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Is the Violence in Kashmir an Ominous Sign that America Intends to Kick Start Peace Talks?

In the aftermath of a militant attack that left 17 Indian soldiers dead at an army base in Kashmir, the India government immediately labelled Pakistan a terrorist state. The accusation comes after weeks of brutal suppression of Kashmiri protesters demanding greater rights from the Hindu dominated federal government. The seven decades old, protracted conflict has again evoked international condemnation and demands to settle the troublesome Kashmir issue. Nevertheless, the world has been here before countless times and nothing seems to change. Cycles of violence are often accompanied by dialogue and some confidence building measures, which usually sap the momentum away from the settlement of Kashmir. Predictably, India and Pakistan blame each other and unsurprisingly the whole process reboots itself under the watchful eye of foreign powers. The main reason behind the failure to resolve the Kashmir dispute - suggested by some - is the permutation in the number of solutions. Whilst th

Hanafi Ulema on Khilafah and its Fiqh

Ulama of the Hanafi madhhab, like those of the other madhahib, emphasised the role and importance of the Khilafah throughout the ages. In many respects, they had more to say about issues of ruling and governance than other ulama since many khulafa – the Abbasids and Uthmanis in particular – adopted the Hanafi madhhab and sought advice and rulings from the Hanafi ulama of their times. For example, the Abbasid K halifah Harun al-Rashid wrote to Abu Yusuf (rh), the student and companion of Abu Hanifa (rh), asking him questions about how to manage the finances of the state. Abu Yusuf wrote back with his famous and excellent treatise entitled al-Kharaj detailing many of the Shari’ah rules regarding state finances. In this article we have a look at some of what the Hanafi ulama said about the Khilafah, noting that this should be of particular interest to the ulama, students of shar’i knowledge and activists of Pakistan, who predominantly follow the Hanafi madhhab. Imam al-Nasafi (d. 53

Growing anti-Muslim Prejudice Result of Secular Liberal Ideology and Politics

An Essential Research poll released yesterday found 49% of Australians support a ban on Muslim immigration primarily due to “fears of terrorism” and the belief that Muslims don’t share “Australian values” or integrate. Whatever the accuracy of this particular poll, there is little doubt that anti-Muslim sentiment is growing throughout the West. Hizb ut Tahrir Australia emphasises the following in this regard: 1.    The hardening of anti-Muslim sentiment is alarming but hardly surprising. It is the obvious and expected result of a 15 year politically motivated campaign to encourage hatred and suspicion of Islam and Muslims. A campaign instigated by mainstream politicians and dutifully carried by the mainstream media. A campaign that used terrorism as the excuse to implant the false idea that Islamic beliefs were the cause of violence, so Islam itself was the suspect and needed reform. For fifteen years straight all things Islam have been abused as a political football by politician