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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"Iraq in Fragments": A Critical Review

Speaking of self-fulfilling prophecies and media images (see the previous post), have you seen this recent documentary called “Iraq in Fragments” directed by James Longley? (here)
Apparently, it has won tons of awards in the Sundance Film Festival and was also nominated for the Oscars. It was screened all across North America between November 2006 and [...]

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Iraq in Fragments: A Self-fulfilling Prophecy?

The US Senate recently voted for a soft partition of Iraq. This was an unbinding resolution to divide Iraq on ethnic and religious lines into three federal governments. One wonders, who gave them to right to talk about dividing Iraq in the first place?! Who are they to decide the future of the Iraqi people? [...]

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The Askariya Mosque and the Muslim Ummah

The desecration of the Holy Askariya Mosque is a painful sight to all lovers and followers of the Prophet and his family. My condolence to all of you on this tragedy.
We are at a very sensitive juncture of history. Our collective actions as Muslims and as people of conscience are largely going to determine our [...]

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THE "SUNNI VS. SHIA" IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

I feel very concerned about a particular representation of the Sunni and Shia identities in the mainstream international media. The concern is not regarding the existence of Sunni-Shia differences per se. Rather, it is about a particular consumption of these differences in media reports. In this representation, the “differences” between the Sunni and Shia serve [...]

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