Scholar | Religion, Identity, Colonialism, Sovereignty, State, and Muslims | DAAD | Erasmus+ | Ansari Global Fellow | Always available for a Biriyani or Chai
Here is my recent article, challenging the dichotomy of 'local Islam' vs. 'global Islam' and exploring how these distinctions impact the Muslim political legitimacy.
Limited free access to the article: https://t.co/dS57MrGWuY
Happy reading and criticisms welcome 😊
@HydUniv
Today was one of the most horrifying days of my life as an academic. Walking through Iran University of Science and Technology, a top-ranked public university in Iran, I was struck by the devastation. Only last month, this campus was alive with students, bustling between classrooms. Now, parts of the campus lie in ruins, classrooms shattered, hallways choked with dust and shattered glass.
I saw the offices of professors burned. A newly renovated building, where students gathered for programs, for socializing, for life, destructed.
One student, tearfully, told me: “My professor’s office was still burning a little. That’s where I used to wait for office hours. To ask questions. To appeal my grade.”
This is the same university that launched Iran’s Omid and Zafar 2 satellites, symbols of homegrown technological achievement. A week ago, one of its professors was assassinated. Yesterday, they bombed it.
From sanctions to targeted killings, to the bombing of research centers and universities, there’s a clear pattern: de-development & de-industrialisation/ the systematic dismantling of a nation’s indigenous development, its industrial base, its capacity to stand on its own.
We will never forget that as the American and Zionist war criminals blatantly target universities, schools, hospitals/ assassinating professors and killing children, and after 2 years or genocice, western intellectuals are still debating whether or not to pass a symbolic, non-enforceable BDS resolution.
Photos taken by me, full report incoming.
Israeli forces forcibly evict a Palestinian family from their home in occupied East Jerusalem, arresting one member and taking over the property.
It's part of an intensified campaign, where Palestinian homes are being seized to make way for illegal Israeli settlements.
after endless edits, versions, and consultations with many (incredible) individuals, it is now finalised and ready. a gift on a blessed Friday morning.
the reading guide to Yang Mulia Tan Sri Prof. Dr. as-Sayyid Muḥammad Naquib al-ʿAṭṭās ḥafiẓahuLlāh
https://t.co/KRluGsB2jw
A vile, disingenuous, and racist alliance has formed between Israel and India under Modi regime. As a tribute, Modi receives the Medal of Knesset. We can’t unsee what’s in front of us. Hindutva Brahmanism and Zionist supremacy go hand in hand, treading on Islamophobia.
“We’re going to run the country.” “We want our oil back.” "We are going to make lot of money."
Trump is the literal definition of a present-day colonizer. No subtext, just pure extraction and occupation. The mask was off long back, but just a brazen proof right here. #Venezuela
Hosted by @nus_ari, the 8th Muhammad Alagil Conference in Arabia Asia Studies gave a compelling space to think about the topic "Exploring the Sacred: People, Place and Power in the Islamic Indian Ocean".
I presented my work on Malabar’s historical networks with the Caliphate.
Huda Abdul Ghafoor Amin, @Ahmed_Yaqoub, and Thahir Kiliyamannil. Andrew Peacock responding. 8th Muhammad Alagil Arabia-Asia Studies Conference. @nus_ari@mandalsumitk
A clearer video show Israeli soldiers shooting two young Palestinian men at point-blank range after they surrendered near the Jenin refugee camp, following a military raid in the northern occupied West Bank.
No official information issued so far about their condition.
This seems like an interesting and helpful initiative from Prof. Irfan Ahmad and O R Naufal. Counting on it, as it says, to [un]learn. Let's say "meow" to the CAT.
A new initiative to [un] learn
=====================
Coalition for Alternative Thinking— CAT
Premised on the idea that a thought that doesn’t think through the true and the possible as an alternative is cowardly — indeed, not a qualified thought — CAT is an open space for discussing both theoretically and empirically rich texts beyond one’s own specialization. CAT invites participants to join this coalitional journey in thinking critically as well as alternatively to explore the interrupted and the denied so as to fashion a world to come!
Obaidur Rahman Naufal, PhD candidate at the #sociology department @ibnhalduni is its convener and can be contacted for further info.
#thinking #Critical #alternative
Much looking forward to the publication of a book about this by Imran Mulla @Imran_posts
https://t.co/evygsZ3RAK
Also check out @SamDalrymple123's https://t.co/5nblZ6rwCY
The call for papers for #ASEN2026 on 'nationalism, democracy, and freedom', Edinburgh 21-23 April, is out now at https://t.co/7NzLAVfOtA and closes on 5th December
More than a dozen Israeli soldiers spoke to ITV for their new documentary Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, about how their army’s two-year campaign in Gaza involved shooting unarmed Palestinians en masse, using teenagers as human shields, and flattening entire neighborhoods without pretext of any threat.
One soldier recalls a man on a roof hanging his washing. A tank brigade 700 meters away decided to label him a “spotter” with no evidence of threat, and blew up half the residential tower, killing and injuring many civilians.
Another remembers two teenage boys quietly pushing a cart, and Israeli soldiers deciding to shoot one in the head, adding: “If they walk too fast, they’re suspicious. If they walk too slow, they’re suspicious. They’re plotting something… If you want to, you can always find a reason to incriminate someone. If I wanted to, I could incriminate the entire Strip.”
“Eli,” another soldier, said his commander reported their unit killed 112 “terrorists” at the end of their deployment— before admitting only one was even suspected of being armed.
Soldiers said they were ordered to “ignore international law” and told to “take revenge on them all.”
Gaza stands as a profound testament to the power of anti-colonial resistance in modern history. It has become a beacon of hope, not just for our people everywhere, but for all oppressed peoples worldwide.
When a besieged population, enduring immense suffering, can withstand overwhelming military and political forces, it proves that anything is possible.
Solidarity isn't just a word — it's direct action. From regional movements to global activists on the ground, when true solidarity is mobilized, it becomes a powerful and meaningful force for change.
The ability of a struggling nation to counter decades of sophisticated propaganda, relying on the authentic voices of its people and intellectuals who refuse to abandon the fight, shows that people’s power is not a cliché — it is a lived reality.
The struggle for justice in Gaza is not an endpoint; it’s a reset button for national liberation movements and the fight for justice everywhere. The price has been devastating, but from the margins of history and through the ashes of struggle, a powerful resurgence of spirit has emerged.
The fight continues. Justice will prevail.
#Gaza #Solidarity #Justice #PeoplesPower #GazaGenocide #GazaHolocasut
Two starkly contrasting images!!
As Palestinians flee bombed ruins, US legislators pose before the Israeli parliament, which is the architectural edifice of genocide. The exile of one people, the endorsement by another, is the structure of settler colonialism in the present.
When medics who save lives rush to the injured, and when journalists try to document it, Israel bombs them, so that there are no more lives saved, and no more witnesses left to speak of the brutality. Bombing hospitals is no longer an anomaly! It has become the routine! #Gaza
Live on air… Israel bombs civil defense teams as they try to retrieve the body of journalist Hossam Al-Masri, killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital.
Ongoing crimes before the eyes of the entire world.
https://t.co/aM8dLSV8kd
The United Nations on Friday (August 22, 2025) officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first in West Asia, with its experts saying 500,000 people were facing “catastrophic” hunger.
Israel is carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the occupied Gaza Strip, systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life.
Read more 👇 https://t.co/AXZsOKoAFg
Brinkley Morris Messick, a distinguished scholar and Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, died on August 15, 2025, at the age of 76.
https://t.co/e6ZUVl30Uj
“I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification… If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles... Do not forget Gaza … and do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.” - @AnasAlSharif0