It is a shame that many of the Pakistani people I have been interacting have bought the government-fed idea that Ahmadiyah Muslims are not Muslims. Shame on them, they have not only lost political freedom, they have lost their minds as well. As a Muslim, I am disappointed that Pakistan has deprived the Muslim world of a Nobel Laureate,.... -- Mike Ghouse

Thus, in a country where on the eve of Independence, Jinnah had proclaimed “You are free to go to your temples … mosques … or any other places of worship”, Ahmadis were barred from calling their places of worship mosques; the Kalima of Islam was removed from such buildings’ façade; holding prayers and congregations similar to those held by Muslims inside a building that resembled a mosque and keeping copies of the Quran in such places, were proscribed. -- Murtaza Razvi  

Sufism has a deep influence on the Pashtun society and a large number of Sufi shrines dot the landscape of Pashtun dominated areas. Sahibzada Amir Muhammad, a Kabul-based Sufi preacher, claims that although suppressed by the Taliban, Sufism is re-emerging in Afghanistan. -- Zia Ur Rehman

Various Islamic scholars agree on the point that the meaning of the Ayats concerning close interaction and intimacy (Mawalat) should be considered in the true perspective and background of its revelation, taking it in a generalized way will not be appropriate, but it hampers its significance. “Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity”. (Surah Al-Mumtahanah V-8) -- Waris Mazhari, Translated by NewAgeIslam.com Edit Desk

“Don't grieve, your newborn daughter is a favourite of the Lord and will lead many Muslims to the right path. You should approach the Amir of Basra and present him a letter with a message that every night he is wont to offer 100 Darood to me and on Friday nights 400. But this Friday he did not offer Darood, so tell him that as a penalty he must give you 400 dinars.”-- Abu Tariq Hijazi

Who exactly is a terrorist? But even more importantly what is terrorism? Is it a method of asymmetrical warfare? Is it an ideology? Is it a ‘weapon of the weak’? As we shall see later, there is a considerable amount of debate surrounding the definition of terrorism. One could argue – it is virtually impossible to have a standard ‘one size fits all’ kind of a definition for this term. -- Aditya Sakorkar

غور کرنے کی بات یہ ہے کہ اسلام میں اہل کتاب کی عورتوں سے نکاح کی مسلمانوں کو اجازت دی گئی ہے۔ جس پر صحابۂ کرامؓ کے وقت سے لے کر آج تک عمل ہوتا چلا آرہا ہے۔ انسان فطری طور پر مجبور ہے کہ وہ اپنی بیویوں اور ماؤں سے قلبی دوستی اور دلی محبت کا تعلق قائم کرے۔ سوال یہ پیدا ہوتا ہے کہ کیا اس صورت میں اسلام ایک مسلمان کو روک دے گا کہ وہ اپنی غیر مسلم بیوی یا ماں سے محبت کرے؟اور یہ کہ ‘‘ صرف ظاہری خوش خلفی’’ (مدارات)سے کام چلائے ؟ کیا ایسی صورت میں خوشگوار ازدواجی زندگی کا تصور بھی کیا جاسکتا ہے؟ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ اسلام ایک فطری دین ہے۔ وہ فطرت انسانی کے خلاف نہیں جاسکتا ۔  وارث مظہری

और इल्मे दीन के मुताबिक जो हक़ को छिपाए उसे काफ़िर कहा जाता है। हर एक नबी अलैहिस्सलाम अल्लाह की तरफ से हक़ को लेकर आए, जो लोग इसे स्वीकार करते हैं वो मोमिन कहलाते हैं और जो नहीं करते हैं वो काफ़िर कहलाते हैं क्योंकि वो हक़ को कुबूल करने से  इन्कार करते हैं और उसे छुपाते हैं। लेकिन कुरान के अनुसार जो लोग अल्लाह के भेजे हुए पिछले नबियों पर ईमान रखते हैं वह भी मोमिन हैं क्योंकि ये सभी नबी भी अल्लाह के दिये हक़ को साथ लेकर लाए थे। -- असग़र अली इंजीनियर (अंग्रेजी से अनुवाद- समीउर रहमान, न्यु एज इस्लाम डाट काम)

On November 20, 1979, worldwide attention was focused on Tehran, where the Iranian hostage crisis was entering its third week. The same morning—the first of a new Muslim century—hundreds of gunmen stunned the world by seizing Islam’s holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Armed with rifles that they had smuggled inside coffins, these men came from more than a dozen countries, launching the first operation of global jihad in modern times. Led by a Saudi preacher named Juhayman al Uteybi, they believed that the Saudi royal family had become a craven servant of American infidels, and sought a return to the glory of uncompromising Islam. With nearly 100,000 worshippers trapped inside the holy compound, Mecca’s bloody siege lasted two weeks, inflaming Muslim rage against the United States and causing hundreds of deaths. ...

Yaroslav Trofimov talks in the following video about his book The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda, published by Doubleday. The author talks about the 1979 siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the consequences of the Saudi government's efforts to end it. Mr. Trofimov argues that this event eventually led to the creation of Al Qaeda and other jihadists groups.

Yaroslav Trofimov on Mecca's Forgotten Uprising from World Affairs Council: Nor Cal

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Complied by New Age Islam News Bureau

Photo: Muslim scholars seek triple Talaq ban, tab on polygamy

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The concern of my book Constructing Religiously Ideal ‘Believer’ and ‘Muslim Woman’ Concepts: Neo-Traditional Salafi and Progressive Muslim Methods of Interpretation (Manahij) is to explore how on the basis of different manahij, and the assumptions that inform them, the two contemporary Islamic communities of interpretation, NTS and progressive Muslims, conceptualise their respective versions of a religiously ideal ‘Believer’ and ‘Muslim Woman’ concepts. -- Adis Duderija for NewAgeIslam.com

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Complied by New Age Islam News Bureau

Photo: Worshippers at Ewan-e-Tauheed, which is the main worship site of Ahmadis

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Throughout history philosophers and prophets have asserted that positive thinking can cause a seismic shift in the energies surrounding us and whatever we strongly desire will actually happen. In fact, spiritual teachers also caution against unquestioned positivity and advise that it's not as simple as just intensely wishing for something. -- Milia Ali

Wars kill in more ways than one, and the longer they go on the more do the ways multiply. India needs to do more not only because with the former hegemonic powers turning into predators a vacuum is developing from Pakistan to the Maghreb. It has a duty to do more also because it can do more. -- Prem Shankar Jha

Pakistan’s media were accused of glorifying the killer of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer who had criticised controversial blasphemy laws. And when a cleric called on TV for a member of the minority Ahmedi sect to be killed, there was little outcry when someone did so the following day. Some subjects, it seems, are deemed too risky for comment by the media. -- Nosheen Abbas