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In November, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the ruling Georgian Dream Party’s decision to pause all accession talks with the European Union until 2028. This led to widespread public outcry in the small Caucasian nation, drawing support from Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili. The protests show no signs of slowing down. With a large section of the country’s populace out on the streets, the Georgian police have cracked down on the protesters. Countries such as Lithuania have called for wider sanctions against the Georgian PM and various other key figures associated with the Georgian Dream party.
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Rumi has become a household name in the world of poetry. Be it in meme culture, or internet statuses or just popular literature, translations of Rumi’s poetry are easy to come across. He is, in fact, counted among the best selling poets of all time. So, who was Rumi? The absolutely common answer is “a mystic”. The also-correct but almost rare answer is “an Islamic scholar, a theologian and an expert on Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence)”.
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It’s not easy to live up to your name if you’re named “Light of the Faith”. Nur ad-Din Zengi did a fine job at that, though. Nur al-Din Mahmud Zengi, often spelled as Nuruddin Zangi, was from the Oghuz Turkic Zengid dynasty. An important figure leading the defences against the Second Crusade, Nur al-Din Zengi reigned for a little under three decades, from 1146 to 1174 CE.
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Recently, CounterPunch published an article titled “First English, Then American, and Now Muslim Francophobia”. In this article, the author Mr Liaquat Ali Khan stated that the Muslim world needs to be wary of indulging in Francophobia, and went to great lengths to state that a potential “Muslim Francophobia” is real. I disagree with this assessment.
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As the world comes to terms with the Coronavirus effect, I’ve been sitting at home, juggling my time between conducting online classes and remotely managing my work. Finding time to write is not the easiest thing to do, but I have finally managed to put together some of the key experiences from my trip to Kazakhstan. “Trip to Kazakhstan” is probably an incorrect phrase to use here. Trips tend to last days and weeks, or months at best. I was in Kazakhstan for almost an entire year — definitely not a tourist. Well, whatever way we put it, visiting Kazakhstan…
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Dirilis Ertugrul. Ertugrul Ghazi. Resurrection: Ertugrul. Call it whatever name you want. This is one show that has taken the Muslim World, especially South Asia, by a storm. Muslims of all age groups, all over the South Asian region, are bonafide fans of this one particular show — especially its Urdu version, Ertugrul Ghazi. Before we go any further, brief disclaimer — I haven’t watched this show beyond a couple of odd episodes out of sheer curiosity. As such, this article cannot be viewed as a review of the TV show itself — rather, I’m talking about the frenzy that’s…
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If you ask any Kazakh to pick their favorite city between Nur-Sultan (Astana) and Almaty, the majority will opt for the latter. And when you ask them for the reason, the replies may run as complex as the history of Almaty, and as simple as “it’s just more beautiful”. So when I finally got the chance to visit Almaty, it made sense to indulge in a comparison with Nur-Sultan. After all, mine was a peculiar case — most visitors to Kazakhstan tend to have Almaty as their first point of entry.
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Continuing my travels through the ex-Soviet states, I reached Astana (now, Nur-Sultan City) from Tashkent. This post has been long due, but things kept getting in the way. Nonetheless, since I am not really a “tourist” in Astana, it makes sense to divide the write-ups by the topic, and publish them at regular intervals. Long story short, there will be a series of articles about Astana, this being the first one. Ever wondered what would happen if someone were to play Minecraft in real life? Like, build stuff from the ground up? Visit Astana, and you’d know.
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Visiting Central Asia had been on my bucket list for quite a while. So when I finally got the chance to head to Kazakhstan, I decided to take a pit-stop on my way there. This is how I got to Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, and also the most populous city in former-Soviet Central Asia. So what was Tashkent like? Considering the fact that it is a popular tourist destination, both from scenic and historical points of view, a lot has already been written about its various monuments and attractions. As such, I’d rather stick to my own observations…
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When it comes to the history of Mongols, most people are aware of Genghis Khan and his expeditions/conquests. However, the same amount of recognition is not enjoyed by many other Mongol leaders — some far greater than Genghis himself. In this article, I will be writing about one such man who was one of the greatest leaders the Mongol world ever produced — Berke Khan. Berke Khan (also spelled as Birkai Khan) was the grandson of Genghis Khan. Much like other Mongols, Berke too began his military career at a young age. He took part in several military expeditions, but…
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Recently, I visited Tbilisi, Georgia for a short business trip. This post enlists some of my major observations about Tbilisi during the course of my brief visit. A lot has been spoken about the natural landscape and stunning regions of Georgia, so I will bypass that. Plus, I will stick only to Tbilisi and no other Georgian city, simply because I couldn’t visit the others. Georgia is a small mountainous country. This ex-Soviet state has been making steady progress of late, and more and more visitors are nowadays heading towards Georgia for tourism.
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If you are looking for a country afflicted with every possible horror one can think of, South Sudan does a good job at coming first. Things have been going downhill ever since South Sudan came into being, and there are hardly any signs of anything changing for the better. South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, also happens to be the most volatile and unstable. It is currently one small step away from total collapse — the Fragile States Index lists South Sudan as the country most likely to fail. But how can things possibly be that bad in South Sudan?…