Expansion Of Islam Research Articles

Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam by Chouki El Hamel

246 BOOK REVIEWS / COMPTES RENDUS Mecca to establish “indirect rule” in areas they wished to control. But in a setting such as Iraq, where Sharif Faisal of Mecca was made king, it had no local roots. Western powers have since turned to an emphasis on democratic elections as the basis of authority, but this has contributed to conflict and chaos in such settings as Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Iraq. In short, this is a book that should be of great value to the limited number of scholars who have a focus on the western Maghrib and al-Andalus in the period it covers, but it also presents ideas that can stimulate the development of interesting new perspectives on history and present day events in an area that spread from West Africa to the Middle East. ALLAN CHRISTELOW Idaho State University, Idaho, USA CHOUKI EL HAMEL, BLACK MOROCCO: A HISTORY OF SLAVERY, RACE, AND ISLAM. (CAMBRIDGE AND NEW YORK: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2013. PP. XIII, 331) Chouki El Hamel has written a valuable book of comparative importance. Although Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam focuses explicitly on Morocco, El Hamel engages scholarly discourse in the Atlantic world to unravel the silence surrounding the subjects of slavery, racial attitudes, discrimination and marginalization in the wider Islamic context. By interrogating the role of slavery in Moroccan society and by placing it within a wider historical and contemporary discourse, Black Morocco tackles racial stereotypes and other legacies arising from slavery in Moroccan society for centuries. The book begins by critically engaging the conventional scholarship and the local academic discourse depicting slavery in the Muslim context as ‘benign’ and holding the viewpoint that ‘slavery was not harsh in North Africa’ (p. 3). To debunk this approach, the book convincingly shows that probing the culture of silence that nourished racial stereotype is crucial in understanding the legacy of slavery in Moroccan and Muslim societies in generally. The author argues that ‘the history of slavery in Morocco cannot be considered separately from the racial terror of the global slave trade’ (p. 4). According to him, ‘For racial groups such as blacks in Morocco, the problems of slavery, cultural and racial prejudice, and marginalization are neither new nor foreign. Blacks in Morocco have been marginalized for centuries, with dominant Moroccan culture defining this marginalized group as “Abid (plural of Abs)”, meaning slaves’ (p. 4). Throughout the book, El Hamel makes a strong case that in order to critically understand the legacy of slavery in Moroccan society, one cannot rely solely on Islamic ideology as the key to explaining social relations. For El Hamel, relying BOOK REVIEWS / COMPTES RENDUS 247 solely on a religious viewpoint yields an inaccurate historical record of the people, institutions and social practices of slavery in northwest Africa. El Hamel divides the book into two parts consisting of eight chapters and a conclusion. In the first two chapters in Part One, before taking a critical examination of the practice of concubinage which had been justified in religious terms, he marshalled crucial textual sources that allowed him to trace its development within the institution of slavery from its early Islamic milieu as reflected in the Quran, the Hadith (Sayings and Deeds of the Prophet Mohammad), the process of expansion of Islam and the teachings of the various legal schools, especially the Maliki school in the Islamic Mediterranean. The second chapter advances El Hamel’s argument to unravel the root cause of racial prejudice and discrimination in Morocco. This chapter is important not only in its masterful unpacking of the historical and contemporary complexities of racial prejudice in the Moroccan and the wider context of Muslim societies but also its critique of European literature that in reference to plantation slavery in the Americas and the racist attitudes to black Africans in European and American societies misconstrues slavery and racial stereotypes in Morocco as benign. The second part of the book provides a historical and sociological grounding of the book. In chapter 3, the author chronicles the tale and dynamics of the trans-Saharan diaspora. Here, El Hamel is upfront in rightly correcting the popular misconception that all blacks in northwest Africa had been slaves...

Historical Consciousness Among the Converted Peoples in V. S. Naipaul's Islamic Writings

V. S. Naipaul's travel books and other commentaries about the non-Arab converts of Islam are characterized by his trademark sensitivity to colonialism. In these controversial works, Naipaul equates Islamic expansion in Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran and Malaysia to Arab imperialism. While Naipaul does not condone the militaristic origins of Islamic expansionism in history, his principal critique is cultural, concerning how non-Arab converts voluntarily turn away from their pre-Islamic histories, sacred sites, cultures, and traditions in favour of their Arabian counterparts. Beneath the surface of their apparent religiosity, however, Naipaul sees a traumatic historical experience, principally due to the tension between the universalist message of Islam and its Arabian origins. Arguably, the converted peoples cope with their injured national pride by a religious zeal to overwhelm the Arabs, who are their conquerors and the givers of their religion.

Expansion and Consolidation of Islam in Iran to the End of Qajar Period

Under Islam, for the first time since the Achaemenids, all Iranians including those of Central Asia and on the frontiers of India became united under one rule. Islam was rescued from a narrow Bedouin outlook and Bedouin mores primarily by the Iranians, who showed that Islam, both as a religion and, primarily, as a culture, need not be bound solely to the Arabic language and Arab norms of behavior. Instead Islam was to become a universal religion and culture open to all people. This was a fundamental contribution of the Iranians to Islam, although all Iranians had become Muslims by the time of the creation of Saljuq Empire. So, Iran in a sense provided the history, albeit an epic, of pre-Islamic times for Islam. After all, the Arabs conquered the entire Sasanian Empire, where they found fullscale, imperial models for the management of the new Caliphate, whereas only provinces of the Byzantine Empire were overrun by the Arabs. The present paper is an attempt to give reader a detailed introduction, emergence and spread of Islam in Iran. It is in this context the present paper has been analyzed.

Investigating the Factors That Influence Acceptance of Islamic Credit Card as a New Banking Service

Islamic banking expansion in the world is known as one of the most influential financial incident during the last three decades. These Shariah based banking institutions are necessitated to remain innovative in order to achieve higher market share of spirited banking industry in the world. Accordingly, Islamic credit card as a new innovation has been issued by numerous Islamic as well as dual banking institutions, nonetheless, it seems that this Islamic innovation services has not achieved adequate market share nor adopted by bank customers. Therefore, this conceptual study is an attempt to identify a theoretical framework which on its basis adoption and usage of Islamic credit card be forecasted. In view of that, perceived attributes of innovation which is originated from Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory along with trust as well as demographic factors as imperative indicators of adoption has been applied to provide a new way of Islamic credit card adoption among bank clientele. This study justify the applicably of Diffusion theory into a completely new context which is Islamic credit card adoption. The bank managers and policy makers regarding Islamic banking facilities may consider the study outcome to have better strategy concerning Islamic credit card issuance as new Islamic financial innovation.

KHAZANAH INTELEKTUAL TEOLOGI MATURIDIYAH

Persoalan teologis berkisar pada issue tentang status dan pelaku dosa besar, perbuatan manusia, dan hakikat sifat Tuhan pada umumnya muncul sebagai akibat dari perbedaan visi politik. Issu teologis ini telah melahirkan golongan Khawarij, Murjiah dan Mu’tazilah. Seiring dengan itu muncul issu mengenai bebas/ tidaknya perbuatan manusia yang kemudian melahirkan golongan Jabariyah dan Qadariyah. Persoalan muncul karena dipengaruhi oleh budaya Helinisme yang rasional seiring dengan proses futuhat (ekspansi Islam). Persentuhan umat Islam dengan budaya Helinisme semakin memperkuat penggunaan akal dalam kajian teologis, khususnya oleh Mu’tazilah. Dengan demikian ada tiga issu besar yang berkembang dalam teologi Islam saat itu yaitu dosa besar, kehendak bebas tidaknya manusia dan penggunaan akal. Mu’tazilah memberikan penekanan yang tinggi kepada akal dengan segala implikasinya karena arus pemikiran rasional yang berkembang pada waktu itu. Al-Maturiddi membahas tentang penciptaan alam yang lebih banyak mengajukan argumen rasional dan perseptual dari pada argumen tradisional. Hal ini tidak lain karena perhatian utamanya untuk mempertahankan ajaran Islam dari serangan Indo-Iranian dan Yahudi-Kristen serta filsafat Yunani.

Muslims Renegotiating Marginality in Contemporary Ethiopia

AbstractEthiopian Muslims have only had access to public space and opportunity for religious self‐definition and collective influence since 1991. During little more than two decades, how have they advanced subjective agency within the political constraints of the current government, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF? This article addresses that question by backgrounding the history of Islamic expansion into Ethiopia, tracing Muslim engagement with Christian political elites over several hundred years, till the latter part of the 21st century. After the deposition of Haile Selasse in 1974, the DERG assumed power and in the name of a socialist agenda, suppressed all religions from 1975–1991. DERG socialism has been replaced by EPRDF pluralism, yet the structural constraints of the latter have weakened the efforts of Ethiopian Muslims to find their rightful place in the public square. Abetted and assisted by overseas immigrant communities, in both Western Europe and North America, Ethiopian Muslims continue to contest securitization and marginalization by the state, even as they struggle with regional, national and transnational issues that impact all Muslim identity politics in the second decade of the 21st century.

Investigating the Factors That Influence Acceptance of Islamic Credit Card as a New Banking Service

Islamic banking expansion in the world is known as one of the most influential financial incident during the last three decades. These Shariah based banking institutions are necessitated to remain innovative in order to achieve higher market share of spirited banking industry in the world. Accordingly, Islamic credit card as a new innovation has been issued by numerous Islamic as well as dual banking institutions, nonetheless, it seems that this Islamic innovation services has not achieved adequate market share nor adopted by bank customers. Therefore, this conceptual study is an attempt to identify a theoretical framework which on its basis adoption and usage of Islamic credit card be forecasted. In view of that, perceived attributes of innovation which is originated from Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory along with trust as well as demographic factors as imperative indicators of adoption has been applied to provide a new way of Islamic credit card adoption among bank clientele. This study justify the applicably of Diffusion theory into a completely new context which is Islamic credit card adoption. The bank managers and policy makers regarding Islamic banking facilities may consider the study outcome to have better strategy concerning Islamic credit card issuance as new Islamic financial innovation.

Islamic Banking Expansion and Demographic Factors Importance : A Review Base Study

Islamic banking which is the central point of Islamic financing attempt to increase the usage of its services. Basic rules of Islamic banking are attempt to provide welfare for the society. It would be important for Islamic banks to identify their clients based on their demographic belonging segmentation. This study is an attempt to offer a new insight to Islamic banking services customers’ demographic segmentation to enhance expansion of Islamic banking services usage. This study provide detailed information for Islamic banks to offer their services in better manner based on its end user characteristics.

Book Reviews

84 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVII, No.4, Summer 2014 Book Reviews Edited by Nadia Barsoum South Asia, China Turkey and the Middle East A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE ARABS by John McHugo, published by Saqi Books, London 2014, pp. 368. The author narrates a journey through the political, social and intellectual history of the Arabs from the Roman Empire right up to the present day. He describes in details a series of turning points in Arab history—from the mission of the prophet Muhammad and the expansion of Islam to the region’s interaction with Western ideas and the rise of Islamism. THE MARINES TAKE ANBAR: The Four Year Fight against Al Qaeda by Richard H.Shultz JR. published by the Naval Institute Press Book News, Annapolis, MD. Pp. 292. This book brings to light all the decisive details of how the Marines, between 2004 and 2008, adapted and improvised as they applied the hard lessons of past mistakes. This work effectively argues the case for the Marines changing the course of the war at Anbar, which is contrary to the conventional wisdom that the surge was the turning point. A HISTORY OF THE ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE 1906-1947 by Rafique Afzal published by Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan 2013. Pp. 781. This work presents an exhaustive study of the growth and rise of the leading Muslim political party of the South Asian subcontinent —The All—India Muslim League. Based on the Muslim League and other contemporary primary sources, the author gives a comprehensive account of this remarkable phenomenon of a Muslim political party. PAKISTAN’S COUNTERRORISM CHALLENGE edited by Moeed Yusuf, published by Georgetown University Press, Washington DC, 2014, pp. 252. The author skillfully edited volume is essential to understanding Pakistan’s security challenges and possible ways to deal with them. This work is a comprehensive, insightful analysis of the terrorist challenge in Pakistan, its impact on global security , and the possible way forward. 85 CONTESTED FRONTIERS IN THE SYRIA-LEBANON-ISRAEL REGION: Cartography, Sovereignty, and Conflict by Asher Kaufman. Published by John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 2014 Pp. 281. The author analyzes the geopolitical causes of conflict and prospects for resolution, assesses the impasse over economic zones in the Eastern Mediterranean where Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Turkey all have claims, and reflects on the meaning of borders and frontiers today. ISLAM , DEMOCRACY, AND COSMOPOLITANISM: At Home and in the World by Ali Mirsepassi and Tadd Graham Fernee. Published by Cambridge University Press, New York 2014, pp. 225.This book explores the debate on Islam, democracy and modernity, contextualized within contemporary Muslim lifeworlds. These include contemporary Turkey (following the 9/11 attaks and the onset of war in Afghanistan), multicultural France (2009-10 French burqa debate), Egypt (the 2011) Tahrir Square mass mobilizations, and India. This study articulates a democratic politics of everyday life in modern Islamic societies. WILL THE MIDDLE EAST IMPLODE? By Mohammed Ayoob, published by Polity Press Cambridge, UK 2014, pp. 192. Ayoob argues that the Arab Spring has both changed and charged some of the region’s thorniest problems. Exploring the sources of conflict in the Middle East and their various linkages, the authors offers a thoughtful and balanced assessment of whether the region’s is indeed destined for implosion or whether political sagacity and diplomatic creativity can bring it back from the brink. CENTRAL ASIA: Democracy, Instability, and Strategic Game in Kyrgyzstan by P. Stobdan published by the Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi, 2014 pp. 276. Stobdan attempts to provide an overview of political and strategic processes at work in the region by taking the case of Kyrgyzstan-tracing the events since 2005 and more after 2010. Is contains aspects of India’s engagement in Kyrgyzstan and throws light on India’s newly launched ‘Connect Central Asia’ policy. VYING FOR ALLAH’S VOTE: Understanding Islamic Parties, Political Violence and Extremism in Pakistan by Haroon K. Ullah, published by Georgetown University Press, 2013, Washington, DC, pp. 251. The author examines the origins, ideologies, bases of support and electoral successes of the largest and most influential Islamic confessional parties in Pakistan. Ullah assesses what drives these...

Teichopolíticas y extranjeridad: El caso del mundo islámico

The dynamics of, first, modernity, and, later, globalization have generated conditions and stimuli for the expansion of Islam. Patterns of emigration have seen millions of Muslims become part of the West. Global political and cultural tendencies include a ‘rebellion’ or resistance from some traditional Muslims to preexisting cultural traditions in these places of insertion, exemplified in Europe in practices such as the use of the veil or hijab. Developments within Islamic territories themselves have included an increased participation in Islamist movements. These trends have generated reactions including a Western ‘fear of the other’ in regard to Islamism. One manifestation of this fear has been the erection of barriers to migration, constituting what we choose to denominate here as teichopolitics: The attempt of controlling the persons’ flow by means of the raising of physical barriers, be they barbed-wired fences of walls, with the aim to impede the exit and entry to a territory. This securitized response however runs the risk of feeding resentment from Islamist groups in a counterproductive manner.

Hydrogeological Characteristics of Hellenic Aqueducts-Like Qanats

In ancient Hellas, water management began in the early Minoan Era (ca. 3200–1100 BC) and was related to the geomorphology, the geology, the topography, and the local climatic, hydrological, and socio-political conditions. Historical and archaeological evidences show that ancient Greeks had developed even qanat-related technologies since the Classical times. During democratic periods, the focus of water management was on sustainable small scale, safe, and cost effective management practices, and institutional arrangements, whereas in oligarchic periods, emphasis was on the construction of large-scale hydraulic projects, including aqueducts and/or qanats, mostly related to the public sectors. Aqueducts-like qanats are gently sloping, artificially constructed underground galleries, which bring groundwater from the mountainous area to the lowlands, where water is used, sometimes several kilometers away. It is worth noticing that no large-scale lifting techniques were available, and water was transferred from the source (usually a spring) by aqueducts (qanats) from a higher elevation to a lower level by gravity. Historically, the aqueduct-like qanat technology was developed by Persians in the middle of 1st Millennium BC, and spread towards the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. The expansion of Islam led to diffusion of qanats in Mediterranean countries (e.g., Spain, Italy, and Cyprus). Much of the population of Iran and other arid countries in North Africa and in Asia depend on water supply by aqueducts-like qanats, even today. This technology is characterized by its durability and sustainability, although an aqueduct-like qanat is expensive, both in construction and maintenance. It is pointed out that, the technique of tunneling was used during the Classical period in ancient Hellas. Since the well known tunnel at the island of Samos, Hellas, was designed and constructed by Eupalinos (ca. 530 BC), several underground tunnels (with and without well-like vertical shafts) in order to convey water from one location to another one located in a lower level were implemented in this country. Several aqueducts (qanat) paradigms (e.g., in Athens, on islands of Crete and Rhodes, and in the area of Serres in north country), which are in use even today, are presented and discussed. Overall, it seems that water-related problems of modern societies are not very different from those during antiquity.

Book Review: Why Religions Spread: The Expansion of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam with Implications for Missions

Book Review: Why Religions Spread: The Expansion of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam with Implications for Missions

Islamicization or Islamicizations? Expansion of Islam and social practice in the Vega of Granada (south-east Spain)

This study strives to understand Islamicisation from a social point of view, rather than related only to the religious conversion or to a set of specific Islamic material manifestations. A historical context is considered as a case study. The period of the Islamicisation in the Vega of Granada (south east Spain) lasted from the 8th to the 11th centuries CE. The process of social change in this context is described using a combination of historical and archaeological sources, and then insights are made on the relation of such changes with the form of Islam that was adopted. The results point to two distinctive periods that are related with a different form of Islam and therefore, arguably, with two different islamicisations.

Education efforts in the dissemination of Medieval Arabic

The rapid expansion of Islam in the seventh century was accompanied by another intriguing, little-studied phenomenon: the spread of the Arabic language. Within a century after the death of Muhammad in 632, Arabic had become the language of an extensive empire. As Arabic spread to a convert population, scholars became horrified by what they saw as a wide-scale corruption of the language, and wholesale educational efforts began. The article discusses the process by which these efforts unfolded. First, Bedouins were identified as the keepers of the original “pure” Arabic, and they were encouraged to flock to the cities and teach there. As the limitations of this method became apparent, the more scientific study of the language was born. In time, philologists came to be seen as on par with and even superseding the Bedouin in terms of language. Subsequently, more formal schooling efforts began to take place at mosques and schools. Throughout the centuries, as educational efforts expanded, the connections between piety and Arabic mastery strengthened. However, there was an incongruity in the fact that studies of the Arabic language came to be developed mainly by the foreign converts themselves, and the final portion of the article analyzes this tension.

The Tablighi Jama’at: Proselytizing Missionaries or Trojan Horse?

Tablighi Jama’at, a transnational Deobandi (Sunni) Muslim proselytizing group with branches in over 150 countries today, has garnered attention in the West since 2001. With increasing frequency, terrorist plots in the West reveal Jama’at linkages. Although its leadership enunciates a peaceful, apolitical stance; the organization does share the same core ideology and ultimate objectives (the expansion of Dar al Islam and the establishment of a global Caliphate) as the Salafis, Wahhabis and other “revivalist” Islamist movements such as the Ikhwan al Muslimin (Muslim Brotherhood). The only difference between the Jama’at and the Ikhwan, for example, is their respective modus operandi. Although the Tablighi Jama’at stress proselytism as their sole objective, they have also provided cover, a conduit and a fertile recruiting ground for jihadi organizations such as Al Qaeda and Lashkar-i-Taiba.

Western Converts to Islam (Later Eleventh to Later Fifteenth Centuries)

The early expansion of Islam led in time to widespread conversions of Christians in conquered territories. In the later eleventh century, however, western Christendom was in turn launching offensives against Islam on several fronts. Territorial gains were made in various Mediterranean regions and, although by the end of the thirteenth century the Holy Land had been lost again, Sicily remained in Christian hands, and in the second half of the thirteenth century in the Iberian peninsula only Granada remained under Muslim control: the whole peninsula was under Christian rule before the end of the fifteenth century. This expansion was accompanied, especially in the thirteenth century, by attempts to convert Muslims and other non-Christians. Yet in the period from the late eleventh until the later fifteenth century some western Christians converted to Islam. The purpose of the present paper is to consider the situations that prompted the adoption of Islam, and the reasons for such conversions, although the evidence is usually insufficient to indicate exactly why a particular Christian became a Muslim: the preconceived ideas voiced in western sources about forced conversions can be misleading and, although a crude distinction might be made between conversions from conviction and those based on worldly considerations, motives did not necessarily always fit neatly into just one of these two categories. But obviously not all converts would have had an equal understanding of the nature of Islamic beliefs and practices. The response of western ecclesiastical and secular authorities to renegades will also be considered. Further conversions of Christian peoples who had already for centuries been living under Muslim rule will not be examined, but only the adoption of Islam by those whose origins lay in western Christian countries or who were normally resident in these, and by westerners whose lands were newly conquered by Muslim powers after the eleventh century; and the focus will be mainly, though not exclusively, on the crusader states and the Iberian peninsula.

Western Converts to Islam (Later Eleventh to Later Fifteenth Centuries)

Western Converts to Islam (Later Eleventh to Later Fifteenth Centuries) A. J. Forey The early expansion of Islam led in time to widespread conversions of Christians in conquered territories. In the later eleventh century, however, western Christendom was in turn launching offensives against Islam on several fronts. Territorial gains were made in various Mediterranean regions and, although by the end of the thirteenth century the Holy Land had been lost again, Sicily remained in Christian hands, and in the second half of the thirteenth century in the Iberian peninsula only Granada remained under Muslim control: the whole peninsula was under Christian rule before the end of the fifteenth century. This expansion was accompanied, especially in the thirteenth century, by attempts to convert Muslims and other non-Christians. Yet in the period from the late eleventh until the later fifteenth century some western Christians converted to Islam. The purpose of the present paper is to consider the situations that prompted the adoption of Islam, and the reasons for such conversions, although the evidence is usually insufficient to indicate exactly why a particular Christian became a Muslim: the preconceived ideas voiced in western sources about forced conversions can be misleading and, although a crude distinction might be made between conversions from conviction and those based on worldly considerations, motives did not necessarily always fit neatly into just one of these two categories. But obviously not all converts would have had an equal understanding of the nature of Islamic beliefs and practices. The response of western ecclesiastical and secular authorities to renegades will also be considered. Further conversions of Christian peoples who had already for centuries been living under Muslim rule will not be examined, but only the adoption of Islam by those whose origins lay in western Christian countries or who were normally resident in these, and by westerners whose lands were newly conquered by Muslim powers after the eleventh century; and the focus will be mainly, though not exclusively, on the crusader states and the Iberian peninsula. The Perceived Attractions of Islam Western commentators — most, though not all, were clerics — usually had difficulty in accepting that Christians could be won over by any perception [End Page 153] of true merit in the Islamic faith’s teachings and practices, since they themselves were convinced that there was none. In the early fourteenth century the anonymous author of the Memoria Terre Sancte wrote of apostates that “everyone should understand that their renouncing of the Christian faith was not because they believed or thought that the law of Muhammad was better than the Christian one,”1 and Symon Semeonis stated of renegades in Egypt that although many had adopted the Islamic religion, at heart they still embraced the Christian faith.2 John Manuel, the nephew of the Castilian King Alfonso X, claimed that the Islamic faith was in many ways so nonsensical and unreasonable that no one of any understanding would consider that it could lead to salvation.3 It was usually the weak and simple-minded who were thought to be vulnerable. Peter the Venerable, when asking St. Bernard in the mid-twelfth century to compose a refutation of Islam, wrote that, although Muslims might not be converted, it was necessary “to consider and provide for weak members of the Church, who are commonly led astray or even unthinkingly won over by trivial arguments.”4 In 1322 a provincial council at Valladolid expressed the fear that the simple-minded might be attracted to Islam, and Oldradus of Ponte also alluded to the possibility of the conversion of “simple” (simplices) Christians.5 [End Page 154] It was thought that such people might be influenced by the superficial attractions of what was seen to be a lax religion. James of Vitry thus maintained in the early thirteenth century that some Christians went over to Islam to indulge in gluttony, dissipation, and obscene pleasures, and towards the end of that century the Franciscan Fidentius of Padua claimed that some were attracted by a desire for carnal pleasure, while Humbert of Romans, at one time head of the Dominican order, had a few years earlier sought to contrast the austere demands of his own faith with the...

Dutch Colonial Containment of Islam in Manggarai, West-Flores, in Favour of Catholicism, 1907-1942

Abstract West Flores or Manggarai was until 1900 known as territory of the Muslim Sultan of Bima. In 1907 the Dutch effectively took possession of the region and after 1910 they entrusted the introduction of schools to the Catholic missionaries. The coastal Muslim settlements were neglected in favour of the mountain region, where finally one local chief, mission-educated Alexander Baroek became the most important native counterpart of the colonial rule. The ties with Bima were formally broken in the 1920s. Herewith Catholicism gained political and social influence to the detriment of the expansion of Islam and Manggarai joined the rest of Flores to become a majority Catholic society. There was no overall strategy to destroy Muslim influence, but it was simply the result of a longer chain of not always related decisions. This choice was in line with the colonial strategy of creating a prosperous Flores.

Os árabes nos antigos relatos portugueses do Índico

Arabo- Islamic expansion quickly spread throughout Asia, Africa and Europe and in certain circumstances led to the conversion to Islam of many people that were generically labelled Moors. The arrival of the Portuguese in the East called for a more specific way in which to refer to the population coming from Arabia or that which underwent the process of Arabisation: Arabs, Alarves, Arabians, Bedouins, Maçaris and even names of tribes like Ben Jebra [Banû Djabr].

Buwayhid Library and its Management: A Historical Analysis

Like the ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Roman library, Muslim library has been introduced from the early age of Islam in demand of time. In the meantime, the emergence of Hazrat Muhammad (Sm.) had started a new era of knowledge and science in Islam. From the very beginning of Islamic civilization many institutions were established and renowned intellectuals and scholars of different fields were associated with those institutions. They made various worthy researches for the development of Muslim knowledge and sciences, in badly need of many libraries. So after several years when the Muslims came closer to the Persian literature and Greek sciences the Islamic library started its journey in the 7th century. So, for the acquisition of knowledge Muslim library has been initiated from the very beginning of Islamic heritage which was started with the mosque though formally introduced by the Baitul Hikmah, by Abbasid khalifa Al-Mamun (813-833). Gradually by the expansion of Islam it was circulated in various countries of the world. In these process Buwayhid ruler came closer to the Abbasid and taught the process of establishing various royal, private and public library. After the inception of royal library the Buwayhid introduced various important functions such as, collection of books, preservation system, translation, cataloguing, inclusion and clarification of the books. Besides these, recruitment, promotion, management of archives and modern system of budgeting were also salient features of their library management. The present study is an attempt to analyze the nature of the Buwayhid royal, private and public libraries. The study will also cover exclusively its library management and its various administrative functions. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/el.v23i1.12120 Eastern Librarian Vol.23(1) 2012 pp.51-63