Contemporary Islamic Discourse Research Articles

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.

Islamic Law and International Human Rights Norms

Human rights in Islam is a complex issue on which influential Muslims have expressed diverse perspectives. This article identifies the different views held by several scholars, and examines the way in which those views are reflected or contested in contemporary Islamic discourses and particularly the discourses of Saudi scholars. It also argues that different opinions are not necessarily based on a specific Islamic sect but on the perception of international norms and on the readings and interpretation of Islamic texts as well.

Islamic and Catholic Bioethics of Pain Medication: A Response to Mercy Argument

Pain medication is one of the responses to the mercy argument that utilitarian ethicists use for justifying active euthanasia, on the grounds of prevention of cruelty and appeal to beneficence. The researcher reinforces the significance of pain medication in meeting this challenge and considers it the most preferred response among various other responses. It is because of its realism and effectiveness. In exploring the mechanism and considerations related to pain medication, the researcher briefly touches the Catholic ethical position on the issue, a position that cannot be ignored in the development of contemporary Western bioethics. The researcher particularly deliberates on the contemporary Islamic discourse on the issue, furthering the debate in line with the Islamic legal maxims and general guidance from the primary sources of Islamic law and ethics. The resolution on the issue is sought by synthesizing the views and legal max-ims (‘al-qawā‘id al-fiqhīyyah) on the issue, which in conclusion provide justification for pain medication by considerably regarding pain as “neces-sity” and “pressing need”. However, such resolution allows pain medication to the limit and proportion that removes the pain and prohibits overdosing the patient with medication that may directly cause the death.

Islamic bioethics of pain medication: an effective response to mercy argument

Pain medication is one of the responses to the mercy argument that utilitarian ethicists use for justifying active euthanasia on the grounds of prevention of cruelty and appeal to beneficence. The researcher reinforces the significance of pain medication in meeting this challenge and considers it the most preferred response among various other responses. It is because of its realism and effectiveness. In exploring the mechanism and considerations related to pain medication, the researcher briefly touches the Catholic ethical position on the issue, a position that cannot be ignored in the development of contemporary bioethics. The researcher particularly deliberates on the contemporary Islamic discourse on the issue; by furthering the debate in line with the Islamic legal maxims and general guidance from the primary sources of Islamic law and ethics. The resolution on the issue is sought by synthesizing the views and legal maxims (al-Qawaid al-Fiqhiyyah) on the issue, which in conclusion provide justification for pain medication by considerably regarding pain as “necessity” and “pressing need”. However, such resolution allows pain medication to the limit and proportion that removes the pain and prohibits overdosing the patient with medication that may directly cause the death.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v3i2.11700 Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2012; 3(2):4-15

(Post) modern Islamic philosophy: challenges and perspectives

Islamic philosophy emerged and has been developed in a particular political and theological context, and its historical and present role cannot be examined independently of political and theological discourse. It is characteristic that some of the same questions that Muslims discussed in the early Middle Ages – the limits of human knowledge, the relationship between the divine and the human, the relationship between falsafa, kalām and fiqh, the role of political philosophy – have been taken up again, but in a new context. As in the past, relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, and especially inter-philosophical relationships, play a crucial role in present-day discussions too. This article seeks to shed light on the (post) modern possibilities and perspectives for Islamic philosophy within Islam and relating to contemporary Islamic discourse. It includes reference to the views of modern Muslim thinkers, including Arkoun, Soroush, al-Attas and Wadud.

Islamic Bioethics of Pain Medication: An Effective Response to Mercy Argument

Pain medication is one of the responses to the mercy argument that utilitarian ethicists use for justifying active euthanasia on the grounds of prevention of cruelty and appeal to beneficence. The researcher reinforces the significance of pain medication in meeting this challenge and considers it the most preferred response among various other responses. It is because of its realism and effectiveness. In exploring the mechanism and considerations related to pain medication, the researcher briefly touches the Catholic ethical position on the issue, a position that cannot be ignored in the development of contemporary bioethics. The researcher particularly deliberates on the contemporary Islamic discourse on the issue; by furthering the debate in line with the Islamic legal maxims and general guidance from the primary sources of Islamic law and ethics. The resolution on the issue is sought by synthesizing the views and legal maxims (al-Qawaid al-Fiqhiyyah) on the issue, which in conclusion provide justification for pain medication by considerably regarding pain as necessity and pressing need. However, such resolution allows pain medication to the limit and proportion that removes the pain and prohibits overdosing the patient with medication that may directly cause the death.

Leisure and Entertainment (malāhī) in Contemporary Islamic Legal Thought: Music and the Audio-Visual Media

AbstractThe status of leisure and entertainment (hereafter: malāhī) is an age-old issue that emerged during the very early stages of Islam and is still being debated today. Generations of Muslim scholars and jurists have attempted to identify and delineate the permissible and the forbidden in this regard to accommodate the socio-cultural contexts of their respective societies. This article examines contemporary Islamic discourse on entertainment, particularly music and audio-visual media, e.g., television, Internet, cinema and theater. How do contemporary Muslim scholars define and relate to malāhī? What is the nature and characteristics of legitimate entertainment and leisuretime activities from the Islamic religio-legal perspective? I suggest that modern-day Muslim scholars, like their predecessors, never came to an agreement on the nature and scope of malāhī. These scholars merely acknowledge that different ethico-legal boundaries are applied to malāhī in contemporary Muslim societies.

Translation versus Transliteration of Religious Terms in Contemporary Islamic Discourse in Western Communities

The significance of the present research stems from the escalating yet unnecessary conflict between Islamic culture on the one hand and western civilization on the other hand. The researchers believe much of the growing and sometimes mutual distrust between the two sides may sometimes at least stem from mere linguistic behaviour. Hence, this research aspires to examine the use of translation versus transliteration of religious Islamic terms in two different types of Islamic discourse in the western countries, viz. the site of Imam Hendi (USA) and the Da'wah Internet site of Australia, as representative of tolerant versus intolerant Islamic discourse. The main objective is to investigate the researchers' hypothesis that the use of translation versus transliteration may be fairly regarded as a linguistic marker of the type of content advocated by the two kinds of Islamic discourse. The scope of the research is confined to Islamic discourse in English, notwithstanding that the author/s in both sites in question are native speakers of English, and, hence, differences in the use of transliteration and/or translation can hardly be attributed to problems with linguistic competence. In this respect, a couple of articles and/or texts have been examined with an eye on the use of such terms as God versus Allaah/Allah, prayer versus Salaah/Salat, alms giving versus Zakaah/Zakat, mosque versus masjid and even Islam (a traditionally accepted transliteration of????? ) versus Islaam. The researchers mainly depend on semantic analysis of religious terms in translation versus transliteration and, partly, try to make use of a questionnaire to test the impact of both techniques upon the possible addressees. The research ends with a couple of recommendations suggested by the researchers in the light of their discussions of the data and findings of the research.

Review: Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace

AbstractMohammed el-Nawawy and Sahar Khamis. Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. ISBN: 978-0- 230-60035-5, ISBN10: 0-230-60035-2, 280 pages.

Islamic Fundamentalism and the Intellectuals: The Case of Nasr Ha¯mid Abu Zayd

On June 14, 1995, Cairo's Appeals Court ruled that Nasr Hu¯ mid Abu Zayd, a Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at Cairo University, was an apostate from Islam, and ordered his separation from his wife. The court based its decision, later upheld by the Supreme Court, on its interpretation that the principle of hisba is applicable in matters of personal status. Hisba is based on the Qur'anic verses entrusting Muslims with the collective obligation to encourage good and discourage evil. In his books and articles, Abu Zayd, a liberal-secularist writer, extended his linguistic research to the study of Islamic texts, in particular the Qur'an and the Sunna, thereby infurating the Islamists, who charged him with blaspheming Islam, and demeaning Islamic Ulama¯, past and present. Like many liberal writers in Egypt, Abu Zayd is an advocate of freedom of thought and scientific research, and a critic of the contemporary Islamic discourse. The rejection of Abu Zayd's promotion at the University, the court decision, and his self-exile in Europe, fearing for his life, are evidence that the influence of the Islamists has extended beyond preaching into the Academy and the Judiciary, to the detriment of scientific research, freedom of thought and expression, and social and economic progress.