Non Skeptical EssaysNon Skeptical EssaysIts a blog about religion, philosophy and sometimes religious anthropology or sociology of relgion. I do like to share my thoughts on traditional Islam's history and its current dialog with modernity. Articles
Dynamics of Change in Islamic Law (III): Grundnorm, a cosmological myth
2008-07-29 16:49:00 To effectively address the original Weberian objection i.e. normative pluralism is substantively irrational, it is mandatory to reformulate the problem in concise terms, starting point being that change in Islamic law takes place by means of some interpretive mechanism called Ijtihad. What exactly constitutes it: Is it the interpretation of the textual source ab initio; ... More About: Philosophy , Society , Change , Dynamics
On Suicide Bombings
2008-04-13 19:32:00 Is there a crucial difference between someone who kills in order to die and someone who dies in order to kill? - [Talal Asad] Alasdair MacIntyre - while making a ‘disquieting suggestion’ in the beginning of his chef-d’oeuvre ‘After Virtue‘ - hypothesized that what we chiefly possess as a vocabulary of morality can best be understood ... More About: Philosophy , Terrorism , Reviews , Books , Suicide
I am ?Confessions?
2008-03-25 16:25:00 Don’t have much time these days to blog but the amazing accuracy of this quiz forced me to share it here. Thank you Lawrence of Arabia for the hat tip. You’re Confessions ! by St. Augustine You’re a sinner, you’re a saint, you do not feel ashamed. Well, you might feel a little ashamed of your past, but ... More About: Reviews
Dynamics of Change in Islamic Law (II): Iftaa, Ijtihad and Social Customs
2008-01-09 18:26:00 The “content” of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium. [Marshall McLuhan] In 1913, Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi gave his famous juridical response to a British court in India. The seeker was a claimant who wanted to re-establish conjugal rights with his wife but his in-laws refused to let her join on the ... More About: Social , Islamic , Change , Dynamics , Sequels
Persiflage
2007-12-23 14:26:00 If Tradition is a phenomenal conversation that we perpetually undertake with our collective histories, going back to it will result in anachronism. More About: Reflections
My Interview at Pakistani Spectator
2007-12-23 13:37:00 The Pakistani Spectator is a team blog centered at happenings in and related to Pakistan. They have been running a series in which they are conducting interviews from Pakistani bloggers. You can read my interview here. More About: Blogging , Interview
Blog Readibility Test
2007-12-20 12:27:00 I can guess how they do it but I am not sure if it can be taken as a compliment at all. Considering the fact that my old blog (now defunct) can be understood with an education level of undergrad, I am quickly transforming myself into an incomprehensible abstractionist. My wife agrees. It does not happen ... More About: Blogging , Blog , Test
Dynamics of Change in Islamic Law (I): Normative Pluralism
2007-12-20 08:54:00 In my view, the most important crisis that Muslim society miserably failed to handle during Islam’s sojourn into modernity is diversity. By diversity, I mean religious heterogeneity in any form, may it be the pronouncement of legal injunctions, opinions regarding societal norms or something as personal as individual religious practices. Therefore, whether it is the abundance ... More About: Islamic , Change , Dynamics
Death of an Idea
2007-11-25 18:30:00 The post was originally published on Pak Tea House blog. A dead idea is an idea whose origins have been betrayed, one that has deviated from its archetype and thus no longer has any roots in its original cultural plasma. -Malik Bennabi It is amazing to discover the similarity with which history repeats itself in the ... More About: Philosophy , Ideas , Reflections , Pakistan , Idea
Pak Tea House Blog
2007-11-18 17:06:00 Here is a new group blog reviving the spirit of the traditional Pak Tea House . Please visit and do pour in your comments. More About: Blogging , Blog , Pure , Tea House
Islamic Law & Social Change
2007-10-28 18:24:00 Norman Calder, introducing Islamic law in one of his papers for Syed Hussein Nasr’s History of Islamic Philosophy, narrates a story of an anxious wealthy man trying to find a suitable wife for his son being fearful that he might divorce her and squander his wealth. He came to Abu Hanifah with his query. “I could ... More About: Social , Change , Sociology of Religion
Ramadan Reflections 2: Harnessing the desire to consume
2007-09-18 15:43:00 From the translation of Amin Ahsan Islahi’s Tazkiya-e-Nafs: […] people tend to make Ramadan a month of festivities and fun time. They think that they are not answerable for the extravagance made in this month. They relish everything they eat. The result is that instead of trying to discipline themselves they end up pampering themselves. Throughout ... More About: Reflections , Pakistan , Pure , Fasting
Ramadan Reflections 1: Empty Stomach
2007-09-15 14:33:00 An empty stomach is necessary to satiate the appetite of rest of the body. Contrastingly, a full stomach makes the limbs, eyes, tongue and heart hungry. Just praying this Ramadan to experience the strength of abstinence; from food, television, internet, aimless drift of tongue and all the books except one. ... More About: Reflections , Stomach , Fasting , Mach
Ghamidi?s interpretation post - some afterthoughts about hermeneutics
2007-09-02 11:08:00 Don’t have much time these days to write at length. Still mulling over some really thought-provoking comments on my Ghamidi’s interpretation post. Is it a plausible conclusion that this fairly recent originalist attempt of fixing the ‘original intent’ of the revealed word can be seen as another tragedy to reduce Quran to the level of computer ... More About: Philosophy , Post , Language , Interpretation
60th Year of Despondence
2007-08-14 10:53:00 Not much has changed since last year; similar discontentment in another damp summer. Only this time, I see my boys getting familiarised with the first slogans of patriotism holding their foremost symbols of independence. But while they wave their five rupee flags saying Pakistan Zindabad animatedly, they are still unable to see the despondency in ... More About: Pure , Year
Blog Rating
2007-07-05 10:20:00 They say that I talk a lot about death. (thanks LoA for the hat tip) More About: Blogging , Blog
Understanding Pakistan Project
2007-06-29 10:29:00 An Investigation into the Life and Times of a Nation Just came to know about this amazing project. Here is the objective statement: The “Understanding Pakistan ” Project is designed to help us look behind to see ahead. It is a collaborative effort to enable us to learn from each other and discover our fascinating past. Each week, ... More About: Blogging , Blogs , Websites
Ghamidi?s interpretation of Islam: Is it a fad that will fizzle out with ti
2007-06-26 19:37:00 I have stopped believing strongly since long that Javed Ahmed Ghamidi’s exposition of Islam , more or less like Mutizilite Islam in medieval times and Progressive Islam in modernity, is a fad that will fizzle out automatically with time; however, I still doubt that sometimes. It is primarily a better understanding of traditional Islam, cornerstone of ... More About: Philosophy , Tradition , Quran , Hadith
Basit Bilal Koshul: Lenin in the Presence of God
2007-05-25 04:45:00 In a three day event organised at LUMS by the university’s literary and religious societies, Basit Bilal Koshul eloquently interprets Iqbal’s poem, Lenin in the Presence of God (Lenin Khuda key huzoor mein). The poem is not only unique in its setting but also rich in its content. It sets an imaginary monologue in which Lenin ... More About: Philosophy , Poetry , Scholars
Prophetic Experience of Revelation: Iqbal, Fazlur Rahman and Malik Bennabi
2007-05-13 12:15:00 Can we become aware of God as we are aware of other objects? As I contemplate more about the answer of this question, it occurs to me that the question is perhaps more important than the answer. Over the years, I have learnt to ask this question in innumerable ways and each time when it happens, ... More About: Philosophy , Tradition , Quran , Prophet , Hadith
Cause, Creator and Epistemic Conjecture - IV
2007-05-01 06:19:00 Anyone having a cursory familiarization with scientific manner of enquiry can appreciate that it cannot function without employing the principle of induction. It is also appreciable with ease that scientific conclusions are at best ‘probable’ and cannot claim the degree of certainty which is usually insinuated during a scientific discourse. Keeping these observations and the ... More About: Philosophy , Creator , Sequels
Cause, Creator and Epistemic Conjecture - III
2007-04-24 04:31:00 David Hume, as Bertrand Russell suggests in the History of Western Philosophy , represents a kind of ‘dead end’ in a certain avenue of philosophical skepticism. Russell argues that it is impossible to go further in Hume’s direction and one can only hope for a relatively less skeptical construct. Hume’s proposition adds considerably to the complexity of ... More About: Creator , Sequels
21 April 1938: Iqbal?s Last Quatrain
2007-04-22 01:30:00 I found this in my late grandfather’s journal. I couldn’t confirm it from any of Iqbal ’s biography that I have but it is reasonable to believe that this clipping is from an issue of the well reputed Civil and Military Gazette (Rudyard Kipling’s first ‘mistress’), just days after the demise of Iqbal. It reads as ... More About: April , Quat
Discussion on Jamia Hafsa
2007-04-20 17:04:00 A religious discussion on Jamia Hafsa issue featuring Javed Ahmed Ghamidi and others will be aired on Geo TV tonight. I’ll review main points of discussion after watching it. Insha’Allah. I hope it is being broadcasted on Geo US and UK too. Update 21/4/07: That was an enlightening discussion; instructive for those who are not ... More About: Disputes , Discussion , Pure |
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