DOCSLIB.ORG

Adab Al-Fatwa Manuals

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Adab Al-Fatwa Manuals T S M U I T IFT5” BlackwellOxford,MUWOMuslim0027-4909©October964ORIGINAL 2006 WorldHartfordUK 2006 Publishing ARTICLE Seminary Ltd TheT S M M UW I T Ifta[*3][002] Shifting Moral Universes of the Islamic Tradition of Ifta”: A Diachronic Study of Four Adab al-Fatwa Manuals Alexandre Caeiro ISIM Leiden, The Netherlands he importance of Islamic non-binding opinions, or fatwas, for scholarly research is now well-established. Perceiving the fatwa as a meeting T point between legal theory and social practice — an understanding which is shared by many contemporary muftis — historians, legal scholars, and anthropologists have dressed a rich catalogue of the functions of fatwas in Muslim Societies. Although this literature is too extensive to be reviewed here, there appear to be four interrelated thematic levels: fatwas as legal tools; as social instruments; as political discourses; and as doctrinal-reform devices. As technical tools, fatwas were part of the litigation process, issued at the request of the qadi (judge) and impacting court cases; fatwas were also cheaper and less conflictual alternatives to legal proceedings. They are thus not mere reflections of legal practice, but distinct contributions to the relationship between law and society. Fatwas routinely contributed to the social stability of Muslim communities by “providing formal administrative organization and informal networks for running the affairs of society.”1 They provided a sense of order and identity, circumscribing, in the elegant formulation of Skovgaard-Petersen, “the mental and moral universe of their day, always balancing around the boundaries of what is conceivable, legitimate and right.”2 Varying in time, place, and circumstance, as the stylized formula goes, fatwas were historically a privileged genre for the development of Islamic law, incorporating into the furu“ (branches of fiqh) 661 T M W • V 96 • O 2006 — or rejecting as bid“a (innovation) — new and old (i.e., customary) social, economic and technological practices.3 As a form of knowledge central to Muslim societies, fatwas naturally generated power and control, permeating social relations at many levels.4 They articulated doctrinal and political struggles between competing factions through the notorious “fatwa wars,” one opinion creating the space in which a counter-fatwa contested the former’s legitimacy. Fatwas intervened variously in political processes. Their use for condemning heterodox Muslims as apostates, largely responsible for the negative connotations the term evokes today, are contested practices that function in situations of social upheaval as formidable mechanisms of repression of specific groups, such as intellectuals or women. In 1965, one of the greatest scholars of Islamic law famously argued that the practice of fatwas was falling into “disuse” and becoming “obsolescent.”5 Unfortunately, the reasons for the contemporary vitality of the genre do not seem to have sustained much interest from scholars. Drawing on the existing scholarship, a number of primary sources, and fieldwork with muftis based in Western Europe, this article is an attempt to make sense of the historical permanency of fatwas by locating them within a specific tradition. It constitutes a preliminary exploration of the moral economy underlying the fatwa that seeks to introduce more anthropological concerns into a field largely dominated by legal and Islamic studies. The Practice of Ifta} In many recent accounts muftis are perceived as typical actors and their activity of ifta” (fatwa-giving) is depicted in a de-historicized manner, with little consideration given to the (shifting) moral universes in which they operate.6 In order to correct this misleading representation, I argue, one should conceptualize ifta’ as an Islamic discursive tradition, which, in the words of anthropologist Talal Asad, consists of “discourses that seek to instruct practitioners regarding the correct form and purpose of a given practice that, precisely because it is established, has a history.”7 Asad borrows the concept from moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, for whom a tradition is “an historical extended, socially embodied argument” sustained by “the exercise . of the relevant virtues.”8 These discourses connect between temporalities; they are conceptually related to a past and a future through a present. Ifta’ is central to an Islamic tradition conceived not only as a “cognitive framework,” but also as “a practical mode of living, ( . ) techniques for teaching body and mind to cultivate specific virtues and abilities that have been authorized, passed on, and reformulated down the generations.”9 Like sermons and other Muslim technologies, fatwas are not only instruments for learning rules and 662 T S M U I T IFT5” procedures, but also tools for creating the emotional dispositions necessary to the formation of pious Muslim selves. Although tensions inherent in the concept have yet to be fully theorized,10 tradition fundamentally shifts our attention from Weberian ideal-types of religious authority toward a study of modes of reasoning and their relation to embodied practices. It provides a link between forms of religiosity and the structures that (re)produce authority, conceived here following Asad as, “a collaborative achievement between narrator and audience [where] the former cannot speak in total freedom: there are conceptual and institutional conditions that must be attended to if discourses are to be persuasive.”11 The specific normative criteria standards — Asad’s “conceptual and institutional conditions” — that define the correct performance of ifta” provide a historically situated context in which one can start to understand Muslim religiosities and conceptions of authority. In my attempt to describe these criteria and the way they have shifted over time, I am particularly indebted to Charles Hirschkind’s gripping account of the interplay between sermons, media practices, and state formation in modern Egypt.12 Adab Al-Fatwa Treatises The institutional conditions that regulate the practice of ifta’ are spelled out in minute detail in the adab al-fatwa literature, suggesting a control and reflexivity of the fatwa genre greater than that of the khu†ba (sermon).13 This vigorous regulation is partly a counterpoint to the openness and permeable character of the activity, which has always to some extent eluded political attempts at institutionalization and monopolization, and stands as a testimony to its symbolic importance. Although the existing research is not silent on this,14 the relatively minor scholarly attention devoted to the adab al-fatwa seems related to the notion that, as an idealized account, the genre would have little to reveal about the history and dynamics of ifta’. Usually located in the usul al-fiqh (roots of Muslim law), this literature is nevertheless an apposite place to search, in diachronic fashion, for developments in the representation of religious authority and agency. Although traditionally directed at the literate elite, it gives advice for all the stages of the futya (consultation), suggesting the process is conceived of as a type of (admittedly asymmetrical) dialogue. The composition of an adab al-fatwa treatise is usually presented by its author as a mere reiteration of a well established, though perhaps neglected, Islamic discipline. The need to write it suggests a (real or perceived) crisis of the muftiship, hinting at possible transformations within Muslim institutions and structures of religious authority. While the nature and context of such crises can be expected to vary, the end product of such efforts inevitably involves a selection, re-valorization, and re-interpretation of the old discipline. 663 T M W • V 96 • O 2006 The adab al-fatwa usually starts with a discussion of the social and religious relevance of fatwas, and often includes a section on the role of muftis at the time of its composition. The genre can thus be said to be animated by a sense of contemporaneity.15 To describe some continuities and changes in ifta’, I draw initially on three texts. The treatise of Abu ‘Amr ‘Uthman Ibn al-Salah al-Shahrazuri (1181–1245), known as Ibn al-Salah, constitutes an exposition of the adab al-fatwa that I treat as exemplary of the pre-modern modes of the genre.16 Written in Damascus, like Ibn al-Salah’s text, but in the late Ottoman Empire, is my second source: the 1911 treatise of Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (1866–1914), Al-fatwa fi-l islam. This work represents an early attempt to respond to the challenges posed by modern conditions within the new temporality and ethos of the Salafiyya movement.17 My third text is Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s (b. 1926) Al-fatwa bayna al-indiba† wa l-tasayyub, published at the end of the 20th century in three capitals of the Middle East,18 and reading as a reassertion of the role fatwas can, or perhaps should, play in an age when they are no longer self-evident. Despite the somewhat arbitrary nature of the selection, my aim here is to start an exploration of the contextual reformulations involved in the composition of adab al-fatwa manuals — and I hope to show in what follows how the three texts considered here fittingly serve this purpose. Ibn al-2alah al-Shahrazuri Ibn al-Salah al-Shahrazuri’s work has been a central formulation of the adab al-fatwa of the Shafi‘i school for many centuries. Presented by its late 20th century Egyptian publisher as a founding text,19 it provides the core of Al-Nawawi’s (1233–1277) later and perhaps more famous discussion of the topic.20 Originally from Iraq, Ibn al-Salah studied in the Khurasan before settling in Damascus, where he became a respected scholar with numerous students. Renowned for his fatwas and knowledge of hadith, his books are reported to have been “highly valued.”21 Ibn al-Salah’s text is conventionally divided in three main sections: the shurut al-mufti section sets out the qualifications for practitioners; the adab al-fatwa is a discourse on the very technology of fatwas; and the adab al-mustafti instructs petitioners on the adequate manners and procedures.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Interpreting the Qur'an and the Constitution
    INTERPRETING THE QUR’AN AND THE CONSTITUTION: SIMILARITIES IN THE USE OF TEXT, TRADITION, AND REASON IN ISLAMIC AND AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE Asifa Quraishi* INTRODUCTION Can interpreting the Qur’an be anything like interpreting the Constitution? These documents are usually seen to represent overwhelming opposites in our global legal and cultural landscapes. How, after all, can there be any room for comparison between a legal system founded on revelation and one based on a man-made document? What this premise overlooks, however, is that the nature of the founding legal text tells only the beginning of the story. With some comparative study of the legal cultures that formed around the Qur’an and the Constitution, a few common themes start to emerge, and ultimately it turns out that there may be as much the same as is different between the jurisprudence of Islam and the United States. Though set against very different cultures and legal institutions, jurists within Islamic law have engaged in debates over legal interpretation that bear a striking resemblance to debates in the world of American constitutional theory.1 We will here set these debates next to * Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin Law School. The author wishes to thank Frank Vogel and Jack Balkin for their support and advice in the research that contributed to this article, and Suzanne Stone for the opportunity to be part of a stimulating conference and symposium. 1 Positing my two fields as “Islamic” and “American” invokes a host of potential misunderstandings. First, these are obviously not mutually exclusive categories, most vividly illustrated by the significant population of American Muslims, to which I myself belong.
    [Show full text]
  • Defining Shariʿa the Politics of Islamic Judicial Review by Shoaib
    Defining Shariʿa The Politics of Islamic Judicial Review By Shoaib A. Ghias A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Jurisprudence and Social Policy in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Malcolm M. Feeley, Chair Professor Martin M. Shapiro Professor Asad Q. Ahmed Summer 2015 Defining Shariʿa The Politics of Islamic Judicial Review © 2015 By Shoaib A. Ghias Abstract Defining Shariʿa: The Politics of Islamic Judicial Review by Shoaib A. Ghias Doctor of Philosophy in Jurisprudence and Social Policy University of California, Berkeley Professor Malcolm M. Feeley, Chair Since the Islamic resurgence of the 1970s, many Muslim postcolonial countries have established and empowered constitutional courts to declare laws conflicting with shariʿa as unconstitutional. The central question explored in this dissertation is whether and to what extent constitutional doctrine developed in shariʿa review is contingent on the ruling regime or represents lasting trends in interpretations of shariʿa. Using the case of Pakistan, this dissertation contends that the long-term discursive trends in shariʿa are determined in the religio-political space and only reflected in state law through the interaction of shariʿa politics, regime politics, and judicial politics. The research is based on materials gathered during fieldwork in Pakistan and datasets of Federal Shariat Court and Supreme Court cases and judges. In particular, the dissertation offers a political-institutional framework to study shariʿa review in a British postcolonial court system through exploring the role of professional and scholar judges, the discretion of the chief justice, the system of judicial appointments and tenure, and the political structure of appeal that combine to make courts agents of the political regime.
    [Show full text]
  • “Blessed Boundaries: the Limits of Sunnah to Legitimize Violence” Islamic Peace Ethics: Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought Eds
    “Blessed Boundaries: the limits of Sunnah to legitimize violence” Islamic Peace Ethics: Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought Eds. Heydar Shadi and Gerhard Beestermöller (Bonn: Nomos, 2017). Charles M. Ramsey, PhD Assistant Professor of Religion and Public Policy Forman Christian College, Lahore, Pakistan Abstract: The role of Sunnah in legitimizing violence is a central issue in con- temporary discourse in Pakistan. There is an established consensus that the exem- plary way of the Prophet as recorded in Hadith is a foundational source for pre- scribing licit behaviour. However, there is disagreement amongst scholars regard- ing which facets of the Prophet’s example are applicable. More specifically, is Sunnah limited to Prophetic testimony pertaining to matters of religion (din), or does this include matters of state (dunya) as well? This is a long-standing question amongst modern South Asian interpreters, and the answer has direct implications upon the parameters of religiously sanctioned violence. In the extreme, clerics of the Deoband (mamati) faction such as Abdul Aziz Ghazi, khatib of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, appeal to prophetic example in order to legitimize attacks not only of government forces but also of their dependents. This was most dramatically seen in the gruesome mutilation of students in the Army School in Peshawar (Decem- ber 16, 2014). Representatives of the Islahi School sternly disagree. A leading ex- ample of this position is Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (b. 1952), a student and then critic of the late Maulana Mawdudi (d. 1979). Ghamidi vociferously condemns such at- tacks as contrary to interpretative consensus concerning the bounds of tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • Islamic Peace Ethics Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought
    Studien zur Friedensethik Studies on Peace Ethics | Heydar Shadi [ed.] Islamic Peace Ethics Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought Das Institut für Theologie und Frieden hat die Aufgabe, die ethischen Grundlagen menschlicher Friedensordnung zu erforschen und in den aktuellen friedenspolitischen Diskurs hineinzutragen. Mit den „Studien zur Friedensethik“ wird eine friedensethische Vertiefung der außen- und sicherheitspolitischen Debatte angestrebt. Dabei geht es letztlich um die Frage: Durch welche Politik wird den heute von Gewalt, Armut und Unfreiheit bedrohten Menschen am bes- ten geholfen und zugleich der Errichtung einer zukünftigen fried- lichen internationalen Ordnung gedient, in der Sicherheit, Wahrung der Gerechtigkeit und Achtung der Menschenrechte für alle gewährleistet werden? Studien zur Friedensethik Studies on Peace Ethics herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. Heinz-Gerhard Justenhoven Dr. Bernhard Koch Band 57 Heydar Shadi [ed.] Islamic Peace Ethics Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought 2.Auflage Nomos Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de ISBN HB (Nomos) 978-3-8487-4050-5 ePDF (Nomos) 978-3-8452-8349-4 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN HB (Nomos) 978-3-8487-4050-5 ePDF (Nomos) 978-3-8452-8349-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shadi, Heydar Islamic Peace Ethics Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought Heydar Shadi (ed.) 263 p. Includes bibliographic references. ISBN HB (Nomos) 978-3-8487-4050-5 ePDF (Nomos) 978-3-8452-8349-4 ISBN 978-3-402-11704-0 (Aschendorff Verlag, Münster, Print) ISBN 978-3-402-11704-0 (Aschendorff Verlag, Münster, ePDF) Die Schriftenreihen ‚Beiträge zur Friedensethik‘ und ‚Theologie und Frieden‘ sind jeweils bis Band 44 beim Verlag W.
    [Show full text]
  • “Greatest Saint”: Debating Sufism in Nineteenth And
    Mesned İlahiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi/ Journal of Mesned Divinity Researches ISSN 2667-7075| e-ISSN 2687-3605 | https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/mesned Cilt (Vol.) 11 Sayı (Issue 2) Güz - (Autumn) 2020 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ | RESEARCH ARTICLE (Bu Makalenin intihal içermediği benzerlik tarama programlarıyla teyit edilmiştir. / The similarity that this article does not contain plagiarism, has been confirmed by plagiarism checker programs.) Gönderim Tarihi: 14.09.2020|Kabul Tarihi: 2.09.2020 On Feet, Necks and the “Greatest Saint”: Debating Sufism in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Africa - Ayaklar, Boyunlar ve "Veli" Üzerine: On dokuzuncu ve Yirminci Yüzyıl Afrika'sında Sufizm Münazarası- Mohammad Ajmal HANIF* Atıf/Citation: Hanif, Mohammad Ajmal. “On Feet, Necks and the “Greatest Saint”: Debating Sufism in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Africa / Ayaklar, Boyunlar ve "Veli" Üzerine: On dokuzuncu ve Yirminci Yüzyıl Afrika'sında Sufizm Münazarası”. Mesned İlahiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi/ Journal of Mesned Divinity Researches, (Güz 2020-2): 527-544. Öz: Bu makale tüm zamanların en büyük velisi davası ve böyle bir davanın gerek sufilerin kendi arala- rında gerekse püritanist selefilerle yol açtığı tartışmaları konu edinmektedir. Tasavvuf tarihi her ne kadar sahiplerinin manevi statüsüne ilişkin yüce ve muhteşem lakaplarla dolup taşıyorsa da tüm zamanların en büyük velisi iddialarına pek rastlanmamaktadır. Titiz bir filolojik yaklaşımı esas alan bu makale böylesi, biri onüçüncü diğer onsekizinci yüzyılın sonlarıyla ondukuzuncu yüzyılın başla- rına ait olan, iki iddia üzerine durmaktadır. Sahipleri de özellikle Afrika kıtasının en dominant iki tarikatı olan Kâdirilik ve Ticânilik’in kurucuları ve son derece nüfuzlu şeyhleri olan Abdülkâdir Geylânî ve Ahmad Ticânî’dir. Konunun birincil kaynaklara dayanan ciddi analizden geçirilmesi, Ticânî’nin kendisini tüm zamanların en büyük velisi olarak lanse ettiği tartışmalı ifadesinin taraftar- larınca yorumlanması ve algılanmasındaki büyük değişimi belirlememizi sağlayacaktır.
    [Show full text]
  • Muhammad Khalid Masud
    ISIM NEWSLETTER 3 / 9 9 ISIM 3 Institutional News NATHALM.DESSING ISIM’s New Academic Director Muhammad Khalid Masud phone, and the use of toothbrushes, estab- book Iqbal’s Reconstruction of Ijtihad (Lahore, of existing scholarly analysis of Muslim poli- lished his enduring interest in methodology 1995). His extensive international experience tics. Supporting James Piscatori, he suggests and the impact of social change on Islamic also includes a stay in Nigeria from 1980 to that many scholars resort to impressionistic law. The questions posed by such novelties 1984, where he was senior lecturer at the Cen- and general statements, for example in as- could not be solved within the framework of tre for Islamic Legal Studies at the Ahmadu suming that the nation-state constitutes an the widely accepted theory concerning the Bello University in Zaria. There he taught Ma- appropriate unit of analysis in the Muslim 'usûl al-fiqh, developed by Al-Shâficî and fur- likite law and had the opportunity to become world. He has also co-edited a volume entitled ther refined by subsequent Muslim scholars. acquainted with Malikite law in practice. He Islamic Legal Interpretation: Muftis and Their According to them, there are four sources of was a member of the Committee on the Com- Fatwas (Harvard University Press, 1996). This is evidence in Islamic law: the Koran, tradition parative Study of Muslim Societies, Social a collection of analytical studies of specific fat- Professor Muhammad Khalid Masud has recently literature (hadîth), consensus (ijmâc), and rea- Science Research Council, New York, from was on various issues contributed by several been named Academic Director of the ISIM for three soning by analogy (qiyâs).
    [Show full text]
  • The Construction and Deconstruction of Secularism As an Ideology in Contemporary Muslim Thought
    AJSS 33,3_f2_363-383 11/17/05 3:38 PM Page 363 The Construction and Deconstruction of Secularism as an Ideology in Contemporary Muslim Thought Muhammad Khalid Masud Council of Islamic Ideology Islamabad This article starts with a sketch of the encounters and experiences of modern secularism in four areas of the Islamic world (Turkey, Arab world, South Asia and Southeast Asia); these point to the diverse conditions and constructions that have become central issues of regional and trans-regional discourse: laizism through reform, nationalism through decolo- nization, Islamic nationalism through state formation, and tolerance through traditional multi-ethnic environments. In analysing the basic writings of five exemplary modern Muslim thinkers, it is shown that modern Islamic thought, tied to the idea of mutual exclusive ideological constructions of secularism and Islamism, remains ambiguous while at the same time facing the factual unfolding of secularism in Muslim countries: the works of Mawdudi contain absolute denial of secularism; al-Qaradawi argues for the strict opposition and separation of the secular and the religious; al-Attas denies that Western processes of reli- gious secularization are applicable to the development of Islam. On the other hand, Iqbal and Rahman, although maintaining a clear distinction between the secular and the reli- gious, point to coinciding dimensions of religious and secular dimensions in modern polit- ical and social life. The reflection of the secular and the religious is highly shaped by historical and political influences as well as by ideologization, thus creating obstacles for fruitful conceptual reconstructions of the given dimensions of the coincidence of both — Islam and the secular conditions of modern society.
    [Show full text]
  • Pakistan, the Deoband ‘Ulama and the Biopolitics of Islam
    THE METACOLONIAL STATE: PAKISTAN, THE DEOBAND ‘ULAMA AND THE BIOPOLITICS OF ISLAM by Najeeb A. Jan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in The University of Michigan 2010 Doctoral Committee: Professor Juan R. Cole, Co-Chair Professor Nicholas B. Dirks, Co-Chair, Columbia University Professor Alexander D. Knysh Professor Barbara D. Metcalf HAUNTOLOGY © Najeeb A. Jan DEDICATION Dedicated to my beautiful mother Yasmin Jan and the beloved memory of my father Brian Habib Ahmed Jan ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people to whom I owe my deepest gratitude for bringing me to this stage and for shaping the world of possibilities. Ones access to a space of thought is possible only because of the examples and paths laid by the other. I must begin by thanking my dissertation committee: my co-chairs Juan Cole and Nicholas Dirks, for their intellectual leadership, scholarly example and incredible patience and faith. Nick’s seminar on South Asia and his formative role in Culture/History/Power (CSST) program at the University of Michigan were vital in setting the critical and interdisciplinary tone of this project. Juan’s masterful and prolific knowledge of West Asian histories, languages and cultures made him the perfect mentor. I deeply appreciate the intellectual freedom and encouragement they have consistently bestowed over the years. Alexander Knysh for his inspiring work on Ibn ‘Arabi, and for facilitating several early opportunity for teaching my own courses in Islamic Studies. And of course my deepest thanks to Barbara Metcalf for unknowingly inspiring this project, for her crucial and sympathetic work on the Deoband ‘Ulama and for her generous insights and critique.
    [Show full text]
  • The Madrasa in Asia: Political Activism and Transnational Linkages Noor, Farish A
    www.ssoar.info The Madrasa in Asia: political activism and transnational linkages Noor, Farish A. (Ed.); Sikand, Yoginder (Ed.); Bruinessen, Martin van (Ed.) Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Sammelwerk / collection Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Noor, F. A., Sikand, Y., & Bruinessen, M. v. (Eds.). (2008). The Madrasa in Asia: political activism and transnational linkages (ISIM Series on Contemporary Muslim Societies, 2). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univ. Press. https://nbn- resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-271847 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz This document is made available under a CC BY-NC-ND Licence (Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung) zur (Attribution-Non Comercial-NoDerivatives). For more Information Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de Since the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the traditional Islamic The Madrasa THE MADRASA IN ASIA schools known as madrasas have frequently been portrayed as hotbeds of terrorism. For much longer, modernisers have denounced POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND madrasas as impediments to social progress, although others have praised them for their self-sufficiency and for providing ‘authentic’ TRANSNATIONAL LINKAGES grassroots education. For numerous poor Muslims in Asia, the madrasa in a still constitutes the only accessible form of education. Madrasa reform sia has been high on the political and social agendas of governments Farish A. Noor, Yoginder Sikand across Asia, but the madrasa itself remains a little understood FARISH FARISH & Martin van Bruinessen (eds.) institution.
    [Show full text]
  • Defining Democracy in Islamic Polity
    Defining Democracy in Islamic Polity Posted on January 17, 2010 by admin Defining Democracy in Islamic Polity Muhammad Khalid Masud (Draft paper for discussion in the International Conference on “The Future of Islam, Democracy, and Authoritarianism in the Era of Globalization”, 5-6 December 2004, organized by the International Centre for Islam and Pluralism, Jakarta .) Whether democracy is compatible with Islam or not has been under discussion for more than a century. The issue has again come into focus in the wake of the war on terrorism. The assumption is that terrorism is a consequence of undemocratic and authoritarian polities. Broadly speaking, three views have emerged in this regard. One view, often favored by the Western media, holds that Muslim societies are unable to develop a liberal culture and hence Muslim countries have not been able to achieve democracy. Another, although a majority view among Muslim intellectuals, and not generally supported by the political practice, claims that democracy is not only compatible with Islamic teachings but also that Islamic polities in history have been more democratic than any other system in the world. The third view maintains that democracy is a foreign Western concept and does not go along with Islamic teachings. Islamic democracy, i.e. a democracy defined from the perspective, differs from “Western” democracy in form as well as in objectives. Whatever the perspective, studies on Islam and democracy never fail to stress the point that building democracy in Muslim countries is a formidable task. United States Institute of Peace Report on this subject opens with the following statement: “Democracy building remains an uphill struggle in most Muslim countries” (Special Report 93, 2002).
    [Show full text]
  • Iqbāl's Approach to Islamic Theology of Modernity
    1 Al-Hikmat Volume 27 (2007), pp. 1-36 IQBĀL’S APPROACH TO ISLAMIC THEOLOGY OF MODERNITY MUHAMMAD KHALID MASUD* Abstract. This essay is a study of Iqbāl’s The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam as a continuation of Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s quest for a framework to understand modernity from Islamic perspective. Khan’s Jadid ‘ilm al-kalam defined his approach to Islamic theology of modernity and later provided the basis for ‘Islamic modernism’. The essay argues that due to diverse experiences of modernity objectifications of modernity changed from science and nature in the nineteenth century to identity and autonomy of self in the twentieth century in Iqbāl’s approach to theology of modernity. The essay has three sections: the first explains the origins of the Islamic theology of modernity; the second offers an analysis of Iqbāl’s reconstruction of this theology, and the third reviews recent critique of Iqbāl’s approach. The essay concludes the discussion with an overview of contemporary theologies of modernity in the Muslim world. Islamic theology of modernity, also known jadid ‘ilm al- kalam, “new theology” and “Islamic modernism”, is usually characterized as an apologetic approach to defend Islam against modern Western criticism. This is probably because modernity came to be known in the Muslim world in the wake of colonialism when Muslims found themselves on the defensive. To the Western colonial regimes, Islam was not compatible with modernity and hence it was to be reformed and modernized or else marginalized. Muslims, therefore, generally conceived *Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud is Chairman, Council of Islamic Ideology, Government of Pakistan, Sector G-5/2, Islamabad (Pakistan).
    [Show full text]
  • Islam and Modernity: Key Issues and Debates
    Islam and Modernity Islam KEY ISSUES AND DEBATES Edited by Muhammad Khalid Masud, Armando Salvatore and Martin van Bruinessen Recent events have focused attention on the perceived differences and tensions between the Muslim world and the modern West. As a major strand of Western public discourse has it, Islam appears resistant to internal development and remains inherently pre-modern. and However, Muslim societies have experienced most of the same structural changes that have impacted upon all societies: massive urbanisation, mass education, dramatically increased communication, the emergence of new types of institutions and associations, some measure of Modernity political mobilisation, and major transformations of the economy. These developments are accompanied by a wide range of social movements and by complex and varied religious and ideological debates. This textbook is a pioneering study providing an introduction to and overview of the debates and questions that have emerged regarding Islam and modernity. Key issues are selected to give readers an understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The various manifestations of modernity in Muslim life discussed include social change and the transformation of political and religious institutions, gender politics, changing legal regimes, devotional practices and forms of religious association, shifts in religious authority, and modern developments in Muslim religious thought. Key Features • Each chapter contains an overview of relevant secondary literature and concludes with a summary of the key ideas presented and a set of questions • Contributing authors include some of the best-known academics from various disciplines Bruinessen and Martin van Armando Salvatore in the field presenting state-of-the-art scholarship in their specialised areas Edited by Muhammad Khalid Masud, Edited Muhammad Khalid Masud is Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology in Islamabad.
    [Show full text]