When the shoe is on the other foot
Time to swap the arguments Imam Khomeini (and later Benazir Bhutto to some extent) did a great disservice to politicians in the subcontinent, because now every ‘revolutionary’ wants a similar return where…
The curious case of the onus of proof
Another great mystery of our time It was hardly rocket-science stuff, one would have thought. What with the quality of what passes for journalism in the Islamic Republic however – or are…
They kept the mou’ fires burning
A fond tribute The standalone moustache has seen some dark days in its time. Though it never completely disappeared – and thank God for that – in certain places, times and professions…
Three countries, three systems
Method in the slowness? The British National Health Service (NHS) provides free healthcare to its patients. The flip side is that getting examined is often preceded by notoriously long waiting times. There’s…
Beware of the false analogy
It’s beneath you The thing with analogies is that they inevitably break down at some point – they must, because the two items involved aren’t exactly alike. That’s quite all right of…
A compendium of dumb reasons to get married
Simply put, best abstain! Somebody once remarked that no woman was good enough for a man, but that no man was good enough for a good woman. Please solve the riddle yourself.…
Another intriguing love affair
The ‘liberal’ love for Nawaz Sharif This is not about the big fish: the NGO liberals, the ‘program’ liberals, the ‘activists’, etc, whose prosperity is closely linked with that of Nawaz Sharif.…
‘Dumb’ is the new smart
Ten reasons why you could be smarter than owning a smartphone I realise that ‘feature phone’ is the prevailing euphemism for dumb phones, but the very necessity of a euphemism here is…
‘Abrogation’ in the Quran
Another enduring myth Two verses of the Quran are usually cited by way of evidence for the so-called abrogation in the Quran. The application of the ‘principle’ is then shown by presenting…
No woman would speak up if it weren’t true, would she?
And two other questions ‘That Meesha Shafi decided to raise her voice in the face of such huge social and professional ramifications says a lot, doesn’t it?’ After duly congratulating her for…
What do you hear with?
And do you hear when you ‘hear’? We all hear with our ears, of course. And see with our eyes. But the eye is not just a camera that merely transmits images,…
Polygamy in Islam
Putting the record straight The polygamy debate has made yet another comeback, thanks to Iqrar Ul Hassan who is famous for fittingly titled Sar e Aam. Predictably the feminists are up-in-arms. Another…
Numerology 101
Everything you wanted to know but were too shy to ask The title I originally had in mind was, ‘Numerology for idiots’, but I decided against it because of the far-too-real risk…
A concise guide for young teachers
Students: please don’t read Tomorrow is World Teachers’ Day and… heck, who am I kidding! – it’s months away. Well, no matter, for any time’s a good time to talk about teaching,…
The anti-establishment politician
Only when in government Is there such a creature? Here’s a quick look back at the major political players of the last fifty years, so that we may have the necessary perspective…
Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid
A fond tribute I Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid hardly needs an introduction. The quintessence of multidimensionality (senior analyst, leading intellectual, reformer, man of letters, orator, Islam’s Renaissance – and Re-Renaissance – man,…