In al-Quds, in the shadow of al-Aqsa, a kitchen has fed the...
History
“When Asad looked at the army gathered around him from every side,...
At the entrance to Soportújar, a village in the Alpujarra mountains south of Granada, lies a cave in which lived – so the legend tells – two sister witches. At...
How Abdülmecid II tried to rewrite Islamic history with a new caliphate...
Bosnia is one of the unique crossroads and political hotspots of the...
Listen on iTunes | Listen on Spotify Islam arrived in the Malay world through “good word” and quickly established itself though various kingdoms that would later become centres of learning. Zain al-Haddad...
Asha Ahmad crouches around a symbolic green tomb of Ali Hamdon, one...
Throughout history, from sultans and scholars to warriors and commoners, Muslim men...
Listen on iTunes | Listen on Spotify The Islamic sciences were once rooted in an underlying epistemic unity, that existed among all fields of the knowledge in the Islamic world. Zara talks...
Neither Napoleon nor Lenin and Marx are divinely inspired So do not...
There are times and spaces that are considered more sacred or blessed...
Al-Haram al-Ibrahimi, known as the Cave of Patriarchs in Jewish tradition, is a cluster of caves situated in the heart of the historical city of al-Khalil (Hebron). These caves are...
The story of Islam in any region – from Persia to Punjab,...
If we take a 400 metre walk from the bustling Sultan Ahmed...
Al-Haram al-Sharif is an ancient expanse situated at the centre of Bait al-Maqdis, the sacred precinct in Jerusalem. Within this enclosure, one can find two prominent structures: Qubbat al-Sakhra (the...
Constructed around the middle of the twelfth century as a church by...
When a moral or logical argument cannot be refuted, a common tactic...
The Kenyan archipelago of Lamu, nestled on the Swahili coast, is decorated with winding lanes, humble homes and the beautiful Indian Ocean; it’s a picturesque place with coconut trees reaching...
Ibn Battuta (d.1369) the renowned Moroccan qadhi, or judge of Islamic law,...
On the hills in and around Cape Town you will find dozens...
The ‘Dalā’il al-Khayrāt’ of East Africa and it’s Republication Journey إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِيِّۚ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيۡهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسۡلِيمًا Indeed, Allāh and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O you who believe, invoke Allāh’s blessings upon him, and salute him with greetings of peace....
On the hills in and around Cape Town, you will find 300 year old Muslim graves belonging to notable individuals who arrived on the southern tip of the African continent in chains, as slaves or political prisoners of colonisers. They brought nothing with them, except faith in their hearts and the remembrance of God on their tongues.
Nsenga Knight on the African Muslim manuscripts and writings that contradict the...
In the heart of Nairobi’s bustling city centre, lies a somewhat peculiar landmark. With the arrival of Sayyid Abdullah Shah and the establishment of the Nairobi Muslim community, already discussed...
As it gradually begins to dawn on consumers that food doesn’t magically...
The cultural fabric of Kochi has been elegantly woven by the beauty...
Despite its traditionally hidden nature, the history of Sufism in Australia is a rich field of study that is slowly coming to light. To date, most examinations into the history...
It’s 1154 CE and King Roger II of Sicily is dying. He...
Buffalo and lions roamed the periphery of the swampy lands, that were...
Bilal Hassan travels to Gwadar, Pakistan To say that Gwadar’s location is idyllic would be an understatement. Affectionately referred to as Ganjen by locals, in Balochi it roughly translates to ‘a place of...
Riding through the Kenyan countryside on the modern standard gauge railway one...
Muslims around the world strive to imitate the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ every...
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt commented in his book, The Future of Islam, that Islam needs to “work out for itself a Reformation,” resembling that which took place in Europe. Blunt points out...
Zara talks to Dr Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook and Dr Rami Dawood about the history of Islam in Australia, beginning with the arrival of the Makassan traders, that pre-dates European settlement, to the Afghan Cameleers, who set up the first mosques in the country. They discuss the legacy of the early Muslims in the country, their interaction with Aboriginal tribes, and the discovery of a Sufi Qadiri manuscript in Broken Hill Mosque.
In 1879, when presenting a paper on female suffrage, Louisa Bigg told...
The Seyahetname of Evliya Çelebi is a multivolume travel account of a larger-than-life Ottoman gentleman from 17th century Anatolia. Educated in a courtly medrese with little interest in a bureaucratic...
In 1861, Egyptian army engineer and surveyor, arrived in the Hijaz by...
Famed explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton gained his highly regarded reputation through...
Zara Choudhary on living exhibitions or human zoos, that were commonplace in major cities in Europe and North America in the 19th century. “AN AFRICAN EXHIBITION AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE,”...
Ali Abbas Ahmadi visits the Paigah Tombs of Hyderabad After offering his...
Zara talks to author and Arabist Diana Darke about her most recent book Stealing From The Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe. Diana explains how cultural exchanges between Europe and Islamic Syria shaped Gothic architecture, and why this has become a point of controversy in Europe today.
The Dala’il al-Khayrat, a collection of prayers and blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has been recited in homes and zawiyas, mosques and maqams around the world ever since it...
Timur Khan on invisible Indian writers in 18th century colonial travel writing...
Take a look at this photograph. Three women sit on a rug...
Muazzam Mir on the life of the great East African saint, Dada Masiti. As Muslim consciousness awakens from post-colonial slumber, we begin to discover buried treasure in our ruins- treasure...
Nomadic warriors, sophisticated weaponry, and brutal tactics: this moderately sums up what...
Mustafa Briggs speaks to Professor Rudolph Ware, author of the 'Walking Quran', about models of liberation in West Africa. They talk about the West African approach towards power and religion, and consider the diverse response of the ulama to the challenges presented by the transatlantic slave trade and European colonialism. They also discuss how racist colonial policies had the unintended effect of preserving sufism and traditional Islam in the region.
“When we speak of ‘shooting’ with a camera, we are acknowledging the kinship of photography and violence.” Teju Cole This visual essay will assess the ways in which early photography was used...
Zara and Zirrar talk to poet Baraka Blue about the life, work and legacy of Jalal al-Din Rumi. Baraka tells us about the era in which he lived and how he came to be the great poet we know him as. Zirrar and Baraka share their somewhat differing views on the controversy surrounding English translations of his work, and the claim that Islam has deliberately been ‘erased’ from his poetry.
Muazzam is joined by journalist, producer and avid traveller, Salahuddin Mazhary. Salahuddin tells us about the history of Islam in the Caucasus, with a focus on Chechnya and Dagestan. He talks about the Sufi tariqas in the region and the role dhikr played in resisting the Russians. He also tells us about notable figures such as Imam Shamil and Kunta-haji and their legacies.
A new documentary, 'Malcolm X and the Sudanese', looks at the role of Ahmed Osman in the life of Malcolm X. Osman, a Sudanese development economist, first met Malcolm by chance at Muhammad’s Temple #7 in Harlem in the summer of 1962. The film, directed by Sophie Schrago and written and produced by Hisham Aidi, follows Osman, now in his late seventies, as he returns to Harlem 55 years after the death of Malcom X.
On March 5th, 2020 tawwaf (circumambulation) in the immediate vicinity of the Ka'ba was temporarily halted by the authorities (see the eery images here). A decision was taken to sterilise the area, due to fears over Coronavirus. This is not the first time that worshippers have been prevented from circumambulating the House of God; we take a look at some of the recorded historical instances in which tawwaf has been interrupted, for a host of different reasons.
Omar Rais speaks to Alyssa Ratkewitch, a third generation Tatar Muslim living in Brooklyn and the vice president of the board at the historic Brooklyn Mosque. Also joining the conversation is travel writer, journalist and broadcaster, Tharik Hussain who specialises in the Muslim heritage of the West. Together they explore the migratory roots of Brooklyn’s Tatar community, the longest serving mosque in the United States, and discuss the identity-shaping of Muslims in the West.
The trailer for Ridley Scott’s 2000 film Gladiator started with the tagline: “The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor.” While the...
In 1947, Pakistan emerged on the world map with a predominantly Muslim population. However, before partition, a number of other religions were practiced in the region, including Hinduism. Hinduism first established its roots, and was adopted by the Indus civilisation, between 2300 BC and 1500 BC. Some of the earliest Hindu temples once stood in what is now Pakistan; their traces can still be seen in the ruins that exist today, in varying degrees of dilapidation.
Muslim travellers want to know if it is permissible to visit, enjoy and appreciate the city of Petra in Jordan, which was the capital of the Nabatean civilisation. They also want to know the same about the second largest city of that civilisation which is called al-Hijr and is in Saudi Arabia. The area of al-Hijr is now known as ‘Mada’in Salih’ (The Cities of the Prophet Salih), leading a great deal of Muslims to think that the destroyed people of Thamud, to whom the Prophet Salih was sent, were the Nabatean people.
When talking about the history and legacy of Islam in West Africa, many people are now discovering the vast scholarly legacy of the Islamic tradition in the region, from the...
Yaseen Kippie talks to Zara about the history of Islam in South Africa. He tells us about the early community, made up of influential people exiled to the Cape by the Dutch. A story of survival and resistance, Yaseen tells us about 'the revivers', individuals who ensure that religion was preserved for future generations.
While coffee shops are a central element of European culture, (Viennese kaffeehäuser have been deemed an intangible cultural heritage element by UNESCO) Europeans, including Italians and Greeks, owe their rich coffee customs to sharing the Mediterranean with the Arab and African worlds.
Zara speaks to Shahroze Khan, about the walled city of Lahore. Shahroze explains its history, from its somewhat contentious roots, steeped in Hindu mythology, to the heights of its splendour under the Mughals, followed by its brief period as capital of the Sikh Empire in the 19th century.
Historian Hassam Munir tells Zara about the cultural exchange between the Muslim and Chinese worlds. He talks about the history of Islam in China, explaining how and when it first reached the region and whether or not a Companion of the Prophet (pbuh) ever visited China. He also tells us about the Uyghur people and their history, as well as the influence of prominent Chinese Muslim scholars and the scholarship they produced.
In episode six, Zara talks to Muazzam Mir about the history of Islam in East Africa. They talk about the history of Muslims in the region, which goes back to the time of the Prophet (saw) himself. Muazzam explains how Islam spread, beginning with the Swahili coast, and the role of traders, travellers, and sufi tariqahs in the process.
In episode three, Zara talks to Mustafa Briggs about the history of Islam in West Africa. They discuss the roots of Islam in the region, the intellectual achievements of Timbuktu and other centres of learning, sufism and the empowerment of women through scholarship that can be seen throughout West African history. Mustafa also tells us about his upcoming lecture series 'Beyond Bilal'.
With Ertuğrul-fever (still) running high, Humza Sheikh shows us how to visit the...
Islam in India is often portrayed as a byproduct of the 16th...
The history of Islam in Africa is almost as old as Islam itself, stretching back to the 7th century. Below, Mustafa Briggs lists 11 books that highlight different aspects of...
A travel journal or blog, is not a new fad. Persians called...
Ali Abdelaziz Ben Saad explores the influence of the Ottoman coffee-houses of Tunis and the connections between coffee and spirituality.
In Methala, Kodungallur, in the Indian state of Kerala, stands a small, unassuming mosque with a pale blue exterior; if not for its minarets and small onion-dome, you could mistake it...
“The area between my house and my minbar is one of the...
The Day of Arafat marks the climax of the Hajj. For hundreds...
Lady Evelyn Cobbold (d. 1963) was the first British Muslim woman to make the pilgrimage to Mecca known as the Hajj, in 1933. Born in 1867 Lady Evelyn was a Scottish...
“Go to Mangalia, which is the Kaaba Mecca of the wandering poor...
While unearthing a romantic little tale in the woods of Lithuania, Tharik Hussain encounters someone taking his own 'sacred footsteps'
“Islam and Europe”, don’t quite fit, right? One doesn’t belong in the other apparently. “Islam and Muslims should leave Europe!” say extremists on both sides. Whatever your views, one thing is indisputable: Europe...
“O Mosque of Cordoba! For thy existence and thy glory thou art...
Madina al-Munawarra, the Radiant City of the Prophet
Photomechanical images of Damascus and the Umayyad Mosque captured between 1867 and 1900....
A collection of photos, dated 1899, that give us a brief insight into 19th century Algerian life.
14 mosques established in the first 150 years of Islam
Historic photos of Palestine from the 19th and 20th centuries
The erudite spiritual master and saint Ibn Ata’illah, may God have mercy...
Safi ibn Vali’s Mughal Hajj maps The Salamat Ras departed Surat in India on the 20th September 1676, carrying hundreds of pilgrims from Gujarat. On board was Safi ibn Vali; unlike the...
There it stood, where I least expected it. Perhaps not the most...
Ibn Fadlan, a religious scholar in the tenth century, underwent a voyage...
