Reading the Qur’an: which translation?
Many people would like to read the Qur’an, especially as a way to understand Islam and Muslims. Anyone who embarks on such an endeavor will come to a realization that there are hundreds of different translations to choose from. Which one ought one to read? Read the rest of this entry »
The war of ideas and civilizational superiority
(Disclaimer: Caution! This is a controversial and long post. Perhaps more controversial (at least I think so) than normal. Please proceed forward with caution. Comments are welcome; please keep them civil.)
Two people I admire very much (Dr. Victor Davis Hanson and Oriana Fallaci)—joined with many others I also admire—have made our engagement with Islamism clear: it is not only a war with bullets but also a war of wills and of civilizations (so to speak). If we focus only on the military aspect, we still might loose. We need to focus on all aspects of this war. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments policy
Just because I thought it would be useful:
1. Any and all comments (as long as they’re not spam or irrelevant comments to simply promote one’s blog or website) are welcome.
2. Those who comment for the first time on this blog have to have their comment approved. Once approved, all comments thereafter should go through automatically. For some people, for reasons I do not know, this does not work and every comment has to be approved. (This is the prevent spam: the approval of the first comment is not an approval so much as to let the spam filter know that the IP is kosher.)
3. I do not modify any comment whatsoever. They go through as submitted.
4. A comment’s author is responsible for his/her content.
5. I do not censor any comments.
6. No one has been banned, yet. I reserve that right at my discretion.
7. I reserve the right to respond or not respond to any comment(s). However, I’d rather you intelligent readers/commenters duke it out in the comments section. If one makes a comment and wants a response from me, please state so explicitly. Or e-mail me. Otherwise, I’ll leave the comment to the mercy of my readers/commenters.
8. I am responsible for what I have written, and no person or entity ought to be seen or considered as responsible, liable, or answerable. I do quote people, and the quoted people are likewise responsible for their comments, et cetera and so on.
9. Be civil.
10. I read every comment.
11. If you read and/or comment, I thank you very much indeed!
Pakistan’s deal with FATA: a blow against the War on Terrorism
The Pakistani province of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) consists primarily of Pashtuns. One part of the NWFP is special administratively: the Federally-Administered Tribal Area (FATA), which is in the southwest of the NWFP and borders Afghanistan. This is basically an autonomous area, where the tribal authorities basically rule without interference from the federal government of Pakistan or the provincial government of the NWFP. This area has become significant because they harbor fleeing members of the Taliban, fleeing Afghanistan and the Coalition’s assault on and attempt to eliminate the Taliban. Read the rest of this entry »
Some thoughts in jihad
Many people focus on the martial aspect of jihad. But maybe we are ignoring the other side of the coin, as it were, with regard to jihad. Is there is a non-martial aspect to jihad?
Some Muslims say that jihad is violent is non-violent. The former is the lesser jihad, the armed attempts by Muslims to exterminate injustice, establish the supremacy of Islam, and to protect Muslims from (supposedly) external attacks (that is, attacks in self-defense). The latter is the greater jihad, which refers to internal reformation, spiritual development, faithfulness to obligations imposed by Islam, and other internal aspects. But as Dr. David B. Cook of Rice University expertly explains in his book Understanding Jihad, this is a recent innovation and has no justification in the fundamental sources of Islam at least for the impression given that this has always been how Islam believed in and practiced jihad.
But this does not mean that there may not be non-violent means to help accomplish jihad’s goals (the supremacy of Islam and establishment of a worldwide Islamic state). Could organizations like CAIR, Muslim agitation for special treatment, insistence on respecting Islam, legislation permitting Islamic ways and laws – can these also be considered to forms of non-violent warfare? A psychological and fifth-column aspect?
Then, if we focus on jihad-by-violence only, are we missing half of the problem? This has certainly got me thinking. And I think—and I could be wrong—that this threat, this jihad without force that seeks to accomplish the very thing jihadis who blow themselves up seek to accomplish, is what Oriana Fallaci may have been warning us about.
