Digression from Iqra

The much publicised notion that the Prophet Mohammed was an unlettered person had a far-reaching impact on the Muslim mind. It not only discouraged attitude of scientific enquiry among muslims, in some Sufi circles, it even led to eulogising ignorance. In later centuries of Islam, the very concept of knowledge witnessed radical transformation. The Ilm Sharei, knowledge of religious sciences, that emerged mostly during the Abbasid Baghdad, attained prominence and a cloak of holiness surrounded those who mastered this knowledge. Since then, the Muslim world was never able to attain a unified vision of knowledge. The Qur,anic definition of an scholar took a back seat as the new rahban of Islam placed themselves on the high pedestal of Ahl-e-dhikr, ever willing to provide an answer to any question under the sky. At the root of the crises lay the common misconception that the prophet whom we as Muslims were supposed to emulate had nothing to do with the tradition of reading and writing, the basic tool of rational enquiry. This misconception about a prophet of pen- &-paper-age was mainly responsible in keeping the Muslim world at bay from its own divinely ordained Iqra tradition.

Islamophobia after September 11

By S. Nadeem Kazmi

Islamophobia is a new and vile form of racism. You are hated because of the way you dress. You are hated because of the views you might hold. You are hated because of the religion you follow. You are hated not just for what you are but for what you, in the eyes of others, might become.