Early Muslim Community Research Articles

Dissemination of Faith in The Early Muslim Community in The Mecca Period: An Analysis of The Process And its Impact on Islamic Faith Education

This article discusses the historical chronicles of Prophet Muhammad SAW and their significance in integrating faith values into Islamic education. The focus of this research is on the historical process that occurred during the period of Mecca, where the foundation of the Islamic faith was laid. This study aims to explore the dissemination process of the Islamic faith during the early Muslim community in Mecca, its significance in integrating faith values in Islamic education, and its implications for the renewal of the curriculum and teaching methods of the Islamic faith in the present time. This study uses the prophetical-transformative theory proposed by Kuntowijoyo, which emphasizes the integration of modern science with the prophetic ideals of Islam. The article concludes that the historical chronicles during the time of the Prophet Muhammad saw. are crucial for understanding the foundation of the Islamic faith and its integration into Islamic education. The paradigmatic core values in Islamic faith education emphasize the importance of core values, which should be the basis for religious education. These core values reflect profound principles in Islam and should be an integral part of efforts to reform the Islamic faith learning curriculum. This article recommends the rediscovery of the historical facts of the dissemination of the Islamic faith during the early Muslim community in Mecca as a basis for the renewal of the curriculum and teaching methods of the Islamic faith in the present time.

Fiqh and Contested Authorities: Rethinking the Role of Sole Mediator in Building the Non-Violent Religious Practices According to the Medina Charter

The Medina Charter, also known as the Medina Constitution and was proposed by the Prophet Muhammad in 622 AD, is often regarded as one of the most important legal documents in Islamic history which provides an early example of peace building concepts in Islam, establishing the principles of governance, social relations, and religious tolerance in the early Muslim community. Based on a literature-review method, this paper, indeed, is an attempt to explore the performance of fiqh and its contested authorities which focuses on examining how far the role of a sole mediator (top-level approach) can prove to be effective in dealing with the issue of fiqh within disputing parties. The author contends that the Medina Charter provides a framework for establishing peace and harmony among various religious communities, and that the concept of a sole mediator is critical to accomplishing this goal. The article discusses the key provisions of the Medina Charter and their modern relevance, as well as how the role of a sole mediator can help to promote nonviolent religious practises and peaceful conflict resolution. The article reveals in its conclusion that the Medina Charter is indeed a relevant source of Islamic conception of reconciliation and peacemaking effort. This also evidences that use of non-violent approach by the sole mediator (top-level approach) in resolving the conflict, as is shown by Prophet Muhammad in Medina through the Medina Charter, was remarkably effective. It aides the construction of a peaceful social life age-old conflicts, developing bond of loves among the conflicting groups and restructuring the political power that were essential for developing sustainable peace in the Medina.

Mawālī's Contributions To Hadith Scholarship

Islamic scholarship is built by various communities. As a religion that carries the spirit of liberation, Islam provides opportunities for anyone to self-actualize. Mawālīs was an element of the early Muslim community that contributed positively to hadith scholarship. During the Umayyah Dynasty, the mawālī became a second-class community, but it had a positive impact on the mawālī to take another path to be considered the main community. This research uses a qualitative method with an analytical-descriptive approach. The author used a biographical dictionary of hadith narrators to find the research data. For the data found to be informative, the author uses a historical perspective to find out the traces of his scholarship. In addition, the author confirms the hadith books. Based on the elaboration, it can be concluded that the mawālī, with its various types, contributed greatly to Islamic scholarship, especially in the field of hadith studies, from the time of the Companions to the later generations.

COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia: Some Reflections from Bażl Al-Māʿūn by Ibn Ḥajr al-ʿAsqalānī

History and pandemics are two inseparable entities, yet often forgotten. The occurrence of a pandemic in a certain time and place has always become a critical object of study and documentation, thus generating innumerable research literature. This research attempts to re-state the urgency of historical literature as a source of knowledge on dealing with the Covid-19 crisis through the religious scholars’ approach. The data were compiled through observation and literature review with content analysis method on Bażl al-Māʿūn of Ibn Ḥajr al-ʿAsqalānī, a classic book containing pandemic studies sourced from hadith and the history of the early Muslim community. The result of this study reveals that classical religious literature as historical knowledge could provide contextual solutions for society. The study of the historical works not only gives clues on the past events but also provides material to contextualise the attempt to build newly-induced awareness in the community. Learning from past events teaches society that pandemics are recurring events. Some similarities and differences are seen in every part of the pandemic. Thus, religious scholars serve as agents who disseminate the lesson learned from the past to prevent the recurrence of similar events in the future. This way, people of today should refer to the past to set some appropriate strategies for coping with the pandemic. Likewise, a historical account mentions the relevance of some terminologies that are currently used around Covid-19.

Kitab Asmarakandi sebagai Sumber Belajar Pendidikan Islam Awal di Nusantara

During the classical period, Islamic education in the Indonesian archipelago (Nusantara) could not be separated from the literature used. One of the earliest pieces of literature that have been used in the Nusantara since the 16th century AD is Asmarakandi book by Abū al-Laiṡ as-Samarqandī. This research aims to explain the significance and characteristics of the Asmakarakandi book related to its function as a learning resource and its implications for the implementation of early Islamic education in the Nusantara. This research is a literature review using the integration-interconnection scientific paradigm, namely the historical approach in Islamic studies. This research finds that the Asmarakandi book is a popular basic level of Islamic education learning resource used by Muslim communities from different socio-cultural backgrounds. The distinctive format of the Asmarakandi book also shows implications regarding its function as a learning resource for Islamic education. First, the used of the Asmarakandi book makes Islamic education take place systematically, effectively, and efficiently. Second, the suitability of the material with the level of religious understanding of the early Muslim community in the Nusantara. Third, the dialogue-based book format can encourage the critical power of the reviewers. Furthermore, fourth, the transformation of the book into local texts helps the general public understand the content of the Asmarakandi book.

MULTICULTURALISM AND SOCIAL INCLUSION IN MEDIEVAL ARAB-MUSLIM CULTURE

Arabia of Middle ages harbored diversity and hosted various religions such as Judaism and Christianity, the Prophet (PBUH) tried to establish harmonious relations with them to ensure peace and was able to unite them in a single mosaic. Many of the Prophet’s (PBUH) companions who were settled in Medina had different geographical, racial and religious backgrounds. He (PBUH) made people feel comfortable with a welcoming behavior, and it was a privilege to be minority and weak.Diplomatic emissaries were also well received by the Prophet in Medina. The State of Medina became a training venue for specializing in different languages including Hebrew, Persian, etc. leading to strengthened ties with people of other cultures. Racism means excluding people because of color,is there racism in Islam? Islamic tradition is more tolerant of race and its commitments stress on racial equity.This work discusses that to what extent did openness towards other cultures and civilizations exist in the early Muslim community? How can Seerah heritage enable Muslims (locally and globally) to confront the historic and contemporary challenges whose impacts are still being felt to this day as (dis) integration in modern societies?

On the Origins of the Hijrī Calendar: A Multi-Faceted Perspective Based on the Covenants of the Prophet and Specific Date Verification

There has been much speculation as to the type of calendar that was used by the pre-Islamic Arabs and the early Muslim community. The Hijrī calendar is said to have been adopted by ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb during his Caliphate despite evidence suggesting that it was instituted as soon as the Prophet emigrated to Madīnah. In this paper, we argue that a number of competing Arabian calendars existed up until 17 AH/AD 638, after which the Hijrī calendar was adopted as the definitive calendar of the Muslims. We propose that attempts at reconciling dates emanating from different calendars for major events in the Prophet’s life led to miscalculations which subsequently affected the chronology of the sīrah. This study ultimately argues that a purely lunar calendar was used by the pre-Islamic Arabs in parallel to a lunisolar calendar, and that specific dates reported in the covenants of the Prophet and in the historical works could shed new light in reconstructing the chronology of major events in the Prophet’s life.

ISLĀTTIL PEṆKAḶIṈ URIMAIKAḶ: ORU KŌṬPĀṬṬU RĪTIYILĀṈA PĀRVAI [WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN ISLAM: A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Spiritual, political, economic, and social rights of women are discussed at various levels. However, violence and oppression against women continue to increase. The charisma of Islam on women's rights is very strong. Thus, the study aimed at examining the concept of Islam in respect of women with the help of its primary sources, Holy Quran, and al-Hadith. Based on the review of the earlier literatures, the study was conducted with the analysis of the research articles, books and internet information on feminism along with information on the spiritual, social, economic and political rights of women found in the primary sources of Islam, classical Islamic literatures and the written works of modern Muslim scholars. The major finding of this study is that although the primary sources of Islam have a history of more than 1400 years, Islam has given proper guidelines for the complete guarantee of women's rights in the modern world and women have enjoyed them in the early Muslim community. This study will be a supportive to future studies based on the concept of Islam on women.

Sinless, Sonless and Seal of Prophets: Muḥammad and Kor 33, 36-40, Revisited

Abstract In his article, “Between History and Exegesis: the Origins and Transformation of the Story of Muḥammad and Zaynab bt Ǧaḥš,” published in Arabica, 65/1-2 (2018), p. 31-63, Andreas Görke argues that the reference in Kor 33, 37 to Muḥammad’s marriage to the former wife of a man named Zayd “seems to refer to an historical event” and that later exegetical expansions of the episode are based on an “historical kernel.” He adds that these exegetical expansions were modeled on the encounter between David and Bathsheba in II Samuel 11-12 and that the connection between the Islamic and biblical episodes stands at the beginning of the Muslim “preoccupation” with v. 37. Building upon Görke’s scholarship, I show how the early Muslim community created a plausible Sitz im Leben for the episode; establish with greater precision the starting point of the Muslim “preoccupation” with the connection between Muḥammad’s marriage to Zayd’s former wife and David’s marriage to the wife of Uriah the Hittite; and suggest that the qurʾānic treatment of the episode contains a seed of what would become the doctrine of ʿiṣma or the impeccability of prophets. Finally, I propose that the important question for historians is not the event to which the episode purportedly refers but rather the larger geo-political context for the emergence of the qurʾānic proclamation that Muḥammad is ḫātam al-nabiyyīn or the Seal of Prophets. To this end, I seek to shift the scholarly gaze from a domestic crisis in the household of Muḥammad in Medina ca AH 5 to early Christian polemics against Islam and its Prophet and to Byzantine imperial ideology.

Transformations in Early Muslim Prophetology: From Typology to Teleology in Narratives of Jonah and the Ninevites

Qur'anic and post-Qur'anic accounts about Jonah and the Ninevites encode traces of ideological transformations in the early Muslim community. This article explores how the story of a prophet's anguished mission to a foreign, enemy people appears in early Muslim materials in varied iterations. Whereas the Qur'anic telling of the Jonah narrative has an inclusivist, universalist subtext, post-Qur'anic retellings have clear supersessionist overtones, a change which reflects attitudinal shifts in the way early Muslims imagined themselves as a prophetic community in relation to a prophetic past. This article describes the shift as a transition from a typological to a teleological mode of historical legitimation.

Da‘wah Activities of the Pakistani Barelwis: Case of the Da‘wat-i-Islami

The purpose of this study is to highlight the da‘wah approaches and methodology of the Da‘wat-i-Islāmī (DI) and contribution along with a survey of the da‘wah activities of the Barelwis, based on primary sources. DI uses the Barelwi faith as its religious mark. Barelwis are representatives of the ‘popular’ and ‘Ṣūfī-oriented’ Islam. The driving force behind this facet of Islam is ‘to love Prophet Muḥammad (SAW) and follow his Sunnah’. This is the focal point of all da‘wah activities of the Barelwis. DI started its work in Karachi in 1981. It aims at promoting and deepening love for the Prophet Muḥammad (SAW). Its next aim is to establish a society similar to the early Muslim community of Madīnah through peaceful preaching. It expanded gradually all over Pakistan and then became so conspicuous, that nowadays it is functional in more than 180 countries and thus has turned into a global tablīghī movement. It has its own edifying literature. The most important of which is Faīḍān-i-Sunnat. In this work, the Sunnah of the Prophet regarding daily affairs of life has been narrated. For the religious training, inter alia, it also holds weekly meetings in different cities and towns of Pakistan and even in some European cities as well. The members of the DI have to show their commitment to the Islamic way of life as reflected in the Faīḍān-i-Sunnat. Besides religious sector, it is also working in social and educational fields. Although it is supported with reference to its aims to build character in its individual members, it nevertheless attracts diverse criticism about some of its practices.

DHABĪḤULLĀH DAN POLITIK IDENTITAS MUSLIM AWAL

This article talked about the differing opinions of commentators on dhabīḥullāh by giving more focus to Muqātil bin Sulaymān (d. 150/767). Unlike the general commentators who understood that Ishmael was slaughtered by Ibrahim, Muqātil mentioned the name Ishaq. This name is also mentioned by prominent commentators and historians, al-Ṭabarī, and also by the Old Testament. In addition to considering the narratives mentioned in other parts of the Qur’an, the basis of the opinion of this faction is the various narrations whose numbers actually compete with the narrations of Ishmael as dhabīḥullāh. However, what is interesting is the relationship between these two interpretations with the identity politics of the early Muslim community. By using the documentation method, the writer lists interpretations that appear in several books which for some reasons. The author considered to have represented each century. With this the author discovers a unique distribution of the opinions of dhabīḥ-Ismail. He appeared as an alternative in the early commentaries, and then it became the main narrative in the books that appeared after ibn Kathīr. The loss of this opinion in the commentary books turns out to coincide with the process of the formation of Islamic orthodoxy which could be only a consequence of certain hermeneutic principles or part of the differentiation agenda. This last alternative, if confirmed, can be considered to agree with the opinion of Western scholars about the gradualist of Islamic orthodoxy and furthermore the identity of Islam as a religion.

The Covenants of the Prophet and the Subject of Succession

In order to advance their argument that Imām ‘Alī was the divinely and prophetically designated spiritual and political successor of the Prophet Muḥammad, Shī‘ite Muslim scholars have primarily drawn evidence from the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth which was supplemented by reason and rational arguments. Oddly enough, in their quest to legitimize the Caliphate and Imāmate of Ahl al-Bayt, the People of the House of the Prophet, Shī‘ite scholars have generally ignored one of the most important bodies of literature, namely, the letters, treaties and covenants of the Prophet Muḥammad. The following study examines the Messenger of Allāh’s Covenants with Christians and Jews in search of previously overlooked material on the subject of succession, shedding light on the state of Islām prior to the definitive rupture of the early Muslim community into Sunnīs and Shī‘ites.

HELLENISM IN ISLAM

The early Muslim society took much of the scientific treasures from other civilizations, especially from ancient Greek. One of the scientific traditions taken from Greek is Hellenism. Using a historical approach, this article tries to assess the contiguity of Islam with the Hellenism. There are three points will be discussed: When has Islam met to the Hellenism in first time? What are the factors that support the scientific contact between both of the civilizations? To what extent Hellenism influenced the development of scientific tradition in early Muslim community? Our study shows that the Muslims have known the Hellenistic tradition since the 7th century in Ummayyad era, not the 8th century as some scholars claim. Second, there are three factors underlying early Muslim studied Hellenism (1) Support from Qur’anic teachings, (2) The need to argue with both of other Muslim groups and Non-Muslims community, (3) The need of the Caliphs to legitimize their power. Third, when Muslims have known the Hellenism, they did not only adopt the Hellenism ideas, but also provide reviews, critical notes, and further more developed its own scientific tradition combined with the qur’anic teachings.

Book Review: Asma Afsaruddin, The First Muslims History and Memory (Oxford: Oneworld Publication, 2011) pp. xx + 254. Paperback: $19.95

This is one of remarkably few recent books devoted to the Islamic theoretical conversation of constitutional law, by considering the genesis of polity within the Muslim community through historical, political, theological, and legal perspectives. The book provides the contentious concept of jihad and Islamic state which is perceived as the early Muslims’ legacy in this contemporary world. Specifically, it opens a window into the way of understanding the Muslim history by contesting Muhammad’s tolerant polity and the current extremism notion attached to Islam. Beginning the chapter, Asma Afsaruddin, an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, presents an account of the dawn of Islam brought by the Prophet Muhammad. She takes the lifetime of Muhammad into an account of how the early Muslim community would be shaped from the age of ignorance (Al-Jahiliyya). The term Al-Jahiliyya refers to the time of recklessness and disregard for certain moral, spiritual, and social values revered by Muslims and other righteous people (p. 3).

Dekonstruksi Hijab (Kajian Sosio-Historis terhadap Konstruksi Hukum Hijab dalam Islam)

Hijab has always been a controversial issue. Some Muslims consider it a mandatory command of God, while others consider it a cultural practice that can change so that the law is not the wearing of hijab itself. This paper examines the meaning of hijab in the Qur'an by using a mechanism commonly referred to as double investigations / double movement, i.e. by examining the context of the first time the hijab was revealed, to whom and how was the social construct of the hijab when the verses of hijab was firstly enforced. The next investigation is the semantic meaning contained in the hijab rhetoric and its sociological implications. In terms of the methodology for this study of hijab, the authors perform a falsification test to find out whether the hijab concept that has existed is still relevant to present reality or not, and to seek the truth that is adapted to the present reality. This paper concludes that the Qur'anic teaching on hijab can adapt to the context of a modern woman as smoothly as it adapted to the early Muslim community 14 centuries ago. This adaptation can be proven if the Qur'anic texts are interpreted by taking into account the social context of Muslim societies with their social changes.

DEKONSTRUKSI HIJAB

Hijab has always been a controversial issue. Some Muslims consider it a mandatory command of God, while others consider it a cultural practice that can change so that the law is not the wearing of hijab itself. This paper examines the meaning of hijab in the Qur'an by using a mechanism commonly referred to as double investigations / double movement, i.e. by examining the context of the first time the hijab was revealed, to whom and how was the social construct of the hijab when the verses of hijab was firstly enforced. The next investigation is the semantic meaning contained in the hijab rhetoric and its sociological implications. In terms of the methodology for this study of hijab, the authors perform a falsification test to find out whether the hijab concept that has existed is still relevant to present reality or not, and to seek the truth that is adapted to the present reality. This paper concludes that the Qur'anic teaching on hijab can adapt to the context of a modern woman as smoothly as it adapted to the early Muslim community 14 centuries ago. This adaptation can be proven if the Qur'anic texts are interpreted by taking into account the social context of Muslim societies with their social changes.

Sectarianism in Islam and Muslim Communities

Conference Reports Sectarianism in Islam and Muslim Communities The 44TH Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS) cosponsored and hosted by Middle East Studies at Brown University on September 19, 2015 highlighted “Sectarianism in Islam and Muslim Communities.” The Conference Program Chair, Beshara B. Doumani, the Director of the Middle East Studies (MES) at Brown University, and Sarah A. Tobin, MES Associate Director, welcomed the participants and expressed the Department’s excitement for hosting a conference on sectarianism in the Muslim world with the goal of “bringing informed perspectives on one of the most pressing issues of our time.” In her introductory remarks, NAAIMS Board of Director member, Maria M. Dakake (George Mason University , Fairfax, VA), welcomed the guests on behalf of NAAIMS President, Jon Mandaville (Portland State University, OR) who was not able to attend. In his prepared remarks to the attendees, Mandaville referenced the importance of this conference for analyzing the “enormous diverse aspects of Islam,” and noted how the use of language and “word-choices” creates “different worlds” that generate labels and pejorative implications of the word “sect.” Established and emerging scholars examined critical aspects of sectarianism in four panel sessions. The following are among the questions addressed by the presentations and analyzed by the discussants: Are different Islamic sects [e.g., Ismaili, Shi’i, Sunni, Zaidi, Kharijite, etc] perceived as differentreligionsorbeliefsystems?Didpoliticsplayaroleinthedevelopment ofsectarianismsincetheadventofIslam?Howdidsectarianconceptsdevelop Sein / Sectarianism in Islam and Muslim Communities 107 in the early Muslim community? Are extremist groups products of modernity, and not of Islamic principles? The first panel, “Rhetorics of Sectarianism,” was moderated by the chair, Faiz Ahmed (Brown University, Providence, RI), with Nancy Khalek (Brown University, Providence, RI) serving as the panel discussant. The panel opened with a most fascinating presentation titled “A Narrative Identity Approach to Islamic Sectarianism,” by Adam Gaiser (Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL). It examined how narratives are used by people to form identities through which they interpret their experiences, and therefore, the “narrative identity approach might be fruitfully applied to the study of Islamic sectarianism by treating sect/school affiliations as one particular cluster of narratives.” Gaiser explained how this approach “avoids essentializing sect and school affiliations by recognizing them as products of human beings – products that accumulate, change and develop (even break down) – over time . . . [and] it recognizes sect/school identity as part of the multiple, intersecting and competing identities that constitute a person or social entity.” According to the discussant, Nancy Khalek, Gaiser’s paper was the “most poignant with respect to the proper terminology for assessing communal identification among doctrinal groupings,” and that his examination of “strategies of narrative is an important intervention in how we study medieval Islamic sources, which are themselves often didactic, highly constructed, and put to political ends.” For example, in his response to a question about how he would formulate each chapter along a narrative identity line, Gaiser stated that “each sect/group would have to have its own answer to the question of difference.” Gaiser argued that “the Kharijites viewed themselves as a righteous remnant amidst a sea of kufr, and they responded by separating physically from the rest of the Islamic kufr, and they responded by separating physically from the rest of the Islamic kufr community, or by hiding the Ibadi response in their midst.” He explained that the Shi’ites, on the other hand, “clung to their Imams - who were assumed to be God’s chosen representatives after the Prophets, although they were not prophets themselves.” Piety seems to be the dynamic force behind difference and identity. Michael Pregill’s (Boston University, Boston, MA) presentation “Sects That Feign Forgetting Anti-Sunnism and Anti-Judaism in Early Shi’i Propaganda” examined how various approaches toward understanding Islamic scripture are based on how the Qur’an is read, interpreted and understood. He argued that the “Qur’anhierarchalizesdifferentkindsofbeliefs,dividingpeopleintoidolaters,Ahl al-Kitab,andBelievers/Muslims,sotheearlyMuslimcommunitykindofinherits thatandusesitinitsworldview-establishinghierarchiesanddrawingdistinctions between different ranks of believers, and assimilating ‘heretics’/sectarians totheQur’anichierarchy-sothatsectariansareseenasnotquiteinfidels,butnot 108 Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, Vol. 1.1 quite believers either - the way that Jews and Christians are kind of in-between disbelievers and believers in the Qur’an.” Finally, the...

Youth-Adult Partnership: A New Way Forward for Greater Muslim Youth Participation in Schools and Communities

Young people in Muslim majority countries are a valuable asset and investing in them can bring tremendous social and economic benefits. They also face many challenges that undermine their ability to develop and contribute to society. To make the most of the opportunity, these countries must find ways to increase the human and social capital of their respective youth populations. Youth participation in formal and non-formal educational settings such as schools and community programs has been identified as an effective approach to enhancing young people’s experiences. Building on initial findings from Malaysia, the current paper puts forth the concept of youth-adult partnership (Y-AP) as a strategy for schools. Y-AP has been shown to enhance personal agency, empowerment and connection to community, three attributes that are critical for Muslim youth to play more substantive roles in national development. The paper further attempts to frame Y-AP within an Islamic socio-historical lens, drawing on examples from the Prophet Muhammad SAW and the early Muslim community to show how developmental relationships were central to the social and educational culture within the Prophet’s community. Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/sd.v2i2.2810

Editorial

Editorial