ViewsWeek Views from around the world
The failures of the latest John Kerry-led negotiations and Israel's continued annexation of the West Bank undoubtedly make Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew think that, indeed, time is running out for the living Christianity in the Holy Land.
May, 2014
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16 May
Islam And the West: Drifting Away?
Are Western and Islamic societies getting closer or drifting away from each other? In an age of globalization, one would expect the loosening of rigid cultural borders and civilizational boundaries. Yet the fact is that the perceptual gap created by political and ideological differences between Islamic and Western societies is getting deeper and making it more difficult to carry out …
March, 2014
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17 March
14 American Faith Leaders to Watch in 2014
Last year was an exciting time for faith-based movements for social justice, with religious leaders and organizations making headlines for spearheading robust local and national campaigns around issues such as gun violence, economic inequality, and immigration, among many others. The efforts of faith-based advocates were formidable, calling thousands of people across the country to action and attracting the attention of President Barack Obama. From fasts …
February, 2014
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22 February
The Forgotten Inheritance of Maulana Azad
It was on this day (Feb 22) in 1958 that Maulana Abul Kalam Azad passed away. It was not merely the death of an extraordinary human being but also the death of an idea that sparkled for a few decades — the idea of an undivided India where Muslims could live happily with the Hindu majority. Muslims made India their …
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15 February
Totalizing History, Silencing Dissent in India
The agreement by Penguin Books India, a unit of Penguin Random House, to withdraw as well as destroy all existing copies of its 2009 book titled The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger, a professor of religion at the University of Chicago, within six months, is both disturbing as well as foreboding. The lawsuit filed against Penguin India by Dina …
January, 2014
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18 January
Becoming Mohammad Yousuf
Believe it or not, societal prejudice against Dalits was a significant factor behind the decision of former Pakistani cricket star Yousuf Youhana to convert from Christianity to Islam and adopt the name of Mohammad Yousuf, so writes former diplomat Shaharyar M Khan in his book, Cricket Cauldron: The turbulent politics of sport in Pakistan. Khan was the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, between …
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18 January
Kosovo’s Secularism Challenged
The Islamic Movement Unite (LISBA) party’s public challenge to Kosovo’s separation of religion and state and the country’s EU agenda will not succeed, an official said. Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj said religious groups are trying to bring Islam into the public discourse and dictate a lifestyle to citizens. “Kosovo and its citizens are Europeans by history, geography and …
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7 January
Islamic Finance on the Verge of a Tipping Point
Will the year 2014 be a tipping point for Islamic finance? It’s a question on the minds of many inside the rapidly growing industry, as a confluence of factors came together in 2013 that could portend a structural shift in how the world views Islamic banking products and the Islamic consumer. In order for the tipping point to be …
December, 2013
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6 December
Interfaith Monologues
Abrahamic religions have a patrimony of persecution. Over millennia, Judaism has been persecuted by history, Christianity by the Romans, and Islam by Samuel Huntington. Victimisation has been not simply the cost of difference. It has been the price exacted for faith. The 20th century has seen a change that would have been unthinkable 100 years ago. Religionists have moved …
October, 2013
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19 October
Word ‘Allah’ Has No Copyright
Earlier this week, a Malaysian court gave a bizarre decision: A Catholic newspaper in that country, named the Herald, would not be allowed to use the word “Allah” to refer to God. The court’s logic was that when Christians pray to “Allah,” Muslims get “confused.” Chief judge Mohamed Apandi Ali made an even more revealing statement, noting, “The propagation of …
