In December 2008, about 60% of the eligible voters turned out to vote for the state elections in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Despite calls for boycott and threats of violence and intimidation by the separatists groups, the turnout was 17% more than the previous elections. 1354 candidates from 43 parties participated in [...]
History is complicated and also interrelated. A good example is Spain. It is a fairly large country by Western European standards and has a tremendous culture and history. What took me by surprise during my visit to Spain was the impact Islam has on Spanish culture, architecture and people. The Moors (collective term used to [...]
The Brahmin was his mouth, Of both his arms was the (Kshatriya) made. His thighs became the Vaishya, From his feet the Sudhra was produced. (Rig Veda X.90.1-3) Today Indians have some explaining to do when it comes to the caste system. Millions of Indians are considered as untouchables and denied basic rights simply because [...]
“You can build a Mosque at ground zero when we can build a Synagogue in Mecca” read the sign carried by one of the protesters. They protesters were trying to pressurize the city of New York and prevent the city from granting permission to build a 13 story Islamic community center a few blocks from [...]
Shangri-La is a mythical Himalayan utopia. If you are a fan of rock like I am then I am sure you have listened to the song “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin is one of the all time bands and Kashmir in my opinion is their best work. The song is a tribute to their [...]
The United States of America is not a popular nation among the Muslim community in the world. This unpopularity is a major problem for America. The future of America, particularly from an economic standpoint is closely tied to Asian economies. Most of these Asian economies including India, China, Indonesia and Malaysia have significant Muslim populations [...]
Lord Venkateswara Temple located in Tirumala (Chittor district in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh) has become one of the most visited places of worship in the world. It is estimated that over 50,000 people visit the temple every day. It is one of the most important temples in the Hindu pantheon. The presiding [...]
I consider myself to be fortunate enough to be brought up in a family environment where religion was not important. As a family we rarely talked about religion. Although a skeptic myself I am very fascinated by the history of religion, the mythologies that are part of it and the reasons why religion still plays [...]
Switzerland became the latest country to fall into the trap laid by Osama Bin Laden and the likes since September 11, 2009. More than 57% of the Swiss voters approved a referendum to ban the building of minarets. This decision by the voters was unexpected considering that the Swiss are well known for their openness [...]
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray indicated that “If you don’t want to salute the motherland, then whom do you salute? What is the shame in saluting Bharat mata? Those who don’t want to salute Bharat mata should go to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The Indian State of West Bengal has decided to introduce English as a medium of education in all the state run Madrasas. Muslims account for 28% of the population in West Bengal. This decision was announced by the state minister for Minority Affairs Abdus Sattar.
A Dutch company (AZS Media Group) has announced that it will launch search engine for Muslims. The search engine will be called ImHalal. According to news reports the search engine will have filters and will block sites that have “non-halal” list of words. The companies founder (Reza Sardeha) is also in talks with Imams to [...]
