Turkey
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Rumi has become a household name in the world of poetry. Be it in meme culture, or internet statuses or just popular literature, translations of Rumi’s poetry are easy to come across. He is, in fact, counted among the best selling poets of all time. So, who was Rumi? The absolutely common answer is “a mystic”. The also-correct but almost rare answer is “an Islamic scholar, a theologian and an expert on Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence)”.
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Dirilis Ertugrul. Ertugrul Ghazi. Resurrection: Ertugrul. Call it whatever name you want. This is one show that has taken the Muslim World, especially South Asia, by a storm. Muslims of all age groups, all over the South Asian region, are bonafide fans of this one particular show — especially its Urdu version, Ertugrul Ghazi. Before we go any further, brief disclaimer — I haven’t watched this show beyond a couple of odd episodes out of sheer curiosity. As such, this article cannot be viewed as a review of the TV show itself — rather, I’m talking about the frenzy that’s…
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Few days back, Turkey witnessed an unsuccessful coup conducted by certain factions within the Turkish military. The Turkey coup d’état attempted to overthrow the Erdoğan government and install military dictatorship. Amidst all the hysteria and chaos, Turks took to streets to protect their democratically elected government. As a result, the coup failed, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is still in power. However, even though the Turkey coup attempt failed, it left several questions unanswered.
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Last year, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and it made international news. Pro-Ukrainian factions considered Russian actions to be unfair regional despotism, whereas pro-Russian groups considered the annexation to be justified. Amidst all of this, one particular voice remained unheard, and it is unheard even to this day: the Tatars of Crimea are currently being marginalized and persecuted, and their plight is ignored not just by the international media, but even by Muslim states, with the sole exception of Turkey. Such silence is deafening, especially considering the fact that the Tatars are a known minority in the region, and are even recognized…
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Back on March 4, American President Barack Obama talked about the crisis in Crimea: There is a strong belief that Russia’s action is violating international law. I know President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations, but I don’t think that’s fooling anybody. On the basis of Obama’s words, one can assume international law to be nothing beyond a set of beliefs that are classified as acceptable or unacceptable, depending on which side of the spectrum one chooses to stand. As a result, when Crimean voters decided to secede from Ukraine and…