American foreign policy hacks coined the term ‘rogue state’ to refer to those regimes that refuse to bow to American aspirations for world supremacy. At different times, this appellation has been applied to Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Cuba, North Korea, and others.

Reading this book, one is reminded of a particular kind of intelligent non-Muslim friend: open-minded, curious, sympathetic, good company, better conversation, ever-ready to engage with and learn about a culture and a world-view so totally different to his own.

The Chechen capital Johar-Gala (‘Grozny’) is today a burnt-out hulk, where survivors are trying to rebuild their lives in the ruins. The Russians are trying to secure the city and build workable governing institutions, while pockets of mujahideen survive in hiding...

America loves Israel. This love is unconditional, perhaps even eternal, and is expressed in countless ways. Presidents come and go, politicians live and die, and people spend their lives, but the love outlasts them all.

Any Muslim considers Hajj to be a journey in repentance and submission, and hopes to return home cleansed of all sins, like a new-born baby. Hajj is an arduous undertaking beginning with the hijra (migration) of the Muslim from his or her place of abode to Makkah in preparation for the performance of various rites.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, an economic and defence arrangement among the six Gulf Arab monarchies, is twenty years old. Yet Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have only recently signed the first ever cross-border agreement in any utility sector by members of the GCC, which between them hold 43 percent of all oil-reserves and nearly 15 percent of world natural-gas reserves.

US secretary of state general Colin Powell’s tour of the Middle East in February has heralded a change in America’s policy on Iraq. In addition to “re-energizing” the sanctions regime, Washington will actively seek to overthrow Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Amid the thumping and shrieking of mortar-shells and the unnerving complicity of the international community, thousands of Albanian villagers continue to leave their villages around the northern Macedonian city of Tetovo, chased away by advancing Macedonian troops.

While the west and its Muslim admirers have been gripped by a frenzy of grief over the destruction of Buddha statues in Bamiyan (Afghanistan), Hindu fascists in India have busied themselves with burning copies of the Qur’an and killing Muslims.

Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, sprang a surprise on March 19, when she announced that she would not seek a second term when her current four-year period of office ends next September.

Ariel Sharon’s ascension to the zionist premiership late in February has had marked effects on the zionist strategy for countering the on-going Palestinian intifada against Israeli occupation. Other things, however, have remained very much the same.

A 24-year-old roving ambassador of the Taliban, making his rounds of the US, has made quite a stir among Muslims even if his pleas have fallen on deaf ears in the US government.

Battle lines are beginning to harden over the forthcoming “World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance” in Durban, South Africa, from August 31 to September 7.