Muhammad Ali Sohail, Author at Quo Vademus

Anti-racism activists during a March Against Racism in 2022

The impact of online Islamophobic discourse on offline anti-Muslim hate-crime

In-Depth Analysis By Muhammad Ali Sohail on August 3, 2023 | Reading time 13 min

Although online hate speech is deeply rooted in Islamophobic sentiments and exhibits distinct characteristics from offline forms of abuse or violence, substantial evidence supports the assertion that online hate speech serves as a catalyst for offline actions. Amidst the proliferation of Islamophobic discourse in online spaces, the dissemination of fake news and misinformation thrives within echo chambers, perpetuating a cycle of prejudice and intolerance.

Is Islam a Product of Late Antiquity?

In-Depth Analysis By Muhammad Ali Sohail on January 17, 2023 | Reading time 9 min

Arabia was a significant part of the Late Antiquity from which Islam emerged. Contrary to traditional sources, writer Muhammad Ali Sohail article argues that what eventually became the Islamic civilisation was a continuation of Late Antiquity’s most salient features, with late antique empires establishing the foundations for the initial development of Islam. Moreover, it highlights the role played by traditional sources in instigating academic curiosity and mistrust from revisionist scholars who challenged the traditionalist premise entirely.

Heroes' Acre in Namibia, a former German colony, commemorating honouring Namibian soldiers during the Namibian War of Independence

Is there a Global Post Colony?

In-Depth Analysis By Muhammad Ali Sohail on August 24, 2022 | Reading time 8 min

Uniting all post-colonies as a global post-colony is a notion that diminishes the historical, historiographical and cultural differences present in each post-colony around the world. Therefore, unifying colonial legacies and treating them as a homogenised unit disregards their experiences, which damages their diverse yet relative historical progress. Instead, one should aim for an alternative perception of understanding a global post-colony, as the idea is not completely unworkable but provides a strong epistemological foundation to combat Western hegemonic discourses.

Dawn on Charles V palace in Alhambra, Granada, Spain.

Inventing the Islamic ‘Golden Age’

In-Depth Analysis By Muhammad Ali Sohail on August 6, 2022 | Reading time 9 min

The Muslim Golden Age is a historiographical creation like many other conceptions that influence our view of Medieval history. Muslim culture and civilisation flourished throughout an age of exception stability and wealth until at least the early thirteenth century (Kafadar, 2010). The Golden Age highlights the greatest achievements accomplished by the Muslim world between the ninth and thirteenth centuries, with the Ottomans and Mughals, who are normally disregarded, being included as part of this time period.

Does science need philosophy?

Brief Analysis By Muhammad Ali Sohail on August 3, 2022 | Reading time 6 min

Scientific truth is not perfect, not permanent, not immediate, and not necessarily the ultimate truth. Science does not deliver the ‘meaning of life’ truth – but science is always getting closer to the truth. While science is humanity’s transcending achievement, science as a way of thinking is an evolving enterprise. What makes science work? What constitutes good science? What are the boundaries of science? How deep can science dig into the foundations of the world? These are the kinds of questions that “philosophy of science” asks. However, some scientists dismiss philosophy as archaic, a hindrance to science, a nuisance to its progress.

Transformation in Russian Civil Society

In-Depth Analysis By Muhammad Ali Sohail on January 10, 2022 | Reading time 16 min

This analysis studies the transformations in Russian civil society from the eighteenth through the twenty-first century. It argues that powerful political structures, formed during the Imperial, Soviet and post-Soviet periods, have influenced civil society arrangements in the modern-day Russian Federation. Similar to Russian forms of democracy and the market economy, which diverge substantially from Western European models, civil society as it exists in the RussianFederation has not followed the West’s trajectory of development. This Russian iteration of civil society, which emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is the result of successive transformations across social sectors over several centuries and is justified through various factors unique to the Russian socio-political context.