Two million expected as Hajj pilgrimage starts in Saudi Arabia

Muslim pilgrims in Mecca have circled the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, and then converged on a vast tent camp in the nearby desert, officially opening the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The event is returning to its full capacity for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. So far, more than 1.8 million pilgrims from all over […]

Police arrest leader of radical Islamist party in Lahore

Police in Pakistan have arrested the leader of a radical Islamist political party a day after he threatened the government with protests if it did not expel France’s ambassador over depictions of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed. Saad Rizvi was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore to “maintain law and order”, said Ghulam Mohammad Dogar, chief […]

Teacher suspended after students shown ‘offensive’ image of Prophet Mohammed

A West Yorkshire teacher has been suspended after reportedly showing an “offensive” caricature of the Prophet Mohammed during a religious studies lesson, sparking a protest outside the school. Protesters had gathered outside Batley Grammar School, near Bradford, on Thursday, following claims a member of staff had shown students a cartoon deemed offensive to the Islamic […]

Two Christians sought by police in Pakistan on ‘blasphemy’ charges

Pakistan’s police said they were seeking arrest of two Christian men in the eastern city of Lahore on charges they allegedly used insulting remarks against Islam’s holy book and its Prophet Mohammed. The case against the two men was registered last Saturday on the complaint of a Muslim local resident Haroon Ahmed, said Muratab Ali, […]

Network of Khatme Nabuwat Supporters Involved in Anti-Macron Protests

On the 30th of October, a rally of about a hundred protestors rounded on the French Embassy in Central London and conducted a ‘sit-in’ around the bounds of the Embassy. The demonstrators, it seems, had traveled to London to shower the Embassy with chants and raised fists in the air. It was a show of […]

Students helped killer find teacher who was beheaded, says French prosecutor

The 18-year-old suspected killer of a French teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class paid students to help him identify the victim, France’s terrorism prosecutor has said. Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old are among seven people who appeared before an investigating magistrate on accusations of complicity in murder […]

Chechnya strongman condemns murder of teacher in France

Chechnya’s strongman regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has used massive federal subsidies to rebuild the province and squelched any resistance with his feared security forces, has condemned the killing of a teacher in France. An 18-year-old from Chechnya claimed responsibility for the attack in a Paris suburb before being shot by the police. Mr Kadyrov […]

Putting the Muslim Bogeyman to bed: The “Ummah” must open its eyes

The shahadah – the testimony of faith in Islam – states that Allah is (the only) God and that Muhammad is His Messenger. This is one of the five foundational pillars of Islam, along with fasting the month of Ramadan, undertaking the holy pilgrimage (hajj), giving Zakat (obligatory charity) and offering salat (daily prayers). By […]

Islam and Sufism: the false dichotomy of mystics and jurists

It is too often erroneously claimed that Sunni Islam is divided into a legalistic conservative mainstream presided over by jurists, and a mystical, liberal marginalised minority comprised of mystics. However such a perception came to emerge, it is inaccurate. From the beginnings of Islam in the Qur’an and in the person of the Prophet Muhammad himself, through to his companions and the jurists who established the four Sunni schools of Islamic Law, the external application of the law and the internal cultivation of the spirit have always been intertwined. Consider the ritual prayer, performed by Muslims five times a day, as this most demonstrates the interdependence of the external and the internal. In the Qur’an it is said, “Perform the Prayer to remember Me.” In this it is made clear that the Prayer is not simply a series of movements and supplications performed in accordance with an established formula. Rather, its objective is the remembrance of God. The Prophet Muhammad elaborates that, “When performing the Prayer, one is conversing intimately with one’s Lord.” However, he makes clear that, “A man gets credit only for that part of his Prayer of which he is conscious,” and it is not sufficient to [...]

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