“Sir, can I ask why Iran?” asked the travel agent whom I called to book the flight for Tehran.
“I have an interest in the culture, people and language”, I respond.
“Hmmm but people would normally go to Dubai for that… anyway”, he conveys his lack of cultural knowledge.
Just like a lot of people confuse us Pakistanis as Arabs, the Iranians have to face the same misery.

Clowns like Zakir Naik have made a joke of both Science and Religion. With such gibberish and taka-tak mix of religion and science, they are only adding to the preilious state of Muslims. The golden age of Muslims, of which these Islamists take pride in, was not a product of finding lame scientific excuses out of Quran but was a result of serious dedication to Islamic/Quranic message to seek knowledge, to unleash the universe and its hidden patterns. The likes of Al Razi, Ibn Sina and Al Farabi did not crammed page numbers and their contents, neither did they attempt to make scientific advancements by wasting their time trying to make up “scientific explanations” out of Quran. There should be no doubt that the modern world and all of us are indebted to the Muslim scientists who contributed to literally every field of Science – they took up the work done by Greeks and took it to a new level resulting in Muslim Golden Age. However, at the heart of this scientific advancements was unflinching dedication to critical thinking and a burning desire to know, to uncover the universe. The likes of Zakir Naik only make

I recently bumped into this amazing track uth jawana by an underground Pakistani band Soch. The version I heard is the live performance of vocalist Mian Adnan, doing the guitars himself, from the GEO tv’s current affairs program Choraha hosted by Hasan Nisaar.  In these tough times, it gives hope to have young talented people like Adnan critically analysing the society they live in and more importantly, having  the courage to voice their opinion for positive change.
They have a quite active Facebook page here, while the website appears to be …

Is Allama Iqbal relevant to us?
Given the current turmoil, which has made it abundantly clear that the people of Pakistan desire a truly representative democratic civilian order, the question above has become very relevant. Essentially — this begs four questions that ought to be answered to understand the relevance of Allama Iqbal to Pakistan today.
1. What were Iqbal’s views on democracy and how did they fit into the overall Iqbalian-Ijtehadi Islamic thought?
2. How and why did Iqbal become the national poet and philosopher of Pakistan?
3. What has been the nature …

By Fahd/Commoner
Many of Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s poems testify to his sincere interest in the teachings of socialism. He was drawn to socialism by the thought of unity and equality of mankind and the principle of the division of material goods according to the needs of the members of the society. On the other hand, Iqbal was unable to accept a materialistic view of the world and the scientific dialectical methods with which socialism was inevitably linked. In this he was influenced by his deep religious faith and undoubtedly also by …

By Umayr Hassan
Thus, loving one’s country may entail not only fighting against state institutions (e.g. the government and army) but also fascist-militant organizations that seek to take over our diverse society and impose its own quasi-Arab culture.
I can appreciate, why you don’t want this to be yet another discussion about Zaid Hamid. It is indeed difficult to reasonably discuss a commentator disinclined to cite his sources. (I will underline, though, the constant parading of the “Syed” part of his name: his supposed ancestry does not already make him a better …

A rebuttal to the rhetoric of Ghazwa-tul-Hind based on fake ahadees.

I found this article published around one a half year ago, this morning and found it to be an interesting read, specially the second half. Based on Dr. Ali Shariati‘s work, Asghar Ali tries to unfold the truth behind the Shia-Sunni clash in Iraq – a Shia majority country where members belonging to these two communities have been living peacefully for so long. The author, relying on the work of Shariati, calls this conflict to be a clash between power seeking Tashayyu’-e-Safavid and Tassunun-e-Ummavi and not to be clash …

If I am to answer what developed the most in the last quarter of twentieth century, I would say Islamic extremism. Agree or not but IslamoFascists have been in direct or indirect conflict with the west especially in this period. The radical Islamists believe that the conflict must take place on multiple fronts: militarily, economically, diplomatically and ideologically. The ideology factor becomes most critical to keep recruitment, funding and support in all forms, for this conflict, coming. This ideology is a fiercely fundamentalist form of orthodox Sunni Islam, but one …

Last Sunday I happened to visit Lahore fort with friends for yet another early morning trip.
Noticing the one-sided sectarian attacks on one of the walls, I got curious to see counter attacks and luckily found on the opposite wall.
The writing on the top reads “bay-shak shia kafir hay – sipah-e-muhammad” while the other one reads, “Ali ka mukir kaafir hay”
Feeling content that you don’t fall in any of these categories ? Don’t worry there will be a fatwa for you as well. Try your luck

Tomorrow will mark the third anniversary of disastrous earthquake that hit northern Pakistan, especially Kashmir and parts of India and Afghanistan. More than a hundred thousand people lost their lives. Since then, even with millions and millions of rupees coming into the country for reconstruction and development in those parts of Kashmir affected by the tragedy, the term “disaster region” still largely holds true. Yes, Muzaffarabad has been rebuilt, but unemployment is high, education facilities lack, heath care facilities need attention.
Likewise, there are still many families living in tents (temporary …

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When GEO TV flashed the breaking news of a terrorist attack at a hospital in D.I.Khan on 21st August 2008, I was having fun with friends. The mention of D.I.Khan made me pause, have my fingers crossed and set my eyes at the TV. In line with my fear, it was a targeted attack at the members of a particular sect. I have spent 4 years of my school life in this southern city of the NWFP and during this period I met some really nice people. I have friends …

Following is an email from Aitzaz Ahsan, leader of the Lawyer’s movement where he clarifies his position, his relation with the movement and his reasoning.

Aitzaz Ahsan : right or wrong ?

My dear Samad,
I opened your mail yesterday and was deeply pained by it and by its tenor.
Of late there is a veritable campaign being fostered on the net and many mails are targeting the leadership of the Lawyers Movement. There is no doubt that most of the criticism is pointed at me but the beauty of …

I follow the principle of ‘no work in Ramazan’ and I can recall I have been following this for years and years. I just can’t work when I am hungry. My colleagues would well understand this for they know my drawers at work serve as a tuck-shop when the cafeteria in office is out of stock For this reason and for my bad tamper and mood swings, I have not been blogging for a few days. Today, bored at work, I was looking at the photos …

Samad Khurram, Harvard student and an active SAC member refuses to receive award from US Ambassador in protest against killings of Pakistani people.