Contemporary Islam Research Articles

The Martin Luther of Islam?

Although I did not study under Isma’il al-Faruqi (d. 1986) directly as didscholars like John Esposito and many others, I have, nonetheless, had thepleasure of teaching and introducing my students to his person and ideas forthe past decade. His former students have convened two conferences (London[2010] and Kuala Lumpur [2013]) to celebrate his intellectual contribution,from which came a book and a special issue of this journal. Could all of thisbe sentimental hero worship, or a life worthy of sincere celebration and emulation?Studying his intellectual publications and tracing his academic andsocial activities make it abundantly clear that he was unique and committedto improving the lot of Islam and Muslims.John Esposito and John Voll narrate in their Makers of ContemporaryIslam a brief story: “An old Christian acquaintance of al-Faruqi once commentedthat al-Faruqi believed that Islam was in need of reformation and, hebelieved, al-Faruqi aspired to be its Luther.”1 Even though this was a sincereassessment, Esposito and Voll speculate that al-Faruqi would have preferredthe word mujāhid. Esposito prefers to use this term to describe al-Faruqi, ashe did in his “Memoirs of a Scholar and a Mujahid.”2 Although al-Faruqinever referred to himself in this way, portraying him as Islam’s Martin Lutherdoes have some significance to contemporary Islam and Islamic thought.Luther appeared on the Christian intellectual and religious scene duringthe 1500s, a time when Christian theology and thought were perceived as profoundlycorrupt. There were indulgences, essentially “get out of purgatoryfree” cards, that only the rich and powerful could afford. Championed bypopes and princes, this practice undermined the Christian’s role of personalresponsibility and Jesus’ message (peace be upon him).Church leaders sought to monopolize religious knowledge by prohibitingtranslations of the Bible and to stifle the pursuit of knowledge by publishingtheir Index of Forbidden Books (from 1559 to 1966, when Pope Paul VI abolishedit). The church hierarchy also began teaching that following the Bible ...

CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN MIDDLE EASTERN POLITICS: Introduction to the Special Issue

CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN MIDDLE EASTERN POLITICS: Introduction to the Special Issue

JIHAD AND JUST WAR

This paper attempts to demonstrate that the differences between the Western and Islamic traditions on the ethics of warfare run far deeper than what traditional scholarship suggests. The present study focuses on three main areas: the sources of our knowledge of morality, the objectives of warfare, and the principle of non-­combatant immunity. We shall see that these three topics are inter-­connected, and also that understanding the classical Islamic law of war is essential to understanding the ideology and allure of contemporary Islamism.

منهج الفقهاء المعاصرين في تناول نظرية الظروف الطارئة (تحليل ونقد)

This research aims to answer the question: Does the approach to reestablish the above-mentioned theory on the applications of ancient jurists sound true in its basics and consequences? The research followed inductive and analytic approach. The research is characterized as the first search in the contemporary Islam jurists' approach in the subject, and it involved analysis and criticism of that approach that was not used earlier. The search was divided into eight sections: dealing with the definition of the theory, contemporary Islam jurists approach, and criticism of some of its aspects. The research arrived at different findings such as the insufficiency of the approach to reestablish on the applications of ancient jurists to meet new developments or to achieve justice in the field of the theory. Reestablishment of the theory on the ancient implementation of “wad’a al jawwaih” is not based on appropriate principles. The theory should be deeply rooted with all its provisions in the nature of the right in Islamic jurisprudence, which itself is based on justice and true interest. حاول البحث الإجابة على سؤال: هل يُمثِّلُ منهج تخريج النظرية على تطبيقات الفقهاء المتقدمين منهجاً سليماً في أسسه ونتائجه. واتبع البحث منهجاً استقرائياً تحليلياً. ويتميز البحث بأنه أول بحث في مناهج المعاصرين في الموضوع، وأنه انطوى على تحليلات وانتقادات لذلك المنهج لم تُطرح سابقاً. وقد تم تقسيم البحث إلى ثمانية مطالب: تناولت التعريف بالنظرية، وعرض منهج الفقهاء المعاصرين فيها، ونقد بعض جوانبه. وخلص البحث إلى نتائج أهمها: عدم كفاية منهج التخريج على فقه المتقدمين لمواجهة المستجدات أو لتحقيق العدل في مجال النظرية. تخريج النظرية على وضع الجوائح لا يقوم على أساس صحيح. يجب تأصيل النظرية بكل أحكامها بالاستناد إلى طبيعة الحق في الفقه الإسلامي القائمة على العدل والمصلحة.

Islamic encounters in consumption and marketing

In recent years, Islam has become highly visible in media, politics, and the marketplace. The increasing popular and academic attention to Islam is partly driven by the events of 9/11 and the related imperative to ‘‘better’’ understand Muslims. The interest is also stimulated by broader socioeconomic developments, in particular neoliberal transformation and the so-called Islamic resurgence. Beginning in the late 1970s and accelerating in the 1980s and 1990s, Islamization has become a major social and political force impacting the Muslim world and beyond. Studies conducted in various fields of social sciences discussed the rise of Islamist movements and the spread of political Islam in connection to globalization and as an expression of resistance to Western-style modernization and secular modernity (e.g. Comaroff and Comaroff, 2000; Dekmejian, 1995; Esposito, 1998). For example, in his influential book, Globalized Islam , Olivier Roy (2004) linked the rise of contemporary Islamism to cultural disruptions and dislocations of a globalizing world, which made people, uprooted from their original cultures, susceptible to ‘‘fundamentalist’’ forms of Islam

The Risk in Islamic Finance Instrument and its Impact on Capital Adequacy

Islamic finance is evolving as a rapidly growing part of the financial sector in the Islamic world. Its current asset base of one trillion USD is experiencing annual growth of 15 – 20 percent. It is categorized by being interest free and depends largely on the principles of Islamic Law (Shari’ah). Now, Islamic finance is not restricted to Islamic countries, but is spreading wherever there is a sizable Muslim community. The Islamic financial services industry, containing Islamic banking, Islamic insurance and the Islamic capital market, is an area that has grown to become an increasingly substantial segment within the global financial market and has gained considerable interest as a viable and efficient alternative model of financial intermediation. This paper examines contemporary Islamic Financial Instruments and the risk of Islamic financial instruments. This paper analyses forwards, futures and options, examines the evolution of these instruments, their unique benefits and why they are needed

Radicalisation and de-radicalisation of social movements: The comeback of political Islam?

Forty years after Mathiesen wrote the ‘politics of abolition’ his work can enhance our understanding about radicalisation and de-radicalisation of social movements and terrorist groups. In ‘the politics of abolition’ Mathiesen explains the mechanism of two social factors that moderate the most contested goals and means of abolitionists groups. Due to these mechanisms, abolitionist movements often split into one rather moderate and one ‘radical’ current. The Islamist movement is an empirical example for the split the model predicts. Jihadism (e.g. al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups) represents the most radical form of contemporary Islamism, while nationalist Islamism (e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood) and non-jihadi fundamentalism (mainstream Salafism) can be considered less radical because these currents either dismissed their abolitionist goals in favour of political integration, or reject terrorist violence as a means to enforce abolitionist goals. The communiques and public statements of al-Qaeda give insight into the discourse within the Islamist movement. A sample of jihadi media is reviewed in this article as to compare al-Qaeda’s political positions with those of other Islamist movements and organisations.

On the Asphalt Path to Divinity

This article presents one of the many faces of contemporary Islam in the Balkans, that of the Bektashi community in Albania, and specifically the Sari Saltik teqe (sanctuary) on Kruja mountain. In so doing, it sheds light on the role of religion in 'post-atheist' Albania, while taking into account major changes to the religious landscape in the post-communist, and arguably post-transformation context. The essay ethnographically examines the challenges posed by societal changes for the Kruja teqe, which is undergoing its own micro-scale technological revolution in the form of a newly constructed asphalt road to the top of the mountain, which will likely have far-reaching consequences for the shrine and the whole local community. The essay thus illustrates how Albanian society has become entangled with the turbulent processes of modernisation, increased mobility and the globalising world.

Evidence, Secrets, Truth: Debating Islamic Knowledge in Contemporary Sudan

Scholars are at near consensus that contemporary Muslim societies are characterized by a democratization of access to knowledge and a leveling-out of the hierarchies involved in its transmission. However, while changes in configurations of knowledge and power toward more egalitarian access to both are undeniable, this article explores how one demographic—contemporary Sudanese Sufis in the context of a state-sponsored push toward the “Islamization of knowledge”—is both shaped by this new discursive context and is questioning the wisdom of its uncritical adoption. In doing so, this article seeks to move beyond dichotomies—mind/body, discursive/nondiscursive knowledge, Islamism/Sufism—that still characterize the study of Islamic mysticism while highlighting the integral nature of Sufi publics to the key debates which drive contemporary Islam. Through a close ethnographic reading of the lived-hermeneutics of Sufis who are embracing a theology of restricted knowledge (or, secrets), this article contributes to a broader discussion of the emergent politics of religious knowledge in our twenty-first century “information society.”

Contemporary Islamic Educational Discourse and the Philosophy of Empowerment

The central concern of this article is to examine the contemporary Islamic educational discourse from the perspective of the philosophy of empowerment. In line with this view, it proposes a new conceptual framework for empowerment in lieu of the traditional views, which consider empowerment in terms of infrastructural developments or shifting power from the powerful to the powerless. We suggest that empowerment should be viewed as a social process that helps people gain control over their lives by enabling them to act on issues important to them. Considered in this light, education that seeks to empower people must be a process that provides the fundamental freedom and resources to understand the world and grants the ability to change that world. Contemporary Islamic educational discourses are evaluated on this basis to determine to what extent Islamic educators are engaged with the idea of empowerment proposed in this article.

Contemporary Islamic Educational Discourse and the Philosophy of Empowerment

The central concern of this article is to examine the contemporary Islamic educational discourse from the perspective of the philosophy of empowerment. In line with this view, it proposes a new conceptual framework for empowerment in lieu of the traditional views, which consider empowerment in terms of infrastructural developments or shifting power from the powerful to the powerless. We suggest that empowerment should be viewed as a social process that helps people gain control over their lives by enabling them to act on issues important to them. Considered in this light, education that seeks to empower people must be a process that provides the fundamental freedom and resources to understand the world and grants the ability to change that world. Contemporary Islamic educational discourses are evaluated on this basis to determine to what extent Islamic educators are engaged with the idea of empowerment proposed in this article.

Gender Analysis in Contemporary Islamic Discourse

Islamic jurisprudence is a dynamic system. It is facilitated by some flexible methodologies. Nowadays, there are varieties of issues in Muslims’ societies that are results or implications of developments in science and technology, and also results of changes that happen in the structures of the societies. In order to face this reality, a contemporary integrated approach has to be applied in Islamic Jurisprudence's research process. Hence, this paper will elaborate the integrated approaches that try to unify and integrate theories in Islamic jurisprudence with social research methods. Basically, there are models that have been introduced by several scholars that relate to this integrated approach. All of the models have their own strength and weakness in these approaches. This paper attempts to analyze the integration of Islamic jurisprudence theories with the gender analysis method and its relation to social critics methods. This is related to an issue in fiqh pertaining to polygamy that is always being debated nowadays and also to analyze the applicability of the practice in the social and contemporary conditions of our soceity.

Commanding good and prohibiting evil in contemporary Islam: cases from Britain, Nigeria, and Southeast Asia

This paper examines the concept of (public) sin as well as efforts to counteract sin from the perspective of Islam. The understanding that hisba, the prohibition of vice and enjoining of virtues, are a responsibility of both the state and the community is common in historical and contemporary Muslim societies. Where the state cannot or does not provide means for countering (public) sin, the perception for some Muslims is that the responsibility on the community and individuals to do so increases. Based on ethnographic research in Britain, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, the paper highlights examples of how sin has been defined amongst Muslim communities as well as the methods and rationales given to justify the forbidding of sin as a collective and communal public obligation. As the world becomes more integrated, there is growing concern amongst Muslim communities that sin is becoming the norm, leading society to degeneracy, that people who would not have otherwise sinned are influenced to do so. Common features in forbidding sin across Muslim communities have appeared, often focusing on what are seen as moral issues such as dress codes, music, gambling, alcohol, smoking, and the mixing of men and women in public. The forbidding of sin has resulted in attempts to introduce “Shari’a Zones” in some predominantly Muslim areas of London, whilst in Indonesia, this has given rise to the Islamic Defenders Front and in some Northern Nigerian states to the reintroduction of the criminal codes of the Shari’a.

‘Anthropologists are Talking’:About Islam, Muslims and Law in Contemporary Europe

In contemporary Europe, Islam and Muslims are rightly or wrongly often perceived as the ‘other’. Among the central foci of concern in many Western European countries with a significant presence of Muslims, the law has featured prominently in recent years. What can anthropology tell us about the multiple ways in which European Muslims engage with liberal and secular laws and the state? Perhaps no other contemporary scholar in anthropology has written more extensively about these issues than Professor John R. Bowen. As part of an ongoing series in public anthropology, Professor Bowen engaged in a public conversation with Professor Oddbjørn Leirvik and Postdoctoral Fellow Sindre Bangstad at The House of Literature in Oslo, Norway on 27 September 2011. Due to technical failures, the conversation had to be re-recorded at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on 28 September 2011.

Youth culture and Islam in Indonesia

Indonesian youth culture is sometimes depicted through a moral panic discourse about mixed sex socializing. In this article, the authors challenge that view by presenting some ethnographic material on young Muslim Indonesians of both sexes socialising in an internet café and gathering during Ramadhan in a mall in Solo, Central Java. Young Indonesians enact everyday youth culture through the negotiation of space, time, and technology within the strong discourse of moral propriety and gender separation advised by contemporary Islam. The intense social bonding between same sex age peers provides security and reassurance for young men and women in the transition to adulthood. Technology is now integral to this bonding.

Christian Responses to the Political Challenge of Islam

The article provides an overview of the political dimension of Islam, drawing attention to the traditional understanding of Islam's fusion of the political and the religious. An assessment of both the historical roots of Islam and more contemporary Islam political theologies makes manifest the problematic and variegated nature of this assumption. The contemporary responses to Islam in the public square of three Christian theologians are then analysed in the light of the evident diversity of political Islam: Kenneth Cragg, Pope Benedict XVI, and Rowan Williams, drawing them into conversation with Oliver O'Donovan and John Milbank. They each offer complementary insights into theologies of the Church, the common good, Christian culture, sin, notions of power and the doctrine of God. This analysis highlights the need for a Christian political theology that can engage with Islam in all its diversity and yet challenge elements of Islamic voluntarism that are inhibitive of religious plurality.

Faith, Reason and Statecraft in Contemporary Islam: Interpretations, Interface and Distortions

Role of reason in faith and statecraft in Islam is the central feature that this article attempts to investigate. The underlying argument that constitutes the premise of the paper is the suggestion that faith and reason are mutually amenable, and their sustained bondage is essential for forward movement of the state, its citizenry and the statecraft. A key question being looked at is whether or not intellectual movement in Islam is experiencing stagnation or otherwise. Following a systematic enquiry pathway, the discourse thereforeexamines how, to what extent, and for how long reason has guided development of Islamic jurisprudence and political thought with contingent bearing upon direction of the state and statecraft until contemporary Muslim environment. Among others, the discussion engages with controversies surrounding ijtihad as well as the question of Islam versus modernity with necessary reference to secularism. The paper concludes by resolving the issues raised.

Contemporary Islamic Tension, the Ulema and the Iconoclastic Background

Riots and violence in the Islamic world have been viewed by the popular press and some scholars as reflecting an inherent violent quality of Islam as a religion. The culture history of the Judeo-Christian tradition demonstrates that Islam shows the same patterns of response to social stress as other sects of this tradition. Historical events have modified responses recently in others and Islam should be regarded in this context.

Islamist Perspectives on International Relations: The Discourse of Sayyid Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935–2010)

The academic literature on political Islam has paid scant attention to how contemporary Islamists conceptualize international relations. By examining the writings on international relations of one leading Islamist thinker - the recently deceased Sayyid Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah - this article attempts to deepen our understanding of this key aspect of contemporary Islamist thought. The article highlights Fadlallah's views on a range of theoretical and substantive issues which are at the core of international relations in the post-Cold War era. These issues revolve around: the underlying principles of international relations; the nature of the current (post-Cold War) international order and the role of the United States therein; the relationship between the United States (and the West, in general) and the Arab and Islamic worlds; Israel and the Palestinian question; and the prospects for Islamic unity and the form that it can take in the modern era. It also relates Fadlallah's discourse on international relations to that of other Islamists, secular Arab nationalists, and other critics of the prevailing international order, as well as to the writings of Christian realists and in particular Reinhold Niebuhr.

Islamic Feminism and the Challenges of Gender, Sexuality and LGBTQ Rights in Contemporary Islam

Islamic Feminism and the Challenges of Gender, Sexuality and LGBTQ Rights in Contemporary Islam