Caliphs, Imams and Dynasties

Chronology of Khulfa e Rashidoon, the Ithna Ashari Imams, the Fatimid Imams, the Umayyad Caliphs of Damascus, the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad, the Ottoman Caliphs of Istanbul,

The 2011 Arab Revolution

What is Civilization?, Where there is no faith, there is no civilization. This is the Universal Law of Civilization,

Faith and the Dialogue of Civilization

What is Civilization?, Where there is no faith, there is no civilization. This is the Universal Law of Civilization,

Principles of Leadership in War and Peace

In this presentation, we would like to shed light on the meaning of Jihād, a term that has become universally known today. One can find countless interpretations of this term which differ from its true spirit and the meaning that God intended in the Holy Qur’ān and in the narrations of the Prophet (sas).,

Essence and Love in Urdu Poetry

Two great poets, one idolized by his people, the other imprisoned by the same people; two lovers, one whose love was tethered to the throne of God and the world of man,

Jamaluddin Afghani

The lives of towering personages and great minds are like prisms through which we can study the past so that we can make some sense of the present. In this article we will briefly look at one such personality,

The War of Algeria’s Independence

It was the century of colonialism. The nations of Europe fanned out across the globe in search of profits and in the process subjugated vast regions of the earth, pillaging the land, destroying old cultures, displacing local languages, transforming ancient customs,

Indonesia – Struggle for Independence

The Islamic world emerged from the First World War with its heartland occupied, its institutions destroyed and its political future in the European colonial juggernaut,

Afghanistan, Land of Sorrow

If there was an angel sitting on top the Hindu Kush mountains looking down on Afghanistan, he would shed a tear for each of the last three thousand years and each tear would be an ocean large enough to cause flooding in both the Kabul River and the Amu Darya,

Emergence of Pakistan

An important element in the emergence of Pakistan was the confluence of traditional and reformist Islam. Modernist elements were largely absent. The one person, who alone could have provided a modernist thrust, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, passed away soon after partition,

The Partition of India

The partition of British India was an extraordinary event. It brought forth giant personalities, monumental egos, brilliant strategists, saints, scoundrels, politicians, thinkers, tinkers, stinkers, sages and sycophants. Like an angry volcano it spewed forth human passions in their ugliest form consuming oceans of humanity,

The First World War and the Dissolution of the Caliphate

The Balkans was the powder keg that ignited the Great War. Surrounded by the Adriatic Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the strategic Balkan Peninsula funnels down and meets up with the landmass of Asia at the Sea of Marmara,

The Constitutional Revolution in Persia

The Constitutional Revolution in Persia was the first mass movement of the 20th century in the Islamic world. It brought to the surface all the political and social currents that have shaped Islamic history in the last century–nationalism, pan-Islamism, the role of the ulema, international economic penetration, colonialism, foreign intrigue and internal despotism,

Sultan Abdul Hamid II

Sultan Abdul Hamid II inherited an empire that was bankrupt. Beginning with the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Ottoman debt mounted steadily. The burden of keeping a large standing army and modernizing it in the face of perpetual foreign threats required continued borrowing, so that by 1878 the public debt stood at more than 13.5 billion kurush,

The Tanzeemat of the Ottoman Empire

Tanzeemat (Turkish, plural of tanzeem, organization, discipline) is a term used for the processes, institutions and administrative changes initiated between 1839 and 1878 by the grand viziers Mustafa Rashid Pasha, Mohammed Amin Ali Pasha and Mustafa Fuad Pasha and implemented during the reigns of Sultan Abdul Majid (1839-1861) and Sultan Abdul Aziz (1861-1876). With some modifications, the tanzeemat continued during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) and lasted until 1908,

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

Critical moments in history are like earthquakes. They manifest themselves as convulsions releasing the pent up stresses of generations. When the tremors are over, they leave behind a legacy, which becomes a prelude to the next major event,

The Sepoy Uprising of India

By the middle of the 19th century, European arms had subjugated a large portion of Asia and Africa. Pax Britannica ruled the oceans and the Indian Ocean had become a British lake,

Uthman Dan Fuduye

Uthman Dan Fuduye, statesman, reformer, scholar and religious teacher, emerged out of the great reform waves rolling across the Muslim world in the latter part of the 18th century,

Shah Waliullah of Delhi

A great civilization must have the resilience to renew itself from within. It is what distinguishes a civilization from a mere dynasty. Islamic civilization has demonstrated time and again its innate capacity for renewal after every disaster. The death of Prophet Mohammed was the first great trial of the Islamic community,

Egypt and the Suez Canal

Egypt is where the two giant continents of Asia and Africa meet. South of the Jordan valley the landscape of West Asia changes to the harsh desert of the Sinai. Dust storms rise up in the desert, blowing their way through the wasteland, making it difficult for man or beast to survive,