WORKING PAPER 27 – HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ESSENCE OF TEACHING
This document constitutes the abstract of a dissertation named ‘The Historical-Philosophical Essence of Sufism’ presented in 2018 at the Tashkent Islamic University.
Summary: The article examines some of the characteristics of one of the most mysterious philosophical and religious movements in Islam – Sufism. The history of its origin, development...
SADF Newsletter 6 – Nepal’s Renewable Energy – a Huge, Untapped, Regional Potential
On 26.01.25, SADF held a podcast hosted by Mrs. Sushmita Chaulagain with Mr. Tim Gocher, who runs the Dolma Impact Fund. Called ‘Unlocking Green Investment: FDI in Nepal's Renewable Energy’, the podcast can be seen as an inside scoop on the practicalities of investing in Nepal.
Meant for all investors,...
COMMENT 226 – Bangladesh in 2022: Revisiting Ancestral Secularism and Promoting Religious Pluralism
Recently, Bangladesh celebrated its half-century of independence and victory, the Golden Jubilee, with great ceremony and circumstance. The birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of Bangladesh, was also celebrated with due dignity. On this crucial double occasion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has administered oaths simultaneously all...
COMMENT 180 – Sino-Sri Lankan relations and the Hambantota Port
Debt trap diplomacy?
In Sri Lanka, the Hambantota Port project funded and initiated under the - government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2007, is by far the most salient project. China’s involvement and considerable impacts on the Sri Lankan economy since the 2000s are well documented (Panda, 2014, September;...
A Review of ‘Neelan: Unsilenced’ (Documentary on Sri Lankan Politics) – C274
“Neelan: Unsilenced” is a documentary film that was directed by documentary filmmaker Pitasanna Shanmugathas and released on the 26th death anniversary of prominent lawyer and politician Neelan Tiruchelvam. This documentary records the life, advocacy and achievements of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam with accounts narrated by his friends, family and those...
COMMENT 130- The saga of Asia Bibi
After spending eight years on death row, most part of which she passed in isolation, Aasiya Noreen Bibi (internationally better known as Asia Bibi) has finally been acquitted in a landmark ruling on 31 October 2018.
In 2009, Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, fell victim to the Islamic...
COMMENT 162 – The Return of the Rajapaksas, the ‘Debt Trap’ and India
Sri Lanka has been featured in the international news again recently - and not only due to its electoral results. The small island nation - which is important to both India and China owing to its geostrategic location - was the first nation falling prey to China’s ‘debt trap’....