In this letter, Naeen Jeenah, a socio-political activist in South Africa, expresses pride over his son’s activism at the University of Johannesburg landing him in prison for fighting for student rights.
Allal al-Fassi, the Moroccan thinker and politician, calls for re-engagement with traditional Islamic scholarship to bring forth political thinking and theory befitting the new realities confronting the Ummah.
How the Prophet (saws) acquired and exercise power is an aspect of the Sirah that has not been properly studied by Muslims. There is need to look at both the soft and hard power dimensions of the Sirah. Muslims celebrate the birthday of the noble Messenger of Allah (pbuh) in the month of Rabi‘ al-Awwal. These often include na‘at and nasheed recitals. Lectures, if included, narrate the miracles he performed. There is, however, seldom any discussion of the power dimensions in the Sirah as part of his life-struggle. Zafar Bangash, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, discusses some of these issues.
The sacred month of Muharram follows the sacred month of Dhul Hijjah. Salina Khan argues that the true significance of Ashura and the martyrdom of Imam Hussain must be addressed honestly to create awareness among Muslims about issues of legitimacy, justice, dignity and freedom in Islam.
Every year the Rahbar, as leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivers his message to the hujjaj in Makkah. This year, his message has particular resonance because of the Islamic awakenings sweeping the Muslim East and attempts by Islam’s enemies to subvert these noble efforts by entangling them in petty squabbles. He describes Hajj as a process of self-reform and an opportunity to reform the Ummah.
Dr. Tarek Mehanna, an American-born Muslim citizen, was handed a 17-year-prison sentence by a Boston court on April 12 for no greater “crime” than exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.
Crescent International recently interviewed an Addis Ababa-based Muslim journalist and Islamic activist on the current situation in Ethiopia.
By making the Islamic movement its primary target over the past three years, the regime has actually bestowed greater credibility on the movement as the only legitimate opposition to its oppressive policies and therefore, worthy of public support.
General Mirza Aslam Beg — who is the former Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan and currently Chairman of the Islamabad-based NGO, Foundation for Research on International Environment, National Development and Security (FRIENDS) — expresses some of his views about the Islamic resistance and Pakistan.
Imam Sayyid ‘Ali Khamenei addressed the inaugural session of the First International Conference on Islamic Awakening, held in Tehran on 9-17 and 9-18-2011. Below is a translation of his remarks.
Every June, ceremonies are held to commemorate the passing away of Imam Khomeini in 1989. This year, these ceremonies gain added significance in view of the uprisings underway in the Muslim East. Zafar Bangash, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, compares the Imam’s leadership with the near-leaderless movements in the Muslim East.
In Part 1 of his analysis of the Islamic political and decision-making apparatus, Dr. Perwez Shafi, a director of ICIT stationed in Pakistan, offers some thoughts on the question of legitimacy and its relationship to political and social change brought about by a revolutionary Islamic movement.
"In Azerbaijan the government has never arrested leaders of secular political parties. However, the IPA leadership was imprisoned on numerous occasions without any legal basis."
In the month of Rabi‘ al-Awwal, Muslims worldwide celebrate the birthday of the noble Messenger of Allah (pbuh). Lectures are delivered highlighting aspects of his great personality and the miracles he performed. Would it not be more appropriate to express our love for him by reviewing his life-struggle and the pain he endured in order to achieve the supremacy of Islam by establishing the Islamic State? Zafar Bangash, Director of the Institute of Islamic Thought, discusses some of these issues.
As a symbol of Islamic unity and honour and the emblem of monotheism and spirituality, the sacred Ka‘bah, during the Hajj season, is host to the ardent and hopeful hearts, who come hurrying from all over the world to the birthplace of Islam in response to the call of the Glorified Lord.
Applying secular perspectives, derived from the Western notion of party politics, on measuring the power of the Islamic movement will never produce accurate results. Just like applying secular methods of pure party politics will never bring a desired result for an Islamic movement.
By the 1990s, the civil war had ended. Hizbullah was better able to focus its energies on expelling the Zionist Israelis from the South.
At first glance there appears nothing unusual about the ruling party's "landslide victory" in the March 1 parliamentary elections in Tajikistan. All authoritarian regimes, in Central Asia as elsewhere, use "elections" as an administrative tool to formalize their grip on power.
Muslim political thought needs to be realigned to the Sunnah and Sirah of the Prophet (s). In Part II of his essay, Zafar Bangash, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, looks at the consolidation of the Islamic power base in Madinah and the ideological, socio-political, and economic challenges it had to survive and ultimately overcome...
Muslim political thought seems to have drifted from the teachings of the Qur’an, and the Sunnah and Sirah of the noble Messenger of Allah (s). In Part I of this essay, Zafar Bangash, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Isla-mic Thought, places it back in the Sirah to enable the Islamic movement to transform wayward Muslim societies.
