KARBALA: THE VOICE OF ISLAMIC CONSCIENCE

In his famous speech, On the Plight of the Oppressed People, Dr. Ali Shariati argues that Islam came as a challenge to the oppressive status quo of the time. But, after the death of the Prophet Mohammad (s), Islam suffered distortion and corruption like the messages of the previous Prophets. Islam was used to enslave [...]

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Umrao Jan Ada’s Pakistan

If you know Urdu and are in touch with Pakistani culture and media, you must know how popular the serialized TV plays are in Pakistan. You might have heard about a recent serialized television play called Umrao Jan Ada, which was aired on Geo TV in 2003. The serial was based on Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s [...]

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Come to My Abode, My Friend

From Baba Bulleh Shah, I copy below a kaafi with treasures of wisdom for the wanderers. The poem not only has Bulleh Shah’s characteristic dissenting voice and yearning for the Truth, but it also exhorts the reader that Truth cannot be found without cleaning one’s nafs from the vices of this world. Only a clean [...]

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We All Need Heroes

I recently came across with Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff’s “A Young People’s History of the United States.” This is a condensed and simplified version of Zinn’s classic work with almost the same title and does not miss the insights and dissenting spirit of the original work. This condensed version is aimed at reaching the [...]

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Justice and Resistance: A Tribute to Imam Ali

On this day, the 21st of Ramadhan, the day of Imam Ali’s martyrdom, I would like to pay him a tribute through Dr. Ali Shariati’s words.

In his speech, On the Plight of the Oppressed People, Shariati talks to the graves of those slaves who did not have any control over their lives and who were [...]

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