Al-Azhar University projects an image of a thousand year old institution that has symbolized the authority and reference point for Sunni Islam and has been involved in struggles for national... Show moreAl-Azhar University projects an image of a thousand year old institution that has symbolized the authority and reference point for Sunni Islam and has been involved in struggles for national independence. A jealous guardian of the Arabic language and its culture, al-Azhar has the pretension of exerting its influence throughout the entire Islamic world. Nevertheless, the idealized image that it projects is quite far from the complex reality al-Azhar actually faces, and the post 11 September 2001 period has made evident the challenges this institution is confronting. Show less
The carnage which started with the suicidal bombing of New York's World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11 has resumed with massive American bombing of Afghanistan on the evening of 7 October 2001.... Show moreThe carnage which started with the suicidal bombing of New York's World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11 has resumed with massive American bombing of Afghanistan on the evening of 7 October 2001. It is the first war of the 21st century, pitting the world's strongest, richest, most technologically advanced country against a country that is among the poorest and least developed. It also happens to be between a Western, predominately Christian country and a Muslim, Middle Eastern country; between a secular democracy and an avowed theocracy. The list of contrasts probably contains many more dichotomies - making the Huntingtonians applaud the seeming fulfilment of their 'clash of civilizations' prophecy. Show less
Stand-up comedy and Muslim woman. The two subjects don't really go do they? They are not often mentioned together. Not till I became a stand-up comedian and the media rapidly descended upon me,... Show moreStand-up comedy and Muslim woman. The two subjects don't really go do they? They are not often mentioned together. Not till I became a stand-up comedian and the media rapidly descended upon me, labelling me as 'the first Muslim woman in the history of stand-up comedy'. I am a stand-up comedian who writes all my own material, most of it from personal experience, and most of it based on truth, because after all the truth is funny, we don't need to make it up. Show less
