Blogcritics Author: Alamgir Hussain

Securing the Future of Freedom through Provocations

Alamgir Hussain — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:00:21 EDT

Provocations, from Salman Rushdie's Novel to Wilders' anti-Quran Film, are fostering tolerance among Muslims to secure West's future of freedom.
Freedom of expression, a basic human right, is the most prized achievement of the human society. It is the central marker of the liberal civilized society--achieved solely in Western democracies at the cost of great sacrifice.The fight for freedom of expression started in ancient Greece with Socrates' insistence on speaking his mind--for which, he...

The UN 'Inhuman' Rights Council

Alamgir Hussain — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 04:11:59 EDT

Islamic leaders, in the recently concluded OIC summit in Dakar (13-14 March), adopted "A Ten-Year Program of Action" to meet...
Islamic leaders, in the recently concluded OIC summit in Dakar (13-14 March), adopted "A Ten-Year Program of Action" to meet challenges facing the Muslim Ummah. The action plan, among other goals, calls on the United Nations to combat Islamophobia, and to enact laws to counter defamation, denigration and stereotyping of Islam, including...

Jihadist or Not?

Alamgir Hussain — Thu, 6 Mar 2008 13:19:55 EST

Should the activities of Al-Qaeda and like-minded Muslim terrorist groups be called 'Jihad' or 'Holy war'?
At the Counter-Terrorism Conference of the East-West Institute in Brussels (19-21 February, 2008), reports Reuters, the debate repeatedly turned to arguments over whether the term "Jihad" and "Jihadists" should be applied to activities and members of al-Qaeda and like-minded terrorist organizations. Although the two terms have...

Benazir Bhutto: In Life and Death, a Blessing to the Jihadists

Alamgir Hussain — Mon, 7 Jan 2008 01:00:43 EST

Unwittingly or not, Benazir Bhutto had fueled Jihad in Kashmir and helped the Taliban sweept to power. Her death has also helped the Islamists.
I was shocked and saddened as the story of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination suddenly popped up while browsing news at the dead of night on 27 December 2007. She was probably the only one able to put the house in order in Pakistan. Now that she is gone, it could well be the end of salvaging Pakistan from the hands of the Islamists. However, I...

Death for Refusal of Burka and the Deceptive Muslim Denials

Alamgir Hussain — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:18:19 EST

Muslim denials will only perpetuate the honor-killing of innocents like Aqsa Parvez.
The murder of 16-year-old Canadian teen, Aqsa Parvez, by her Pakistani immigrant father for her refusal to wear a burka or hijab has shocked and saddened the nation. As people from all walks of life are mourning her tragic death, Muslims -- particularly their religious leaders -- have joined the chorus of denials that “Islam has nothing to...

Islamic Lynch Mob Hounds Taslima Nasrin: Walking in Footsteps of the Prophet

Alamgir Hussain — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:39:25 EST

Islam's terror against intellectuals, critical of Islam, was initiated by Prophet Muhammad.
Last week, a Muslim mob in India, seeking Taslima Nasrin’s blood for her writings critical of Islam, hounded her out of Calcutta. With assistance from police, she escaped from Bengal and is now hiding somewhere in the Indian capital. She had to flee her home country Bangladesh when a militant Islamic mob pursued her in 1994 in similar...

If Not Islamofascism, Then What?

Alamgir Hussain — Fri, 2 Nov 2007 03:59:42 EDT

The term 'Islamofascism' offends Muslims. But what name to give to a brand of fascism Muslims have brought to the West?
The media have been abuzz in recent weeks condemning the Islamofascism Awareness Week, held last week on college and university campuses across America. The event was organized by former communist turned conservative activist, David Horowitz, and his Freedom Center.This event was marked to create awareness about the danger of Islamic extremism and...

Where is Turkey Heading?

Alamgir Hussain — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:59:36 EDT

Turkey's Islamist Party's victory in the democratic election may spell the death of Kemal Ataturk's secularist legacy.
Turkey’s ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) nomination of its foreign minister Abdullah Gul to the country’s presidency to replace a secular incumbent in April set off a political standoff with the secular military. The staunchly secular army, apprehensive that Mr. Gul’s election may undermine...

Islamic Rage: Why a Cartoon in Bangladesh Leads to Killing of Christians in Nigeria

Alamgir Hussain — Wed, 3 Oct 2007 10:42:39 EDT

A cartoon, drawn by a Bangladeshi Muslim, led to killing of nine Christians by angry Muslims in Nigeria. This is nothing new in Islam.
Recently, a 20-year-old Bangladeshi Muslim cartoonist sketched a cartoon that appeared in a Bangla newspaper. It was intended to caricature the local culture where everyone tends to add “Muhammad” before their name. In the cartoon, when an elderly Muslim priest asks a little boy carrying a cat, what was its name; the boy answers,...

Osama's Tax Incentives to Americans -- Not Telling Us the Whole Truth

Alamgir Hussain — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 04:43:47 EDT

Osama's invited American's to embrace Islam and said, 'Zakat (2.5%) is the only tax'. But truth is quite different.
In his latest video message, Osama bin Laden tried to coax Americans into accepting Islam, and even offered them a heavy tax incentive. He said, "There are no taxes in Islam, but rather there is a limited Zakat [alms] totaling 2.5 percent". This huge tax-cut would be very tempting for the well-off and big corporations in America. However,...