Modern Arab Research Articles

Protestants, Gender, and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria, by Deanna Ferree Womack

<i>Protestants, Gender, and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria</i>, by Deanna Ferree Womack

The Philosophy of Taha Abderrahman: A Critical Study

Abstract This paper provides a critical reading of some of the most important elements in the philosophy of the Moroccan thinker Taha Abderrahman (TA) (b. 1944), who has had a significant impact on contemporary Arab thought. It examines (1) his views on the essence of being human and the degrees of reason, (2) his concept of iʾtimāniyya (trusteeship paradigm), (3) his concept of the ‘discursive field’ (al-majāl al-tadāwulī) and how it relates to his struggle for intellectual emancipation from the hegemony of the West, and (4) his views on politics and democracy. First, the paper argues that TA is not as innovative as he repeatedly claims to be in his works; rather, he promotes a traditional type of Sufism that he skilfully cloaks in modern language, as well as in numerous neologisms that he himself has invented. Second, it is shown that any reading of TA’s philosophy must take into account his affiliation with the Budshishiyya Sufi order (one of the most influential players in the internal power structure of the Moroccan state). This paper contributes to the study of philosophy in the modern Arab world in general and to the study of TA in particular, who thus far has received only limited attention in Western academia.

Язык Корана: особенности морфологии глагола

The Quran is in focus of many researchers as a crucial source of information, including its language. The aim of the study is to describe the morphology of the Quran language in comparison with the modern Arabic literature language, which requires a thorough and comprehensive analysis of its text. The available scientific literature describes the style and vocabulary of the Quran language in detail, while the morphological aspects are not fully studied. The complementary use of modern methods of automatic data processing and techniques of comparative historical linguistics allows not only getting an unbiased picture of the morphology of the classical Arabic language, but also provides the basis for further typological studies. A quantitative analysis of individual verbal word forms in the Quran text in comparison with similar models of the modern Arabic language demonstrates the predominance of archaic forms, which in this case are typical for Arabic dialects, both ancient and modern. The findings substantiate the need for extra insights into the language of the Arabian Peninsula during the emergence of Islam, including on the basis of the Quran studies.

The Pragmatic Functions of ‘Mashi’ in Modern Arabic Language

The Pragmatic Functions of ‘Mashi’ in Modern Arabic Language

A Few Steps Away yet Worlds Apart: A Closer Look at Changing Streetscapes in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, continues to change at a rapid pace in response to city branding efforts. Significant investments in the city’s urban infrastructure and its built environment are widespread, as Abu Dhabi attempts to compete on the world stage and lure in tourists, corporations, and investors alike. City planners have been busy updating the city’s urban spaces and streetscapes. They have been transforming it into a sleek and modern contemporary Arab city with a ‘high-end’ feel – which has been successful thus far. As a result, Abu Dhabi’s name has become synonymous with luxury, and the city’s overall quality, livability, and resilience have improved significantly. At the other end of the spectrum, the lower-income segments of the society appear to be missing from the urban planning effort. Some of the urban upgrading interventions might be unintentionally taking away some of the vibrant and diverse aspects of informal street life. This is especially true in some areas, where monotonous and sterile newer environments and streetscapes are replacing the older, informal environments, mostly inhabited by lower-income workers. This paper takes a closer look at some of these older spaces and streetscapes in Abu Dhabi. Through a case study, it attempts to shed some light on some of these vibrant areas, which could potentially vanish soon. It also attempts to highlight the energetic nature of these streetscapes and bring this to the attention of city planners. The paper argues that valuable lessons could be learned from these informal spaces and that these lessons could contribute positively to future planning efforts in the city.

Исламская традиция и стратегии национального развития арабских государств

In the modern Arab world, the search of modernization ways, the forming of state political ideologies as well as creative economical conceptions are still based on the old Muslim tradition. There are 6 schools to be considered. All these schools have significantly influenced both the social structure of the Arab States and people behavior even since the Middle Ages. The common sign of all these schools as well as their strong difference from European philosophy pragmatism is undoubtedly priority of moral and ethic principles over material ones, condemnation of mercantilism and individualism. Thus, the concepts and strategies of Muslim states considering some utopian traditions are essentially national and original, but in any case, they are to be considered as anti-globalist tensions.

ХІХ ғасырдағы Мысыр қалаларының даму тарихы

Egypt has always attracted the attention of researchers as one of the oldest centers of civilization; many historical, geographical, cultural and religious studies have been devoted to its study. Taking into account the fact that the Arab Republic of Egypt occupies a leading position in the modern Arab East, more attention in historical and cultural studies is paid to the problems of the formation of Egypt, the history of its political, socioeconomic, cultural, literary and religious movements of modern and modern times. However, the processes of urbanization in Egypt today are on the periphery of sociocultural research, they are not given due attention. The beginning of the 19th century and the reforms of Muhammad Ali, as well as the construction of the Suez Canal, can be considered a conventional starting point for urbanization. The scientific article shows a direct relationship between the construction of the Suez Canal and the processes of Europeanization of the country launched by Muhammad Ali and his successors. The creation of large European cities, the impetus for the development of which was given by the construction of the Suez Canal, was subjected to a detailed analysis.

Discourse between the Regional and Universal Nature of the Functioning of the League of Arab States

Discussion of the political situation in the modern Arab statehood does not take into account the participation of the League of Arab States in the debates about the inception of the UN system, which arose after the Second World War. At an early stage, this institution did not have a full-fledged universalism, and the integration cooperation of the League of Arab States was confined to a security policy framework. Subsequently, the desire to influence the nature of the ideas and institutions that would shape the United Nations was completely lost. The League of Arab States has also never been committed to the logic of the global south. However, the UN can occasionally be disavowed in the diplomatic processes of the League, which have been tactically used by member states as a channel to maximize regional influence on internal Arab challenges other than the global order. Key words: Arab League; United Nations; Middle East; North Africa; regionalism; sovereignty; universalism; security.

اختلاف نطق بعض الأصوات لدى بعض الإندونسیین المقیمین فی الحدود الشمالیة بالمملکة العربیة السعودیة :دراسة تقابلیة

This study investigates the effect of the utterance for special sounds for some Indonesians in Saudi Arabia .Two groups are tested: three females were chosen from each group,they were examined in pronouncing special consonants, the consonants are as follows: /o /, /ϭ /, /ʃ/, /s/, /s/ with different vowels: /a/ ,/i/ and /u/.they were well trained for three weeks, we wrote the Arabic words in English letters to facilitate their utterance. They recorded it three times and we chose the best one. All the syllables are (cv). We analyzed the results by two ways: a-hearing,and: b- by using speech analysis program named (praat), this is a comparative study that deals with everyday usage of the language. We compared their utterance with the description of both: the ancient Arab linguists and the modern Arab linguists. Further research is required to enrich the linguistic field, especially the comparative linguistic.

Michelle Hartman. Breaking Broken English: Black-Arab Literary Solidarities and the Politics of Language.

While Arab American literary production began as soon as Arab immigrants arrived in the U.S., Arab American literary criticism has only recently begun to take shape as a distinct discursive field. Within the last two decades full monographs have been devoted to the topic, including Wail S. Hassan’s Immigrant Narratives (2014) and Carol Fadda’s Contemporary Arab American Literature (2014). Steven Salaita’s Modern Arab American Fiction: A Reader’s Guide (2011) is one of the earliest books of cr...

Social media and power in the Arab world: From dominant ideology to popular agency

Conceptualizing the social and political possibilities of digital mass-mediated communication in modern societies has generated a critical debate, ranging from proponents who conceive of its promising profound potential to sceptics who dismiss it as a trivial sociopolitical vacuity. For some observers in the field, social media has been mobilized to maintain hegemonic structures through a ‘weaponization’ of popular narratives on behalf of the dominant political elite. For others, social media discourse has signalled the end of grand narratives of political ideology, and has ultimately ushered in the age of subjective digital narcissism not unlike that of consumer culture in late capitalist societies. Beyond these two broader frameworks of inquiry, this article seeks to investigate the critical agency, popular sovereignty and transformative possibilities in socio-digital discourse in the modern Arab Gulf region. Recognizing the dominant and residual ideology within social media narratives, the article deploys Raymond Williams’ critical and insightful concept of ‘structures of feeling’ in order to critically assess the alternative emergent collective expressions that diverge from, yet respond to, hegemonic and dominant discourse. One of the main goals of this article, therefore, is to go beyond the conventional analysis of ‘utopian versus dystopian’ binary instrumentalization of social media in the region, to challenge the claim that media (both as technology and as technique) determine social and political consciousness. More specifically, and in contrast to McLuhan’s famed dictum that ‘the medium is the message’, this article contends that digital and social media virtues and contributions are not confined to the instrumental communication that serves practical purposes. Rather, and more fundamentally, digital and social media involve the practices and lived experiences of individuals, culture and society, especially those that constitute the formations of collective and emergent identities.

(The Semantic Fields Analytical Studies, For the Words of Enmity in the Poems of Eulogy by Poet (Uthsman Bin Ishak El- Toradi: حقل الشحناء في قصائد المدح من ديوان الشيخ ابن إسحاق التوردي: دراسة في ضوء الحقول الدلالية

The language studies especially the semantics, had been greatly developed, particularly In this present period and It had became the most important issue in human though, because it is the fundamental basic of communication and understanding in community, It is also the root of development and prosperity. The semantics fields are the most important part of modern semantics studies. Such studies have been carried out by some old Arab linguists like: Abi Ubaidat (210. A. H) in his book titled: (Alkhail) the horse. Al- Asmaee (216 A. H) in his book titled: (Khalqu Al- Insaan) Creation of Human. And Ibn- Seedah (448 A. H) In His Book Titled: (AL- Mukhassas) likewise some modern Arab linguists have also contributed to this kind of studies, such as Professor Ahmad Umar Mukhtar, the author of the book (Ilmul- Dilalah) the semantics. Dr. Aliyu AL- Khouli, the writer of the book (Ilmul- Ma’na) science of meaning. DR Ahmad Azooz the author of the book (Usulun Turasiyyah fi Nazariyyatu Al- Huqulu Al- Ddilaliyyah) the Heritage bases in the theory of semantics fields The convergence of the meaning of words, with different words from each other, is a problematic linguistic phenomenon, and such case can only be solved by studying the words according to the theory of semantic fields, to identify the semantic features, and to detect the semantic relations between words, in this regard, The research Titled; The Semantic Fields Analytical Studies, For the Words of Enmity in the Poems of Eulogy by Poet (Uthsman Bin Ishak El- Toradi) had been carried out. The research Has Discussed A Brief History Of The Poet (Uthsman Bin Ishak El- Toradi), And Also The Paper Talked About The Semantic Analysis Theory In the Light Of Semantic Fields, Explaining Its Importance And Significance In Defining Words Sense And Meanings، Then The Paper Went On To Carry out the Analytical Operation For Words Of Enmity That Were Used In The Poems.

PETA KAJIAN ATAS NOVEL SEJARAH ISLAM KARYA JURJĪ ZAIDĀN

The novel of Islamic history by Jurjī Zaidān is one of the works of Modern Arabic literature which appeared at the end of the 19th century. Since it was first published, as a serial story in al-Hilal magazine, this novel has been read and has received a great response. Zaidān composed 22 titles of novels from 1891 to 1914. After Zaidān's death in 1914, his novels were still read by the public, reprinted, and even translated in various languages in the world. Zaidān’s Islamic historical novels still exist, both within the scope of modern Arabic literature and in Arabic thought, with many studies to date. Research on this novel is reviewed and analyzed to reveal the diversity of perspectives to be mapped. Found nine perspectives in the study of Islamic historical novels; the perspective of the development of Arabic novel genres, the perspective of authorship and pioneering in Arabic novel genre, the perspective of the popularization of Arab-Islamic history, critical perspectives of Islamic historical facts, intrinsic literary criticism perspective, narrative structure perspective, feminist perspective, perspective modern Arab identity, and Arab nationalism perspective. The mapping of studies become the positioning of further Islamic historical novel studies, and at the same time can be a model of study for the analysis of other historical novels that develop in Arabic literature or other national literature.

NEO-PATRIARCHY AND THE PROBLEM OF THE ARAB CRISIS: A CRITICAL STUDY ON HISHAM SHARABI’S WORKS

Purpose of the study: The paper tries to elaborate on the ideas of Hisham Sharabi on Neo-patriarchy culture and its relevance to the current situations. He perceived that Neo-patriarchy as one of main causes of the Arab crisis. According to him, the Arab societies, in general, did not adopt modernism in its real form. Therefore, rather transforming into modern society they turned into “distorted modernism.”&#x0D; Methodology: The data of this research particularly are Sharabi’s works published during 1980s as crucial period of his intellectual journey.&#x0D; Results: The paper found three major conclusions on neo-patriarchy culture postulated by Sharabi: 1) neo-patriarchy culture is the real form of Arab’s failure in transforming its societies into modern one, it reflected such as in authoritarian political system, economic dependent, and social-political fragmentation; 2) criticism is pre-conditions for modern Arab societies’ transformation. One of the efforts to achieve real modernism according to Sharabi is to deconstruct some distorted definitions of democracy, civil society, and etc., and build the fresh meaning of the terms. &#x0D; Applications of this study: This research can be used for the universities, teachers, and students.&#x0D; Novelty/Originality of this study: In this research, the model of the neo-patriarchy and the problem of the Arab crisis: a critical study on hisham sharabi’s works are presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.

The Character of Shylock as a Cultural Mark: Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Bakathir's The New Shylock

This study aims to depict the image of the Jew by two different authors of various periods of time. Undoubtedly, the Image of the Jew had been discussed and depicted in many plays of famous and prominent authors, especially during The Renaissance Era, such as Christopher Marlowe in his brilliant artistic work The Jew of Malta. In addition to, William Shakespeare’s glorious piece of art The Merchant of Venice which is described by Dr. Mahmoud Shetywi, in his article “The Merchant of Venice in Arabic” as the play that is considered till now as the most prominent Elizabethan comedy that has been studied, performed and adapted by many universal and Arab modern and contemporary authors ; who one of them is the Yemeni author and playwright Ali Ahmed Bakathir with his adaptation of The Merchant of Venice which is called The New Shylock , in which he relates the traditional Elizabethan image of the Jew to the issue of (The Arab – Israeli Conflict). So, this study endeavors to show the genius dramatic techniques, that are used by both authors and the effect of Shakespeare on Bakathier. The New Shylock can be considered an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice with modern modifications and new concepts that serve the purpose of Bakathir. Accordingly, the researchers will rely on the theory of adaptation in excavating the treasures of both texts. Moreover, there are various (psychological, political, social and anthropological) aspects of depth that they tried to convey within their creation of the character of Shylock and what does this character really imply of the essential issues, to criticize and relate them to their own societies and times.

The Compatibility of Arab Laws and Modern International Trends with the Freedom of Parties to Choose the Law Applicable to International Trade Contracts

This article deals with the compatibility of the Arab laws and modern international trends represented in the principles of The Hague Conference (2015), on the freedom of the parties to choose the law applicable to international trade contracts in two sections. The first indicates the compatibility of an international issue; whereas the second section tackles discrepancies and contrasts in the scope of the freedom granted to the parties to choose law through the study of four axes: the extent of freedom in the selection of legal rules that disregard the legal system of any state, the extent of the link between the law selected, the parties, contract, the forms of choice, and the issue of the ability to modify the choice of contract. It concludes with the results of the differences between the Arab laws and the latest international trends in this regard, together with recommendations for Arab legislators to keep up with the legislative developments in this regard.

The Evolution of the Rajaz Meter in Modern Arabic Poetry, Al-Rajaz Poem as Narrative Poetry, as Reflected in the Works of Ṣalāḥ ‘ABD AL-Ṣabūr

Abstract The rajaz meter has always been folkloric, from its inception to this day. It is easy to compose verses in it, so that poets used it to express the concerns of their nation, especially following the consecutive political defeats which the Arab world has experienced. Modern Arab poets use this meter in poems that express the concerns of the common people and urge them to stand together in the face of defeats and despotic, oppressive regimes. The rajaz meter allows them to write in one voice that represents the collective as a whole. The Egyptian poet Ṣalāḥ ’Abd al-Ṣabūr (1931–81) used the rajaz meter in an innovative manner, in a way that he succeeded in making an equilibrium between poetry and prose. This can be seen in his use of the rajaz meter to compose narrative poems, as we shall see in the present study.

Beyond the Colonial/Orientalist Encounter: “European” Cultural Contributions to Arab Modernity

Albeit what can be described as the “European” contributions to world modernities (with Arab modernity included) are often perceived as a self-evident fact, a scrutinizing look is useful in shedding more light on the mostly ignored European cultural contributions to the Arab Nahḍah (Arab Renaissance) and modernity that were neither colonial nor orientalist, especially during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, with particular focus on Egypt and the Levant. This study examines the contributions of Europeans who settled in Egypt and the Levant, such as the Hungarian photographers Otto Schoefft (1833-1890s) and Zoltan Kluger (1895- 1977), Hungarian illustrator and painter Éric de Nemès (1910-??), the Spanish cartoonist Juan Santez and the Armenian cartoonist Alexander Saroukhan (1898-1977), to name a few. It also challenges the perception that the Europeans who migrated to and settled in the Arab region (especially in the early twentieth century) were living in “cultural ghettos.” Instead, the work of the above artists, literati and others shows that the European communities in Egypt and the Levant were cultural agents who contributed to the literary and artistic landscapes in their respective fields of expertise.

Becoming Arab: Creole Histories and Modern Identity in the Malay World

Sumit K. Mandal uncovers the hybridity and transregional connections underlying modern Asian identities. By considering Arabs in the Malay world under European rule, Becoming Arab explores how a long history of inter-Asian interaction was altered by nineteenth-century racial categorisation and control. Mandal traces the transformation of Arabs from familiar and multi-faceted creole personages of Malay courts into alienated figures defined by economic and political function. The racialisation constrained but did not eliminate the fluid character of Arabness. Creole Arabs responded to the constraints by initiating transregional links with the Ottoman Empire and establishing modern social organisations, schools, and a press. Contentions emerged between organisations respectively based on Prophetic descent and egalitarianism, advancing empowering but conflicting representations of a modern Arab and Islamic identity. Mandal unsettles finite understandings of race and identity by demonstrating not only the incremental development of a modern identity, but the contested state of its birth.

Emigration of Christians from the Arab Middle East: A New Reading

ABSTRACTSince the late 1950s, Christians’ emigration from the Arab Middle East has been a basic phenomenon affecting the political and social landscape of the region as well as a fundamental dynamic behind the depression of its Christian demography. This article shows that the intensive departure has been the result of structural and historical factors related to the performance of the modern Arab nation-states in the post-colonial era. Instead of the generalized and simplistic explanations that are often advanced that link the Christians’ emigration to Islamic revivals, the main dynamic of this out migration instead can be found in the policies of the modern Arab state and the outbreak of communal and regional conflicts.