Contextualist Approaches and the Interpretation of the Qur'ān
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Politics, Terrorism, and the Sunni Divide
Foreign Policy Research Institute E-Notes A Catalyst for Ideas Distributed via Fax & Email and Posted at www.fpri.org September 2009 POLITICS, TERRORISM, AND THE SUNNI DIVIDE By Samuel Helfont This E-Note is based on Mr. Helfont’s forthcoming monograph, The Sunni Divide: Understanding Politics and Terrorism in the Arab Middle East, a product of FPRI’s Center on Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Homeland Security. Wahhabism and the Muslim Brotherhood are two distinct forms of Sunni Islamism. They have separate histories and separate worldviews. In reality they are not even the same type of movement. Their origins were largely unrelated. Their historic missions have been completely different, as are their current goals and means of achieving those goals. Unfortunately, these differences too often are overshadowed by a false Sunni-Shia dichotomy that tends to lump all Sunni Islamists together. But learning the differences between Sunni Islamists is critical to understanding politics and terrorism in the Arab Middle East. One could even argue that the most important division shaping Arab politics is not between Sunnis and Shias but between the Wahhabis and the Brotherhood. Before delving into current issues, however, it is first necessary to define differences between Wahhabism and the Muslim Brotherhood. Wahhabism stems from the theological teachings of Muhammad ibn abd al-Wahhab, the eighteenth century reformer. Abd al- Wahhab was one of several “revivalist” thinkers to emerge from that century. The mission of these revivalists was to purify and thereby revitalize Islam. They carried the banner of reform but unlike modern reformers, they wanted to transform Islam on traditionally Islamic grounds. -
Sharia Law & Modern Universal Values
Sharia Law & Modern Universal Values A Comparative Case Study of Saudi Arabia and Malaysia Mohamed Osman S1376462 [email protected] 7/7/2017 Table of Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction 1.1 – Background…………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………3 1.2 – Methodology & Structure…………………………………………………………………………………………….5 Chapter 2 – Literature Review.................................................................................................8 Chapter 3 – Sharia Law: Contextual Framework 3.1 – The Formation of Sharia Law……………………………………………………………………………………..13 3.2 – The Application of Sharia Law……………………………………………………………………………………15 Chapter 4 – Case Study: Saudi Arabia 4.1 – Background of Modern Saudi Society………………………………………………………………………..17 4.2 – The Saudi Political System………………………………………………………………………………………….18 4.3 – Local Attitudes towards Saudi Society and Governance…………………………………………….21 4.4 – Saudi State Protection of Human Rights…………………………………………………………………….24 Chapter 5 – Case Study: Malaysia 5.1 – Islamic Insurgence in Malaysia…………………………………………………………………………………..30 5.2 – The Malaysian Political System…………………………………………………………………………………..31 5.3 – Local Attitudes towards the Malaysian State and Governance…………………………………..34 5.4 – Malaysian State Protection of Human Rights………………………………………………….………….35 1 S1376462 Chapter 6 – Conclusion 6.1 – Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….39 6.2 – Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...41 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….43 2 S1376462 Chapter 1 – Introduction 1.1 -
Islam and the Foundations of Political Power Ali Abdel Razek
eCommons@AKU In Translation: Modern Muslim Thinkers ISMC Series 1-1-2013 Islam and the Foundations of Political Power Ali Abdel Razek Maryam Loutfi Translator Abdou Filali-Ansary Editor Follow this and additional works at: http://ecommons.aku.edu/uk_ismc_series_intranslation Part of the Islamic World and Near East History Commons Recommended Citation Abdel Razek, A. , Loutfi, M. , Filali-Ansary, A. (2013). Islam and the Foundations of Political Power Vol. 2, p. 144. Available at: http://ecommons.aku.edu/uk_ismc_series_intranslation/1 IN TRANSLATION: MODERN MUSLIM THINKERS Established in London in 2002, the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations aims to strengthen research and teaching about the heritages of Muslim societies as they have evolved over time, and to examine the challenges these societies face in today’s globalised world. It also seeks to create opportunities for interaction among academics, traditionally trained scholars, innovative thinkers and leaders, in an effort to o I promote dialogue and build bridges. s f l a P IN TRANSLATION: MODERN MUSLIM THINKERS m o Islam and the Series Editor: Abdou Filali-Ansary l a i This series aims to broaden current debates about Muslim realities which often ignore seminal t n works produced in languages other than English. By identifying and translating critical and i c innovative thinking that has engendered important debates within its own settings, the series d Foundations of a hopes to introduce new perspectives to the discussions about Muslim civilisations -
EDITORIAL: Contesting the Dichotomy of Islam and Modernity: Islamic Feminisms
P a g e | 3 EDITORIAL: Contesting the Dichotomy of Islam and Modernity: Islamic Feminisms Alina Isac ALAK University of Bucharest, Romania [email protected] Even nowadays, Muslim women, who are or are not veiled, are still not treated individually, but collectively, often reduced to „Muslimwomanˮ, an artificial determination that collapses all the aspects related to gender and religion. By promoting this insidious concept of „Muslimwomanˮ, Islamist men, non-Muslim men, orientalists, and even Muslim or non-Muslim states deny and mask the national, ethnic, cultural, historical, philosophical, and spiritual diversity of Muslim women and forcefully assume the right to decide what is good or bad for Muslim women and on their behalf.1 However, during the last decades, a salutary path for progress has been made, especially in academia; the new ideas and attitudes are also reflected in Muslim activist feminist movements. A new type of Islamic feminist resistance against the limited neo-orientalist or Islamist gender-related imaginary preserves the faith-based point of reference and facilitates the emergency of a series of various alternative Islamic gender concepts and theories, doubled by an enhanced representation of Muslim women by their own agency. The development of the last century’s political Islam that had to allow public access to classical books of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) in order to justify its return to Shari’ah and that opportunistically resorted to logic, reasoning and non-religious sources of knowledge, paradoxically and involuntarily generated the configuration of an internal critique and demystification of the sanctity of the so-called divine Islamic law’s diverse patriarchal interpretations. -
Modernity and the Fragmentation of the Muslim Community in Response: Mapping Modernist, Reformist and Traditionalist Responses
Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 55:1 (2014), ss.71-100 DOI: 10.1501/Ilhfak_0000001405 Modernity and the Fragmentation of the Muslim Community in Response: Mapping Modernist, Reformist and Traditionalist Responses AYDIN BAYRAM İstanbul Üniv. İlahiyat Fakültesi [email protected] Abstract The encounter of the Muslim community with western modernity ushered in a new course of events involving multidimensional interactions and conflicts in economic, political, social and cultural areas. As a result of this eventful encounter, three different major reactions came about among Muslims towards modernity: the first one is modernism which aims at the western-type modernization and cracks a door to secularism. The second one was a movement which, harboring fundamentalist and reformist ideas, rejected modernity entirely and viewed the backwardness vis-à-vis the West in Muslims’ inadequate understanding of Islam. The third one was the (neo-) traditionalist approach. This study offers an account of the encounter with a little background and also an analysis of all three responses that Muslims held towards modernity. It finally presents whether or not these approaches brings in anything new in terms of Muslim sectarianism. Keywords: Modernity, Modernist, Reformist, Traditionalist. Öz Modernite ve İslam Toplumunun Buna Tepkisinde Farklılaşması: Modern, Islahçı ve Gelenekçi Tavırların Ortaya Konulması İslam toplumunun Batı Modernizmi ile karşılaşması ekonomik, politik, sosyal ve kültürel zeminlerde çok boyutlu bir etkileşim ve çatışma sürecini beraberinde getirdi. Bu karşılaşmada Müslümanlar arasından üç farklı tepki ortaya çıktı: İlki Batı tipi bir modernleşmeyi hedefleyen ve bu çerçevede sekülerleşmeye kapı açan yaklaşımdı. İkincisi, modernleşmeye toptan karşı çıkan ve Batı karşısındaki geri kalmışlığı İslam’ı yeterince yaşayamamakta gören köktenci ve ıslahçı yaklaşımdı. -
The Absence of Muslim Women in Shaping Islamic Thought
BARAZANGI JLR FINAL CLEAN COPY 6.15.09 (1) 1/21/2015 11:36 AM THE ABSENCE OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN SHAPING ISLAMIC THOUGHT: FOUNDATIONS OF MUSLIMS’ PEACEFUL AND JUST CO-EXISTENCE Nimat Hafez Barazangi I. SUMMARY This paper explores the ethical and legal pedagogy of the current debates on “reforming” Muslim societies, whether they claim to reform social and legal systems, reform educational institutions, or liberate Muslim women. Since these debates claim to achieve balance in global or domestic conflicts, I address the foundations of these debates by answering three questions: (1) Are the rationales for American and/or European governments’ interventions justified?; (2) Can the discipline of civil law help in rethinking Islam for Muslims; and (3) Are Muslims themselves ready to critically address the use and misuse of Islam’s primary sources (the Qur’an and particularly the Hadith) in their rethinking of Islam? I argue that rather than seeking to “reform others,” in this case Muslims with an elitist attitude and sometimes violent interventions, we scholars of law and religion, scholars of Islam, policy-makers, and social justice researchers would be better off if: (1) we thought of Islam as a religio-moral rational worldview, rather than a set of laws, (2) we recognized Muslims as subject to historical transformation, like any other religious groups, and understood how they developed their present views of Islam, and (3) we considered our own real responsibilities to address the forms Ph.D., Research Fellow, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. 391 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, [email protected]. -
Chapter Iii Muhammad Syahrur and His Thought
29 CHAPTER III MUHAMMAD SYAHRUR AND HIS THOUGHT A. The Background Of Muhammad Syahrur Muhammad Syahrur was born at the intersection Salihiyyah, Damascus on April 11, 193831 in Damascus, Syria. He was the fifth child of a dyer named Daib. While his mother was Siddîqah bint Salih Filyun. He is married to ‘Azizah and blessed with five children, namely Tariq (married to Rihab), al-Layth (married to Olga), Rima (married to Luis), while the other two are Basil, and Mashun. The two grandchildren named Muhammad and Kinan. Shahrur attention and affection to her family so big. This is proven by always mentioning their names in his works offerings. Moreover, it also appears in the administration of child marriage perempuanya, Rima, who celebrated by inviting religious figures and even political figures of Bath party, the party’s most influential Syrians today32. Since very young Shahrur was famous by his great intelligent and brilliant. This is most evident from the education process and does not face the slightest hindrance. Shahrur education was the same as other children beginned from Elementary School ,I’dadiyah (equivalent junior / Junior High school) and junior secondary (high school equivalent / Aliyah) 31 Muhammad .Syahrur, Al-kitab wa al-Qur’an: Qira’ah Mu’asyirah, (Damaskus:al-Ahali li-Attiba’ah wa an-Nasy wa at-Tawzi, 1990), p. 823 32 Ahmad Zaki Mubarok, Pendekatan Strukturalisme Linguistik in Tafsir al- Qur’an Kontemporer “ala” M. Syahrur, (Yogyakarta: Elsaq Press, 2007), p. 137 29 30 in Damascus. In the age of 19, Shahrur earn diplomacy of Tsanawiyah in School of Abdurrahman al-Kawakibi in 1957 AD33 he completed his secondary education and received a scholarship from the government of Syria to continue his studies in the field of civil engineering in Moscow, Russia. -
The Sunni Divide: Understanding Politics and Terrorism in the Arab Middle East
Center on Terrorism and Counterterrorism at the FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE The Sunni Divide: Understanding Politics And Terrorism In The Arab Middle East By Samuel Helfont THE SUNNI DIVIDE: UNDERSTANDING POLITICS AND TERRORISM IN THE ARAB MIDDLE EAST By Samuel Helfont November 2009 FPRI, 1528 Walnut Street, Suite 610, Philadelphia, PA 19102-3684 www.fpri.org About FPRI Founded in 1955, the Foreign Policy Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S. national interests. We add perspective to events by fitting them into the larger historical and cultural context of international politics. About FPRI’s Center on Terrorism and Counterterrorism The Center’s mission is to study the goals, tactics, and strategies of terrorism and develop responses to it, using: advanced technology, scenarios and storyboarding, and simulation and modeling. The focus of the Center’s research is on terrorists, their strategies and tactics, and their objectives, resources, and capabilities for creating multilateral unconstrained disruption. The Center makes projections on future terrorist actions and develops improved systems for protecting our nation’s vital institutions and interests. FPRI, 1528 Walnut Street, Suite 610, Philadelphia, PA 19102-3684 www.fpri.org Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. -
APOSTASY & FREEDOM of BELIEF in MUSLIM PERSPECTIVE a Brief
APOSTASY & FREEDOM OF BELIEF IN MUSLIM PERSPECTIVE ∗ A Brief Exposition Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies (CCIS) [email protected] Apostasy or irtidad/riddah (in Arabic) comes from the root word radd, which means "to retreat, to retire, to withdraw from or to fall back from". Within the context of Muslim jurisprudence (fiqh), the word implies the abandonment or renunciation of Islam. An apostate therefore is known as a murtadd. This term has evoked so much sentiment among Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Some Muslims today are calling for harsh punishments for apostates, ranging from death to imprisonment. According to a recent survey, 86% of Jordanians supported death penalty for apostasy; followed by Egyptians (84%); and Pakistan (76%). Support from Indonesians stood at 30% while Turkey was lowest with 5% supporting. (Pew Research Centre, 2010) Many Muslim-majority countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Malaysia, have enacted laws that target apostates as well as attempts to convert Muslims to other faiths. These lawmakers and their supporters claim to uphold "Islamic law" and regard apostasy as a severe crime that undermines the state, Muslims and their sacred religion – therefore the need to regulate it through the penal code. Meanwhile, freedom of religion is regarded as an important aspect in a modern, democratic society. Article 18 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, of which many Muslim nations were also signatories of, states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." (UNDHR, 1948) Two of these positions were seen as contrasting worldviews – one “Islamic” and the other “Western”. -
Islam, Globalization and Counter Terrorism
ISLAM, GLOBALIZATION AND COUNTER TERRORISM Juhaya S. Praja* I. ISLAM AND GLOBALIZATION A. Islamic Universality The Quran states that Islam is the universal religion and is a mercy to all creatures.1 Islam is a religion of peace. As a universal faith, that has been subject to diverse interpretations, Islam offers a living demonstration of qualities to which all human beings can relate: compassion, mercy, tolerance, and love. Bearing the label “Muslim” is no guarantee of living by its teaching since Muslims are not a single, homogeneous entity. Grave risks arise from thinking that they are. Islam is more than a system of theology, it’s a complete civilization.2 The classical history of Islam proved the Islamic universality: Islam rejects discrimination, racism, and teaches men and women to disperse within the land and seek the bounty of God.3 More clearly the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad instructs his followers to seek knowledge, even to China.4 Indeed, this hadith calls for globalization at doctrinal and practical levels. Islam became the global power when the peoples of Arabia, Africa, Europe and Asia admired and followed the Islamic civilization and culture. The presence of Islam has contributed to the welfare and the prosperity of the peoples. The civilized peoples closely related to the basics of Islamic doctrine, ethics, values, morals, law, and their customs. Islam and its history have taught globalization at the most general level, that refers to a process of change which affects all regions of the world in a variety of sectors including the economy, science and technology and to some extent – politics, the media, culture and the environment. -
Chapter Iv M. Syahrur and His Opinion About Aurat and Jilbab Within Verse 31 An-Nurand 59 Al - Ahzab
48 CHAPTER IV M. SYAHRUR AND HIS OPINION ABOUT AURAT AND JILBAB WITHIN VERSE 31 AN-NURAND 59 AL - AHZAB A. Implementation ofMuhammadShahrur Lawsof Istimbatin Interpreting the verse of Aurat and Jilbab In reality, as a servant of Allah SWT and the follower of Rasulullah SAW, we are taught to always come back to Al-Quran and Al- Hadith to obtain assurance about the permissibility of a matter. Regarding this, Allah SWT said:- ﻳَﺎ أَﻳﱡﻬَﺎ ا ﻟ ﻨﱠ ﺒِ ﻲﱡ ﻗُﻞ ﻟﱢ ﺄَ زْ وَ ا ﺟِ ﻚَ وَ ﺑَ ﻨَ ﺎ ﺗِ ﻚَ وَ ﻧِ ﺴَ ﺎ ء اﻟْﻤُﺆْﻣِﻨِﻴﻦَ ﻳُﺪْﻧِﻴﻦَ ﻋَ ﻠَ ﻴْ ﻬِ ﻦﱠ ﻣِﻦ ﺟَ ﻠَ ﺎ ﺑِ ﻴ ﺒِ ﻬِ ﻦﱠ ذَ ﻟِ ﻚَ أَدْﻧَﻰ أَن ﻳُ ﻌْ ﺮَ ﻓْ ﻦَ ﻓَﻠَﺎ ﻳُ ﺆْ ذَ ﻳْ ﻦَ وَ آَ ﺎ نَ ا ﻟ ﻠﱠ ﻪُ ﻏَﻔُﻮرًا رﱠﺣِﻴﻤًﺎ “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be molested. “(Al-Ahzab: 59) Asforthe decline inthis paragraphisthe hadeeth narratedbyIbnAbiHatimfromSudaythat peopleoftenteasefasiqwomenwhentheygo out at night, whentheysee them(the women) usingheadgear,thentheyleavebecausetheyknowthatwomenitwas afree womanbutifnotthentheytease him. Thenthisverse came down46 46 Muhammad Ali Ashobuny, Shofwatut Tafasir, ( Beirut; Darul Fikr; 2001 ), p. 491 49 Besides,thescholars’commentatorsagreethatthis verseisbecausethe declineatthetime ofbothslavesandfree womenalikefora nightperformingatGhaithanintent, there was nodifferencebetweenboththe freeandtheslaves. BecauseinMedinamanywicked peoplewholike tobullyanddisrupttheslave, 48so thatwhentheyknowthattheyarefree womenthen theyleaveandkeepdisturbingwomanslave. Sotheverse came downso thatan independentwoman whobecomeseasily recognizedandnotbe whichcomes from the word“veil”its meaningisﺟﻼﺑﻴﺒﻬﻦdisturbed47 The stilldisputedbythe scholars’. AlBaqa’iinterpret it asloose clothingorveilshe wore, orall ofthe clothesthat covera woman. -
Review Essay
Valerie J. Hoffman Review Essay ISLAM AND MODERNITY VALERIE J. HOFFMAN University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Cooper, John et al., eds. Islam and Modernity: Muslim Intellectuals Respond . London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 1998. Pp. xii + 228. $55.00 cloth. Starrett, Gregory. Putting Islam to Work: Education, Politics and Religious Transformation in Egypt . Berkeley CA: University of California Press, 1998. Pp. xvi + 308. $22.00 paper. * hile the topic of “Islam and modernity” is hardly new, and antholo- Wgies now exist that collect diverse Muslim opinions on the topic, Islam and Modernity: Muslim Intellectuals Respond is a valuable addition to the field because it brings together a series of excellent articles analyzing the ideas of a very diverse set of Muslim thinkers who wish to find a way to link Islam with a positive concept of modernity and are willing to subject it to bold new interpretations in order to do that. Although we frequently hear that we are living in a “postmodern” age, and it might seem passé to make modernity the focus of discussion, discussions of modernity contin- ue to lie at the heart of public debate in the Muslim world, where all too often “modern” approaches to Islam are placed in opposition to “authen- tic” views of Islam. The diversity of responses represented in this book, the selection of thinkers, and the thoroughness and sophistication of the analy- ses written by a correspondingly diverse group of Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, make this work thought-provoking and add considerably to the depth of writings on this topic.