Articles

A Year-long Series on Education, Sponsored by The Aligarh Forum : - A Mirror on our Efforts, our Successes & our Shortcomings ; Stories...

By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net, There is a perception among some Muslims that except riot-free Bihar they did not get much in the last 25 years...

Reviewed by Yoginder Sikand The Tuhfat al-Mujahidin or ‘The Tribute to the Strugglers’ is one of the earliest extant historical treatises about the southern Indian state of Kerala. Its author, the sixteenth century's Shaikh Zainuddin Makhdum, hailed from the renowned Makhdum family from the town of Ponnani in Malabar, in northern Kerala. This family traced its descent to migrants from Yemen, who played a leading role in the spread of Islam in southern India.

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and for over fourteen hundred years a journey of a lifetime for millions of Muslims living in different corners of the world. These hajis returned to their homelands to tell a tale of physical and spiritual journey of extraordinary proportions. Hajj is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman who are able to undertake this journey. A large number of Muslim women from India made this pious trip but one of the first to write an account of her hajj journey was Nawab Sikandar Begum of Bhopal.

A study of the maternity care and births in Mumbai slums By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net, A large number of Muslims of India live in poverty and they are the majority of the poorest of the poor living in slums. This is according to a study conducted in 2006 in Mumbai. The details of the study were published earlier this month.

By Shafeeq Hudawi Kozhikode : The history of Islam in Kerala goes back more than a thousand years, with the first mosque in the...

Series on Mewat – Part 4 By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net, On my last day in Mewat, I fixed an appointment to meet a Meo woman whom I had heard much about—46 year-old Mohammadi Begum. When I did fieldwork in Mewat two decades ago, she was the only Meo female to have earned a Bachelor’s degree. Today, there are some three hundred others like her—which, considering that the Meo female population is estimated at around 600,000, still does not amount to much.

काशिफ़ उल हुदा, TwoCircles.net बीते कुछ दिनों से समाचार चैनलों की सुर्खियां आंकड़ों के मुकाबिले ज्यादा बातें कर रही हैं. हाल में ही भारत सरकार...

By Dr Omar Khalidi Dr. Anwar Moazzam, former professor of Islamic Studies at Osmania University in Hyderabad, Deccan, India and Ashhar Farhan, an info-technologist and entrepreneur has compiled a massive, epoch-making bibliography of works in social sciences in Urdu. Dr. Moazzam launched the project way back in 1976, under the auspices of Indian Council for Social Science Research and National Council for the Promotion of Urdu Language, both institutions funded by the union government of India in New Delhi.

By Sharjeel Imam Out of the first four caliphs of Islam, the third i.e Uthman was an Umayyad, a powerful Quraish tribe based in Mecca...

By Asghar Ali Engineer,

A friend of mine Daniel Mazgaonkar gave me a Hindi copy of Vinoba Bhave’s book on Islam to see whether the Qur’anic verses and hadith have been correctly quoted. I am reading it particularly those portions wherein Vinoba Bhaveji has quoted Qur’anic verses and ahadith. I have yet to go through the whole text but meanwhile certain portions which I read are worth writing about.

अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net आज़ादी के इतने सालों बाद शेख़ गुलाब को याद करना बेहद ख़ास है. मुझे यह समझ नहीं आ रहा है कि...

By Md. Mudassir Alam,

By Manzar Imam, Mufti Abdul Latif Qasmi, city qazi of Bhopal died of cardiac arrest on 4 April 2010. Mufti Sahab complained of chest pain around 4am following which he was rushed to Chirayu Hospital where he was declared brought dead. He was 63 and is survived by wife, three sons and six daughters. For some time he had been suffering from diabetes.

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net, TwoCircles.net series: Ayodhya 2009

By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net, Director of the New Delhi-based Centre for Peace and Spirituality, editor of the monthly Al-Risala journal and author of almost two hundred books, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is one of India’s best known Islamic scholars. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand, he talks about issues related to Islam and women. You have written extensively on the issue of Islam and women. Contrary to many traditional ulema, you argue the case for gender equality in Islam. How does your approach differ from that of most traditionalist scholars?

By Nayeem Showkat Khan, “Tod diya ray.” You may surely be used to this line if you have attended or visited Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Every hour, at least one chai (tea) glass is ‘broken to death’ at some dhaba located somewhere in the vicinity of varsity and dhabawalas keep on repeating the same line.

By M. Zajam, TwoCircles.net,

Series on Mewat – Part 3 By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net, Because the Tablighi Jamaat, today the world's largest Islamic movement, had its roots in Mewat, many Meos identify themselves with it--even if, for many, this may be only nominal. The founder of the Tablighi Jamaat, Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, is credited with having founded a number of maktabs and madrasas in Mewat in the 1920s. Today, there are several hundred such Islamic schools across the region.

"Even when Qamar Hayat retired in 2003 as a teacher from the Nagpur Municipal Urdu School, the Urdu class continues to be free of...

अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net नोखा (राजस्थान)- इस शहर का एक गुमनाम लड़का जब यह बोलता है कि ‘मुझ जैसे गरीब के पास खोने के लिए...

By M Reyaz, TwoCircles.net, New Delhi: Advocate Mehmood Pracha, who is defending German bakery bomb blast case convict Mirza Himayat Beg for his innocence, has been receiving threat calls from international telephone numbers. Although he was not a full time criminal lawyer Advocate Pracha attracted admiration in successfully securing bail for Syed Muhammad Ahmad Kazmi in the Israeli Embassy attack case and since then he has become one of the sort after lawyers not only individuals family members of youth arrested on dubious terror charges, but also by organisations like Jamiat e Ulema Hind. Many see him as heir to legacy of Advocate Shahid Azmi, who was martyred for defending the innocent youth arrested on terror charges. Besides Himayat Baig, Advocate Pracha has been trying to secure bail for another high profile terror accused Mansoor Peerbhoy and has been frontally attacking current Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria for his conduct as ATS Chief.

Anger against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants spills over to take rape accused person’s life By A Ghyasuddin, TwoCircles.net, A lot has been said by many but the fact remains that there was a serious breach of law and order by Nagaland government and the outcome was killing of an under trial rape accused in a most horrifying way for a modern world.

By M Naushad Ansari, Among 875 selected candidates, this year, 21 are Muslims. Last year, out of 791 selected candidates, 31 were Muslims. Hence, from around 4% in 2009 the Muslims’ selection in the Civil Services Examination, popularly known as IAS exams, has come down to around 2.5%. Only remarkable achievement this year is that the topper is a Muslim, Shah Faesal, coming from Kashmir.

By Asghar Ali Engineer

Sayeed Khan is the founder president of MY India (Muslim Youth of India). He is leading a campaign against extremism after getting disillusioned with Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Charu Bahri of TwoCircles.net spoke to him about SIMI, extremism, and future plans for MY India. Background

By Yoginder Sikand A fortnight ago, the walls of my locality in New Delhi were plastered over with posters depicting a bearded man bearing a ponderous turban, below which were etched slogans fiercely denouncing Pakistan. 'Pakistan Promotes Islamic Terrorism', 'Islamic Terrorists Rule Pakistan', 'Declare Pakistan a Terrorist State' and so on the posters proclaimed. They were issued by The Mehdi Foundation International (MFI), a little-known outfit with a rather bombastic name.

By Afzal Usmani, “Jo hai Taazgi meri zaat mein, wahi zikr-o-fikr chaman mein hai Ke wajood mera kaheen bhi ho, meri rooh mere watan mein hai “ (Hanif Akhgar Malihabadi)

By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net,

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net TCN Series: Visit to Malda and Murshidabad : Part 3 The cities of Malda and Murshidabad alternatively were the capital of the undivided Bengal (that included Bihar and Orissa also) for about 700 years – from the conquest of Bakhtiar Khilji in 1201 of Bengal till 1881 when Nawab Syed Mansur Ali Khan (known as Feradun Jah), son of Nawab Mubarak Ali Khan (known as Humayun Jah), retired as the last Nawab of the state.

By M Reyaz, Over the years, several private universities – Amity University to IIPM and Lovely Professional University – that have mushroomed in country often have the owners, varying from educationist, philanthropist to hard core businessmen or even realtors, appointing themselves as Chancellors while they hire professionals, often semi-professionals, as Vice Chancellors.

By Maulana Waris Mazhari (Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)

By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,

By Yoginder Sikand,

By Danish Khan, We all have heard of Ameen Sayani, the golden voice of radio, recognised and loved by lakhs of listeners. Sayani's voice has touched the lives of many which makes people nostalgic of the good old days of the radio. History buffs might know that his grandfather Rahimtulla Sayani was elected the president of Congress in 1896 and was a well known lawyer in Bombay.

By Syed Zubair Ahmad,

A study exposes crude insensitivity of the state towards implementing the law By Nikhat, So far as spousal violence in Gujarat is concerned, the figure is very disturbing; around 28% ever married women have experienced sexual or physical violence and 34% of such women have sustained serious injuries. The extent of reportability of cases of spousal violence is even more frustrating, only 30% (i.e. 1 in every 3) of such women has sought help to end the violence and 58% of such women have neither sought help nor told anyone about the spousal violence [1].

A Year-long Series on Education, Sponsored by The Aligarh Forum : - A Mirror on our Efforts, our Successes & our Shortcomings ; Stories...

By Khalid Anis Ansari, Mohammad Noor Hasan Azad, one of the founding members of the All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz, discusses the contemporary lower caste movement among Indian Muslims

By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,

By TwoCircles.net special correspondent Ahmedabad: Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Fatehsinh Chauhan, representing Rajgarh constituency in the state assembly, could not escape the long arms of law. He had ultimately to surrender to the police on Monday.

55 year-old Syed Abdullah Tariq runs an Islamic group based in Rampur, a town in western Uttar Pradesh, that focuses on dialogue with Hindus. An engineer by training, he was one of the chief disciples of the late Maulana Shams Naved Usmani, a noted Islamic scholar who had also a deep knowledge of the Hindu scriptures.

Educationist and founder of B S Abdur Rahman University passed away on January 7 at Chennai at the age of 88. A tribute: By Dr Jasim Mohammad, Death of Dr B S Abdur Rahman has not only shocked who knew his mission and lifelong works but also those who have benefited by his devotion and those who took inspirations from him. His untimely death has brought a vacuum in Indian educational scenario and it is almost impossible to be filled up in near future.

By Shafeeq Hudawi, TwoCircles.net, “What is your strength, Ali?” asked the discerning panel during the interview round of the UPSC exams in 2011. The answer...

By Rupa Abdi, TwoCircles.net Black was the colour of pathos, and I was submerged in it. Women dressed in black sarees and salwar kameez were beating their chests to the chant of ‘Ya Hussain’. The chorus rose to a fevered pitch followed by a sudden silence. In that momentary silence was crystallized generations of mourning. The place – a Shia Muslim neighbourhood in Lucknow; the time – the tenth of Moharrum. If grief has different shades, on can see it during Moharrum.

By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net

The mammoth 'Anti-Terrorism Convention' organised at Deoband late last month, which brought together ulema from all over the country, has received wide media coverage. While smaller conventions of this sort have been organized by other ulema bodies in recent years, this one, unlike others, caught the attention of the media particularly because it was organized by the Dar ul-Ulum Deoband, probably the largest traditional madrasa in the world, which large sections of the media have been unfairly berating as the 'hub' of 'terrorism'.

TCN Special Series on Women of Inspiration By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,

A Year-long Series on Education, Sponsored by The Aligarh Forum : - A Mirror on our Efforts, our Successes & our Shortcomings ; Stories...

By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net, The empowerment of a woman leads to empowerment of entire family. But unfortunately women have always been neglected lot in every field of life. They have been generally kept out of development in the country. A survey reveals Gujjar women in Jammu and Kashmir are among the most backward and discriminated women in the country.

Introduction

TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter बोधगया(सुजाता) - आज कोई व्यक्ति नहीं, कोई शख्सियत नहीं न कोई संस्थान जिसे हम मिसाल की तरह पेश करना चाहते हैं. ऐसे...

By Irfan Engineer,

By Danish Khan for TwoCircles.net Syud Hossain was born on June 23, 1888 in Calcutta (according to his passport application to the British Government) in an illustrious and aristocratic family. His father Syud Mohammed was a well-known scholar and the Registrar General of Bengal. His maternal grandfather was Nawab Abdul Latif Khan Bahadur who did pioneering work in the field of education in Bengal.

Resistance against the demolition of Ghousiya Masjid and colony in Delhi By Mohamed Tanveer Iqbal

By Syed Ali Mujtaba, The story of Chand Mohmmad and Fiza that had hit the headlines recently undoubtedly has lent a romantic color to the otherwise dull Indian political scene. This however has also opened up a debate on complex human relationship that transcends into the domain of conversion and polygamy. Whereas Muslim clerics have called the idea of converting to Islam to get married second time, "a deplorable act" the Hindutva brigade is maintaining a stoke silence in this case.

39-year old Maulana Tariq Rasheed Firangi Mahali is a ninth generation direct descendant of Mulla Nizamuddin Firangi Mahali, who framed what is known after him as the dars-e nizami, the basic syllabus that continues to be followed by the vast majority of Islamic madrasas in South Asia even today. He is one of the few remaining members of the renowned Firangi Mahali family of Lucknow who carry on with their family's centuries'-old tradition of Islamic scholarship.