Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

Trying to Understand Shah-i-Hamdan (RA) in the Liberal Democratic World. “Political Islam” and Muslim religious nationalism have been with us for quite some time achieving very little in political terms but continuing to be seen as an aspiration of majority of Muslims. Although these are essentially modern phenomena and ideologically complicit with otherwise tabo modernist ideological notions, influential medieval scholars are roped in to buttress the cases. How convincing are the arguments and how effective or relevant today needs to be seen. Mir Syed Ali Hamdani, also called Amir-i-Kabir, is one of the great but neglected Muslim political theologians who needs to be better known and carefully studied to help us develop contemporary Muslim political theology. A perusal of his writings, especially his Zakhiratul Malook and Letters that constitute key sources for exploring his political theology, today in the post-secular (and for many post-theological) world while taking note of...

Here systematic explication of postmodernism is not possible so a few points will be made though I risk certain oversimplification. It must be borne in mind that there are divergent interpretations of and approaches to understand postmodernism. Muslims are required to appreciate the spirit of the times and recognize the signs of the Lord in change, in history, in new unfolding events.  A   Mujaddid   or reviver of religion is born after every 100 years to help cope up with the new challenges. Today we try to appreciate the challenge from postmodern thought currents are posing and opportunities they are providing for exploitation on our part. First it is to be noted that ours is, willy-nilly, the postmodern age. Living in a globalised world, a multicultural world we might suffer cultural shock or pathologically reaction to the cultural or religious other. Salafi-Sufi polarisation or Shia Sunni skirmishes that have intensified recently for reasons we know can be better un...

We don’t and perhaps can’t afford to talk on many issues that are of capital importance. We are deceived and can’t talk about deception. But at least we should be conscious that we are getting deceived and play Mulla Nasrudin’s fools who know that we have to feign being fools, play our little games or roles as fools and move on. Let me illustrate. Our environment is at the brink of a major disaster. Floods can visit us any time. Class divisions are getting sharper. Corruption is incarnating in newer modes. Education is so thoroughly ideological that we don’t even suspect it being so. All kinds of ideological state apparatus including schools, policing institutions, social institutions like marriage functions are operating with everyone’s full consent including their “critics.” Let me analyse how ideology shapes educational discourse. Who doesn’t believe that school going age, nursery, pre and post nursery classes, KGs, are a must? And famous private schools should be preferably s...