The concept of a ‘religious police’
ONE OF THESE PARADOXES was the emergence of a religious police and a Tunisian committee promoting virtue and preventing vice,…
The contest of tafkīr and takfīr
THE TAKFIRIST on the other hand lacks mental capacity, a cogent argument or any convincing evidence for his views, and…
The 15 Characteristics of Salafist Discourse
FROM ITS HISTORICAL origins in the 8th century CE Salafism had a broad connotation embracing all the schools that proceeded…
Enmity to philosophy and cultural backwardness
THIS IS FURTHER proof of the alliance between institutions of power and religion. The first institution covered itself with the…
Is Islam the reason for Muslim backwardness? (Part 2)
SO LET US duly make the comparison. At a time when the world speaks of the separation of powers, our…
Is Islam the reason for Muslim backwardness? (Part 1)
THE PURPOSE of any answer to the question is neither to rally to the aid of Islam, nor to disparage…
Abū Zayd on the intellectual premises of religious discourse
THE DIFFERENCE between them is one of degree, not of type. This is how Dr. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd[1] characterised…
Is the Qur’ān an encyclopædia of science? (Part 2)
THESE THEMSELVES were founded upon intuition, opinion and observation and themselves did not meet all the conditions of scientific observation. Moreover,…
Is the Qur’ān an encyclopædia of science? (Part 1)
THE ANSWER I am given is mostly this: “The Jews defeated us because they held to their faith, and we…
Arab Muslim societies and the lack of social stability
TWO DISTINCT PERIODS govern the present in Arab and Islamic societies and these, taken generally, are: the period of cultural…