Islamic History Research Articles

“In Pursuit of Reform”

The religious and intellectual history of early modern and modern Islam is often reduced to a teleological and Arabo-centric narrative, in which modernity began with Napoleon’s Egyptian Expedition or the Nahḍa, the Arab Renaissance. Within this narrative, the succession of Sufism, Islamic reformism, Islamism, and Salafism is seen as a “genealogy of Islamism.” Using a regressive history approach, and presenting the currents of international historiography on Islam between the fifteenth and the twenty-first century, this article seeks in contrast to illuminate the plurality of possible pathways and the heterogeneous nature of historical moments. Moving backward through time, it attempts to identify ruptures and continuities, and to highlight successive interpretations of medieval authors and concepts (such as salafiyya). In so doing, it endeavors to demonstrate the constructed nature of the received historiographical narrative of late nineteenth-century “Islamic reformism,” as well as that of “Arabic thought in the liberal age.” Historiographical debates on the “neo-Sufism” and Aufklärung of the eighteenth century have led to a better understanding of Islam in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, a thirst for renewal (tajdīd) flourished in hadith, Islamic law, and Sufism. Recent research on the process of “confessionalization” over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has highlighted the importance of political factors in developments of Islam during the age of the three Empires (Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman).

Islam, Purity, and Modernity

From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Mzab region in the north of the Algerian Sahara, then under French rule, was shaken by controversies over the consumption and lawfulness of European goods. Historians typically analyze these debates as a form of cultural resistance to colonization or as a sign of the allegedly difficult adaptation of “Islam” to “modernity.” They single out two types of reaction: that of self-proclaimed “reformist” scholars and that of “conservatives,” caricatured as shoring up a barren tradition. Based on the case of the Mzab and on a wide range of Islamic legal documents, this article opens up a new perspective on the relations between Islam, modernity, and colonialism, demonstrating that other logics were also at work. For the Islamic scholars involved, the most important issue at stake was the purity of their community and its preservation in a context of cultural and political uncertainty. Using the tools of Islamic law, both advocates and detractors of these “innovations” shaped a particular vision of their community and its boundaries. By bringing together colonial and Islamic sources, and drawing on both colonial and Islamic studies, this article challenges a reading of the modern history of Islam based on notions such as modernity and reform, which were essentially instrumental in these debates. It also moves away from a historiography that is blind to the internal complexity of these societies, drawing attention to the multiple rationales at work in colonized North Africa.

Secularity, Sociology, and the Contemporary History of Islam

This essay proposes to reframe the twentieth-century history of Islam by rethinking the relationship of that history to some dominant categories of twentieth-century sociology, especially the secularization thesis. The global history of Islam since the late nineteenth century has been shaped by an apparent paradox between its two most significant features. The first of these has consisted of persistent calls for Muslim revival, reform, and unity across the world, tending toward a unification or transcendence of the older forms of variation within the tradition. The second, countervailing tendency has been an increasing fragmentation of structures of authority within the tradition, a proliferation of the meanings attributed to it and of the forms of practice taken to embody it, and a renewed acuity of internal sectarian conflict. This is a paradox that only an understanding of Islam as social practice embedded in the forms of secularity characteristic of modern societies—and emphatically not one of Islam as “medievally” religious and uniquely “secularization-resistant”—can apprehend.

Qurʾānic Exegesis and the Reshaping of Early Islamic History: A Case Study of Sura Q 107

This study examines the historiography of early Islam by assessing the reliability of Qurʾānic exegeses as sources documenting the early history of Islam and the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad in Mecca. Focusing on Qurʾānic exegetical practices from late antiquity to the medieval period, this article argues that there is a significant discontinuity in how Qurʾānic exegeses align with the historical context of the Qur’an, especially in relation to Meccan sūras such as Q 107. Significantly, this challenges the continuity of tradition, the fundamental concept upon which the “Islamic sciences” are based. This discontinuity is herein revealed through a historical–critical analysis of the exegesis of Q 107:4 that demonstrates how Qurʾānic exegetical practices have reinterpreted and reshaped early Islamic history in response to the pressures of new identity formation and made Qurʾānic exegeses more reflective of the social and political contexts of the exegetes than of the historical milieu of the Qurʾān itself. This analysis contributes to the ongoing discussion of the role exegesis played in reshaping the history of Islam. Indeed, it emphasises the importance of critically evaluating these sources in order to uncover a more nuanced historical narrative of early Islam.

“Neither of the East nor of the West”

What does it mean to do Islamic Studies within Religious Studies? Taking the cue from Thomas A. Tweed's intervention, this article discusses new theoretical and methodological approaches in Religious Studies and their relevance to researching Islam. Such approaches cross geographical, disciplinary, and intellectual boundaries while equally being emplaced in particular socio-cultural contexts that inform their perspectives. In order to overcome statist, normative, and essentialist understandings of Islam, the article explores three key themes: ambiguity, multi-locality, and aesthetics. When we approach the intellectual history of Islam, not only its diversity and plurality become obvious but also its culture of ambiguity, which is at ease with contradictions and inconsistencies. Recent reflections on diaspora religions decentre Islamic Studies from the Middle East and allow for exploring the multiple transnational connections between Muslim minority and majority contexts. Such approaches illustrate the multi-locality of Islam. Finally, the article explores what it means to approach Islam as an aesthetic formation in which rituals as embodied experiences and material sensory culture are central in forging and articulating Muslim individual and collective identities.

Social Problems of Islam in Modern Indonesia in Muslim Academic Periodicals

The purpose of the article is to analyse the modern Muslim intellectual tradition in Indonesia in the context of analysing the social problems of Islam. The novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the main trends and directions in the development of Muslim social thought in modern Indonesia. Methodologically, the article is based on the principles proposed in intellectual and social history, which allows us to perceive Muslim intellectuals involved in the study of the social problems of the Ummah as an imagined community, and their ideas as invented traditions. The article analyses 1) the theoretical and methodological foundations of modern Indonesian sociology of Islam, 2) national specifics and regional features of the development of Islam in Indonesia in modern Muslim thought, 3) the problems of transformation and contradictions of the radicalization of Islam through the prism of understanding and interpreting this dimension of the modern social history of Islam. It is assumed that Muslim intellectuals make a significant contribution to the consolidation of modern identity by analysing both the social characteristics and characteristics of the Ummah, as well as the threats faced by the Indonesian model of Islam in a secular society in the context of the actualization of the ideas of radical Islam. The author's main conclusions include several points: 1) professional Muslim intellectuals make a major contribution to the development of modern Muslim sociology, 2) specialised journals published by Islamic universities play a leading role in the production and relaying of social knowledge based on Islam, 3) modern Muslim intellectual tradition is the subject to fragmentation, but, in general, the scientific tradition of the Ummah actualizes moderate trends in Islamic Sociology, based on the principles of interdisciplinarity.

Pengertian dan Syarat Mujtahid dalam Ilmu Fikih dan Perkembangannya Diri Masa Kemasa

This article discusses the concept of mujtahid or fakih in Islamic jurisprudence, the requirements that must be met by a mujtahid, and the development of ijtihad from time to time. In addition, this article also explains several famous mujtahid figures in Islamic history and their roles in the formation of sharia laws.

Exploring Literature in Islam Beyond (Secularized) Christian Normativity in Western Academia

Anyone specialising in Islamic theology at a Western university is aware of the fact that their teaching and research will either be recognised by the institution as falling under the category of “Islamic Studies” or “Divinity”. In the first case, Islam is predominantly considered a cultural phenomenon and studied as such. In the second case, for reasons that have to do with what Marianne Moyaert in her latest book Christian Imaginations of the Religious Other has conceptualised as “Christian normativity” and the “religionisation” of other faiths, Islamic theology is de facto understood as Islamic speculative theology (kalām). In both cases, the understanding of how Islam theorises and practices theology is significantly restricted, when not altogether ignored. This article unpacks the genealogy of the secular version of a Christian epistemic framework that dominates the study of Islamic theology in the West and engages with the issues related to its application in the field of Islamic theology. In doing so, it opens a critical space for the investigation of Islamic literary productions as both dissensual and consensual theological terrains, through the analysis of the poetry of two theologians and polymathic scholars from two different periods of Islamic history, namely Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 632/1235) and Sidi Muḥammad Ibn al-Ḥabīb (d. 1390/1971).

“Don’t You Ever Say a Word About Him!”: Ḥadīth Scholars and Censorship in Early Islamic History

“Don’t You Ever Say a Word About Him!”: Ḥadīth Scholars and Censorship in Early Islamic History

From Islamism To Radicalism; Shifting Of Religious Understanding Movement Post-Reformation In Indonesia

The history of Islam in Indonesia is often referred to as peaceful, friendly, and tolerant Islam. However, after the reformation in Indonesia, the Muslim community in this country experienced a shift in religious understanding that was quite serious to understand. Therefore, the important purpose of this article is to map the movement of religious understanding in Indonesia. This article is the result of library research, with a qualitative and philosophical approach. Data was obtained through reading various books, journals, and others related to the shift in religious understanding of Muslims in Indonesia. The data analysis technique in this study uses a three-step analysis procedure, namely: Data Reduction, Data Presentation, and Conclusion Drawing. The results of the study indicate that there has been a shift in the religious movement of Muslims in Indonesia towards Islamism, which is characterized by a strong desire to establish an Islamic caliphate or Islamic dawlah; enforcement of Islamic law; and jihad by fighting against infidels. This issue was then driven by the Islamic social movement both in society and in the world of education

‘From Theory to Practice’ Origins of the Ottoman Grand Vizierate and the Köprülü Restoration: A New Research Framework for the Office of the Grand Vizier

Abstract At the core of this article lies the argument that the Ottoman grand vizierate and the rise of the Köprülü family to power in the seventeenth century should be studied and analyzed mainly within two analytical and comparative frameworks. First, we should situate the office of the grand vizier in a diachronic view of the Islamic vizierate. Second, the Köprülü grand vizierate, in particular, should be viewed as one part of a synchronic ‘Eurasian age of the chief minister,” in a historical domain stretching from early modern Mughal and Safavid worlds to European empires and kingdoms. This article presents preliminary observations that may form a blueprint for future investigations into this global aspect of the grand vizierate and chief ministry. A broad perspective that merges these diachronic and synchronic approaches will allow us to detect theoretical and practical peculiarities of the Ottoman grand vizierate in comparison to its peers in Islamic history and across early modern Eurasia. Using that Eurasian macro perspective, I argue that the Köprülü grand viziers spearheaded the restoration of an independent vizierial authority that was idealized by generations of pre-Ottoman and Ottoman political writers and had numerous precedents in Islamic history.1

The Rejection of Prophetic Traditions: Analyzing the Inkar Sunnah Movement in West Sumatra, Indonesia

This article explores the ideological stance of the Inkar Sunnah movement, which rejects the prophetic traditions (Sunnah) as a source of Islamic law, focusing on its development in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Historically, this movement can be traced back to political and sectarian conflicts in early Islamic history, such as those involving the Khawarij, Shia, and Mu'tazilah sects. Over time, skepticism towards hadith, fueled by fabricated traditions and modern Orientalist critiques, gained traction. Prominent figures like Dalimi Lubis and Nazwar Syamsu have continued to propagate Inkar Sunnah beliefs in modern Indonesia, advocating that the Qur’an alone suffices for Islamic jurisprudence. This research adopts a qualitative library approach, analyzing primary texts by these figures and secondary sources on hadith scholarship. The study critically examines their arguments and the socio-political context that allowed their ideas to proliferate, as well as strategies to counter this ideological challenge within Indonesian Islamic discourse. The findings reveal a persistent tension between traditional Sunni orthodoxy and reformist interpretations that seek to minimize or outright reject the role of the Sunnah, posing significant implications for Islamic legal and theological frameworks.

The Greatest Name of God: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as a cosmic image in Rajab al-Bursī's Mashāriq al-anwār

Abstract ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661)—a revered figure in Islamic history as both the first Shiʿi imam and the fourth caliph—serves as a significant image of sacral power in the Persianate world and beyond. ʿAlī's authority underwent a profound reimagining in the early modern era as he emerged as a captivating imperial emblem from the Timurid renaissance to the Safavid revolution, rivalling other prominent figures of political authority such as Chinggis Khan (d. 1227), and becoming a symbol of human perfection for both Sunni and Shiʿi intellectuals alike. ʿAlī transcended his role as a Shiʿi imam to assume the status of a cosmic figure, gradually becoming an ideal symbol for imperial branding. However, there is little scholarly knowledge and appreciation of his changing role in this period. This article examines how al-Ḥāfiẓ Rajab al-Bursī's (d. circa 814/1411) Mashāriq al-anwār, which has remained highly popular throughout the Persianate and Shiʿi world, contributed to the reshaping of ʿAlī's image, portraying him as the quintessential archetype of sacral power and unmatched authoritative feats.

RELATIONS OF KURDS WITH ARMENIANS (951-1150)

Kurds and Armenians are local peoples of the Middle East. Historically, Armenians lived in the Caucasus and Anatolia, and the Kurds in Upper Mesopotamia and southwest of Iran. Although the places where Kurds and Armenians lived were close to each other, the question of when, where and how the relations between the two communities began has not been answered so far because there is not enough scientific research on this subject. Armenian historians were interested in Armenian-Kurdish relations in the early 19th century and conducted some research. Although some researchers, including N. J. Marr, found the Kurds to be closer to Georgians and Armenians than the Caucasian peoples, this idea was not generally accepted. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Kurdish intellectuals have claimed that the two communities have the same religion, the same lineage, and the same culture, without any cohesive research. However, there is very little information in the Armenian chronicles about the partnership of the two communities. Modern Armenian historians, however, do not consider these assumptions of the Kurds reliable. In this article, an answer was sought to the question of when, where, and how the relations of Kurds with Armenians began in the Middle Ages. Since there are no Kurdish works in our research that describe the early periods of the Kurds; Armenian chronicles, Islamic history sources and the works of modern researchers were used. According to the information given in Armenian chronicles and Islamic sources, Kurdish-Armenian relations seem to have started in the 10th century. This was disclosed through primary sources.

The Walking Qur’an and its Contribution to Historical Perspectives and History of Islam in Africa

The Walking Qur’an and its Contribution to Historical Perspectives and History of Islam in Africa

ناول’ بستی‘ کے اُسلوب و منہج: اسلامی تناظرمیں ایک مطالعہ

Intizar Hussain is one of the innovators in the style and technique of the Urdu novel. Among the changes that Intizar Hussain made in the style of novels, the most important are the mythological events and Devomalai stories. He has also used different incidents of Islamic history as hints, while story making new experiments at the level of syle. Apart from this, he has made extensive use of other elements of style, such as smile, metaphor, irony, symbolism, due to which his style has become unique. Intizar Hussain’s style has based on originality and reality. With regards to the style, they have used everything from the Old Testament, the Gospel, the stories of the prophets, Dev Mala, Buddist, and the attachments of Sophia and have succeeded in creating a style that deserves to be called Urdu novel’s new style. In the novel Basti on the one hand, the simplicity of this style attracts the reader, on the other hand, due to the use of different symbols and Devomalai stories. His style has become very layered and patchy.

Membingkai Sejarah Pendidikan Islam di Era Dinasti Abbasiyah

This research explores the golden period of the Abbasid Dynasty in Islamic history, focusing on the rapid development of education and science during that period. In an unstable political context and sharp ideological differences between various groups, the Abbasid Dynasty was able to create an environment that supported the progress of science, both in the fields of naqli and aqli sciences. The research methodology used was a Literary Study/Library Study approach, by collecting data from various library sources and previous research. The data was analyzed to understand the political, social and religious conditions during the Abbasid Dynasty, as well as their impact on educational and scientific development. The research results show that the Abbasid Dynasty experienced an educational heyday marked by the establishment of madrasas, large libraries and the promotion of science. A variety of teaching methods are used, including oral, rote, and written methods. The educational curriculum covers various subjects, from religious sciences to secular sciences. In the context of social and cultural diversity, recognition of the mawali group provides a new color for the development of science, with the exchange of ideas and traditions from various cultures. The Abbasid dynasty also had a significant impact on the Islamic and global world through the process of translating scientific works and collaboration between scholars from various backgrounds. This research confirms that the Abbasid period was not only the peak of scientific glory in Islamic history, but also provided the foundation for educational progress. and human civilization more broadly.

Sejarah Pendidikan Islam pada Masa Nabi Muhammmad Saw: Sejarah Pendidikan Islam

The journal discusses the history of Islamic education during the classical era, particularly during the time of Prophet Muhammad and the early generations of Islam. The main focus is to understand the Islamic education system established and implemented by Prophet Muhammad, and how this tradition continued throughout Islamic history. The research method used is literature review, collecting data from various literary sources and documents related to Islamic education. The discussion results show that Islamic education has a universal scope, focusing on the development of moral, spiritual, social, and intellectual aspects of individuals, and has values relevant for application in daily life. The journal also highlights the exemplary role of Prophet Muhammad in character education, as well as the challenges and adaptations of Islamic education methods in facing the developments of the times.

The African Human Rights Perspectives Through the Lense of Oral Narratives

Human rights existed in African tradition for societal order and for community responsibility of success and failures. People enjoyed freedom and preserved freedom according to community beliefs and customs. Advocacy was expressed through singing, drama, storytelling and assignment of roles based on age gender and ability. This paper unfolds human rights advocacy oral narratives. Hausa dated as far as BC 14th or 15th Century Arabic writing with the first poets Ibn al- Sabbagh and Muhammadual- Barnawi, other writers of the time were Abdullahi Sikka and Shekh Jibril ibn Umar. The first novels written in Hausa were the result of a competition launched in 1933 by the Translation Bureau in northern Nigeria. One year later the bureau published Muhammadu Bello’s Gandoki, in which its hero, Gandoki, struggles against the British colonial regime. Bello does in Gandoki what many writers were doing in other parts of Africa during this period: he experiments with form and content. His novel blends the Hausa oral tradition and the novel, resulting in a story patterned on the heroic cycle; it also introduces a strong thread of Islamic history. Didactic elements, however, were awkwardly interposed and severely dilute Gandoki’s aesthetic content (as often happened in other similarly experimental African novels). But Bello’s efforts would eventually give rise to a more sophisticated tradition of novel writing in Hausa. His experimentation found its most successful expression in Amos Tutola’s English-language novel The Palm-Wine Drunkard (1952). The Oral narratives understudy Include: Falsehood is More Profitable than Truth (translated from Hausa) One cannot Help an Unlucky Man (translated from Hausa) Wacici and her Friends (translated from Kikuyu). The selected oral narratives experiences displayed injustice of belief in telling lies and trickery, jealousy against the natural beauty and the bad lack aspect due to ignorance and inability to make right judgment for personal benefit. The study was aimed at unfolding antisocial behaviour that existed in in Africa as portrayed in the selected oral narratives. The expression of reaction and action taken to bring social order were represented in the Hausa selected narratives. The study used qualitative method and textual analysis to arrive at the injustice and measures used to condemn injustice as a means to preserve social order

Studi Historiografi Islam Klasik: Kritik dan Tinjauan Terhadap Karya Al-Mas’udi

This study critically evaluates and analyzes the historical writings of al-Mas'udi, focusing on his influence on historical writings in the classical Islamic era. The author is interested in examining al-Mas'udi's contributions in his works, particularly on Islamic historiography from the classical period. The researcher uses an approach that is considered appropriate for this study, namely a qualitative approach using analytical descriptive techniques and assisted by literature review. The purpose of this article is to provide an assessment and critical analysis of al-Mas'udi's influence on historical writing in the classical Islamic era, with a particular focus on his bibliography and writing techniques or methods. And through his travels and research, played a major role in Classical Islamic historiography with his major works. Although criticized for its consistency and the dirayah method used, his work remains valuable as a source of knowledge about Islamic history and geography. Al-Mas'udi's Muktazilah influence has also created his distinguishing thematic approach, which reflects the general Muslim worldview of his time. The evolution of history writing in Islam is reflected in the shift from the historical method to the dirayah method, which emphasizes direct experience and factors influencing historical events used by Al-Mas'udi.