What does the seventh blade do?
On the evolution of safety razors It’s not clear when and who shaved his face for the first time in history. And why. Since most everything has a habit of starting in…
The new national pastime
Political correctness gone overboard Taking offence is the new national pastime. And desi liberals are every bit as nauseating as fundamentalists in this respect. In fact, the more one looks at the…
FAQs about the Muslim marriage
Addressing them on a fundamental level You have doubtlessly heard or asked these questions at one time or another: Why a Muslim man may take a Christian wife, but a Muslim woman…
Mere Paas Tum Ho
Some observations regarding its immense popularity Whether you were a fan of the recently concluded Mere Paas Tum Ho, hated its guts or were simply indifferent to it, there’s no denying that…
Mysticism in university education
The devil is in the details Prime minister Imran Khan has directed the HEC to add mysticism to university curricula. Khan attributes his famous transformation to spirituality, and there’s no reason to…
Quoting religious texts out of context
Never goes out of fashion While there are countless ways to mislead oneself (and others), arguably the easiest one is to quote a part of the scripture out of its context and…
On Islamic economy, Islamic sports and Islamic nuts
Fictions, all In a discussion on economy a few years ago, a colleague had passionately announced that the universal solution to all economic woes was the ‘Islamic economic system’. When I asked…
A year in retrospect
The good, the bad and the ugly from 2019 The year 2019 had many things in common with past years. As usual, it was a year replete with mutually contradictory conspiracy theories.…
Not Misbah’s fault
It’s probably in ours stars Pakistan has suffered yet another clean sweep Down Under. This was the first overseas tour under Misbah-ul-Haq. In all fairness, considering past tours of Australia, the result…
Once upon a time in UET
No student unions, please Last week saw demands for revival of student unions, amid a lot of ‘Asia is red’ poppycock. The latter merits no response except mirth, but after the tweets…
The myth of PTI media savviness
With a detour to media incompetence/dishonesty Imran Khan inaugurated the Havelian-Mansehra section of the Hazara Motorway last week. The N-Leaguers, as expected, are claiming that the credit goes to Nawaz Sharif, who…
Directed by Robert B. Weide
Aka, what the hell was that? The Azadi March is over. Well, technically it’s still going on in the form of Plan B: blocking of highways ‘across the country’. (Or is it…
The phenomenon of Iqbal
As relevant as ever Was it a coincidence that the Indian Supreme Court chose to announce the Babri Masjid verdict on Allama Iqbal’s 142nd birth anniversary? It would appear to be so,…
Life’s greatest tragedy
Some crimes are their own worst punishment Prime minister Imran Khan is set to inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9. The project has been completed in record duration to make it…
How difficult is the Quran?
And what one requires for its understanding Is Quran a difficult book to understand? Of course, the words ‘easy’ and ‘difficult’ are relative, so what’s easy for one man may be difficult…
On istikharah
And the misconceptions surrounding it The other day, Mufti Kifayatullah of JUI-F let it slip on live TV, during an altercation with anchor Yashfeen Jamal, that as per his istikharah Maulana Fazlur…