Articles

If the trend of powerful political parties expiring after fifty years’ rule is anything to go by, then Malaysia’s ruling United Malays National Organisation(UMNO), in power since the country’s independence from Britain in 1957, had better be prepared.

What could have been the best chance for a lasting ceasefire in the southern Philippines was dashed last month after hostilities flared up again between government forces and a faction of the fighters belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), who have been fighting for a separate homeland for Bangsamoro Muslims.

Algeria is no stranger to violence: Islamic groups and the armed forces engage in deadly confrontations that extend over long periods and cause huge loss of life. It is not, therefore, surprising that the recent bombing attacks – attributed to al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) – have led to widespread fears that the country is about to be engulfed in another civil war similar to the one in the 1990s, in which more than 150,000 people lost their lives.

When Lui Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor general of the International Criminal Court (ICC), filed a charge of genocide against president Omar Hasan al-Bashir on July 14, he was widely perceived as putting at risk the peace agreement already reached – and largely implemented – between North and South Sudan, and the efforts now being made to bring peace to Darfur, the conflict-ridden remote western region and the stage of the alleged genocide.

The desire for freedom that glows in people’s hearts cannot be put out, though it occasionally flickers low. It is sustained by the justice of the cause and nurtured by sweat and blood; hurdles and difficulties only strengthen a people’s resolve.

The Turkish High Court’s decision on Wednesday 30 July to not ban the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) was hailed by some as a victory for democracy. The decision was the outcome of three days of deliberations over the case, which had first reached the court early in March.

In recent months, there has been a worrying rise in violent salafi sectarianism in the northern Lebanese port-city of Tripoli, a dangerous new development in the country’s delicate communal balance. KHALIL FADL discusses the background and potential of this trend among Lebanese Sunnis.

This year, the month of September coincides with the holy month of Ramadan. In the Seerah of the Prophet and throughout Muslim history, this has been a month of jihad and activism. Yet in the modernworld., it has become one of passivity and personal piety. FAHAD ANSARI explores this paradox.

Most Muslims know that shirk—associating partners with Allah—is the greatest sin one can commit. There are numerous ayaat in the Qur’an (2:165, 4:48, 6:22, 6:137, 6:151, 31:13 and many others) that attest to this. What is less well understood is that there are different forms of shirk. Idol-worship is only one form; Hindus and Buddhists apart, few people now indulge in idolatry, but shirk is widely practised, even among Muslims, without many being aware of it. We need to identify these forms at both the individual and societal levels.

During the first months of 2006, Shaikh Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, and Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of Israel, both set out clear goals for their people. After the withdrawal from Ghazzah the previous year, Olmert promised a solution to the problem of Hizbullah on Israel’s northern border, and Israeli and US military officials held a series of meetings in Washington and Tel Aviv to draw up plans for a war to destroy Hizbullah