Contemporary Islam Research Articles

The rhetoric of twentieth-century Damascene anti-Salafism

ABSTRACT The renowned Syrian ʿālim Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan Al-Buti was one of the world's leading scholarly representatives of Sunni Islam in contemporary times. The written debates that occurred between the Damascene ʿulamā’, al-Buti, and the iconic Salafi scholar and ḥadīth scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani constitute one of the most important and comprehensive intra-Muslim debates in the twentieth century, having helped to define a clear schism between the neo-traditionalist position and its presumed opposite: Salafism. This article suggests that the rhetoric of anti-Salafism needs to be studied further to better understand contemporary currents in modern Islamic intellectual history. The adversarial rift that crystallised in the thriving Shāmī scholarly milieu of the 1980s and 90s informed the existence of a distinct neo-traditionalist school both in the West and many parts of the Muslim world for the latter part of twentieth century and to this day. At the intersection of political competition, textual methodology and competing visions of heresy and history, Islamic neo-traditionalism represents a key contestant in the battle for religious authority in contemporary Islam under the secular nation-state. Between championing a constructed concept of a ‘tradition’ for modern times and those who seek to return to a pristine ‘true Islam’, a deadlock is inevitable.

The Contemporary Islamic Governed State: A Reconceptualization by Joseph Kaminski

Since its 2013 release, Wael Hallaq’s The Impossible State has retained a central position in debates within the field of Islamic political thought. While Joseph Kaminski mostly agrees with Hallaq’s central thesis that an Islamic state is a contradiction in terms (as a modern state is in its very constitution immoral and ergo non-Islamic), he aims in his The Contemporary Islamic Governed State: A Reconceptualization to shift the discussion away from government to governance. To read the full book review, download the PDF file on the right.

Implementation of Digital Game-Based Learning Approach in CTU281 Subject: The Impact on Self-Motivation among Graphic Students in UiTM Melaka

Interactive multimedia technology and digital game approach in learning environment can foster a more effective and interesting learning process, especially among university students. This study was made with the implementation of digital game-based learning approach for the final project of Diploma in Graphic and Digital Media (AD111) students from UiTM Alor Gajah, Melaka who took the Islamic Beauty and Creativity subject (CTU281) to see the impact and effectiveness of digital game-based learning on students’ academic performance and self-motivation. The study sample was taken starting from the process of students completing their final project until the Islamic Art and Communication Festival (ISAC 2016) program takes place.The ISAC 2016 program is a platform organized by the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies (ACIS) in collaboration with the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies (FKPM) and the Faculty of Art and Design (FSSR) which aims to reduce students’ failure statistics in CTU course code as well as helping students to pass in this compulsory subject. This program involves all Semester 3 students of Faculty of Art and Design, UiTM Cawangan Melaka who took the CTU281 subject and also the students from Faculty of Communication and Media Studies who took the CTU271 subject. However, this study only involved 14 groups of Diploma in Graphic and Digital Media (AD111) students, UiTM Cawangan Melaka who took the CTU281 subject. The results of the study found that the students were very motivated with the results of their projects whereby two projects from the AD111 group were named as the Best Projects. In conclusion, the failure statistics for CTU281 subject code among graphics students last semester can realistically be reduced with the implementation of digital game-based learning approach as this approach helped students pass in this subject as well as increase the students' potential to be more positive and upgrading their selfmotivation.

Political Aspects of Contemporary Islamism

Political Aspects of Contemporary Islamism

The Effectiveness of the Hijaashi Method to Reduce Aggressive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan

In-Text Citation: (Abusinie & Baioumy, 2020) To Cite this Article: Abusinie, A., & Baioumy, N. (2020). The Effectiveness of the Hijaashi Method to Reduce Aggressive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(3), 183–201. Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s) Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com) This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode Vol. 10, No. 3, 2020, Pg. 183 - 201 http://hrmars.com/index.php/pages/detail/IJARBSS JOURNAL HOMEPAGE Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://hrmars.com/index.php/pages/detail/publication-ethics The Effectiveness of the Hijaashi Method to Reduce Aggressive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan Ahmad Abusinie, Nashaat Baioumy Faculty of Islamic Contemporary Studies, University Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, MALAYSIA Abstract Children with autism spectrum disorder suffer from behavioral problems represented in aggressive behavior towards themselves and others, therefore, the child's inability to perform basic life skills, his isolation and his inability to integrate with others. As such, the present study aimed to prepare a training program based on the Hijaashi method in alleviating aggressive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder in Jordan and verifying its effectiveness in the pre and post measurements. The present study used a quasi-experimental quantitative descriptive approach. To achieve the objectives of the study, an aggressive behavior measure consisting of 23 paragraphs was divided into two dimensions. The sample of the study consisted of (30) children with autism spectrum disorder chosen intentionally and distributed randomly to two control groups and consisted of (15) children, and experimental consisted of (15) children. Appropriate statistical analyzes were performed, such as manova, accompanying multiple variance (mancova), ancova analysis, arithmetic mean, and standard deviations. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences at the level of significance (? = 0.05) between the mean ranks of the experimental and control groups' scores on the scale of aggressive behavior in the dimensional measurement, and the presence of statistically significant differences at the level of significance (? = 0.05) between the average ranks of the experimental group on the scale of aggressive behavior in telemetry. Conclusion: The current study contributes to alleviating aggressive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder in Jordan and developing basic life skills, increasing their effectiveness with others, avoiding isolation, introvertedness, and contributing to training specialists on how to prepare training programs that help these children to modify their behavior.

The Spread of Terrorism in Contemporary Islamic History with Comparison between Past and Present

The Spread of Terrorism in Contemporary Islamic History with Comparison between Past and Present

أحکام النماء من الأوراق النقدیة دراسة فقهیة تخریجا على مذهب السادة الحنابلة

أحکام النماء في الأوراق النقدية دراسة فقهية تخريجا على مذهب السادة الحنابلة عبد الرحمن حمود المطيري قسم الفقه المقارن, کلية الشريعة , جامعة الکويت, الکويت, الکويت. البريد الالکتروني: abdulrahman.almutairi@ku.edu.kw الملخص: المال المنفصل أحکامه متفرقة في فصول شتى من أبواب الفقه, وتهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تخريج أحکام النماء من الأوراق النقدية على مذهب السادة الحنابلة من حيث بيان تبعة الأوراق النقدية للعين عدمها, والملک وعدمه, والرد وعدمه, والضمان وعدمه, وضبط أحکامها بأصول وتقاسيم تضبط صورها وما يستجد من أحکامها. وقد جاء البحث في مقدمة وتمهيد وثلاثة مباحث وخاتمة. المبحث الأول: نماء الأوراق النقدية, والمبحث الثاني: نماء الأوراق النقدية في الفسوخ, والمبحث الثالث: نماء الأوراق النقدية من غير عقد ولا فسخ وضمانها, أما الخاتمة فقد اشتملت على أهم النتائج ومنها: أن النماء المنفصل هو الزيادة الطارئة على العين مما تنفک عنها, ورغم أن أحکام النماء متفرقة في أبواب شتى من أبواب الفقه مع کثرة الجزئيات فقد أمکن ضبط أحکامه بأربع عشرة قاعدة فقهية عظيمة النفع عالية المنزلة. وتوصي الدراسة: بالعناية بفقه النوازل تأصيلا وتوقعا فيما يتعلق بالقضايا النقدية, مع إضافة المقررات والمناهج الدراسية التي تعتمد على الممازجة بين القواعد الفقهية والفقه المعاصر. The Regulations of Banknotes Increase An Islamic Jurisprudence Authentication Study (Takhrij) Based on the Hanbali Islamic School of Jurisprudence Abdul Rahman Hammoud al-Mutairi Department of Comparative Jurisprudence, Faculty of Sharia, Kuwait University, Kuwait, Kuwait. E-mail: abdulrahman.almutairi@ku.edu.kw Abstract: The regulations of isolated valuable capital are allocated in various chapters of Islamic Jurispruaenace, this study seeks to authenticate (Takhrij) the regulations of the increase of banknote according to the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence, that to illustrate and answer the questions of whether the banknote is attachment to the real asset or not, does the ownership exist, the issue of exchange of the banknote by the tangible value, the guarantee of its value, and to expressly define its rules with clear classifications of its forms and presumed future development of its rules. The study comprises an introduction and preliminary note along with three chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter discuss the banknotes increase, the second chapter banknotes increase in case of annulment, the third chapter the increase of banknotes with no contract nor annulment and its financial security. The conclusion addressed the study the main results which include; the separable increase is the contemporary increase on the real asset; despite the split of the banknotes escalation regulation over Islamic jurisprudence the study succeeds in firmly highlighting its regulations on fourteen Islamic jurisprudence valuable rule. The study recommends giving the high priority to Fiqh Al Nawazel (Contemporary Issues Islamic Jurisprudence) of financial cases and to present educational curriculum that combines the Islamic jurisprudence and Contemporary Islamic Jurisprudence Keywords: Financial increase - Banknotes – Money (Takhrij) - Hanbali school.

The problematic notion of the ‘Islamic state’ in the discourses of contemporary Islamists: the case of Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahra (1898–1974)

This article examines the conceptualization of the 'Islamic state' by one reputable Arab Islamist scholar, Muhammad Abu Zahra. It contends that he fails to provide internally consistent answers to four key questions. First, does the Islamic state presently exist, or is it yet to be established; and if the latter is the case then by whom and how? Second, was the historic caliphate which allegedly extended from the death of the Prophet until the Ottoman caliphate’s dissolution an 'Islamic state'? Third, is the 'Islamic state' universal in scope, or can there be several Islamic states at the same time? Fourth, what is the relationship between the 'Islamic state' and Islamic unity; and can the latter be achieved outside the context of the 'Islamic state'? I argue that Abu Zahra’s conceptualization of the 'Islamic state' is heavily influenced by 'modern'/European ideas about the nation-state; as a sovereign entity with the authority to impose its writ over its citizens and territory. I conclude that the 'Islamic state' is a stillborn idea being a hybrid of two highly incompatible sets of genes: the Islamic tradition, which does not conceive the Umma in territorial terms, and the 'modern'/ European notion of the territorial state.

A Study on the Social Movements in Contemporary Islamic Thought

Today, Islam is not restricted to the geographical borders of only a limited number of countries, but now covers the though, cultural, tribal and language borders of nations from Asia to Africa and can be counted as one of the most important and fastest growing religions in Europe and America. Whilst this spread is a means of delight, it has suffered from a type of ideological dismantling.
 Contemporary Islamic though can be categorized into five main groupings: 1. Anti- rational Salafism, headed by Ibn Taymiyyah and Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahab, 2. Anti –Western Religious Revivalism, headed by Sayyid Jamal al-Din Asadrabadi, 3. Anti- Religious Protestantism headed by Akhund Zadeh and Taqi Zadeh, 4. Reformist Protestantism headed by Shariati and 5. the movement of forming an Islamic civilization, led by the unique architect of the 20th century, Imam Khomeini.These schools of thought, at times contain ideas that are quite similar, but at others are extremely contradictory. It is this issue that has made research concerning these schools and ideas even more essential. Elements such as irrationality, being anti-western, reactions in the face of the waves of modernity and political theories based on religion can be mentioned as being some of the most important factors in the appearance of these trends. It is the aim of this paper to explore the backgrounds and latest developments of these thoughts over the last century in a descriptive – analytical way.

The Remnant of Medieval Christian Attitudes Towards Prophet Muhammad: A Critical Evaluation of Margoliouth’s Pathological Theory

The emergence and expansion of Islam have been considered a severe challenge to Christianity. With its significant expansion, the Christians became so much exasperated. Thus, they started searching for every possible avenue to do away with it. In medieval period, many intellectual and military attacks were lunched against Islam. One of the strategies was to create false theories which portrayed Prophet MuIammad (p.b.u.h) negatively and damagingly. The most absurd theory was ‘pathological theory’ which attempted to charge the Prophet (p.b.u.h) of being epileptic. Although many attempts have been made by both Muslims and some less biased Christian scholars to fish this theory out from the scene, it continues to have relevance even in some of the well-learned contemporary Christian scholar’s writings. This study attempts to analyse and evaluate David Samuel Margoliouth’s views on this theory since he is one of the well-versed and contemporary Islamists. In doing so, analytical, comparative and evaluative methods would be used.

Hannah Arendt, the human condition and the embrace of human diversity in the discourses of two contemporary Islamists: Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahra (1898–1974) and Sheikh Wahbah al-Zuhaili (1932–2015)

ABSTRACT This paper’s departure point is Hannah Arendt’s assertion that the ‘human condition’ is defined by our ‘plurality’. It contends that without having read Arendt two contemporary Islamists – Sheikhs Muhammad Abu Zahra and Wahbah al-Zuhaili – arrive at similar conclusions regarding the human condition. While Arendt draws on European thought, Abu Zahra and Zuhaili anchor their views in the Islamic tradition. The literature has tended to treat these two mega-traditions – the largely secular and liberal western tradition and the Islamic tradition – as being at odds. The contribution of this paper lies in demonstrating that scholars who belong to these two traditions can often make similar assertions regarding the centrality of diversity to the human condition. The paper demonstrates how the two scholar-sheiks draw on the Islamic tradition to argue that the grouping of humanity into separate nations and religions is natural and divinely ordained. Abu Zahra and Zuhaili maintain that peace is the norm in the relationship between Muslim and non-Muslim states, since religious differences do not constitute valid grounds for fighting. While they anchor this assertion in the Islamic tradition,it also reflects their embrace of Arendt’s liberal notion that as humans we are defined by our diversity.

Introduction and Interview: A multi-arts project

Abstract In this article digital artist and filmmaker Iqbal Barkat discusses his new work Terrorist/Apostate, a multi-arts project, with scholars Katie Lavers and Jon Burtt. Terrorist/Apostate is based on the lived experience of his collaborator, Lebanese Australian actor Fadi Alameddin. It explores the tensions that arise as the central character begins to question his faith and his identity as a Muslim in Western Sydney. Barkat discusses how the play is informed by the critical discourse between different, often polarized, readings of Islam across a wide range of media. In particular he suggests that contemporary discussions of Islam by Muslim writers including feminists, humanitarians, LBGTI community members, and religious scholars reveal a more complex and nuanced idea of Islam than the reductive 'popular critiques' presented by many western commentators, and that authors such as Tariq Ali, Fatema Mernissi, and Nawal El Saadawi engage with the notion that there never has been a single idea of what constitutes Islam, but rather 'a plurality of Islams'. Through a wide-ranging open-ended interview process Barkat discusses this critical discourse about contemporary Islam in the context of this important new theatre work.

Перспективы конституирования современного исламоведения

Перспективы конституирования современного исламоведения

Editorial Preface

We gratefully thank to all authors who have contributed to the first issue of International Journal of Contemporary Islamic Education (IJCIED). In this first issue (Vol. 1 issues 1) of IJCIED offers six articles covering topics of Islamic contemporary education. Various issues relating to Islamic contemporary education are presented interestingly to contribute to the body of knowledge and practices. Academia and practitioners in Islamic education studies may gain insight from reading these articles.
 IJCIED is dedicated by Postgraduate studies of Institut Agama Islam Negeri Palu for all academia across the globe. In next issue, we expect writers and researchers over the entire world within Islamic education studies area can contribute to IJCIED. The journal is a free access journal and we do not charge any publication fees. We expect this journal can contribute to the development of practical and theoretical knowledge within Islamic education studies.
 Finally, I hope the articles presented in this issue add further empirical evidence to the growing body of research that examines various fields from Islam education perspectives. The articles could trigger other research to study education with Islam perspectives in broader contexts across the globe. 
 
 Nurdin Nurdin
 Editor-in-Chief
 IJCIED: International Journal of Islamic Contemporary Education

Editorial Preface

We gratefully thank to all authors who have contributed to the first issue of International Journal of Contemporary Law and Society (IJCILS). In this first issue (Vol. 1 issues 1) of IJCILS offers seven articles covering topics of Islamic law and society. Various issues relating to Islamic contemporary law and society are presented interestingly to contribute to the body of knowledge and practices. Academia and practitioners in Islamic law and society area may gain insight from reading these articles.
 IJCILS is dedicated by Postgraduate studies of Institut Agama Islam Negeri Palu for all academia across the globe. In next issue, we expect writer and researcher over the entire world within Islamic law and society studies can contribute to IJCILS. The journal is a free access journal and we do not charge any publication fees. We expect this journal can contribute to the development of practical and theoretical knowledge within Islamic law and society.
 Finally, I hope the articles presented in this issue add further empirical evidence to the growing body of research that examines various fields from Islamic law perspectives. The articles could trigger other research to study law and society with Islam perspectives in broader contexts across the globe. 
 
 Nurdin Nurdin
 Editor-in-Chief
 IJCILS: International Journal of Islamic Contemporary Law and Society

ROWING IN THE FLOW OF KHALAF; INDONESIAN SALAFISM RESPONSE TOWARDS CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC ECONOMICS

Purpose: This article is the beginning research of Salafism Islamic economics thought to start from their responses to the entity of Sharia banking as a practical and institutional part of Islamic economics in the Indonesian contemporary Islam context. Methodology: A qualitative approach had used to sculpt and construct Salafism responses from the various documents published by Salafi preachers and scholars and then validated with their doctrinal scholar named Ibn Taimiyya who known as prolific scholar including Islamic economics thought. Result: The results of the research are: first, strengthening thesis as before that Salafism especially da’wa faction was Scriptura list and textualist movement generally. Even though the problems were response both are the economy and business –in Islamic term as a part of mu’amalat dunyawiyah- that there is a slogan accepted by almost scholars of Islamic law as the door of ijtihad was opened largely; second, the spectrum of Salafism Islamic economics thought still circulated in the area of fiqh (law) of economy while their doctrinal scholar Ibn Taimiyya did not only in the area of fiqh economy but also in analyzing the micro and macro-economic variables (Ali, K. (2015)). Applications: This research can be used for universities, teachers, and students. Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of rowing in the flow of Khalaf; Indonesian Salafism response towards contemporary Islamic economics is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.

The American Sufis: Self-Help, Sufism, and Metaphysical Religion in Postcolonial Egypt

AbstractThis article examines an Arabic commentary on the American self-help pioneer Dale Carnegie's How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, written by a one-time leading intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Muḥammad al-Ghazālī. Ghazālī’s 1956 commentary was perhaps the earliest manifestation of an influential genre of literature within the Islamic world today: “Islamic self-help.” Although scholars treat Islamic self-help as an effect of neoliberalism, this article reorients the study of Islamic self-help beyond neoliberalism by showing first, that Ghazālī’s early version of it emerged through a critical engagement with several ideological forms that relate in complex ways to neoliberalism's antecedent, liberalism; and second, that his Islamic self-help is best understood in terms of an Islamic encounter with American metaphysical religion made possible by Carnegie's text. It argues that Ghazālī’s Islamic self-help constituted a radical reconfiguration of Western self-help, one that replaced the ethics of self-reliance and autonomy with Islamic ethical sensibilities clustered around the notions of human insufficiency and dependence upon God. In doing so, it highlights how scholars of contemporary Islam might fruitfully pose the question of how novel intellectual trends and cultural forms, like self-help, become Islamic, instead of limiting their analysis to how Islam is reshaped by modern Euro-American thought, institutions, and practices.

Student Management: A Philosophy of Contemporary Islamic Education

The learning process in contemporary Islamic Education is more emphasized on aspects of activities undertaken by students. Education aims to explore and develop the potential of students. Lately, there are symptoms of delinquency that lead to criminal acts that the perpetrators are students in high school. The data released by the Yogyakarta Police stated that during the year 2016 there have been fights between students as many as 43 cases, even until there are victims who died. The incident is very contrary to the slogan of Yogyakarta as a student city. This study aims to analyze how the management of students at SMA Muhammadiyah 6 in Yogyakarta in dealing with various problems of students today. The qualitative approach and descriptive analysis are used to test the data of interviews, observations, and documentation. The results of this study indicate that various strategies are needed in coaching students, so the educational process will be more optimal in exploring and developing students' potential. SMA Muhammadiyah 6 Yogyakarta does not carry out the discipline of students that have been made and does not deal with violations committed by students. Student management does not run according to the rules that have been made, this is because the SMA Muhammadiyah 6 Yogyakarta lacks students. The conclusion of this study shows that the management of students at the SMA Muhammadiyah 6 Yogyakarta is currently less than optimal and there are still minimal programs that can optimize student potential.

INDONESIAN ISLAMISM: THE WAR OF ISLAMIC LITERACY FROM MILLENNIALISM TO RADICALISM

This paper shows another dimension of the phenomenon of Islamism Indonesia. By doing the interpretation of a number of circumstantial historical Islam literacy with traces of the historical aspect as the research methodology, the authors found one important factor that gave birth to Islamism Indonesia is literacy not just ideology as believed by many scholars. The resulting literacy evolved in various forms of media, and thus generated by the Indonesia who settled in the Middle East, Islamic Indonesia elite, and ustad virtual at the estuary of the society in the war on Islam. This paper contributes to the efforts of Islamic Studies scholars from Indonesia to include literacy in Islamic Indonesia as part of the phenomenon of global Islamism manifestation in the development of the study of contemporary Islamist movements.
 Keywords: Indonesian Islamism, Milleniarism, and Radicalism

Islam in Front of the Challenges of Modernity: World Politics, State System, Public Opinion

Review of the textbooks: Islam in World Politics in Early XXIth Century: A Textbook / L.M. Yefimova, M.A. Sapronova, eds.; [A.M. Ahunov, V.A. Ahmadullin, R.I. Bekkin a. o.]; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, Dept. of Oriental Studies. Moscow: MGIMO–University, 2016. 345, [1] p. (In Russ.);Islam in the State and Socio-Political Systems of the Eastern Countries: A Textbook / L.M. Yefimova, M.A. Sapronova, eds.; [K.P. Borishpolets, R.D. Daurov, B.V. Dolgov a. o.]; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, Dept. of Oriental Studies. Moscow: MGIMO–University, 2018. 350, [1] p. (In Russ.);Muslim Socio-Political Ideas in Front of the Challenges of Modernity: A Textbook / L.M. Yefimova, M.A. Sapronova, eds.; [B.V. Dolgov, S.B. Druzhilovsky, L.M. Yefimova a. o.]; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, Dept. of Oriental Studies. Moscow: MGIMO–University, 2018. 192, [2] p. (In Russ.).The set of textbooks, written by the lecturers of Department of Oriental Studies, MGIMO–University, is a very useful publication both in terms of research and education. It covers the wide field of key problems of contemporary Islam and fills out some gaps in Russian studies of Islam.The first book of the series is focused on processes of globalization and democratization in Islamic world. The authors examine the role of Muslim states in multi-vector development of regional and global politics, analyze the impact of Islamic structures and concepts on present system of international relations. In the second book the authors emphasize the role of Islamic factor in domestic political life of specific countries and regions of the Muslim world. The authors focus on fundamental issues of constitutional law, functioning of supreme state bodies, building of parties and political systems. In the third book of the series the authors review the ideas of contemporary Muslim philosophers, public figures, political writers – both of conservative-fundamentalist and liberal-modernist orientation, basing on numerous facts. The authors managed to present the diversity of solutions, proposed by Muslim politicians and thinkers aimed at facing a number of challenges such as modernization and globalization, migration crises, poor ecological conditions, rise of social inequality, erosion and substitution of traditional values of Islam, etc.The textbooks in review may be of special interest not only for teachers and students at universities and high schools, but also for specialists in Oriental studies, political studies, as well as for broad audience of readers.