Islamic Culture *Islam: Adding Value To Humanity<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1589> *
Seven centuries ago, Baghdad and Damascus were world financial hubs. The Arab world, under the Abbasid caliphs, had trade relations with all major nations from China to Italy. The Assyrians mapped out a road network to enable them to transport African ivory, Caspian furs and Indian spices across their empire. Two millennia before the advent of the dollar and pound sterling, the gold coin, Persian daric, introduced by Darius the Great, was the currency of choice from Greece to the kingdoms of India. The Silk Road to China, the Amber Route to the Baltic, and the evolution of trade-linked cities such as Petra, Baghdad, Mecca, Sidon and Damascus were the centres of Arab power politics for centuries. From ancient times till modern days trade activities have always flourished in the region. -- *Raza Elahi* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1589> Islam and Pluralism *Partners in Humanity: Religious pluralism in today's Muslim world<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1587> * The discourse on religious pluralism and its political ramifications has roots in Islamic political and intellectual history and continues to be interpreted and re-evaluated today. For some, the core of this discourse lies in the definition of the *"People of the Book",* a Qur'anic term that refers to those to whom Muslims must extend full religious tolerance. Many Muslims assume it covers Christians and Jews only, as those were the People of the Book during the Prophet Muhammad's life in 7th century Arabia. However, as well-known South African Muslim scholar, *Farid Esack*, points out in his article, "Muslims Engaging the Other and the Humanum", throughout Islamic history the term was not defined in terms of who was considered a Person of the Book; rather, it defined how religious groups treated those in need. -- *Asma T. Uddin* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1587> Current affairs *India-Pakistan Relations: Two PMs, One Big Idea<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1590> * Manmohan Singh is not a mass leader or public speaker to rival Vajpayee. But what Vajpayee had by way of political instinct and, what a senior American diplomat once described to me as, “this magisterial control over public opinion”, Manmohan Singh has in intellect. He is also as much of a patriot and, as we now know, risk-taker. That is why he stuck his neck out at Sharm el-Sheikh. That is why he is invoking Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the statesman. -- *Shekhar Gupta, *editor, Indian Express, New Delhi More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1590> Islam, Women and Feminism *Pakistan’s Assiya Rafiq: Not a Victim, but a Hero<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1586> * *Assiya *says she was inspired by Mukhtar Mai, a young woman from this remote village of Meerwala who was gang raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council. Mukhtar prosecuted her attackers and used the compensation money to start a school. I decided to prosecute because I don’t want the same thing to happen to anybody else. Assiya’s mother, Iqbal Mai, told me that in her despair, she at first had prayed that God should never give daughters to poor families. “But then I changed my mind,” she added, with a hint of pride challenging her fears. “God should give poor people daughters like Assiya who will fight.” -- *Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times* 1 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1586> Islam and Pluralism *Islam and Inter-Religious Dialogue<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1585> * In a plural society, where people of different religions, ethnicities, language groups and cultures live together, every group must be given equal rights and the same opportunities to progress. This can only be ensured and sustained through continuous inter-community dialogue. In my view, the only way to prevent inter-cultural or inter-religious conflict, as well as to promote harmonious inter-community relations in a plural society and at the global level, is serious dialogue that aims at improving relations between different communities so that they jointly work for establishing peace. I believe that the first stage in inter-cultural dialogue is for members of different cultural communities to identify issues of common concern as well as common interest, particularly those problems that are a hurdle to better relations between various communities. The second step is to evolve means to address these issues through peaceful and sustained dialogue. But this must be carried out in a spirit of mutual respect, for no dialogue can succeed if it involves abusing or debasing the religious feelings and beliefs of other communities. -- *Maulvi Syed Nikhat Husain Nadwi* (Translated by *Yoginder Sikand)* 8 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1585> Islam and Sectarianism *Nasir Misbahi rejects Maulana Wajidi’s view of Deobandi-Bareilwi differences<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1584> * More.<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1584> -- Asadullah Syed --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Asalam o Alaikum, You Are Receiving This Message, Because You Are A Member Of FOCUS ON ISLAM, A Google Group [..:: The Best Group For Nice Islamic Mails ::..] \/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<<<<>>>>\/<>\/ You can Post Your Comments and Suggestions to Me [Moderator of this Group] on this email address: [email protected] To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/focusonislam/ To post messages/mails to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Please forward our Mails to Your friends, and convence them to join our Group. 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