satire n The use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topic issues. (Oxford English Dictionary) In 1984, the film This is Spinal Tap was released. Presented as a documentary, it followed pedestrian rock group Spinal Tap as it... Read More

This series of essays is not meant to be a witch-hunt against a school. We have enough professional scurrilous rumour-mongerers in our community, without an amateur lending assistance. I am not concerned with the quality of ice creams in the school canteen nor the he said/she said gossip mill, but rather whether our whole approach... Read More

Any favourable mention of ‘democracy’ in an Islamic setting will invariably provoke an outraged response from some Muslims. “Democracy is shirk (polytheism) because it replaces the laws of Allah with man-made laws,” will be the essential argument. Ergo, any Muslim who suggests that the absence of democracy in the Muslim lands is a bad thing... Read More

The issue of consanguineous marriage (marriage between relatives) in the Muslim community is, for obvious reasons, a rather sensitive one. There are many people in the community who are in such relationships and even more who are the product of these relationships. Indeed, we know that such marriages are permissable under the shariah because the... Read More