New-Age Muslims: They Embrace Modern Life But Seek Meaning in Islam
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 12, 2012 A casualty of a trip to Bangladesh (and many other Muslim countries) could be the belief, or illusion, that Islam and modernity are conflicting value systems. A college classmate’s visit to my ancestral home here in Polashpur village reminded me of this illusion, which is widely shared in America. I […]
Pakistan’s political muddle
The Philadelphia InquirerOctober 5, 2007 PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A cartoon circulating in Pakistan depicts a scowling Gen. Pervez Musharraf marrying a cowering former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice look on, worried. “Dear God,” prays Rice, as the bride’s mother, “please make him treat my child kindly.” Tomorrow, Musharraf […]
A Woman’s Head Scarf, a Continent’s Discomfort
The Washington PostMarch 13, 2005 Ten days ago, a 31-year-old Moroccan-born immigrant to Belgium quit her job at a prepared foods factory in the small town of Ledegem. Her decision was the result of several months of intimidation, beginning in November when her employer, Rik Remmery, received an anonymous letter. It claimed to be his […]
Kurds’ struggle for “autonomy” threatens to spark a civil war
St. Louis Post – DispatchJune 17, 2004 COMMENTARY – A FORUM FOR OTHER VOICES, IDEAS AND OPINIONS Mustafa Malik, a Washington journalist, has researched ethnic and religious movements in the Middle East as a research associate with University of Chicago Middle East Center. DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ President Bush has hailed Iraq’s unfolding democratic process, which […]
Democracy grows on Muslim soil
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 2, 2003 WASHINGTON – If you fell for the American neoconservative propaganda that democracy doesn’t grow on Muslim soil, visit my native Bangladesh. You’ll know that it’s a lie. Bangladesh’s population is 88 percent Muslim and its coalition government includes the Islamist Jamaat-i-Islami party. Yet Washington extols its decade-old democracy and religious […]
Democracy And Islam Coexist In Bangladesh
St. Louis Post – DispatchOctober 1, 2003 COMMENTARY: A FORUM FOR OTHER VOICES, IDEAS AND OPINIONS Mustafa Malik has worked as an editor and writer for the Washington Times, Hartford Courant and other newspapers, and is researching the evolution of Muslim cultural patterns. POLITICS AND RELIGION If you have fallen for the current jingoistic line […]
Courting tyranny to fight terrorism
Hartford Courant, Oct. 1, 2001 DURING WORLD WAR II, Winston Churchill told a group of Indian leaders about the Nazi threat to Britain’s “freedom and independence” and asked them to help recruit Indian soldiers for the war. The Indians said they would be glad to help. But could the prime minister just give them his “word of […]
Islam in Europe: quest for a paradigm
Middle East Policy, Vol. 8 # 2 (June 2001) My guide at the Alhambra, the fabulous Moorish palace in Granada, Spain, drew my attention to its lush gardens livened by a gentle breeze. Did I know why the gardens were square-shaped? asked Mohamed Yusef Garcia, a native Spaniard who had converted to Islam. I said I […]
Hope For Serb, Albanian Harmony Is A Pipe Dream
St. Louis Post DispatchSeptember 2, 1999 ETHNIC STRIFE GERMAN peacekeepers stopped a car in southeastern Kosovo one day recently, “Your identification papers, please!” one of them said, stepping toward the car. Three passengers pulled out pistols and started shooting at the Germans. Luckily, only one bullet hit a soldier whose flak jacket spared him any […]
With Ocalan Convicted, Turkey Faces Big Challenge
Philadelphia Inquirer July 8, 1999 Turkey’s “trial of the century” ended June 29 with a death sentence for Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan, convicted of treason and murder. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit hopes the verdict “will be auspicious” for the Turks and Kurds. Nearly 37,000 have died in the 15-year conflict between the Turkish […]
