Introduction Of Islam Research Articles

English

Despite the fact that, the actual date of the introduction of Islam to the Yoruba speaking people of south western Nigeria is not known, it is believed that the Muslim empires in West Africa knew of Yoruba land long before its introduction to Islam. The spread of Islam to other areas is very important in Islam and this serves as a challenge to all Islamic scholars to champion the course of evangelizing the non-believers or idol worshippers as the case may be. Ilorin scholars cannot be exempted from this role. Even though there were many systems in which Islam was introduced to many areas but the emergence of Islam in Yoruba land and Ijesha land to be specific is a unique one. In this case, this article discussed one Ilorin Islamic scholar called Alfa Salaudeen (aka. Alfa Parakoyi) as one of the indispensable dramatic personae in the spread of Islam in Ijesha land. Even though, the land was dominated by pagans but Alfa Salaudeen has done fantastic Jihad diplomatically without any chaos to Islamise the people of Ijesha land. And his legacies can be felt through his mosque and Madrasat (school) that he built couple with his role in converting Ijesha people to Muslim. Apart from that, to show the extent of his role and the appreciation from Ijesha people, Alfa Salaudeen (aka Alfa Parakoyi) were conferred a title by their traditional ruler despite the fact that he was not from the area. Key words: Alfa Salaudeen, Islam, Ilorin, Yoruba land, Ijesa-Land, West Africa.

Islamic Manuscript Collections in Ethiopia

Ethiopian Muslims introduced literary culture and manuscript collection in the mosques after the introduction of Islam in the seventh century. Books stored and preserved in a bookshelves known as taqet (Arabic, tāqat, shelf). This clearly shows African endogenous culture of preserving textual material that before the introduction of European models for archives and museums. This article demonstrates the collection of Islamic manuscripts in Ethiopian state archives and private collections and illustrates their challenges with recommendation to rescue the collections.

Sistim Kekerabatan sebagai Katalisator Peran Ulama Keturunan Arab di Jakarta

Literature on the history of Islam in Indonesia notes the tremendous role of the Arabs who migrated to Indonesia from Hadramaut (South Yaman) for many centuries. Introduction of Islam through noble people has brought the Arabs both into prestigious status as well as to the Indonesian struggle against the Dutch colonialism. This historical background has continued, but in the last decades there has been a shift in their religious role contributed by various factors, both internal and external factors. This writing focuses only on the internal factor, namely the kinship system which is under rapid changes amongst the Arabs. Based on both research and experience, the author clarifies the relationship between the kinship system and social change in the religious sphere among Arab community in Jakarta. Key words: Arab kinship; Islam; social stratification; voluntary organization.

Farklı kültürden toplumların etkileşimi ve bunun kişi, hayvan ve yer isimleri üz

This study focuses on how communication and interaction among people of different cultures and languages affect personal, animal and geographic names. For this purpose the town of Savsat in Artvin province was chosen as the region because of its close geographical, cultural and historical ties with Georgian and Persian peoples and cultures. The names in questions mainly belong to Turkmen people who speak a dialect of Turkish and who live in the villages on the slope of Yalnizcam Mountain. These people began migrating from Caucasians in the 18th century. The data was gathered through snowball sampling and document analysis was done on registration books of Births and Deaths. The study demonstrated that male and female personal names in Turkmen villages in Savsat, for the most part were borrowed from Arabic and Persian languages. It is, however, interesting to note that there appears to be no direct relationship between personal names and the ethnicity. This may be due to the fact that the relationship with different nations and cultures dates back to thousands of years ago. Further Turkmens were influenced by Persian language and culture before arriving to the region. As for Arabic names, they began to appear in their life after the introduction of Islam. On the other hand, geographical names are different from personal names. These names were given by local people (Georgians) who had lived in the region before the Turkish settlement. Interestingly, animal names were different from personal and geographical names since most of them are Turkish. In other words the names that were given to farm animals were Turkish.

Islamic Architecture of Uzbekistan – Development and Features

With the introduction of Islam in VIII century on the territory of modern Uzbekistan, an expressive Islamic architecture was shaped, based on the rich local traditions. New types of religious constructions came up. Islamicarchitecture in Uzbekistan was enriched during the period of 10th–12th and of 14th–17th centuries. It had common regional lines, as well as features from local architectural schools of Bukhara, Samarkand, Khwarazm and Fergana. Among the various types of architectural structures, the most widespread are the portal-domed compositions for mausoleums, khanaqahs, maqsuras, etc., courtyard-iwan structure for Jamie-mosques, madrasahs, rabats and most memorial complexes. There were three basic types of mosque constructions: quarter, Jami-mosques and celebratory mosques, musallas or namazgahs. Minarets also had local features in the form of a lantern and a decor of a cylindrical trunk. Mausoleums were actively constructed from the end of 9th century up to the 15th century but during 16th–17th centuries, the practice was abandoned. Madrasahs became known here from the 10th century onwards. Earliest three of them, built by Ulugbek in 15th century have remained in Bukhara, Samarkand and Gijduvan. Khanaqah–based on a portal-domed structure with a spacious central prayer hall called dzikr-khana, played the role of monasteries and prayer hall for Sufis. From the 15th–17th centuries, most monumental khanaqahs were popular here. The Naqshbandi sufi order was constructed. More than 2,200 monuments of Islamic architecture dating from 9th–20th centuries have been preserved in Uzbekistan. Most of them are located in large cities along the Great Silk Road as Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva and Shakhrisabz are included into the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Qur'anic and Ajami literacies in pre-colonial West Africa

Traditional African literacy practices have often been ignored in the wake of European colonialism and the educational policies of colonial governments. Nonetheless, literacy had been established in parts of Africa following the introduction of Islam. This paper will examine the developments of literacy in pre-colonial West Africa. In this region, literacy was introduced for specifically religious functions associated with the practice of Muslim religion and was conducted in Arabic. The introduction of literacy for religious purposes also gave rise to the development of secular literacy practices in which the practices derived from religious literacy were developed in new contexts, and in African languages. The influence of Islam on literacy in Africa languages gave rise to Ajami, African language literacy using Arabic script. The development of Ajami involved a process of micro-language planning in which individuals educated in Arabic adapted Arabic script to the phonologies of local languages giving rise to variable, unstandardised written system.

Social Psychology, Religion and Inter‐Group Relations: Hamas Leaders' Media Talk about their Vision for the Future

ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on the relationship between Islam and the secular aspects of society which differentiate Islamic societies from other states. Bound up with this question is the issue of the extent to which Islamists challenge proposals that religion should be ‘set aside’ when people act as citizens by arguing that Islam embraces the whole of life. Using discourse analysis we examine extracts from media interviews with leaders of the Islamist Hamas movement about Islam and its application within the Gaza strip. The interviewees construct religion as being congruent with existing social practices within Gaza. This allows interviewees to make three claims: that the introduction of Islam will make no difference to existing society, that Islam will be tolerant of existing social practices, and that potentially criticisable political acts should be viewed in civic rather than religious terms. By so doing, the interviewees display sensitivity to potential distinctions between religious and civic practices and attend to inferences that might arise in respect of inter‐group relations. Constructions of religion and of civic society can thus be viewed as participants' rather than analysts' concerns and should be examined for their functions within both distal and local contexts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evidence for Islam in Southeast Nigeria

This paper is an aspect of a wider research project on the introduction of Islam into Southeast Nigeria, the only region in Nigeria that was not touched by the nineteenth century Islamic jihad and subsequent efforts to extend the borders of Islam in the country. The reputation of Southeast Nigeria as a purely Christian region survives to the present ( Ottenberg, 2006) despite the emergence, few decades ago, of a modest population of Muslims in Igboland—the dominant and most populous ethnic group in the Southeast. One consequence of the success of Islamic proselytization in Igboland in particular is the current discourse among Nigerian Muslims suggesting that Islam might have been spread in the Igbo territory of Southeast Nigeria in the nineteenth century or earlier. The present article examines this claim and also engages the historical development of Islam in Southeast Nigeria—beginning in northern Igboland—using oral, archival, and written sources. The findings of this research have far reaching implications for scholars of religious history. It is also useful for social scientists in the areas of policy planning, formulation, and execution.

Iranian Foreign Policy since the Iranian Islamic Revolution: 1979-2006

AbstractThis article analyzes Iranian foreign policy since the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979. The main questions to be dealt with are: what influences has the Iranian Islamic revolution had on foreign policy orientation and formulation of the Islamic Republic of Iran? What influences has Shi'ism had on foreign policy formulation in Iran? What impact have Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the three presidents Hojjatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had on foreign policy orientation? Have there been major shifts in foreign policy orientation during their tenures or has the overall foreign policy approach that was introduced by Khomeini after the revolution in 1979 remained the same? The article will first discuss the history of Shi'ism in Iran and its impact on politics since the introduction of Islam as state religion in the beginning of the sixteenth century by the Safavid Empire. It will then give an introduction to power relations in Iran since the Iranian Islamic revolution and analyze foreign policy orientation in Iran in four phases: (1) from 1979 to 1989, when Khomeini was the Supreme Leader; (2) from 1989-1997, during the presidency of Rafsanjani; (3) from 1997-2005, during the presidency of Khatami; and (4) since Ahmadinejad's presidency began in 2005.

An “impossible” transmission: Youth religious memories in Guinea–Conakry

ABSTRACTMemory, persistence, and cultural transmission are hot topics in anthropology today. Contributing to an increasing anthropological interest in youth agency, in this article I invite readers to look at youth as a crucial site for understanding issues of religious memory and cultural transmission. In the past five decades, Bulongic people (Guinea–Conakry) have undergone significant religious changes caused by the introduction of Islam, which has led to the official disappearance of pre‐Islamic rituals. In this article, I explore how young Bulongic remember a pre‐Islamic past that they have never experienced. I argue that, to understand how they assimilate and perpetuate this religious heritage, one must examine the subtle processes of intergenerational transmission through which their memories are dynamically shaped.

Kharosti and Brahmi

THE EMERGENCE OF WRITING' IN INDIA and relation between two early scripts, Brahm! and Kharosti, have received new attention in last several years.2 A consensus has emerged that challenges Georg Buhler's theories that had widely been accepted in Western scholarship for a century: that BrahmI script was derived for commercial use in eighth century B.C. from an Aramaic alphabet, and that later, during Achaemenid domination of Northwestern India, a more modern Aramaic script was introduced into that part of India and subsequently modified under influence of Brahm! script.3 Several Indian scholars (and some early European scholars) considered Brahmil script an indigenous development, and some tried to derive it from undeciphered script found on seals of Indus Valley Civilization that flourished before 2000 B.C.4 One of problems with Buhler's theory is oddity that Brahmi which is better equipped to write an Indian language, would have been replaced by less apt Kharosti (which would see some secondary modifications under influence of Brdhml). Buhler refers to introduction of Arabic script after Muslim conquest, but parallel is not close: massive influx of Afghans and Turks and introduction of Islam and Quran study into India cannot be compared with few Aramaic scribes who would have served Persian overlords in provinces of Gandhdra and Sindhu. In fact no Aramaic documents of any kind have surfaced from period of Achaemenid domination in India. Raj Bali Pandey5 concluded from this of Aramaic documents that Kharosti1 could not be derived from Aramaic, and that perhaps the Persians did not rule over India directly. But while no Aramaic inscriptions or other texts are known from whole eastern half of Achaemenid empire, Aramaic inscriptions of Asoka, almost a century later, found in Eastern Afghanistan prove importance of Aramaic language and script in that border area. distinctive features of both scripts are well known. Kharosti is more cursive, Brahm! more monumental. While Kharosti is written from right to left, does not differentiate between long and short vowels, and indicates initial vowels with similar signs, Brahm! is written from left to right, distinguishes between long and short vowels, and uses distinctive letters for initial vowels. Neither direction of writing offers distinct advantages-it is like driving either on right side or left side of road. other two features are now seen as improvements of Brahm! over Kharosti, but all is not well with arguments offered. Kharost-1 script used in inscriptions of Asoka, Sakas, and Kusanas does not differentiate between short and long vowels. Buhler, who considered Kharost-1 essentially a clerk's script, spoke of lack of [signs for] long vowels which are useless in everyday usage,6 and Pandey argued that The absence of long vowels in Kharosthi is due to fact that it was used for writing Prakrits which avoid long vowels ... not due to any Semitic influence. While long vowels were usually shortened in all Prakrit dialects before 1 I leave aside here undeciphered script of Indus Valley Civilization of a much earlier time. 2 Oskar von Hinilber, Der Beginn der Schrift undfruhe Schriftlichkeit in Indien, Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, 1989 nr. 11 (Mainz 1989); Harry Falk, Die Schrift im alten Indien (TUbingen 1993); Richard Salomon, Indian Epigraphy (New York 1998). 3 Georg Biuhler, Indische Palaeographie (Strassburg 1896),

Islam and Colonial Rule in Lagos

IntroductionThis essay provides an explanation of the dynamics of the interactionbetween Islam and politics by placing emphasis on the role played byMuslims in the collision of traditionalism and British rule as colonialismtook root in Lagos. The focus is on the development of a political schismwithin the nascent Muslim community of metropolitan Lagos at the startof the twentieth century up until the end of the 1940s. It highlights therole of Islam in an emerging urban settlement experiencing rapid transformationfrom a purely rural and traditional center into a colonial urbancenter. The essay is located within the broader issues of urban change andtransition in twentieth-century tropical Africa. Three major developments(viz: the central mosque crisis, the Eleko affair, and the Oluwa land case)are used as the vehicles through which the objectives of the essay areachieved.The introduction of Islam into Lagos has been studied by T. G. O.Gbadamosi as part of the history of Islam in southwestern Nigeria. Thisepic study does not pay specific attention to Lagos, devoted as it is to thegrowth of Islam in a far-flung territory like the whole of modem southwesternNigeria. His contribution to a collection of essays on the historyof Lagos curiously leaves out Islam’s phenomenal impact on Lagosianpolitics during the first half of the twentieth century. In an attempt to fillthis gap, Hakeem Danmole’s essay also stops short of appreciating the fundamentallink between the process of urbanization, symbolized in this caseby colonial rule, and the vanguard role played by Muslims in the inevitableclash of tradition and colonial rule in Lagos between 1900 and 1950.

Middle East and Islamic Studies in South Africa

Although muslims make up less than two percent of South Africa’s total population, they are a well-established community with high visibility. In 1994 South Africans will celebrate 300 years of Islam in South Africa. The introduction of Islam to South Africa is usually attributed to Sheikh Yusuf, a Macasser prince exiled to South Africa for leading resistance against Dutch colonization in Malaysia. But the first Muslims in South Africa were actually slaves, imported by the Dutch colonists to the Cape mainly from India, the Indonesian archipelago, Malaya and Sri Lanka beginning in 1667. The Cape Muslim community, popularly but inaccurately known as “Malays” and known under the apartheid system as “Coloureds,” therefore, is the oldest Muslim community in South Africa. The other significant Muslim community in South Africa was established over 100 years later by northern Indian indentured laborers and tradespeople, a minority of whom were Muslims. The majority of South African Indian Muslims now live in Natal and Transvaal. Indians were classified as “Asians” or “Asiatics” by the apartheid system. The third ethnically identifiable group of Muslims in South Africa were classified as “African” or “Black” by the South African government. The majority of Black Muslims are converts or descendants of converts. Of the entire Muslim population of South Africa, some 49% are “Coloureds,” nearly 47% are “Asians,” and although statistics regarding “Africans” are generally unreliable, it is estimated that they comprise less than four percent of the Muslim population. Less than one percent of the Muslim population is “White.”

Historical dictionary of Tunisia

Containing an updated chronology, additional entries, and an enlarged bibliography, this second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Tunisia offers interested historians the information they need for continued research into this unique African nation. As a link between Arab and African worlds and the European community, this small country has managed to maintain a stable position in the ever-shifting North African political climate under the sure leadership of Habib Bourguiba and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. The Dictionary focuses primarily on the period from the introduction of Islam in the seventh century A.D. to the present, but the inclusion of materials from the Carthagian and Roman eras acknowledges the area's rich pre-Islamic heritage. Each entry of the original edition has been reviewed to ensure accuracy and, where appropriate, revised to take the most recent scholarship and statistical data into account. These updates are supplemented by many new entries, so that the dictionary contains the most up-to-date information available on such aspects of contemporary Tunisia as its education system, economy, relations with other countries, social structure, and tourist industry. An extensive bibliography, arranged chronologically and topically, lists European-language books and periodicals on Contains a chronology, maps, and list of rulers from 800-1996. edition is a timely, comprehensive and definitive reference work on a country that has, for centuries, stood at the crossroads of European and Islamic worlds. Reviews of the previous edition: A valuable addition to the comparatively small collection of reference works about Tunisia..This is a useful, valuable and needed addition... -CHOICE ...highly recommended for university and research collections. -AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW This ...volume is a gold mine for the general and historically oriented reader or researcher on Tunisia. -MESA BULLETIN

The Impact of Islam On Ganda Culture 1844-1894

If we define culture as a way of life comprising the totality of behaviour, thoughts, literature, language, religion, social and material achievements of a given society, we shall find that cultural change is not only a continuous process but also is influenced by internal and external forces. The aim of this paper is not only to show that aspects of Baganda culture were continuously changing before the introduction of Islam, but also that Islam accelerated these changes and in many cases made a profound impact on the Baganda way of life. The religion of the Baganda was undergoing a process of change, getting away from decentralization towards centralized authority. The coming of Islam to Buganda in 1844 with its emphasis on the one God, not only completed the process but also had a profound impact in the way the Baganda conceived of the universe.

Trade, Islam, and the Mahdia in Northwestern Wallaggā Ethiopia

The district of Belā Shangul, in the northwestern corner of the present Governorate-General of Wallaggā, Ethiopia, has played a crucial role in the introduction of Islam in western Ethiopia. The present paper attempts to show how the commercial potential of Belā Shangul was the reason for the peaceful penetration of Islam in the region in the nineteenth century, thus creating the basis for the ready acceptance of the Mahdia by the Islamized ruling families of the region later. It is due to the considerable inroads that Islam had made in the region that the first Mahdist envoys were welcomed there, and that they could operate freely from 1882 onwards.The paper further discusses the importance of Mahdist presence in the region, its impact on local society, and its attempts to penetrate the Oromo countries south and east of Belā Shangul. It argues that Mahdist rule over the region was effective until about 1890, and that the favourable attitude shown towards the Mahdia by the region's ruling families became more hostile mainly because of the harsh rule established in Belā Shangul by the Mahdist commander, Khalīl al-Khuzāni, and of the new militant Islam he introduced in the region. Khalīl's campaign of 1886 and Mahdist raids in 1888–90 further alienated the local rulers, who rebelled under the leadership of ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān of Belā Shangul proper. The reported cession of this district by the Khalifa to Menilek of Ethiopia must be seen in the political context of the time: the border district had become too burdensome for Omdurman to rule, yet its commercial and mineral resources made it too valuable to remain a no man's land.

Trade, State, and Society Among the Yao in the Nineteenth Century

Through their deep involvement in the long-distance trade of eastern central Africa, the Yao were increasingly exposed to the impact of Swahili traders and their culture. During the nineteenth century the increased volume of trade, and the ever growing importance of slaves in that trade, combined to produce a marked growth in the scale of Yao political units. This paper begins by outlining the growth of Yao trade before the nineteenth century. It then considers the nature of Yao political organization and the way in which the slave trade, in particular, facilitated the rise of large territorial chiefdoms. The last section deals with related social and cultural changes, including the growth of towns and the introduction of Islam.

Sufism in Someliland: A Study in Tribal Islam–II

In the first part of this study we followed the development of the Ṣūfī ṭarīqa organization in Somaliland after the introduction of Islam and examined the functions exercised by Ṣūfī communities in the social structure. We interpreted the closer social and genealogical assimilation of jamā‘as among the nomadic tribes in terms of lack of arable land available for the foundation of independent settlements. It was argued that the genealogical idiom in which social relations are normally described, especially amongst the nomads, is extended to the jamā‘as by virtue of their identification with the Arabian genealogies of their sheiks. The incorporation of such Ṣūfi genealogies was held to explain how the Somali lineage system is in its furthest extension extrapolated to the Qurayshitic lineage of the Prophet.

Fem af Bahrains hundrede tusinde gravhøje

Fem af Bahrains hundrede tusinde gravhøje

The Caliph's Last Heritage: A Short History of the Turkish Empire

'Here is a land of contrasts, climates, barriers, and diverse physical circumstances. It has been the birthplace of civilisation, has given the world the Gospel and the Koran, has seen the rise and decline of four great Empires and scores of principalities and dynasties.' From his own visits to the region, Lt. Col. Sir Mark Sykes felt that 'there is nothing in our daily private life or public life today which is not directly or indirectly influenced by some human movement that took place in this zone'. In this book he sets out to correct what he felt were the misguided impressions people had of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Lt. Col. Sykes firstly discusses different periods from its history: from the Roman and Persian influence to that of Muhammad and the introduction of Islam, through to Sulaiman the Magnificent's triumph in Baghdad. In this way, Sykes hopes to impart to the reader the extent of the important role played by the Empire through time. The tone then changes and becomes more personal as the reader is granted access to the Colonel's own diaries and experiences in order to add more colour and insight to the historical facts already relayed. Travelling with his dragoman (a Christian from Jerusalem), his English servant Joseph Finch, his Greek cook Dimitri, five Syrian muleteers, and sometimes his wife too, Sykes relates the many adventures of this international group in a wonderfully observant narrative. We travel with him on 5 journeys throughout the region between 1905-1913 before finally tumbling into 'a lousy carriage an inch deep on the floor in banana skins and nut shells, and broken meats left by its last occupants; and so to Damascus and thus to my journey's end.' This really is a window on a forgotten era.