederation. This has been contested by non-brahmin scholars who have argued how such conceptualisation furthers the process of Hindutva organisations, of appropriating Shivaji as a Hindu king . In 1720, the Brahmins took...

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What was Brent Tarrant’s Ideology

When the news broke out of Brent Tarrant's rampage and killing 49 worshippers at a Christchurch Mosque the initial response was a mixture of grief and disbelief. A white person carrying out the act of terrorism and what was even more bizarre was the location of this incident - New Zealand, perceived to be one...

After Christchurch

Dear Muslims, the Christchurch Incident was extremely tragic, probably impossible to explain in plain human words. The gruesome video, aftermath, people’s agony ... everything can only be encapsulated in one word, "painful". And above all the bizarre reason driven by unthinkable hatred that today sounds so last century, something we the societies of today only...

Milton Friedman from Mongolia to Chile

When Mongolia emerged from seven decades of socialism in the early 1990s, its leaders considered building a statue of Milton Friedman on the mountain overlooking the capital Ulan Bator, such was their new-found admiration for the man they saw as the patron saint of free markets. Friedman, who died of heart failure aged 94, advised and...

From Shaikh Mohammad’s Book

My first conversation with a terrorist was in July 1973. His name was Osamu Marouka. He was a well-known leader of on armed organisation called the “Japanese Red Army” who was aiming to get rid of the Japanese Emperor, and start a revolution. That organisation started a relationship with the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organisation) in...

Who are Hazaras of Afghanistan

The modern Hazaras stem from the merger of the ruling Mongol class of QARA’UNAS with their mountain Tajik subjects. The Hazaras are first found under that name (Persian for 1,000, from the Mongol military’s decimal organization) in the histories of Babur (1483–1530) and Abu’l Fazl ibn Mubarak (1551–1602), who describe them as important nomads (aimaq,...

Origin of word Assassin

The word Assassin comes from Hashishiyun or Hashish Users, the group of Fida’i  Fedayeen or Self-sacrificers, sent by Hasan-i Sabbah to murder the most dangerous enemies of Ismaili Sect during 12th century AD in an attempt to save his religion from complete extermination. It is not clear whether or not these people were given Hashish...

How Albania became Muslim

The Ottoman conquest of the Albanian territories was a process that started in the 14th century when competing Albanian noble families fell back on Ottoman military support to stand up against their opponents. However, the sultan began to strengthen his influence in that part of the Balkan peninsula by forcing a large number of these...

Who was Jamal al-Din Afghani

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (b. 1838–d. 1897) was perhaps the most important Muslim political philosopher and activist of the late 19th century. Most scholars believe that despite his use of the name al-Afghani, “the Afghan,” he was actually born in Iran. But as he spent much of his life in Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, it...