Pengarang buku ini adalah pelopor Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA), sebuah institut berdekatan rumah saya di Chicago. Beliau kini sudah uzur selepas diserang strok beberapa tahun lalu, iaitu sebaik sahaja menerbitkan buku di sebelah kiri ini, West Africa, Islam, and the Arab World, yang boleh saya anggapkan sebagai magnum opus [...]

I have hitherto never come across such a notion of an “anthropology of Islam”. It was only when I was introduced to the pioneering works of Clifford Geertz’s Islam Observed (1971) and a provocative critique of his work by Daniel Martin Varisco, Islam Obscured (2005), that I realized the various nuances of Islamic studies and [...]

Inner logic is often in common use by anthropologists to understand local communities. Though the intent is to be appreciative, it is often criticized as overly apologetic, or at least sympathetic in most cases.
Having said that however, if sacred scripture and doctrinal truths can be shown as logically plausible, then inner logic can (in fact, [...]

Pada tahun-tahun 70an, 80an dan akhir 90an kita menyaksikan suatu gelombang kebangkitan Islam yang cukup menarik dan menggembirakan. Tetapi peristiwaperistiwa di peringkat nasional dan internasional selepas itu menjadikan gelombang itu mulai menurun dan malap. Sekarang ini umat Islam dan Islam itu sendiri dihujat sedemikian rupa oleh musuh-musuhnya yang tidak bersedia melihat Islam itu subur dan [...]

This article should have been written 2 weeks ago but I couldn’t muster much inspiration to compose something worthy of a blog entry. Hence you see me tossing random thoughts on the new NOTA KAKI column instead. I also managed to find some interesting clips of the late brother Muhammad while going through my collection [...]

First of all, I apologize for the above jargon. It’s just the fact that I’ve been away from blogging for so long that my mind is itching to blurt it out. Anyways…
This month marks the first year of the passing of my beloved teacher, brother Muhammad (al-Amriki, shall I add). Pondering over the significance of [...]

[5/6/2007] Sayyid Jaafar al-Barzanji
Tadi baru selesai kunjung ke blog Bahrus Shofa. Terdapat penjelasan lanjut berkenaan Sayyid Jaafar al-Barzanji, pengarang Maulid al-Barzanji yang sebelum ini dikritik oleh “Dr. Holier-than-thou”.
Sukacita juga ingin diumumkan terdapat beberapa kuliah menarik yang akan disampaikan oleh Ustaz Fahmi Zamzam, Ustaz Nuruddin al-Banjari dan Habib Umar bin Hafidz. Bagi pelajar-pelajar overseas yang akan [...]

As most have noted, I haven’t been active writing or commenting in the blogosphere for the last three weeks or thereabouts. Not for want of ideas, but rather due to the closing of my winter classes, a tiring spring break (with hardly any internet access) and spending time doing busy work for various groups. I’ve [...]

For some odd reason, I decided to go over some of my old articles, ones published under a different pseudonym in that “other” blog. One thing that struck me was its simple and smooth flow of thought and originality, though of course they were very amateurish and not academically rigorous. Simply thinking back at my [...]

I don’t subscribe to Fukuyama’s End of History but this latest development has given me second thoughts. Check out this, this and this if you have no idea what I’m talking about.
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