Farish A Noor

translation While Muslims still face towards Mecca when praying, Muslim governments turn to Washington DC for political matters.

Dalam konteks politik antarabangsa waktu ini, gerakan Islamis radikal sajalah yang mampu menangani masalah ekonomi dan politik yang rumit akibat proses globalisasi yang tidak dikawal dan tidak dapat dikawal.

If yesterday's bombing of the Australia's Jakarta embassy is proven to be the handiwork of the JI, then Indonesia sinks further into the clutches of the Western powers, points out the writer.

So now the question remains: After the release of Anwar, will this government pursue the logic of its Islam Hadhari project to its logical conclusion?

They have outdone their peers abroad by displaying guts and gumption in the face of a heavy defeat at the polls.

The entry and rise of the Justice and Welfare party in Indonesian politics should not come as a surprise for it shows that the spirit of rational enquiry and innovation (ijtihad) is alive and well.

A report by a powerful American think-tank has set out notions of 'democratic Islam' and and strategies to keep 'moderates' and 'militants' apart.

Obituary The late Petronas chairperson stayed out of the limelight all his life, but will be remembered as a diligent and dignified figure who embodied the best values of generations past.

The new Iraq cannot claim to have the same luxury: barely a month after the so-called ''transfer of power'', the seeds of authoritarianism have already been sown.

The US has held Turkey up as a 'model Muslim state', but this view is wide open to question.

The brutal slaying of the young translator Kim Sun-il by an Iraqi militant group was not only a sad day for his Korean family but also for the Muslim world, says FARISH A NOOR.

Aceh's history is a bloody one although it played a crucial role in the development of the Indonesian national identity. FARISH A NOOR relates how one province has given so much and received so little for the cause of Indonesia.

It appears that 'fanaticism' has become a major problem in Malaysia. So dangerous is it, says FARISH A NOOR, that the powers-that-be have seen fit to direct the state-controlled RTM services to run a week-long series of mini 'info-teries'.

The ICG whistle-blower's research into the make-up of the nebulous network of radical conservative Islamists in Indonesia must have proven to be embarrassing for the powers-that-be in Jakarta.

Iraqi politics have been in spin-cycle ever since the US decided to lead its allies to war against President Saddam Hussein. Whether it is about faulty intelligence or untrustworthy allies, the laundering of the truth continues unabated.

The reality is that similar abuse and torture is taking place all over the Arab and Muslim world, and the developing world by extension.

The torture of Iraqi prisoners is an indicator that Iraq as a whole is in prison, and it is the Iraqi people who have been abused by the hypocrites and warmongers who started the 'war on terror' to serve their own interests.

In the end, no amount of bogus anti-terror rhetoric or propaganda will alter the fact that Thailand's troubles in the southern provinces are rooted in the internal politics of Thai society itself.

The enlightened modern citizen has to stand up to those who claim to be his 'moral guardians' who want to keep him under lock and key, ostensibly 'for his own good', writes FARISH A NOOR as he places recent decisions in perspective.

Former Indon Army chief General Wiranto's nomination as the presidential candidate of the Golkar party seems like a sad and twisted case of history repeating itself.

Globalisation has made it easy for people the world over to consume American pop culture and junk food at a moment's notice, but it also means that it has made it easier for an American army to find itself parked at your doorstep.

It is among the new generation of Islamist moderate progressives that we are witnessing the real changes taking place in Indonesia today.

While controversy still rages about the election results, FARISH A NOOR says there is a need for both Umno and PAS to discard the instrumentalist, political and ultimately distorted views on Islam.

The murder of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin has opened a pandora's box and the terror that is to swarm from it will prey upon innocent people on all sides.