The Life of Shari'a by Youssef Belal a Dissertation Submitted in Partial

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Life of Shari'a by Youssef Belal a Dissertation Submitted in Partial The life of Shari’a by Youssef Belal A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology and the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Stefania Pandolfo Professor Saba Mahmood Professor Brinkley Messick Professor Niklaus Largier Summer 2017 © Copyright 2017 by Youssef Belal All Rights Reserved Abstract The life of Shari’a by Youssef Belal Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology and the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory University of California, Berkeley Professor Stefania Pandolfo, Chair This dissertation is a conceptual inquiry about Shari’a exploring distinct and yet interrelated dimensions of the revealed law of Islam: (i) political, (ii) spiritual, (iii) ethical, (iv) epistemic and (v) rational. These dimensions are studied from the perspective of Sunni Islam in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Egypt on the basis of a fieldwork conducted in Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo in 2012-2014, as well as of works by classical and contemporary Islamic scholars. This study of Shari’a is guided by the following questions: What kind of political subjectivity is enabled by Islamic jurisprudence when dealing with revolutionary protests, power, and order? What kind of spirituality is entailed by Shari’a rules? To what extent is Shari’a a kind of law distinct from contemporary state law that gives shape to a form of ethical life based on the relationship between acts of worship and social interactions? Under what epistemic conditions does revealed speech call for deeds? How does the Islamic legal episteme involve the use of reason in relationship to revelation? This dissertation shows that any attempt to deepen our understanding of Shari’a and the epistemic and cultural practices associated with it requires the study not only of jurisprudence (fiqh) and the sources of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) but also of other forms of knowledge such as Sufism, theology (kalam), and philosophy and the ways in which they are intertwined with the revealed law. It brings to light the epistemic language and the evidential regime displayed in shared assumptions and agreements between Islamic scholars versed in these disciplines as much as in disagreements between them. In the light of this research, this dissertation reconsiders several theses which have been influential in the study of Shari’a. First, it reassesses the claim that Shari’a should be studied merely as a juridical law enforced by a central authority. Second, it revisits the thesis of Shari’a’s demise in modern times. Third, it recasts the thesis according to which Shari’a is set in opposition to spirituality, ethics, philosophy and rationality. Finally, if modernity is understood as the regime of separation of between knowledge, religion, law, ethics and politics understood as autonomous spheres within the modern polity, then my dissertation is an invitation to question this normative assumption and to think about the intertwinement of all these dimensions in Islam. 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements i Introduction 1 Part I: Politics 8 Chapter 1: Fatwa, interiority and jurisprudence of the revolution 9 Chapter 2: Law, revolution and sovereignty in comparative perspective 25 Part II: Spirituality 30 Chapter 3: Spiritual ethics in contemporary Egypt 31 Chapter 4: The spiritual topography of the self in classical Islam 46 Chapter 5: Truth of the law and truth of the self 58 Excursus 69 Chapter 6: Ethics, law and interiority: a western genealogy 70 Part III: Relational ethics 88 Chapter 7: Worship, social interactions and the life of Shari’a 89 Chapter 8: Worship, social interactions and Islamic legal knowledge 99 Part IV: Episteme 114 Chapter 9: Revealed speech and the sources of jurisprudence 115 Chapter 10: Revealed speech and ijtihad 126 Part V: Reason 135 Chapter 11: Modernist reason and Shari’a 136 Chapter 12: Islamic reason 152 Conclusion 172 Bibliography 176 i Acknowledgements Many colleagues and friends have helped bring this research project to fruition. I would like to thank the members of the reading committee –Stefania Pandolfo, Brinkley Messick, Saba Mahmood and Niklaus Largier- for their comments and insights throughout this project. This project has also benefited from stimulating discussions with Judith Butler and Talal Asad. Bill Hanks, Laura Nader, Paul Rabinow and Lawrence Cohen have been keen to share their views at various stages in my research. Needless to say, this dissertation would not have been possible without the warm welcome of many eminent Islamic men of knowledge who animate the daily scholarly circles in Al-Azhar Mosque. The Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto and the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley gave me forums to present my work to a larger audience. Financial support for fieldwork was provided by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Support for writing the dissertation was provided by the Doctoral Completion Fellowship administered through the Graduate Division and the Department of Anthropology. ii Introduction This dissertation is a conceptual inquiry about Shari’a and explores distinct and yet interrelated dimensions of the revealed law of Islam that are usually separated from each other in specialized scholarship: (i) political (ii) spiritual, (iii) ethical, (iv) epistemic and (v) rational. This work studies these dimensions of Shari’a from the perspective of Sunni Islam in revolutionary and post- revolutionary Egypt, as guided by my fieldwork conducted in Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo—one of the oldest and most important centers of Islamic learning—in 2012-2014, as well as by works by classical and contemporary Islamic scholars in the fields of Islamic jurisprudence, philosophy, theology (kalam) and Sufism. I believe this area of study constitutes a key contribution to interdisciplinary fields such as anthropology and Islamic studies and is an invitation to a journey within the cultural distinctiveness of the revealed law of Islam that would help us understand its continuous significance for Muslims. This dissertation explores the epistemic conditions of production of Shari’a knowledge (epistemic and rational) as well as the conditions of its reception by its subjects (spiritual and ethical dimensions) and by its community for regulative purposes (political dimension). It is an attempt to have a better understanding of the specificity of forms of knowledge and practices associated with Shari’a but also a way to question normative assumptions of modernity. If we understand modernity as the regime of separation between knowledge, religion, law, ethics and politics instituted as autonomous spheres within the modern polity, then my research is an invitation to think about the intertwinement of all these dimensions in Islam. The western trajectory of law is the standard against which Islamic jurisprudence is usually assessed, not without prejudices. One of these prejudices as formulated for example in Legal Orientalism but also in more recent writings about Shari’a assumes that Shari’a is not law proper on the ground that it is based on revelation rather than the exclusive product of human reasoning. The intertwinement of Islamic jurisprudence with ethics is also considered as an “anomaly” as “rational law” should never be subjected to ethical considerations. According to one of the main scholars of Legal Orientalism, Joseph Schacht: “None of the modern distinctions, between private and public law, or between civil and penal law, exists within the religious law of Islam; there is even no clear separation of worship, ethics and law proper. The concept of any systematic distinction is lacking”1. For Schacht, one should rely on “the broad systematic divisions of modern legal science to throw into relief not only what is peculiar to it but also what is missing there”2. One may be easily tempted to reproduce the distinction made by Schacht between the legal and the non-legal in the study of Islamic jurisprudence because the regime of separation between “religion”, “law” and “ethics”, along with other categories (economy, politics) is constitutive of the narratives of modernity as well as the assumptions on which modern forms of social organization are based. If one takes for example the relationship between law and ethics assumed by Schacht, the latter is based on the widely shared understanding that the (amoral) law exclusively authored by the state organizes collective life while morality belongs primarily to the realm of individual consciousness 1 Joseph Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law, p.113. 2 Joseph Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law, p.114. 1 exemplified by Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals3. This conception of law and ethics has shaped, as much as it has been the result of the Lutheran Reformation as well as the emergence of the modern state’s monopoly over legislation as theorized notably by Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century4. In this dissertation, I am interested in studying Islamic law, or more precisely, Islamic jurisprudence with the following understanding: (i) Islamic jurisprudence relates revealed speech to facts, events and deeds, (ii) Islamic jurisprudence requires from scholars a work of interpretation of revealed speech and reasoning out of which rules can be formulated, and (iii) revealed speech as displayed in the Quran and the Sunna (reported sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad) is the ground of evidence for jurisprudential reasoning and argumentation. Islamic scholars cannot utter a legal opinion without evidence grounded in revealed speech, and while they may not agree on which evidence can be relied on to formulate a rule, they still agree on what makes a textual passage from the Quran and the Sunna acceptable as evidence for legal reasoning. It is on the basis of this understanding of Islamic jurisprudence that I am interested in its relationship to politics, spirituality, ethics, knowledge and rationality that are, as I will show, constitutive dimensions of Shari’a.
Recommended publications
  • School of Humanities and Social Sciences Al-Ghazali's Integral
    School of Humanities and Social Sciences Al-Ghazali’s Integral Epistemology: A Critical Analysis of The Jewels of the Quran A Thesis Submitted to The Department of Arab and Islamic Civilization in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Amani Elshimi 000-88-0001 under the supervision of Dr. Mohamed Serag Professor of Islamic Studies Thesis readers: Dr. Steffen Stelzer Professor of Philosophy, The American University in Cairo Dr. Aliaa Rafea Professor of Sociology, Ain Shams University; Founder of The Human Foundation NGO May 2017 Acknowledgements First and foremost, Alhamdulillah - my gratitude to God for the knowledge, love, light and faith. My deepest thanks go to my supervisor and readers, whose individual passions and critical guidance helped shape my research perspective, sustain my sanity and boost my confidence - Dr. Mohamed Serag, who first initiated me into the scholarship of al- Ghazali and engaged me in eye-opening theological debates, Dr. Steffen Stelzer, whose academic expertise and personal sufi practice inspired my curiosity and touched me in deep spiritual ways, and Dr. Aliaa Rafea, who, through her lectures and practices, emphasized how the depths of meaning in the Quran can contribute to human development in contemporary times. Throughout this adventure, my colleagues and friends have been equally supportive - Soha Helwa and Wafaa Wali, in particular, have joined me in bouncing ideas back and forth to refine perspective and sustain rigor. Sincere appreciation and love goes to my family - my dear husband and children, whose unswerving support all these years has helped me grow in ways I yearned for, and never dreamed possible; and my siblings who constantly engaged me in discussion and critical analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Hadith and Its Principles in the Early Days of Islam
    HADITH AND ITS PRINCIPLES IN THE EARLY DAYS OF ISLAM A CRITICAL STUDY OF A WESTERN APPROACH FATHIDDIN BEYANOUNI DEPARTMENT OF ARABIC AND ISLAMIC STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Glasgow 1994. © Fathiddin Beyanouni, 1994. ProQuest Number: 11007846 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11007846 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 M t&e name of &Jla&, Most ©racious, Most iKlercifuI “go take to&at tfje iHessenaer aikes you, an& refrain from to&at tie pro&tfuts you. &nO fear gJtati: for aft is strict in ftunis&ment”. ©Ut. It*. 7. CONTENTS Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................4 Abbreviations................................................................................................................ 5 Key to transliteration....................................................................6 A bstract............................................................................................................................7
    [Show full text]
  • Rituals of Islamic Spirituality: a Study of Majlis Dhikr Groups
    Rituals of Islamic Spirituality A STUDY OF MAJLIS DHIKR GROUPS IN EAST JAVA Rituals of Islamic Spirituality A STUDY OF MAJLIS DHIKR GROUPS IN EAST JAVA Arif Zamhari THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY E P R E S S E P R E S S Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/islamic_citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Zamhari, Arif. Title: Rituals of Islamic spirituality: a study of Majlis Dhikr groups in East Java / Arif Zamhari. ISBN: 9781921666247 (pbk) 9781921666254 (pdf) Series: Islam in Southeast Asia. Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Islam--Rituals. Islam Doctrines. Islamic sects--Indonesia--Jawa Timur. Sufism--Indonesia--Jawa Timur. Dewey Number: 297.359598 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2010 ANU E Press Islam in Southeast Asia Series Theses at The Australian National University are assessed by external examiners and students are expected to take into account the advice of their examiners before they submit to the University Library the final versions of their theses. For this series, this final version of the thesis has been used as the basis for publication, taking into account other changesthat the author may have decided to undertake.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sunnah of Salaf to Make Istighfar at Suhur
    The Sunnah of Salaf to make Istighfar at Suhur The Sunnah of Salaf to make Istighfar at Suhur ﺑﺴﻢ اﻟﻠﻪ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢ :said ( ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ) Allah ْ ْ اﻟﺼَّﺎﺑِﺮِﻳﻦَ وَاﻟﺼَّﺎدِﻗِﻴﻦَ وَاﻟ ﻘَﺎﻧِﺘِﻴﻦَ وَاﻟ ﻤُﻨﻔِﻘِﻴﻦَ ْ َ وَاﻟ ﻤُﺴْﺘَﻐْﻔِﺮِﻳﻦَ ﺑِﺎﻷ ﺳْﺤَﺎرِ (They are) those who are patient ones, those who are true (in Faith, words, and deeds), and obedient with sincere devotion in worship to Allah. Those who spend [give the Zakat and alms in the Way of Allah] and those who pray and beg Allah’s Pardon in the last hours of the night. [ 3:17] :said (ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ) Allah َ وَﺑِﺎﻷ ﺳْﺤَﺎرِ ﻫُﻢْ ﻳَﺴْﺘَﻐْﻔِﺮُونَ And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness.[51:18] These two verses establish the legislated act to ask Allah for forgiveness in the last hours of the night before dawn or the last 6th of the night.[1] Include in these verse is time of .Sahr( ﺳﺤﺮ) comes from) ﺳﺤﻮر) Suhur .The word Suhur Allah said: And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness.” This means that during those hours of night they ask Allah for his forgiveness. The salaf used to wake up at night regularly to offer prayer then afterwards they would seek Allah’s forgiveness and pardon.[2] Hasan Al-Basri said: The (Salaf) wouldn’t sleep much at night. In fact they were active in worship and sometimes this would extend to until the last 6th of the night; and then they would complete those acts of worship by making Istighfar.[3] .to be blessed [ﷺ]The Suhur has been mentioned by the Prophet said [ﷺ] He ﺗَﺴَﺤَّﺮُوا ﻓَﺈِنَّ ﻓِﻲ اﻟﺴَّﺤُﻮرِ ﺑَﺮَﻛَﺔً “Take Suhur as there is a blessing in it.”[4] Imam Qadi Al-Iyyad mentioned what blessings come from Suhur in his explanation of Sahih Al-Muslim.
    [Show full text]
  • Handbook of Islamic Finance
    HANDBOOK OF ISLAMIC FINANCE Dr. Mabid Ali Al-Jarhi Professor of Economics and Finance Ankara Social Sciences University Dr. Abdulazeem Abozaid Professor of Islamic Finance Qatar Foundation Dr. Adnan Owaida Assistant Prof. of Economics and Finance Ankara Social Sciences University Editorial Board Dr. Ahmad Fayez Al-Harsh Assistant Prof. of Economics and Finance Ankara Social Sciences University Dr. Tawfiq Azraq Assistant Prof. of Economics and Finance Ankara Social Sciences University Dr. Abdulrahman Yazici Assistant Prof. of Economics and Finance Ankara Social Sciences University Translated from Arabic by Dr. Abdulazeem Abozaid Page 1 of 490 Table of contents Table of contents 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 20 Chapter One ................................................................................................................................................ 23 Shariah Justifications of Islamic Finance ..................................................................................................... 23 Chapter Two ................................................................................................................................................ 40 Economic Advantages of Islamic Finance ................................................................................................... 40 First advantage: economic efficiency ....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Islamic Awakening Between Rejection and Extremism
    Islamic Awakening between Rejection and Extremism by Yusuf al-Qaradawi Table of Index Preface to the First Edition Introduction Chapter 1: Extremism: The Accusation and the Truth Defects of Religious Extremism The Concept of Religious Extremism Manifestations of Extremism Chapter 2: Causes of Extremism Occupation with Side Issues Excessive Extension of Prohibitions Misconceptions Emphasis on Allegorical Texts The Need To Acknowledge and Respect Specialization Lack of Insight into History, Reality and the Sunan of Allah Two Important Sunan Islam: A Stranger in Its Homeland The Impediments Imposed on Da'wah and Du 'ah Chapter 3: Toward a Remedy for Extremisim Duties of Society Duties of Young Muslims Knowledge, Values, and Actions Sympathetic Understanding of the Abilities, Limitations, and Circumstances of Others Knowledge and Insight into the Sunan of Allah's Creation A Dialogue on the Sunan and Conditions of Victory Chapter 4: Advice to Muslim Youth Facts For Muslim Youth Some Extracts Tendency to Make Matters Easy Several Relevant and Important Points in the Ethics of Da'wah 1 Preface to the First Edition The International Institute of Islamic Thought and American Trust Publications are pleased to present this book to our readers in the English language. We have chosen it because of our concern for the future of the Ummah, Islamic thought, and Muslim youth. The author, Dr. Yusuf al Qaradawi, is famous for al Halal wa al Haram fi al Islam, published in English by American Trust Publications under the title The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam. Dr. al Qaradawi has extensive experience in the field of dawah and is recognized as an authority in Islamic aqidah (belief) and Shari'ah.
    [Show full text]
  • At - Taqwā July - September 2014
    At - Taqwā July - September 2014 The Month of Ramadhãn By Mawlãnã Muhammad Ali Mankda Let us imagine the extent of the desire of the Prophet s to meet Allāh S and also the great insight the Prophet s had regarding the bounties of the Hereafter; He had already seen Jannah and was bestowed with the honour of seeing and communicating with Allāh S. Yet, despite this great longing and desire, upon the advent of Rajab the Prophet s would make the following duā desiring to remain in this world until Ramadhān: ِ ِ ِّ اللُّه َّم بَارْك لَنَا ف ْي َرَج َب َو َشْعبَا َن َو بَ لغْنَا َرَم َضا َن O Allāh, make the month of Rajab and Sha‟bān blessed for us, and let us reach the month of Ramadhān. (At Tabrānī) From this we understand the extraordinary nature of Ramadhān, for it is so great that the Prophet s would supplicate for the prolongation of his worldly life so that he could take advantage of this great month and all its blessings. The great scholar and reformer Shaykh Ahmad Farūqi v (Mujaddid Alf Thāni) said, “If we combine all the blessings of the other eleven months, they would not add up to the blessings of Ramadhān.” Ahādith on the merits and virtues of this month are well known. For example, “The month of Ramadhān, the month of blessing has come to you, wherein Allāh turns towards you and sends down on you His special Mercy, forgives your faults, accepts prayers, observes your competition for doing good deeds and boasts to the angels about you.
    [Show full text]
  • Nur Al-Din, the Qastal Al-Shu{Aybiyya, and the “Classical Revival” 289
    nur al-din, the qastal al-shu{aybiyya, and the “classical revival” 289 JULIAN RABY NUR AL-DIN, THE QASTAL AL-SHU{AYBIYYA, AND THE “CLASSICAL REVIVAL” Enter the medieval walled city of Aleppo by its principal we might dub the Revivalists and the Survivalists. gate on the west, the Bab Antakiyya, and you are almost Until a publication by Yasser Tabbaa in 1993, “clas- immediately confronted by the Qastal al-Shu{aybiyya. sical” in this context was often indiscriminately used to The present structure, which is of modest size, consists refer to two distinct architectural expressions in Syrian of little more than a facade comprising a sabºl-type foun- architecture: what we may briefly refer to as the Greco- tain and the vaulted entrance to a destroyed madrasa (figs. 1, 2).1 This facade is crowned by a disproportion- ately tall entablature that has made the Qastal a key monument in the debate over the “classical revival” in twelfth-century Syria. Michael Rogers featured the Qastal prominently in a major article published in 1971 in which he discussed numerous occurrences of the redeployment of classical buildings—and the less frequent copying of classical decoration—in Syria and Anatolia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. I offer the following thoughts on the Qastal in admiration of just one aspect of Michael’s unparalleled erudition. Michael Rogers entitled his article “A Renaissance of Classical Antiquity in North Syria,” and argued that the “localisation of the classicising decoration…and its restriction to a period of little more than fifty years suggests very strongly that it was indeed a revival.”2 The suggestion I would like to propose here is that we need to distinguish more exactly between adoption and adaptation; that there are only very few structures with ex professo evocations of the classical past, and that the intention behind these evocations differed widely—in short, that we are not dealing with a single phenome- non, but with a variety of responses that call for more nuanced readings.
    [Show full text]
  • The Islamic Traditions of Cirebon
    the islamic traditions of cirebon Ibadat and adat among javanese muslims A. G. Muhaimin Department of Anthropology Division of Society and Environment Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies July 1995 Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] Web: http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Muhaimin, Abdul Ghoffir. The Islamic traditions of Cirebon : ibadat and adat among Javanese muslims. Bibliography. ISBN 1 920942 30 0 (pbk.) ISBN 1 920942 31 9 (online) 1. Islam - Indonesia - Cirebon - Rituals. 2. Muslims - Indonesia - Cirebon. 3. Rites and ceremonies - Indonesia - Cirebon. I. Title. 297.5095982 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by Teresa Prowse Printed by University Printing Services, ANU This edition © 2006 ANU E Press the islamic traditions of cirebon Ibadat and adat among javanese muslims Islam in Southeast Asia Series Theses at The Australian National University are assessed by external examiners and students are expected to take into account the advice of their examiners before they submit to the University Library the final versions of their theses. For this series, this final version of the thesis has been used as the basis for publication, taking into account other changes that the author may have decided to undertake. In some cases, a few minor editorial revisions have made to the work. The acknowledgements in each of these publications provide information on the supervisors of the thesis and those who contributed to its development.
    [Show full text]
  • Trends in Dacwah Activities in Ilorin: an Appraisal of the Jabata Group
    Ilorin Journal of Religious Studies, (IJOURELS) Vol.8 No.1, 2018, pp.51-62 TRENDS IN DACWAH ACTIVITIES IN ILORIN: AN APPRAISAL OF THE JABATA GROUP Abdulwahab Danladi Shittu Department of Religions, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria +2348061235260; [email protected] And Abimbola Ridwanullah Idowu Graduate of Islamic Studies from the Department of Religions, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria +2348137628707; [email protected] Abstract The city of Ilorin has influenced many cities in southern Nigeria so much so that the history of Islam in this region may not be complete without mentioning the Ilorin factor. This glory is credited to the effort of early scholars who were subtle in their call to Islam. Generations after them followed suit in the aspect of objectives and styles of dacwah (call to Islam) until recently when a group called „the Jabata group‟ adopted a dacwah method that is diametrically opposed to the existing dacwah method of the community. This group does not only condemn the existing methods but equally accuses the predecessors in the field of dacwah of heresy and non sincerity of purpose. It is to this background that this work examined the methods and doctrines of the Jabata group, with a view to identifying the relevance and efficiency of the new method and style to the growth of Islam and the unity of Muslim community in Nigeria. The study is descriptive in respect of the new method, and comparative in terms of comparing both the old and the new methods. Findings of the work revealed that the teachings of the Jabata group are not only against the established and accepted culture of the people but also a threat to the unity of the Nigerian Muslim community in particular and the Nigerian nation in general.
    [Show full text]
  • The Public Sphere During the Later Abbasid Caliphate (1000- 1258 CE): the Role of Sufism
    The Public Sphere during the Later Abbasid Caliphate (1000- 1258 CE): The Role of Sufism Atta Muhammad Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Languages, Cultures, and Societies February 2020 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Atta Muhammad to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2019 The University of Leeds and Atta Muhammad 3 Acknowledgements I am thankful to Allah the Merciful for His Blessings, which helped me to complete this thesis. My heartfelt thanks go to my respected supervisor Dr. Fozia Bora for her persistent guidance and invaluable feedback. She has been a guiding star in every step of my research journey. Without her kind guidance and extra support and care, I would not have completed my research. My learning from her was not confined to her comments on my work but drew much inspiration from her many points of general wisdom. I am thankful to Dr. Hendrik Kraetzschmar, for his useful comments on my chapter which I presented for my transfer viva. I am also thankful to Dr. Mustapha Sheikh and Dr. Tajul Islam as they encouraged me at every step, and I had useful discussions with them.
    [Show full text]
  • Turkomans Between Two Empires
    TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ORIGINS OF THE QIZILBASH IDENTITY IN ANATOLIA (1447-1514) A Ph.D. Dissertation by RIZA YILDIRIM Department of History Bilkent University Ankara February 2008 To Sufis of Lāhijan TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ORIGINS OF THE QIZILBASH IDENTITY IN ANATOLIA (1447-1514) The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by RIZA YILDIRIM In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA February 2008 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. …………………….. Assist. Prof. Oktay Özel Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. …………………….. Prof. Dr. Halil Đnalcık Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. …………………….. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yaşar Ocak Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. …………………….. Assist. Prof. Evgeni Radushev Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History.
    [Show full text]