And so, once more, society demands that you forget all that passed before the latest reboot of our narrative. Wipe clean your memory; reset your cache. Whatever you observed in the past is no longer of any consequence. Only the discourse of today need trouble you. Acquiesce to the demands of the moment, where history, however …
The triumphant traditionalists demand that we wipe our memory clean, and forget the rebellion they enjoined at the turn of the decade, when answers were apparently easy and divine right on their side. And now those same short-sighted scholars, who could not anticipate the anarchy that would unfold, tell us that they are the answer to …
Even if what you say is true, what is the benefit of saying it? At times like this it’s not your great erudite knowledge, intellectual prowess or seamless piety we need. It’s wisdom. Ever in short supply.
I’m not sure how I feel about the commoditisation of Ramadan by the charity sector. On the one hand, Ramadan is a month of mercy and giving, when charitable deeds are blessed and multiplied. On the other hand, each year my unease grows in the face of the apparent exploitation of religion and religious sentiment …
The past few days, a voice within petitions me, “If you won’t reform yourself now, when will you reform?”
Everyone comments that Istanbul is so beautiful. Well, the parts that tourists visit are. As for the other 98% of it. Well it’s just your average sprawling modern metropolis. And not at all my cup of tea.
Interestingly, despite their mockery of religion, these national secularists are in fact following a religion all of their own, with its own set of sacred symbols, mythology, taboos, holy institutions and high priests. Spend any amount of time with them and you will find them as rabid and zealous as any fundamentalist, defending their saints …
I used to be frustrated by a teacher’s understatement of his extensive studies with many a scholar over many years in many lands, and his refusal of honorific titles. But now I am amazed by the grand titles the new generation of teachers assign themselves on their carefully curated social media pages, with all their …
I think if I had inherited the Brexit mess and was faced with excruciating impossible negotiations lasting a decade, I too would probably call snap elections in the hope of losing.
Advances in technology and transportation allow us to be internationalists like never before. So it’s rather depressing that isolationist nationalism is on the rise everywhere.
The secularists and the religious are not that different really. They both have their sacred sensibilities, and lines you must not cross.
Freedom of speech is a precious thing. You notice it when you’re somewhere where you have to think twice before sharing what’s on your mind.
