Islamic Revival

(The following is a section reproduced from an article originally published in the academic journal Political Theology 11.6 (2010) 826-845) Research supported by the United States Department of Homeland Security conducted in 2007  found that an average of 71 percent of those interviewed across four Muslim countries (Egypt, Morocco, Indonesia and Pakistan) agreed with the goal of requiring “strict application of Shari’a law in every Islamic country”, with 39% agreeing strongly, while 65% agreed with the goal of unifying “all Islamic countries into a single state or Caliphate” in line with classical orthodox Islamic position that holds that there should be a single ruler for the Muslim community. The same research found that 74% wanted “to keep Western values out of Islamic countries”, and yet 75% held positive views of globalization while 67% believed that “a democratic political system” was a good thing [1] .  Other research in 2006 which covered 10 Muslim countries f

I’m wishing my brothers and sisters – a belated productive and Khair [Good]-filled New Year! 1441 Hijri. Yesterday was the beginning of the New Year, 1441! That’s right, 1441 years have passed since the Prophet Muhammed (SAAW) made his historic hijra (migration) from Makkah to Yathrib, setting up the first Islamic State and society, to be known simply as “The City” (Al-Madinah). Now while Muslims are not commanded to celebrate the new year of the lunar calendar used by the Prophet Muhammed (SAAW), a new calendar year – as any event that occurs upon Muslims, should be used to reflect on our relationship with our Creator, Allah (SWT), through our personal rituals, our personal development as His servants, and our relationship with the Ummah. Most Muslims today would greatly benefit from reflection upon the origins of the Hijri calendar. You see, the Christians celebrate their New Year based upon a Gregorian calendar they borrowed from the Romans but setting their dat

From The Thinking Muslim Podcast: https://anchor.fm/thethinkingmuslim/episodes/Understanding-Indias-Citizenship-Law-with-Dr-Asher-Siddiqui-Delhi-e9ubks   "This week I speak to Dr Asher Siddiqui , an engineer from Delhi who has been at the epicentre of the  protests at Delhi’s Jamia Millia University. During the past two weeks, India has been rocked by countrywide demonstrations spontaneously driven by largely young Muslim’s energised by their mutual dislike for a new citizenship law designed to relegate Muslim’s as second class citizens. The law, the Citizenship Amendment Act, enables the state to fast track the citizenship of migrants but significantly omits Muslim’s. The fear is this is another step in dismantling the rights of Muslims of India." Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslim https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Join the Thinking Muslim Course - visit thinkingmuslim.eventbrite.co.uk