A Fils for Your Thoughts

Whenever Islam is criticized for terrorist attacks, oppression of women, religious intolerance, or any other social or psychological ill, Muslims are quick to direct the blame towards themselves. “Islam isn’t at fault,” they say, “but the problem is with the Muslims.” They usually credit Islam for any accomplishment by a Muslim, or any positive feature within Muslim societies, but blame Muslims for all the problems that plague their societies and their souls.

In this article I wish to point out how misleading this distinction is, and to make the case for why the distinction should not be made between Islam and the Muslims. (more…)

Classifying actions as political or not has led to a great deal of confusion regarding the scope of a government’s role, and the overlap between politics and other fields, such as religion, culture and economics. In this post, I would like to present my personal understanding of the factors that make a matter political or not, which will help give a more precise definition of what politics is, and how it relates to other fields. (more…)