Many Muslims, particularly those living in south and south east Asia, assume that the current Azhar University of Egypt is itself the great Jami’ ul-Azhar of old. This assumption is wrong as the Jami’ ul-Azhar has been transformed into a modern university, consisting of various scientific faculties where the study of Shariah sciences is just one amongst other faculties.

“They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Crescent Moons. Say, "They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj." And it is not righteousness to enter houses from the rear, but righteousness is [in] one who fears Allah. And enter houses from their front doors. And fear Allah that you may succeed.” [Surah al-Baqarah 2:189]

The month of Ramadan is the month of contemplation, reflection, worship, submission and servitude, leading to freedom, superiority and victory. Victory of Allah (swt) belongs only to those who possess the true consciousness of servitude, who strictly submit to nothing else than the guidance of their Lord with sincerity, and who embrace nothing else as criteria for themselves than the commands and limits of their Lord.

We are living in an era of deep darkness. The resources of the world are on the whole consumed by those that possess the least and produce the least. The world's political system is such that it seems that nothing can break the status quo of Western hegemony. The cycle of wars and treaties, and treaties and wars, throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has ensured that international bodies work…