Rounded Analysis On Contested Issues; Spotlighting Blind Spots; Politics, Religion, Travel, Books
Tribalism, corruption, and the absence of modern institutions have been blamed for Afghanistan's troubles, overlooking political modernization and the creation of features of a modern secular state by the 1970s before foreign interventions unmade them
Zainab refused to be silenced when she challenged tyrant Yazid in his court and would play a key role in memorializing her brother Hussain’s fight for upholding Islam's foundational ideals of egalitarianism and justice
Mukhayyam al Husayni Mosque, over 400 metres from Imam Hussain's shrine, stands at what is believed to be the site of the encampment of the Prohet's grandson and his family during the Battle of Karbala
The Prophet’s grandson, Imam Hussain, opposed the undermining of basic Islamic values of egalitarianism, justice, and equity, triggering the Battle of Karbala that ended with his massacre along with 72 of his companions and family members in the month of Muharram
Residents of a refugee camp in Karbala appeared confident that the strength they draw from Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussain, who laid down his life fighting an unjust ruler there in the seventh century, will see them through
Once considered unsophisticated, hookah, whose origins are disputed with some claiming it originated in India, has become integral to the Middle East’s café culture, and gained popularity in the West, too
Iraq’s religious leaders issued a statement in March 2020 repudiating and condemning the violence of ISIS while underscoring the terror group's crimes impacted members of all religions
The Iraqi clergy effectively tapped into the doctrine of martyrdom in the fight against ISIS by invoking the Battle of Karbala in which the Prophet's grandson Hussain and 72 of his companions and family members laid down their lives resisting an unjust ruler
Shah Rukh Khan, India's biggest film star, defines the potential of Indian soft power in unlikely places such as Iraq where hardly anyone even understands the language of his films
The Imam Hussain shrine in Iraq's Karbala was packed as usual around the forenoon when we waded through a large crowd of people, who jostled to kiss its walls as a customary mark of reverence
