Views & Opinions
Empowerment begins at home
There are some lessons our parents teach us so early in life that we don't realize their importance until much later…
Writer
Hira Zainab
33 articles
Views & Opinions
Weekend Getaways or Ashura?
Let me be honest with you. When I scroll through my feed on the 9th and 10th of Muharram and I see Muslims posting…
Views & Opinions
Kites in the sky, questions on the ground
Let me be candid. I am not against Basant. I am not against celebrations of any kind. Especially not in a country that…
Views & Opinions
The criminalization of courage
One of the most cowardly things any state apparatus can do is muzzle its own people. A system that polices every…
Views & Opinions
Capitalizing hollistically - the wellness industry fad
Once rooted in self-awareness and balance. The wellness industry has now morphed into a money-minting empire that feeds…
Islamic Finance
Islamic Finance and Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan: A Compassionate, Comprehensive Strategy
Poverty in Pakistan has reached distressing proportions. In 2025, under the World Bank’s new international poverty…
Views & Opinions
The silent exodus
There was a time when we would hear people dream big. I remember when I was a child, I used to hear my older cousins…
Views & Opinions
Islamic finance and poverty alleviation in Pakistan: A compassionate, comprehensive strategy
Poverty in Pakistan has reached distressing proportions. In 2025, under the World Bank's new international poverty…
Views & Opinions
The utopian diaspora
You know the concept of migration? I like to believe that we, as humans, learned it from birds and animals. When the…
Views & Opinions
The manufactured myth of Saddam Hussein
Some time ago, I found myself discussing the complexity of the Middle East with a friend - the history of Iraq's…
Views & Opinions
From Al-Qaeda to Al-Kursi: Why is Jolani getting a rebrand?
Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa-better known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani-wasn't born under a rock. He came from a well-off Syrian…
Views & Opinions
Two nations, one wound
In the wake of the tragic attack in Pahalgam, not a single Pakistani voice of conscience applauded the loss of innocent…
Views & Opinions
The dopamine trap - excessive consumerism breeding a capitalist playground
Let's admit something uncomfortable: we buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't…
Views & Opinions
The anatomy of false blasphemy accusations
The tsunami of false blasphemy accusations in Pakistan is a harrowing reflection of how extremism, intolerance, and…
Views & Opinions
Iqbal Masih and dark truths about child labor in Pakistan
Iqbal Masih's story is one of extraordinary courage and resilience, but it is also a stark reminder of the pervasive…
Special Reports
Sana Pirzada unveils her fifth book ‘Tainted Whispers of Eden’
Hira Zainab I told you at the outset of our conversation that everyone adored Shirley Lester-and that was a problem…
Pakistan
Sana Pirzada Unveils Her Fifth Book, Tainted Whispers of Eden
Hira Zainab “I told you at the outset of our conversation that everyone adored Shirley Lester—and that was a problem…
Views & Opinions
Our complicit silence - A genocide we allow
Let me ask you something: What kind of society ignores the massacre of its own children? What kind of government…