Public Intellectual

Religion As Critique | Reading Religion. Irfan Ahmad’s text, Religion as Critique, is an ambitious work that seeks to open a new approach to the understanding of Muslims: an anthropology of philosophy. As a result, his book covers a vast amount of material. The text reads like two separate endeavors—a historical, methodological study, and the author’s original work. Since the author recognizes this structure and guides the reader to be aware of it, the book does hold together fairly well. At the same time, as a reviewer, it makes more sense to treat the two parts as divisible, since they each…

Over a four-day period, Mecca’s population is more than doubled, with legions of devout Muslims making their way shoulder to shoulder through the dozen rituals that comprise Hajj. If it weren’t for the solemn and religious underpinnings, it would be an unnerving assembly of human beings for such a concentrated space Vice Guide to Travel: Mecca Diaries – CNN.com.