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Getting the Motives Right – Foreign Policy Association

My first piece for the Foreign Policy Association blog. The recent attack against Ismaili Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan, will be read by most as part of a simple narrative of an ongoing Sunni-Shi’ah conflict. Unfortunately, as consistent fear-mongering has demonstrated with Sharia, bandying about non-English words conveys a facade of knowledge without any guarantee of any actual understanding. As is the case with most political violence, here is more to this attack than a simple retelling of a religious clash. There is a deeper history that is masked by using inappropriate vocabulary, and misusing it is allowing the most extreme…

Are Ismailis Muslim?

Interesting article in Canada’s Globe and Mail Newspaper about the first Muslim woman elected to the Canadian Federal Parliament. Only problem is that she is an Ismaili Muslim – and both traditional Muslim organizations and the Canadian media have gone ahead and completely ignored this momentous achievement in democracy and pluralisim in Canada. Sheesh. Here are some choice quotes by the author: One can perhaps understand the media not covering this development. Maybe it was simply an innocent oversight. How do we explain the reaction of traditional Muslim organizations that refused to acknowledge Ms. Ratansi’s accomplishment? From the Canadian Islamic…

Conference: Our Common Home

I was blessed to be invited to a conference at the Vatican on Laudato Si, the Papal Encyclical on creation care. Called Our Common Home, I presented a reflection on Laudato Si using the teachings of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (AS). The conference ended with an audience with the Pope.   Audience with Pope Francis