A respected scholar writes, “We are at a very critical juncture in the history of Islam. There is no precedent for the spectacle that is created around the atrocious crimes, killings and murders of takfirist movements.” But of course there is precedent, isn’t there? One only needs to pick up and read a history book to find that …

Ah, I see we are beating the drums of war again. What a way to commemorate those who died in terrorist attacks in London a decade ago. What a way to mourn the dead! Will these vicious cycles of violence never end? Have we learned nothing from our last misadventure in Libya? From the anarchy …

Another day and another tale of a family in disarray as sisters, wives, daughters, sons make the journey to their new utopia in the heart of Syria, apparently oblivious to the millions of refugees who have fled the country with their lives. Back home, meanwhile, the local community expresses shock and surprise. Imams insist: not our fault, these …

I think we can all see through the hollow cynicism of Al-Shabab, who kill Muslims without compunction in Somalia, but seem to go to immense trouble to separate Muslims from non-Muslims when they commit atrocities across the border in Kenya. Divide and conquer is an old game; hopefully we are wise enough today to see …

They travel thousands of miles to build new lives in somebody else’s land, oblivious to the desperate, shattered lives of millions of refugees scattered from their homes and livelihoods. What irony: when Israel did this, they jumped up and down at the eternal injustice and wickedness of the nascent state. But now they do the …

Of course we are selective and reductive in deciding where our sympathies lie. Between 3 million and 7.6 million people died as a result of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2008. Over the same period the conflict received minuscule coverage, and ongoing violence even today is largely ignored. The news …

Has history known any period as horrific as the twentieth-century? Even today’s strife seems to pale against the excesses of the last century. Are we more human now than the generation which conceived the Terror Bombing of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the use of napalm and the nuclear bomb? Or are we just ill-informed? …

It’s incredible that thousands of refugee children risk their lives to escape conflict in Syria every day, crossing dangerous seas and hostile states in search of safety… and yet relatively properous British children are prepared to go the other way, entering a brutal war zone as if it is but a playground. A sure sign …

http://youtu.be/6tptgYRKsmI

From the outside, these battles seem so straightforward. Revolutionaries countering imperialist forces. But scratch the surface and underneath we discover factions warring with factions, tribes killing tribes, families settling scores, all in the name of wealth and power. It is exactly as was foretold. A community defeated not by outsiders, but by its lust for …

A preemptive law. A pretext for war. We should fear what lies ahead.

Contemporary events puzzle most of us because we have learnt a whitewashed version of history. Many of us could enumerate the shortcomings of Winston Churchill with great ease, but would struggle to provide an account of the rule of Muawiyah or Yazid. Many of us harbour a very romantic view of Muslim history. Unfortunately ISIS …