“Repent, Believe and do Righteous Work”
And those who do not invoke with Allāh another deity or kill the soul which Allāh has forbidden , except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty. Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allāh will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allāh Forgiving and Merciful. In these verses Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā) presents a fearful, final abode of torment for those who…
A lesson on assimilation from Surah al-Kahf
إِنَّهُمْ إِنْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ يَرْجُمُوكُمْ أَوْ يُعِيدُوكُمْ فِي مِلَّتِهِمْ وَلَنْ تُفْلِحُوا إِذًا أَبَدًا Indeed, if they come to know of you, they will stone you or return you to their religion. And never would you succeed, then - ever." (Sūrāh al-Kahf: 20) By definition, assimilation is the process of adjusting to a group or nation, merging traits so that the ideas and culture of a people are inculcated by an individual, allowing for the complete absorption into the host population. ‘Literally “becoming alike,” assimilation refers to the process whereby once dissimilar groups become similar in their interests, attitudes, and behaviour.…
Jihadi John’s route to violence needs intelligent analysis not emotional rhetoric
Jihadi John's route to violence needs intelligent analysis not emotional rhetoric The Washington Post recently released allegations that the identity of ‘Jihadi John’ is a British man named Mohammed Emwazi. In this article Emwazi is described as having ‘started to radicalize after a planned safari in Tanzania following his graduation from the University of Westminster’. Amid this shocking possibility is the rising question of why a person who has grown up in the UK, such as Emwazi, would leave this country, seeking belonging elsewhere. Springing to mind are popular theories such as the conveyor-belt theory and other such tunnel-visioned models…