Many of us in the left, particularly in Southasia, have chosen to understand the rise of violent Islamic fundamentalism as a response to poverty, unemployment, poor access to justice, lack
Official records, quoting the legend of conversion, say that Yousuf Shamsuddin-al Tabrezi, popularly known as Thabreyzgefanu, brought Islam to the Maldives in 1153. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, with his
India's Hindu right does not like what it sees taking place in Nepal. Angry that the country is headed towards becoming a secular, democratic republic, it can see
Nanded, in Maharashtra, is a town with a significant population of different faiths – Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist. Nanded could well have become a new metaphor for secularism as practised
Some 35 years ago, a youth seeking the roots of his own intellectual culture undertook a pilgrimage to Lumbini, or the ancient Rumindai mentioned in the Asokan edicts. He journeyed
Standing Alone in Mecca:
A pilgrimage into the heart of Islam
by Asra Q Nomani
Harper Collins, 2007
Asra Q Nomani's Standing Alone in Mecca is at once
It is early morning in Kushinagar District of Uttar Pradesh when we arrive at the small village of Puraina. Driving through lush green fields of wheat, maize and sugarcane, the
