Islamic Intellectual Tradition Research Articles

A Long Way to God's Mutability: A Response to Ebrahim Azadegan

A Long Way to God's Mutability:A Response to Ebrahim Azadegan Amirhossein Zadyousefi (bio) I. Introduction In his "On the Incompatibility of God's Knowledge of Particulars and the Doctrine of Divine Immutability: Towards a Reform in Islamic Theology" (2020, 2022) Ebrahim Azadegan tries to make room for what he calls a reform in Islamic theology. Affirming that God's knowledge of particulars is inconsistent with God's immutability, Azadegan puts forward a theory of God's knowledge of particulars, inspired from Sadrā's philosophy, which allows one to (1) explain God's knowledge of particulars and (2) hold that God is mutable. That is, Azadegan, accusing Avicenna of having the dogma of God's immutability, abandons God's immutability in favor of God's knowledge of particulars and thinks that a God who knows particulars but is mutable is more perfect than a God who does not know particulars but is immutable. In the present response, I shall show that Azadegan's project is not as easy as he thinks, and I will criticize it. Let us have a short look at Azadegan's project. II. Azadegan's Project Azadegan's 2020 essay consists of three parts. In the following, I will present a brief summary of each. In the first part, Azadegan tries to delineate the main contours of a debate in Islamic intellectual tradition over God's knowledge of particulars—a debate chiefly between Ghazālī and Avicenna—and shows how God's knowledge of particulars is in tension with God's immutability. He summarizes this debate in the following argument: 1. God is omniscient. 2. Every omniscient being knows all past, present, and future particular states of the world and of individuals. 3. Particular states of the world and of individuals change. 4. Every sort of knowledge will change with the change of its object. 5. [Therefore] God's knowledge of occurrent particulars changes. [End Page 166] 6. Knowledge is an intrinsic property of every individual, including God. 7. [Therefore] God's intrinsic property regarding His knowledge of particulars changes. 8. God's intrinsic properties are His essential properties. 9. [Therefore] God's essential properties change. 10. [Therefore] God is not immutable.1 Then he states that God's knowledge of particulars, in both Avicenna's and Ghazālī's views, is inconsistent with God's immutability.2 That is, if one holds that God knows particulars (premise 2), according to the argument above, one has to accept that God is not immutable (premise 10). According to Azadegan, Avicenna denies God's knowledge of particulars, that is, premise 2 of the argument above, in order to avoid its conclusion (premise 10).3 But, Azadegan is well aware that only temporal knowledge of changing particulars entails a change in God's essence. So, he mentions that by introducing knowledge in a universal way Avicenna tries to save premise 2 of the preceding argument while denying its fifth premise.4 But Azadegan thinks that Avicenna's appeal to knowing in a universal way does not help him, and this way of knowing particulars "cannot in the end accommodate God's knowledge of occurrent particulars and the phenomenal states of other minds"5 and "the contents of our senses and particular mental states."6 "God does not" even "know what time it is"7 and "what particular qualitative or phenomenal properties any particular individual has been experiencing when he or she has felt a pain or some other sensation."8 Azadegan states that Avicenna warmly welcomes such a result because Avicenna thinks that God's lack of knowledge of changing particulars partly constitutes God's perfectness.9 But he disagrees with Avicenna and, following Ghazālī, holds that such a God is perfect only in name. Following Ghazālī, Azadegan makes a connection between God's perfectness, God's immutability, and God's knowledge of particulars and holds that a God who knows particulars but is mutable is more perfect than a God who does not know particulars but is immutable.10 He believes that the conception of God introduced by Avicenna (a God who lacks knowledge of changing particulars) does not correspond to the God introduced by...

Islamic Intellectual Tradition between Perennial and Discursive Knowledge

There have been several intellectual discourses and frameworks addressing the philosophical, epistemological and methodological issues relating to the sources of knowledge in Islam in the recent past. Islamization of knowledge championed by Al-Farūqī (1921-1986) and Al-Attas (1931- ) and subsequently contributed to by many other Muslim thinkers like Abu SulaymÉn (1936- ), Al-Al-Wānī (1935- ) etc. was a pinnacle of reviving Islamic intellectual tradition in the contemporary Muslim world. The main objective of this paper is to examine the Islamic intellectual tradition which harmonizes between perennial knowledge (ʿIlm naqlī) and discursive knowledge (ʿIlm ʿaqlī). It is noteworthy to say that, the intellectual redirection and reconstruction of knowledge in the light of Islamic weltanschauung in the recent past have been advocated for by Muslim thinkers. In so doing, the paper makes an attempt to elucidate on the Islamization of contemporary knowledge and contextualization of Islamic intellectual tradition in order to make it relevant to the contemporary needs of the Muslims. The paper identifies that the existing gulf or dichotomy between revealed and acquired knowledge is the core inhibiting factor militating against the revival of Islamic intellectualism in the contemporary Muslim world. It further argues that if Islamic intellectual tradition must be contextualized, the integration between perennial knowledge (ʿIlm naqlī) and discursive knowledge ʿIlm ʿaqlī) is essential. In conclusion, Islamic intellectual tradition does not separate between religious and non-religious knowledge as reflected in the contributions of classical Muslim scholars such as Al-kindī, Al-Khawarizmī, Al-Farābī, Birūnī, Ibn Sīna, Al- GhazzÉlÊ, Al-Shirazī among others. It is thereby recommended that Muslim intellectuals, scholars, researchers and thinkers should take up the challenge of addressing the disintegration between revealed and acquired knowledge especially by harmonizing the aspects together in order to promote development through knowledge to manage self and the knowledge to manage the system as coined by a great Muslim thinker, Sidek Baba as a central focus of contemporary discourse of Islamic intellectual tradition in the era of multifarious challenges.

Escaping Plato’s Cave as a Mystical Experience: A Survey in Sufi Literature

This paper puts forward a mystical reading of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave by comparing it with some allegories from Sufi literature, Islamic mystical tradition. The paper argues that the determining parts of the allegory, such as escaping the cave as the world of shadows; seeing the sun/truth and becoming a philosopher; and the necessity of returning to the cave, have significant similarities to what Sufis have said about their mystical experience and spiritual enlightenment. The paper compares the Allegory of the Cave with some similar allegories in Sufi literature, focusing on the allegories of prison, hunting the shadows of a flying bird, dying before dying, and the elephant in the dark Room in Rumi’s works. After an introduction to the reception of Plato in the Islamic intellectual tradition and different interpretations of the Allegory of the Cave, this paper discusses four similarities between these allegories. Finally, the paper supports the mystical reading of Plato’s Cave by using Pierre Hadot’s thesis on Philosophy as a Way of Life, which challenges the sharp dichotomy of philosophy and mysticism in mainstream intellectual historiography.

شبهات جولد تسيهر حول تفسير ابن عباس من خلال كتاب "مذاهب التفسير الإسلامي" عرض ونقد

Goldziher’s studies are among the important orientalist works of the 20th century that focused on criticisms of the Islamic heritage. His book Die richtungen der Islamischen koranauslegung is a specialised study on the history of Quranic exegesis in Islamic intellectual tradition. He raised several suspicions regarding the interpretation of Ibn Abbas, the companion of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This study analysed and responded to these suspicions by collecting the sayings of Goldziher pertaining to Ibn Abbas according to the inductive method and then analysing and criticising them using analytical and critical approaches. The study concludes that Goldziher had a selective approach in dealing with the narratives in which he disregarded the scientific methodology for scrutinising and criticising narratives, besides making claims without evidence to serve his goals.

The Crisis of Modern Subjectivity: Rethinking Muhammad Iqbal and the Islamic Tradition

Despite the numerous books and articles on the thought and legacy of Muḥammad Iqbāl (d. 1938), hardly any significant academic studies exist that critically evaluate his philosophical thought in relation to his Muslim predecessors. The present article thus intervenes in the field of Iqbāl studies by challenging current scholarly assessments that present Iqbāl as a heroic reformer of Islam. This article is composed of three parts. It begins by providing a critical review of various scholarly treatments of Iqbāl's reformist thought and draws attention to problematic aspects of the current state of such scholarship. The article then proceeds to examine the ways in which Iqbāl's works frequently misconstrue or misrepresent various premodern Islamic texts and doctrines. It does so in two ways. The first of these involves an examination of Iqbāl's Eurocentric reading of premodern Islamic intellectual traditions and demonstrates that this is not only methodologically problematic but moreover undermined by Iqbāl's own limited grasp of modern scientific theories, such as evolution and the theory of relativity. This is followed by an examination of the concepts of selfhood (khūdī) and annihilation of the self (fanā'). Prominently featured in Iqbāl's thought and writings, his treatment of these two concepts illustrates the problematic aspects of his particular mode of interpreting premodern Islamic philosophy and Sufism. Overall, this article demonstrates that Iqbāl's status as a heroic reformer of Islam is misleading, as his interpretation of the premodern Islamic tradition is not as credible as it has often been presented to be over the past century.

Platonism in Service to the Ism???l? Im?m: The Case of Ab? Ya‘q?b al-Sijist?n? (d. 971 CE)

This short essay examines the Platonic thought of the Shī'ī Ismā'īlī scholar Abū Ya'qūb al-Sijistānī (d. 971 CE). By presenting his own teachings as the inner understanding of Islam, al-Sijistānī was able to challenge prominent scholarly claims to normative interpretation within the greater Islamic milieu. As students of Ismā'īlī thought know well, the intentions of the early Ismā'īlī thinkers cannot be simplistically reduced to an adaptation of Platonic metaphysics or a subversive reading of scripture. Rather, al-Sijistānī created a uniquely Ismā'īlī philosophical theology with its own soteriological aims and religious worldview, while working closely to demonstrate the leadership of the Ismā'īlī imam. When approached in this way, al-Sijistānī's project of constructing a synthesis between Platonism and religious traditions foregrounds the breadth of interpretive diversity within the classical Islamic intellectual traditions. By examining short excerpts on the nature of the soul and religion from al-Sijistānī's Ithbāt al-Nubūwwa (Prophecy's Proof), this essay demonstrates the text's instrumental use of Platonism in explaining the emergence of religion as understood by the early Ismā'īlī movement. Al-Sijistānī's own thoughts on the absolute transcendence of God and the Platonic principles of Intellect and Soul led him to new speculative conclusions that sharply contrasted with other major and competing interpretations of Islam. Chief among these was his belief that scripture had an inner meaning apart from its literal content, which could only be revealed by the imam and his representatives, who were thus the legitimate religious authorities for the Islamic community.

Cosmic Order in the Microcosm: Ethical Guidance in Post-Classical Astronomy Texts

Abstract This article is the first to focus on statements about ethical guidance in post-classical astronomy texts. A number of astronomers in post-classical Islamic societies remarked that the study of astronomy, specifically the mathematical analysis of the uniform motions of the celestial orbs, had ethical benefits. These astronomers’ statements are significant because, through them, scholars can learn more about the role of reason in Islamic thought and about sources of ethical guidance other than Sharīʿa and philosophical ethics. The details of the ethical guidance imparted by the study of astronomy tell us more about the relationship between astronomy and the disciplines of fiqh and kalām, respectively. The existence of ethical guidance in astronomy texts is additional evidence that post-classical astronomy texts were part of an Islamic intellectual tradition.

A Long Way to God’s Mutability: a Reply to Azadegan

1 A Long Way to God’s Mutability: a Reply to Azadegan Amirhossein Zadyousefi Department of Philosophy, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran amirhosein.zadyusefi@modares.ac.ir Abstract: In “on the incompatibility of God's knowledge of particulars and the doctrine of divine immutability: Towards a reform in Islamic theology” Ebrahim Azadegan tries to make a room for what he calls a reform in Islamic theology. Affirming that God’s knowledge of particulars is inconsistent with God’s immutability, Azadegan puts forward a theory of God’s knowledge of particulars, inspired from Sadrā’s philosophy, which allows one to (i) explain God’s knowledge of particulars and (ii) hold that God is mutable. That is, Azadegan, accusing Avicenna of having the dogma of God’s immutability, abandons God’s immutability in favor of God’s knowledge of particulars and thinks that a God who knows particulars but is mutable is more perfect than a God who does not know particulars but is immutable. In this paper, I shall show that Azadegan’s project is not as easy as he thinks and will criticize it. Keywords: God’s knowledge of particulars, God’s mutability, God’s knowledge by presence, Avicenna, Azadegan 2 1. Introduction In “on the incompatibility of God's knowledge of particulars and the doctrine of divine immutability: Towards a reform in Islamic theology” Ebrahim Azadegan tries to make a room for what he calls a reform in Islamic theology. Affirming that God’s knowledge of particulars is inconsistent with God’s immutability, Azadegan puts forward a theory of God’s knowledge of particulars, inspired from Sadrā’s philosophy, which allows one to (i) explain God’s knowledge of particulars and (ii) hold that God is mutable. That is, Azadegan, accusing Avicenna of having the dogma of God’s immutability, abandons God’s immutability in favor of God’s knowledge of particulars and thinks that a God who knows particulars but is mutable is more perfect than a God who does not know particulars but is immutable. In this paper, I shall show that Azadegan’s project is not as easy as he thinks and will criticize it. Let us have a short look at Azadegan’s project. 2. Azadegan’s Project Azadegan’s paper consists in three parts. In the following, I will present a brief summary of these parts. In the first part of his paper, Azadegan tries to delineate the main contours of a debate in Islamic intellectual tradition over God’s knowledge of particulars – a debate chiefly between Ghazālī and Avicenna – and shows how God’s knowledge of particulars is in tension with God’s immutability. He summarizes this debate in the following argument: 1. God is omniscient. 2. Every omniscient being knows all past, present, and future particular states of the world and of individuals. 3. Particular states of the world and of individuals change. 3 4. Every sort of knowledge will change with change of its object. 5. [Therefore] God’s knowledge of occurrent particulars changes. 6. Knowledge is an intrinsic property of every individual, including God. 7. [Therefore] God’s intrinsic property regarding His knowledge of particulars changes. 8. God’s intrinsic properties are His essential properties. 9. [Therefore] God’s essential properties change. 10. [Therefore] God is not immutable.1 and then states that God’s knowledge of particulars, in both Avicenna’s and Ghazālī’s views, is inconsistent with God’s immutability.2 That is, if one holds that God knows particulars (premise 2), according to the above argument, one has to accept God is not immutable (premise 10). According to Azadegan, Avicenna denies God’s knowledge of particulars, i.e., premise 2 of the above argument, in order to avoid its conclusion (premise 10).3 But, Azadegan is well aware that only temporal knowledge of changing particulars entails a change in God’s essence. So, he mentions that Avicenna by introducing knowledge in a universal way tries to save premise 2 of the above argument while denying its 5th premise.4 But, Azadegan thinks that Avicenna’s appeal to knowing in a universal way does not help him and this way of knowing particulars “cannot in...

Prophetic Hadith and the Qur’ān-Only Movement: The Response of Muslim Scholars

Abstract: This article explores the Qur’ān-only movement, which advocates for the exclusive interpretation of Islam based on the Qur’ān without reference to the Prophetic Hadith. This movement emerged in the nineteenth century and represents a departure from traditional Islamic scholarship. To shed light on the complex intersection between religious tradition and modernity, this essay discusses the influence of modernity and Westernization on the development of Qur’ānist thought. It then provides a succinct overview of two primary contentions maintained by Muslim scholars who oppose the Qur’ānist movement. The first argument concerns the authority of ḥadīth, while the second concerns their authenticity and historical reliability. With regard to the former, traditional Muslim scholars underscore the significance of the Prophet’s life for deriving Islamic belief and practice from the Qur’ān, knowledge which can only be acquired from the Hadith. The second argument examined here involves the ways in which Islamic scholars defend the authenticity of the Prophetic Hadith with probabilistic reasoning, suggesting that rejecting the Hadith solely based on the absence of absolute certainty is not reasonable or consistent with the broader Islamic intellectual tradition. They argue that accepting something that is probable but not certain is common in many fields of study, including ḥadīth scholarship. In the science of ḥadīth ( ‘ilm al-ḥadīth ), scholars have developed what they consider to be sophisticated methods to evaluate the authenticity of ḥadīth reports based on various degrees of probability. Therefore, they advocate for an approach that acknowledges the role of probability in ḥadīth scholarship while upholding the rigorous standards of authenticity and reliability that have been developed over centuries of Islamic scholarship.

Prophetic Hadith and the Qur’ān-Only Movement: The Response of Muslim Scholars

Abstract: This article explores the Qur’ān-only movement, which advocates for the exclusive interpretation of Islam based on the Qur’ān without reference to the Prophetic Hadith. This movement emerged in the nineteenth century and represents a departure from traditional Islamic scholarship. To shed light on the complex intersection between religious tradition and modernity, this essay discusses the influence of modernity and Westernization on the development of Qur’ānist thought. It then provides a succinct overview of two primary contentions maintained by Muslim scholars who oppose the Qur’ānist movement. The first argument concerns the authority of ḥadīth, while the second concerns their authenticity and historical reliability. With regard to the former, traditional Muslim scholars underscore the significance of the Prophet’s life for deriving Islamic belief and practice from the Qur’ān, knowledge which can only be acquired from the Hadith. The second argument examined here involves the ways in which Islamic scholars defend the authenticity of the Prophetic Hadith with probabilistic reasoning, suggesting that rejecting the Hadith solely based on the absence of absolute certainty is not reasonable or consistent with the broader Islamic intellectual tradition. They argue that accepting something that is probable but not certain is common in many fields of study, including ḥadīth scholarship. In the science of ḥadīth ( ‘ilm al-ḥadīth ), scholars have developed what they consider to be sophisticated methods to evaluate the authenticity of ḥadīth reports based on various degrees of probability. Therefore, they advocate for an approach that acknowledges the role of probability in ḥadīth scholarship while upholding the rigorous standards of authenticity and reliability that have been developed over centuries of Islamic scholarship.

MU’TAZILA IN WESTERN SCHOLARSHIP: THEIR ORIGIN, ORIGINALITY, AND LEGACY

Abstract Mu'tazila is one of the schools of kalam that appears in Islamic intellectual history. Although considered a heresy, the Mu'tazilite scholars played an important role in the development of various traditional Islamic disciplines. Initially, Western historians considered Mu'tazila rationalism as an anomaly in Islamic history. However, various studies show that they are not only an integral part of the Islamic intellectual tradition, but they have also even influenced Islamic scholars from various Islamic schools of thought in the next generation. This article will focus on the narrative of the Mu'tazila in Western scholarship by focusing on the history of its early emergence and development, the originality of the theological and philosophical ideas they developed, and their intellectual legacy in Islamic intellectual history. This research is library research with content analysis approach. This article shows that despite their adoption of foreign concepts and methods, especially from Greek philosophers, Mu'tazilite thinkers had developed their own original ideas. Furthermore, this paper will also discuss Mu'tazila's influence on scholars who came after them, not only in Islamic theology, but also in other fields of Islamic sciences.

MEETING POINT OF WAHDAT AL-ADYAN AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM (A Study on the Thought of Ibn 'Arabi and John Hick)

Wahdat al-Adyan promoted by a Sufi figure Ibn ‘Arabi is always associated with religious pluralism developed by Christian religious figure John Hick. The recent understanding of religious pluralism has been assumed to take the legitimacy from Wahdat al-Adyan concept. So it can be understood that the understanding of religious pluralism is a legacy of the Islamic intellectual tradition and teachings. Historically, the concept of Wahdat al-Adyan developed by Ibn ’Arabi then became Wahdat al-Wujud. This concept shows that the concept of God is absolute, while the other is just relative. This is library research. It discusses the concept of Wahdat al-Adyan by Ibn ‘Arabi’s and religious pluralism by John Hick. The purpose of this research is to uncover the meeting point and relationship of Wahdat al-Adyan and religious pluralism. The research findings show that these two concepts have very significant differences in their sources and implications of thought, it indicates that Wahdat al-Adyan and religious pluralism do not have the same rationale.

THE ROOTS OF TRADITIONAL ISLAM IN MODERNIST MUSLIM WORKS: K.H. Aceng Zakaria and the Intellectual Tradition of Pesantren

One of characters of modernist Islam organization in Indonesia is the opposition to traditionalist Islam practices. Initially, the modernist Islam activist also learned in the traditional Islam culture before they turned around. This study focuses on the roots of the traditional Islam among the modernist Islam organization activists, Islamic Union (Persatuan Islam/PERSIS). The study object is the historical life of the PERSIS chairman, Aceng Zakaria and his magnum opus works, al-Muyassar fî ‘Ilm al-Naḥw and al-Hidâyah fî Masâ’il Fiqh Muta‘âriḍah. Through a socio-intellectual historical approach, the study shows that the Islamic intellectual tradition of the modernist activists is inseparable from the learning of traditional pesantren. Aceng Zakaria, as a PERSIS ulama, originally learned at the traditional pesantren in the mid-twentieth century. The roots of traditional Islamic science influences his intellectual career which was reflected in his works. Both books, Arabic grammar al-Muyassar and fiqh discourse al-Hidâyah demonstrate his connectivity to the intellectual of traditional pesantren. However, Aceng Zakaria, as a modernist and reformist ulama, also modified his explanation systematically and practically. This shows that the genealogy of intellectual tradition of pesantren has an important position in supporting the development of reformist Islamic ideas in Indonesia.

On Preconditions for Ibn Khaldun’s Philosophy of History

This article is devoted to the study of the preconditions for Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history. It is argued that his theory of history was both a result of his own intellectual development and previous theories. The author states that Ibn Khaldun was influenced by ancient thought, political culture of Western Asia and Islamic intellectual tradition. The first was Ancient Greek philosophy and medicine that he inherited from the great physicians and philosophers like Aristotle, Hippocrates and Galen. The second was cultural and political legacy of Sassanid Persia. The third prerequisite for formation of Ibn Khaldun’s theory of history was the adoption of the achievements of his predecessors, Islamic scientists, theologians and philosophers who had contributed to the rational critique of history.

Reconsidering Manifestation and Significances of Islamic Philosophy

Islamic Philosophy should be observed as the worth treasure that manifested during the history of Islamic Intellectual Tradition. Quite different from the Philosophical traditions breed in Western Civilization, Islamic Philosophy affirmed its construction based on Revelation, Intuition, and demonstration. This paper will enquire several arguments reconsidering an influential position of Philosophy in Islamic Intellectual Tradition; ranged from an elaboration regarding the unity of Reason (Ratio-Intellectus), unity of existence, and the unity or relation between the Knower and the known object. Consequently, there are at least five significances of Islamic Philosophy to be studied by present-day Muslims by order: Islamic Philosophy acquired the whole competencies to seek the truth and wisdom; it is required as a systematic thought to face challenges confronted by Western Civilization; especially their destructive ideas; Islamic Philosophy also encourage mankind to find an answer an eternal question concerning the nature of their world; and finally, Islamic Philosophy counteracts the bias framework of Orientalists.

Bilad al-Brazil: The Importance of West African Scholars in Brazilian Islamic Education and Practice in Historic and Contemporary Perspective

While it is well established now that the middle passage did not entirely separate Africans who were forcibly brought to the Americas from their home cultures and traditions, these connections are often studied and understood in the form of survivals or ancestral memory. This paper argues that in major urban centers in Brazil until around the time of World War I, West Africans not only managed to recreate Islamic communities and intellectual traditions, but maintained important contacts with their homelands. In much the same way that scholars have argued that the Sahara constituted an avenue of exchange and connection between North Africa and Bilad al-Sudan, I argue here that the Atlantic Ocean was not an insurmountable barrier but provided opportunities for African Muslims to extend the traditions of Bilad al-Sudan into Brazil—albeit to a much lesser extent.

Исламская научная традиция и европейская мысль

The article is devoted to the consideration of the Islamic intellectual tradition from the point of view of the possibility of correlating it with the social and hu­manitarian aspects of science, formed in the traditions of European culture. The reason for this study was postmodernist interpretations of the processes of the Islamization of knowledge as ways to overcome the dichotomy of science and religion. These interpretations are based on the social, in fact, idea of the civilizational identity of Muslims living and working today in European countries (including those working in the field of science) and Muslims of the traditional Islamic East. The authors, however, associate the prospects of a re­newed interpretation of the Islamic scientific tradition with the possibility of its rethinking in the context of the post-nonclassical concept of scientific rationality. This concept makes it possible to overcome the interpretation of “western” and “eastern” knowledge, which reaches the point of opposition. Such a rethinking is unfolding today, in particular, in the course of the reinterpretation of historically established Islamized intellectual trends. The authors come to the conclusion: the Islamization of education in the East, begun by 9th century intellectuals (primar­ily from among the Muslim Ummah) on the didactic foundations laid down in the Qur’an and Sunnah, implied a rethinking of the cultural status of various fields of knowledge from the standpoint of the corresponding value orientations, which, in principle does not contradict the modern understanding of science as an axiologically oriented system. The very possibility of this kind of correlation of the value aspects of knowledge opposes the “scientific marginalization” of Is­lam and presupposes the delineation of the semantic content of Islam as a cul­tural regulator that also orientates science and Islam as a system of rigid reli­gious ideas.

Resiliensi Pesantren Terhadap Ekstrimisme Kekerasan Berbasiskan Agama dan Implikasinya terhadap Masyarakat Pesisir Lamongan

Pesantren has a strategy of resilience from the infiltration of the ideology of religious violent extremism. This resilience comes from the kiai's charisma and institutional commitment to the integrity of the country which has implications for the practice of Islamic education in Islamic boarding schools. This article discusses the form of the resilience of the Pesantren Karangasem Muhammadiyah Lamongan from the ideology of religious violent extremism. Pesantren Karangasem is located in Paciran, which borders Brondong, Lamongan, where religious life in the two coastal villages of Lamongan faces serious challenges because it is becoming pockets of movement for Islamic extremist groups. This article poses two thesis questions: First, what is the form of the resilience of the Pesantren Karangasem from the ideology of religious violent extremism; Second, how this form of resilience can have implications for preventing the entry of radical Islamic actors into the religious life of the coastal community of Lamongan. This study concludes that Pesantren Karangasem is an Islamic educational institution that contributes to spreading moderate Islamic views through several forms of resilience that originate from the kiai's charisma and the Islamic intellectual tradition of the pesantren. This study also emphasizes that even though the infiltration of massive religious-based violent extremism movements has occurred, the practice of Islamic cosmopolitan which is the character of religious life in the coastal community of Lamongan is always maintained.

Studies in Medieval Islamic Intellectual Traditions, written by Hassan Ansari and Sabine Schmidtke

Studies in Medieval Islamic Intellectual Traditions, written by Hassan Ansari and Sabine Schmidtke

De-Universalising Male Normativity: Feminist Methodologies for Studying Masculinity in Premodern Islamic Ethics Texts

Abstract Historically, texts of the Islamic intellectual tradition characterised the ideal Muslim by exclusively referring to men and their concerns. Only recently have scholars of Islam begun to engage in critical study of the category of masculinity. This essay focuses on theories and methodologies of studying masculinity and manhood in premodern Islamic ethics. I demonstrate the gains to be made from gender-critical study of masculinity by way of consolidating approaches scholars have taken and arguing for feminist reasons and methodologies for unpacking male normativity. Because premodern Islamic ethics texts across multiple genres of the scriptural and intellectual tradition presume male readers and subjects, we must take male normativity, the assumption that Muslim ethics is for men, male bodies and practiced by persons marked by maleness, as our critical starting point.