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SAIFUDHEEN KUNJU Khilafat and its role in history has been widely discussing today. According to some intelligentsia it’s a theocratic institution and Islamic thinkers say as Islamic political system. Nevertheless, in history, khilafat has big role and it had golden memories of justice, tolerance and fraternity etc. But today Khilafat is misunderstood by its inheritors as well as opponents. What was the influence of khilafat and the fundamental elements which were illustrated in the society? Several questions are rose as remarked above. Quran says that Khilafat is trusteeship man which must have to implement through obeying his sovereignty. The rulers as well as the ruled are to act in accordance with Islamic Shari’ah, they cannot behave as independent and sovereign legislators with freedom to make and enact any laws they wish to. All their actions must correspond to the will of Allah who alone is the sovereign and the law maker. It means the western philosophy of democracy (not...

Sheikh Y usuf - al Q aradawi Saturday, January 3, 2009 Prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yousef Al- Qaradawi has affirmed Friday that the Muslim Ummah from Morocco to Indonesia was duty-bound to defend the Gaza Strip, and to protect Muslim lands from the enemies. "Supporting the Palestinian people in Gaza is a religious duty on every Muslim individual according to his capabilities, and no one is exempted from that duty" asserted Qaradawi in a speech he delivered before massive rally in support to Gaza in the Qatari capital, Doha. He also hailed the Muslim peoples "who demonstrated in the streets and expressed sympathy and support for Gaza", saying that the Muslim Ummah is alive and ready to sacrifice every thing precious for helping their brethren. At the same time, he lashed at the Arab official regimes underlining that those regimes lost the courage to take decisive decisions in order to lift the oppression on Gaza. He also praised the exemplary heroism ...

Shah Abdul Hannan A new day in the name of Valentine Day is being observed in Bangladesh for the last few years. Some papers are encouraging its observance. This day was not observed before in Bangladesh and probably in most of the Muslim countries. A group of businessmen and hotel-owners also are encouraging it for business gain and profit. What is the history and basis of this Valentine day. I reproduce below in this regard from the writing of Dr. Khalid Baig . “Most Muslims who indulge in many alien cultural practices, these days, do not know what they are doing. They are just blind followers of their equally blind cultural leaders. Little do they realize that what they regard as innocent fun may in fact be rooted in paganism. That the symbols they embrace may be symbols of unbelief. That the ideas they borrow may be products of superstition. And that all these may be a negation of what Islam stands for. Consider Valentine’s Day, a day that after dying out a well deserved ...

Shah Abdul Hannan Democracy is a commonly known word all over the world. Most of the political movements in the world have made it their goal to establish this system in their respective countries. Democracy is the most popular and accepted political system in the modern world. Yet, there exists some difference of opinion among the Islamic groups on democracy. Democracy and human rights have occupied very important position in the political agenda of many of the Islamic parties. However, some of the parties and people do not accept it, since democracy speaks of sovereignty of the people. In this context, we need careful and deep analysis on this issue. We need to understand the issue avoiding the minor technicalities. As we see, Islamic parties and Islamic scholars of the modern world think of a political system wherein government will run the country through Parliament. They also want freedom of expression, voting right of the people, rule of law, independent & free judiciary, fre...

Syed Qutb The day Islam gave a new concept of values and standards to mankind and showed the way to learn these values and standards, it also provided it with a new concept of human relationships. Islam came to return man to his Sustainer and to make His guidance the only source from which values and standards are to be obtained, as He is the Provider and Originator. All relationships ought to be based through Him, as we came into being through His will and shall return to Him. Islam came to establish only one relationship which binds men together in the sight of God, and if this relationship is firmly established, then all other relationships based on blood or other considerations become eliminated. "You will not find the people who believe in God and the Hereafter taking as allies the enemies of God and His Prophet, whether they be their fathers or sons or brothers or fellow tribesmen." (Al- Qur'an 58:22) In the world there is only one party of God; all others are pa...

Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi I believe that it is possible to have unity with diversity. In the world in which we are living today, and it is rightly called “the global village”, we cannot imagine having unity without diversity. It is not only that people in different parts of the world are diverse, but now we have a lot of diversity in our own cities, towns, indeed in our neighborhoods. People who live next door to us are often very diverse in colors, cultures and religions. I am pleased that in USA there are many people who are thinking and exploring ways and means to develop a society where people of diverse faiths and cultures can live together in peace and harmony. American democracy is built on the principles of unity in diversity (E pluribus Unum ). To a great extent we can say that in modern times United States presents a fairly good example of such unity in diversity or what is called today as pluralism. As a Muslim I must say that we appreciate these efforts and we support them,...