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Religion is believed to be divine. It is divine in more than one sense. Firstly it is divine in the sense that its teachings are motivated by purest of intentions;…

In seminars abroad, especially in US and Europe when I say in India secularism is equal respect for all religions and harmonious co-existence of all religions, many express pleasant surprise.…

Ghazal poetry in Arabic/Persian and Urdu in general and Sufi poetry in various genres is basically, a love poetry. Ghazal, which is an Arabic word, has several meaning one of…

A few days ago I was invited to speak in a Prophet Day’s function. There were other speakers as well. As usual the speakers before me indulged in rhetoric ‘Islam…

Jihad in Islam has acquired centrality in history of Islam. In Qur’an it is not jihad but values like justice, compassion and forgiveness are more prominent. While these values are…

Modernity was greatly celebrated during colonial days of 19th century throughout the world, especially in African and Asian countries colonized by European countries. It was hallmark of superiority of west…

Islam is generally associated with Jihad. But it is more due to its history than its theology. It is interesting to note that while jihad in Islam is more historical…

For democracy, all secularists agree, secularism is a must and unity in diversity in countries like India is possible only through secular polity. Religion, in secular democracy should be at…

The terror attacks in India as well as abroad has created an impression as if jihad is central to Qur’anic teaching. First of all, as we have asserted repeatedly, jihad…

I was invited last week to Indonesia for a series of lectures by Asia Calling International Radio to speak on Islam, Democracy and Nation state. These days Indonesian intellectuals are…