The Qur’an’s account of Pharaoh is not simply the story of a cruel ruler from the distant past. It is a profound examination of authority, institutional power, coercion, moral responsibility and the struggle to keep power subject to justice.
UWI’s Institute of International Relations cancels Israel webinar
A planned webinar featuring Israeli diplomat Ephraim Ben Matityau at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Campus, has triggered protests from students and Muslim community organizations, who are calling on the university to cancel the event and questioning the framing of its subject.
The legacy of 9/11 cannot be reduced to the horror of that day or the long, unresolved pursuit of justice against those accused of planning it.
According to traditional accounts of the Conquest of Mecca by Muslim historians, the Prophet Muhammad addressed his enemies with words echoing Prophet Joseph in the Qur’an: “No reproach shall be upon you today. Go, for you are free.”
Hold the CCJ accountable, but allow the facts to emerge. When confidence in courts is casually undermined, it is not one judge alone who suffers; the entire architecture of Caribbean justice is put at risk.
The relevance is that the world we live in today has been shaped by forces that have been many years in the making, and the system is extremely powerful and well entrenched. Most people don’t understand the historical background to the problems faced by societies and nations worldwide.
President Ali’s appeal for us to avoid suspicion and enmity is worth underscoring. It speaks to the civic lessons of emancipation.
Every year, Emancipation Day reminds us of one of humanity’s darkest chapters: the transatlantic slave trade. We remember the millions of African men, women and children who were captured, transported across the Atlantic, and forced into lives of bondage. Yet within that history lies a chapter that is too often overlooked: the story of the thousands of Muslims who were among the enslaved.
True emancipation is achieved only when societies reject racism, dismantle systems of discrimination, uphold the equal dignity of every human being, and refuse to build prosperity upon the exploitation of others.