Bringing Religious Intolerance Down to Earth: The Case of the Sunni-Shia Schism

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Religious differences are as old as religion. There is no religion whose history is not rife with bitter disputes between its denominations. Islam is no exception, with the dispute between its biggest branches, Sunnism and Shiism, being almost as old as Islam itself.

In its most extreme form, this dispute, like many other religious conflicts of concepts and beliefs, is presented by both sides as a conflict between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, good and evil, authenticity and distortion. Each party claims its version of Islam to be the real one and positions the other as a distortion and aberration. Fundamentalists on both sides often see the others as misled and misleading. At various places and times in history, this dispute turned bloody. Even today, deadly persecution of Sunni and Shia minorities in places like Iraq and Pakistan remains common.

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The Speed of Light and a Paradigm Shift in Physics

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Einstein’s 1905 special theory of relativity presumes that the speed of light in vacuum, which is denoted by the letter “c,” is constant at around 300,000 km/sec. The speed of light through transparent material, however, is lower than c. Einstein’s theory also claims that c is the highest speed in the universe. No form of energy or matter can travel faster than c. The constancy of the speed of light in vacuum and being the speed limit in the universe are the cornerstones of the special theory of relativity. This theory is itself one of the fundamentals of modern Physics. If c was not constant or if it can be exceeded by any matter or energy, then a new physics would be needed.

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George Galloway’s Victory and the Out-of-touch Political Establishment

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George Galloway is back in town, having won the Bradford West byelection by a majority of over 10,000. And that is not good news for many if not most politicians. Galloway’s victory is outstanding by any measure. A powerful performance by him would have surprised observers, but an outright win, let alone by this margin, was well off the cards. He achieved a 36.59% swing of votes from Labor to Respect, the party he formed in 2004 after being expelled from Labor for his severe criticism of its stance on the Iraq war.

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Today’s British Media in the Hands of Yesterday’s Political Establishment

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A London journalist wrote that “the British press is extremely centralized, and most of it is owned by wealthy men who have every motive to be dishonest on certain important topics.” This significant statement is merely observing a fact, although until recently some would have still disputed it for whatever ends they seek. But the unfathomable News International scandal that has engulfed the most senior politicians, policemen, and journalists in the UK has ensured that those with vested interests in questioning this fact have had to concede it.

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Just War in the Qur’an

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I recently gave a seminar on Islamic Ethics at Keele University as part of an undergraduate course on Religious Ethics organized for the University by the Keele Chapel. The seminar was a broad overview that covered various topics, including justice, responsibility, human rights, and others. During the discussion that followed the seminar, one of the chaplains, who organize and run the course for the University, made the excellent observation that there were clear similarities between my discussion of the ethics of war in Islam and the Christian concept of Just War that was discussed in a previous seminar of that course. He asked me to comment on his observation. This is a more detailed comment on this question.

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The Iranian Syndrome and the Israeli Disease

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William Hague now warns that Iran’s nuclear program could lead to a new cold war. And so a farce continues to replace a serious discussion of a real political crisis. It is a serious matter if a fanatical leader such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would have nuclear weapons. But this is no more dangerous than fanatical leaders in Israel possessing nuclear weapons. The only reason that Israel never threatened publicly to use its nuclear weapons is that it is getting what it wants without them. Making Iran the main cause of the current crisis, let alone making it the whole story while completely overlooking Israel, is what is farcical in how the West is addressing this serious matter.

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The Threat of the Religious to Religion and the Nonreligious to Freedom

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I welcome Baroness Warsi’s remarks that “militant secularisation” is threatening religious freedom in Britain and Europe. Fanaticism is often associated with religious individuals and groups, but atheists and anti-religion movements can be equally intolerant. Warsi is spot on when she says: “One of the most worrying aspects about this militant secularisation is that at its core and in its instincts it is deeply intolerant. It demonstrates similar traits to totalitarian regimes – denying people the right to a religious identity because they were frightened of the concept of multiple identities.”

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Western Hypocrisy: The Massacres in Syria and Those in Palestine

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The world has rightly been outraged by the crimes that the Syrian regime has been committing against its people. It is also right that the international community should try and help the people of Syria. The ineffective Arab League was never going to make a difference. So what they started was going to produce any result only if Western powers got involved, and that is why they had to go to the UN.

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The Difference Between “Fact” and “Assumption”

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On Tuesday 31st/January/2012, I gave a seminar to a group of postgraduate students at the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham. The topic of my talk was The Muslim Jesus of Islam and the Divine Jesus of Christianity: historical and theological perspectives. I discussed the similarities and differences between the images of Jesus in the Qur’an and the New Testament. I also addressed related concepts in the Old Testament and other Jewish scriptures, and which image of Jesus has more backing in history.

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