General Issues

Ali Sina Balkhi a legendary Persian scholar better known in the West as Avicenna was born in 980 AD in Afshana a village near Bukhara in Transoxiana and died in Hamadan in modern Iran in 1037 AD. Avicenna’s achievements are extraordinary indeed. He was a scholar that gained recognition and honour as an authority in several disciplines. He became famous …

‘Does God Hate Women’ by Jeremy Stangroom and Ophelia Benson cites attitudes to women and criticises Mohammed’s marriage An academic book about religious attitudes to women is to be published this week despite concerns it could cause a backlash among Muslims because it criticises the prophet Muhammad for taking a nine-year-old girl as his third wife. The book, entitled Does …

At Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibte Razi’s Iftar party last Ramzan, former chief minister Shibu Soren came dressed as an Arab sheikh. He wanted to showcase his secular credentials at the photo-op. And he succeeded, too, as pictures of ‘sheikh Soren’ appeared in the media. But he did not realise that Indian Muslims didn’t wear such dress. Was he taken in …

Muslims across the island joined in the national celebrations that marked the end of three decades of war, culminating in the liberation of the brutalized Tamils, Muslims, and Sinhalese of the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. Indeed, the end of Velupillai Prabakaran, signifies the liberation of the entire country, nearly 504 years after the Portuguese invasion of Sri …

It is indeed a matter for regret that we in the Muslim world, are often quick to point at the injustices committed by non-Muslims, while we conveniently ignore those perpetrated by Muslim regimes and groups in the name of Islam. We often forget the maxim that we should put our own house in order before we set out to put …

Muslim presence in the North dates back to eighth century. According to historians forefathers of present Muslims were present in the North of Sri Lanka as far back as the eight century.  Mannar and Jaffna are two places recorded in history. Muslims have been engaged in Trade and other vocation in the Jaffna area. They were settled in number of …