Iran's Theocracy: From Khumayni to Khamenei (Hujjat al-Islam Mohsen Kadivar)

Mohsen Kadivar is an Iranian Twelver Shi'i religious scholar who is very critical of the governing regime headed by al-Sayyid 'Ali Khamenei. Though he is a critic of many of Khumayni's ideas, Kadivar also provides a nuanced portrait of the revolutionary grand ayatullah.

Islam and the Taliban: An Essay by Javed Ahmad Ghamidi

Below is an essay by Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, an influential contemporary Pakistani religious scholar, on "Islam and the Taliban" in which he critiques these movements' religio-political ideology.
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Islam and the Taliban

Reflections Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (Tr. by:Asif Iftikhar)

Islam and the Taliban1

The Taliban says that democracy is a concept alien to Islam. The ideal way of setting up an Islamic government in our times is the one that it adopted for Mullāh ‘Umar’s government in Afghanistan. The constitution, the parliament, and elections are nothing but modern day shams. For its implementation, Islam does not depend on any of these mechanisms. Whatever interpretations have been accepted in the Ḥanafī law2 are final and authoritative. The opinions of its jurists have all been compiled in matters related to individual as well as collective affairs. These opinions and verdicts, in the Taliban’s view, are based on the Qur’ān, the sunnah (the Prophet’s teachings), ijmā‘ (consensus), and qiyās (analogy) and are contained in the manuals of fiqh (Islamic law) and in the fatāwā (verdicts) of “qualified” Muslim jurists. These laws and verdicts must be implemented. And this implementation does not require the approval of any parliament. The modus operandi recommended by the Taliban is that all institutions of the government be under the judiciary and the judiciary itself be in control of the ‘ulamā’ (religious scholars) as it is the ‘ulamā’ who are the experts in the understanding and interpretation of the sharī‘ah (Divine law). The Taliban believes that the last 1200 years of Muslim tradition stands in its support. In its opinion, after the appointment of Imam Abū Yūsuf as the qādī al-quḍāt (Chief Justice) of the Abbasid sultanate, the same modus operandi was adopted everywhere for the implementation of Islam. It was the Western colonialism that put an end to this tradition. Now, the Muslims are independent; therefore, this approach to running the affairs of the state in accordance with the sharī‘ah must also be restored.

The activism of the Taliban is for the purpose explained above. In this battle, suicide missions are its greatest weapon. The Taliban believes that this weapon is a special blessing of God to enable it to fight the armies equipped with modern technology. With this weapon, it believes that it can make any government in the world fall to its knees. The basic features of the strategy the Taliban has adopted thus far are:

Read the rest at MONTHLY RENAISSANCE.

Prof. Jonathan Brown: "Abiding Stereotypes about the Prophet Muhammad in the Medieval and Modern West"

Jonathan Brown - Abiding Stereotypes About the Prophet Muhammad in the Medieval and Modern West from Ali Vural Ak Center for Global I on Vimeo.

Lecture by Prof. Jonathan A. C. Brown, one of the brightest young Islamic studies scholars around today and someone I am fortunate to call a friend. He's speaking here about the images of the Prophet Muhammad in history and particularly in Europe and North America (and at my alma mater to boot!)

Two Lectures by Grand Ayatullah Bashir Najafi on Ramadan & Fatima al-Zahra

Grand Ayatullah Bashir Najafi, one of the four maraji' al-taqlid in the Iraqi Shi'i shrine city of al-Najaf al-Ashraf, discusses Ramadan, the Islamic lunar month of fasting, in an Urdu lecture.


Grand Ayatullah Najafi discusses Fatima al-Zahra, the wife of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shi'i Imam, in Arabic.

Nasir Khusraw: An Eleventh Century Fatimid Isma'ili Poet: "The Sovereign of Time"

Shish fasl, by Nasir-i Khusraw. Persian manuscript, 13th/19th century. This treatise presents Fatimid Ismaili doctrines in a succinct and compact manner suitable for teaching purposes.

Below is a poem by Nasir Khusraw (Nasir-i Khusraw), an eleventh century Isma'ili poet who is also one of the most famous poets who wrote in Persian. A convert to Isma'ili Shi'ism, Khusraw traveled from his native city of Balkh in modern day Afghanistan to the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo in 1047 C.E. He studied there for three years with the Fatimid scholar and da'i (missionary) al-Mu'ayyad fi'l Din al-Shirazi and then returned to Balkh where he worked to spread Isma'ili Shi'ism. Hostile local Sunnis burned down his house and Khusraw was forced to relocate to the mountainous region of Badakhshan for safety. He spent the rest of his life writing philosophical tracts and poetry until his death around 1072 C.E.

The translation below is taken from a translated collection of Isma'ili Shi'i poetry, Shimmering Light: An Anthology of Ismaili Poetry, published by I.B. Tauris and the Institute of Ismaili Studies. The translator is Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, a research associate at the Institute and a former university lecturer in Arabic and Persian at a Pakistani university. He earned his Ph.D. from the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University.
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The Sovereign of Time

The soul of the universe
is the sovereign of time,
for God has raised up
the body through the soul.

When the auspicious Jupiter
saw his face, it became
the source of munificence,
the mine of good fortune.

As long as the clouds
of Nowruz wash all quarters
of the garden with
showers of illustrous pearls

and the nightingale laments
the rose at the break of dawn,
like a grieving soul
separated from its lover:

may the authority of
the sovereign of time prevail over space and time
and the denizens of the world!