My Travel Diary

THE ISLAMIC INHERITANCE LAW (FARAID): THE MANIFESTATION OF COMPREHENSIVE INHERITANCE MANAGEMENT IN ISLAM* By Associate Professor Mohd Ridzuan Awang Islamic Law (Syariah) Department Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia PREFACE The Islamic Inheritance Law (faraid) has been pre-ordained by Allah s.w.t. in a wise and gradual manner in order to allow for its compatibility with the judiciary and human nature which might find it difficult to change their normal practices. At the early stage, Islam perpetuated the inheritance laws of the Jahiliyah, a temporary system based on kinship and Hijrah. The system was then overruled and replaced by the inheritance distribution by will system (wasiat) to parents and kinsfolk based on verse 180 from Surah al-Baqarah. At the final stage, all previous systems were abolished and replaced with the current Islamic Inheritance Law. The law was derived from the commandments of Allah s.w.t. based on the Mawarith verses which are verses 11, 12 and 176 of Surah a...

-- By Aju

Tamil Nadu government today banned 'Dam 999' with immediate effect after the movie faced a storm of protests from various political parties which claim the controversial film is based on the Mullaperiyar dam, over which the state is locked in an escalating row with Kerala. "The Tamil Nadu government has banned the screening of movie 'Dam 999' with immediate effect," a terse one line announcement by Chief Secretary Debendranath Sarangi said. The government's decision comes a day after theatre owners across the state decided not to screen the movie, saying it was against the interests of the state. Political parties, including DMK, MDMK and PMK had raised their voice against the release of the movie, a Hollywood movie directed by Sohan Roy. The objection mainly centred around the contention that the film justifies breaking of the Mullaperiyar dam as the plot revolves around the collapse of a reservoir and was against the interests of Tamil Nadu. The ban come...

Artists perform a regional traditional dance at the inaugural ceremony of the 42nd International Film Festival of India at Ravindra Bhavan in Madgaon, Goa, on Wednesday. Film star Shah Rukh Khan inaugurated the 42nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, by lighting the ceremonial lamp at the Ravindra Bhavan at Margao on Wednesday evening, in the presence of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni. Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat; Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Uday Kumar Varma; actor Rituparna Sengupta; and IFFI Director Shankar Mohan were among those who attended the event. Chief guest Shah Rukh Khan, while expressing happiness on his being a part of this cinematic extravaganza, shared his views on cinema as a medium that bound people in a shared experience. Cinema was a modern art of storytelling, “a collective focus addressed to all, open to all and including all.” Festivals such as the IFFI were a manifestation of human happiness and sho...

Bertrand Russell Passages from An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish (1943) Note The unconventional mind of Bertrand Russell appears once again in these notes on intellectual rubbish. Here the passages on political rubbish have been selected. Besides making very pleasant reading, they might also stimulate original ideas, away from the quagmire of unsubstantiated statements, inconsistent arguments and obsolete beliefs that characterize, largely, the current political and social scene. Politics is largely governed by sententious platitudes which are devoid of truth. One of the most widespread popular maxims is, "human nature cannot be changed." No one can say whether this is true or not without first defining "human nature." But as used it is certainly false. When Mr. A utters the maxim, with an air of portentous and conclusive wisdom, what he means is that all men everywhere will always continue to behave as they do in his own home town. A little anthropology will dispe...