A just war, that is one undertaken for just causes to repel or revert wrongful force, or to establish a right, cannot be impeached on any ground, religious, moral, or political. But the Moslems had tried every possible means of obtaining a pacific solution of the difficulty which had arisen between them and their enemies, the Quraish and the Jews, to avert war and its horrors. Mohammad had repeatedly informed the Quraish that if they desist they will be forgiven.  88. "But if they desist, then verily God is gracious, merciful."....

1. In publishing this work, my chief object is to remove the general and erroneous impression from the minds of European and Christian writers regarding Islam, that Mohammad waged wars of conquest, extirpation, as well as of proselytizing against the Quraish, other Arab tribes, the Jews, and Christians;[1] that he held the Koran in one hand and the scimitar in the other, and compelled people to believe in his mission. I have endeavoured in this book, I believe on sufficient grounds, to show that neither the wars of Mohammad were offensive, nor did he in any way use force or compulsion in the matter of belief....

Like most Muslims, I have become immune to such abuse. But I expected the interviewer, Sean Hannity, to challenge the good Reverend. Instead, he inquired: "Do you think it's the majority of Muslims?" Robertson replied by calling Islam "a monumental scam". This prompted Hannity to conclude: "It's inevitable then that the world is going to be in conflict with Islam for many decades to come." ....

She believes laughter and humour are important tools of subversion. "If there's one thing patriarchy can't stand, it is laughing women. It implies that she is a brave woman. Patriarchy too uses humour to put women down. We need to make sure we don't take ourselves too seriously," says Bhasin....

The Arab world today is widely criticised for its sexual intolerance. Women hide their charms under dark billows of fabric; girls have their genitals mutilated by elders determined to keep their desires in check; gay men are arrested and then raped by their jailers. Once upon a time things were different....

Collisions between science and religion have been part of the normal story for centuries. Also, there is a tendency among believers to argue for the faith’s superiority over science. In this larger discourse, Islam is not an exception though greater attention has been given to it in recent years....

They have experienced striking rates of brain injuries (usually from roadside bombs), rising cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), soaring suicide rates among both on-duty service personnel and veterans, increased use of drugs (legal and illegal), and a striking rise among women veterans in homelessness -- a phenomenon that itself, reports the Times, is often connected to being raped, to the Military Sexual Trauma (MST) that follows, and to the PTSD that can follow as well.....

The Sangh Parivar is all set to revive the Ayodhya issue and for the same reason for which it is seeking to make Narendra Modi its frontman in 2014. It is desperate because it has no vote getter. L.K. Advani’s ambitions have far outrun his abilities as a vote getter. He draws a yawn even in the Parivar. This book could not have made a more timely appearance. It uncovers a wider plot to recast the Indian polity, of which the takeover of the Babri Masjid on the night of December 22-23, 1949, was but a subplot. It is by far the most revealing book on that sordid episode. The authors, both Delhi-based journalists, did fieldwork for years....

The book holds terrorism and suicide bombings as totally un-Islamic acts. There can be two opinions on Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s political postures in Pakistan and his flamboyant behaviour. But his work on Islamic teachings on terrorism and suicide bombings deserves unqualified praise. His erudition is impressive....

I argued that religious-based parties and religious intellectuals could play a critically important role in the democratization of their countries provided they reconciled their political theologies with universal standards of human rights and the modern demands of democracy. This latter development is taking place – gradually, to be sure, but its manifestation is undeniable….

With some of the world’s most impoverished and embattled tribal groups becoming the targets of the 21st century’s most advanced “kill technology”, this has led to dangerous disruption of fragile societies from Waziristan to Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. The ‘fragments’ of these communities now threaten to shoot off in unpredictable directions and fuel escalating global violence. ....

There are books out there with engaging words and rhythms, vibrant illustrations, and stories that a child will want to read (or have read to them), night after night. There are books out there that present God as merciful and loving and not eager to fling punishments on wayward souls. There are books out there with strong female characters, and books that reflect the diversity of our heritage and community and the values of compassion and serving others....

“A human encounters the divine: to the rationalist, a matter not of fact but of wishful fiction. So if Muhammad had behaved the way one might expect after his first encounter on Mount Hira, it would only make sense to call the story just that: a fable concocted by piety and belief. But he did not.” Muhammad’s growth from childhood to adult is introduced as a child who is orphaned, yet not. His father dies before he is born, leaving his mother in the care of her father in law. This is a cultural responsibility, and she and Muhammad are seen as a burden.....

The welfare of the minority communities is the barometer of the health of a democracy. Going by that dictum, this book shows the poor health of Indian democracy, as reflected by, amongst other things, the marginalization of Muslim minorities. This edited volume contains eleven essays well written essays, which deal with study of the living spaces of Muslim community....

Of course this conversion has also happened for many non-Jewish as well as Jewish anti-racists who have been brainwashed by decades of neocon American and Zionist imperialist propaganda purveyed by the generally neocon- and Zionist-beholden Mainstream media in the Western Murdochracies, Lobbyocracies and Corporatocracies, this being reinforced by the ferocious defamation by endlessly lying Zionists who falsely label all critics of Apartheid Israel as “anti-Semites” and additionally falsely defame Jewish critics of this genocidally racist  Apartheid state as “self-hating Jews”.