Beena Sarwar Prominent Islamic scholar Shahab Ahmed, originally from Pakistan, was laid to rest on Saturday morning at the historic Mt. Auburn cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his adopted home. Born in Singapore on Dec 11, 1966, he passed away on Sept 17, 2015 in Boston. Dr. Ahmed’s former student Suheil Laher, currently a lecturer on… Read More Shahab Ahmed, prominent Islamic scholar (1966-2015)
pilgrimage journal the Great Beast From Simone Weil’s Gravity and Grace: The Great Beast [society, the collective] is the only object of idolatry, the only ersatz of God, the only imitation of something which is infinitely far from me and which is I myself. It is impossible for me to take myself as an end or, in consequence,… Read More the Great Beast
Siyavash Shahabi The struggle against religious superstition and the effort to sever the bond between religion and power have deep roots in Iran. Contrary to the widespread belief that secularism is purely a Western or modern phenomenon, Iranian history is rich with Enlightenment-driven efforts that have criticized religion not as a matter of faith, but… Read More Sadegh Hedayat on Religion, Power, and Manufactured Ignorance
NB: The last lines of this Communiqué read: The Latin Patriarchate remains steadfast in its commitment to the Christian community and the entire population of Gaza. They will not be forgotten, nor will they be abandoned. This the first time in nineteen months of genocidal mania unleashed by Israel that any religious institution has issued… Read More Communiqué issued by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in Gaza
First posted June 19, 2016 “Islamic civilization developed a construct of history that labeled the pre-Islamic period the Age of Ignorance and projected Islam as the sole source of all that was civilized – and used that construct so effectively in its rewriting of history that the peoples of Middle East lost all knowledge of… Read More S. B. Zaki: Arab women before and after Islam. Opening the door of pre-Islamic Arabian history
His platform reflects the Jewish call for justice and also offers a clear plan to address antisemitic violence. That’s what real protection looks like My co-authors (listed below) and I are among many New York City rabbis who voted for and proudly support Zohran Mamdani in the race for New York City mayor. Our religious… Read More We are NYC rabbis who support Zohran Mamdani – Here’s why
NB: America’s religious fanatics have converted the Old Testament into a title deed; Jesus into a bloodthirsty warrior; Christianity into an instrument of the arms industry; and compassion for humanity into obscurantist nationalism and narcissism. To assist them in this endeavour, the US Supreme Court is functioning as a Catholic theocracy. In a word, religion… Read More Prophecy, not politics, may also shape America’s clash with Iran
This article is based on excerpts from my contribution to the second KP Sasi Webinar on Religion and Spirituality in the Age of Fascism held on 18 May 2025 I have been engaged with this subject of religion, spirituality and fascism quite seriously since the 1984 violence in Delhi. And after that, I did a… Read More The further you look, the more you realize you don’t have a clue
Hindu College was set up in Calcutta in 1817 as a pioneering institution to impart Western learning to its students. In 1831, its most outstanding teacher, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, then only 22 years old, was compelled to resign. A look at the circumstances that forced his resignation attempts to reconstruct Derozio’s ideas and his… Read More The Derozio Affair – An Annal of Early Calcutta. By Rudrangshu Mukherjee
As the administration continues to exploit antisemitism to arrest protesters and curb academic freedoms, more American Jews are saying ‘not in my name’… “As a Jewish person, I’m really appalled at the idea that they are trying to make it sound as if opposing genocide is somehow antisemitic,” said Josh Dubnau, a professor who received… Read More Jewish organizers are increasingly confronting Trump
After the truth-shower 