Went for a Paan but got a Quran Vatsala Mishra It was 10.30 in the night and four of us have decided to have a paan after a heavy dinner. We thought about all the varieties, chocolate, rose, mango, vanilla, strawberry, blueberry but got fixed on Maghai paan which is the regular one and yes, cheap within the menu. As we approached the shop, our eyes, fell on the stall opposite side of the road saying free Quran . Now, as I wanted to read it and inculcate the analytical ideas into my research, I couldn’t stop myself. Not just me, everyone was dragged by their own conscience. I don’t say it was some energy coming out of holy Quran, it was actually the free book deal which dragged us. Approaching the stall, we asked for Quran. The person immediately agreed to give as many as we want and asked for 15 minutes to talk. As we are taking free books, we thought it’s fair enough to give 15 minutes in exchange. But, this step had dragged me and mainly my friend into deep discussi...
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#Metoo … Will this change social behavior in a larger context? Saw someone close to you post #Metoo? Are you angry towards your society for its unethical behavior and the pain caused? Do you feel like changing the society by liking the status and commenting your support? Do you feel that you are a part of greater voice? #Metoo campaign has obviously given voice to many women and surprisingly to men also. But, will these voices make any change in the behavior of the society and eliminate the harassment experienced by women in particular? If these questions are asked to any person when the campaign is at its peak, answer would be “Hell Yes!”. But the same question asked after few months, result would be different. Online campaigns such as #Metoo drags youngsters, in particular, urban audience. While, it can be thought as the initial step towards the societal change, it is far away from holistic achievement of social change. Let’s have a little thought on this issue. Make an ass...
Rising Islamic extremism: India under protection of its diversity? “Islam is a religion of peace” … is the phrase often stressed by moderate Muslims across the world and ironically, Quran itself provides way for violence contradicting the appeasement. Dissidents, heretics of the same religion strongly opine the latter and say Islam is a violent religion. May be, Sammeul P. Huntington was correct in predicting that the future conflict would not be on the political ideologies but among the various civilisations divided by cultures mainly divided between Christian west and Islam. Looking back at the rise of ISIS, its rhetoric and the deadly attacks by the latter , it might prompt us to completely agree that that predicted future is not far away. Literary works such as Heretic written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somalian Muslim who is greatly influenced by western liberalism opines that the entire Islam is a problem and west should unite to find a way to confront it. She doesn't...
The Muslim Women bill, 2017 – A necessary bill to be passed A Draft to strengthen the legal protection of fundamental Rights and uphold the sanctity of the holy Quran In the wake of government considering the ordinance route to criminalize talaq - e - biddat (according to media sources), let’s have a look at the long awaited, yet to be passed bill where this article opines that it lies in the purview of the holy Quran and does not transgress it. M. J Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs on December 28, 2017 in Lok Sabha says - “…The age before the birth of Islam is known as period of Jahiliyyah in Islamic history. Everyone knows the word Jahiliyyah, it is ignorance. Abdullah Yusuf Ali gives an example of Jahiliyyah and says, there used to be some people who would use the name of the God and commit crime against women. And, it is strictly prohibited in Quran Shareef not to do such things. But, it seems that, even after 1400 years, some people a...