Islamic Scholarly Tradition Research Articles

Universalism of Islamic Scholarly Tradition: New Directions for Islamic Studies

<p align="left"><strong>Abstract<em></em></strong></p><p>The universalism of the Islamic scholarly tradition is seen as one of the keys in responding to some challenges and opportunities that come along with an increasingly connected modernity. This research examines the evolution of Islamic thought from a period of disintegration to integration and underscores the importance of the universalist approach in uniting different schools and views within the Islamic world. The type of research used in this study is library research using a paradigmatic philosophical-historical analysis approach. The research combines three approaches: philosophical, historical, and paradigmatic analysis. In this context, philosophical analysis explores concepts related to universalism in Islam. The data in this research were obtained through a literature study. Researchers are involved in in-depth reading several books, papers, articles, and classical texts relevant to the past understandings of universalism. These data are also used for perspective enrichment. The results of this study show the originality of tradition and modernity as historical roots and a foothold departing from the discussion of universalism of the Islamic scientific tradition. In addition, the results of this study also emphasize three methods of approach to produce universalism of the scientific tradition, namely: ideological criticism, historical analysis, and structural analysis.</p><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><em>Universalisme tradisi keilmuan Islam dipandang sebagai salah satu kunci untuk menanggapi tantangan dan peluang yang datang bersama dengan modernitas yang semakin terhubung. Penelitian ini membahas tentang evolusi pemikiran Islam dari periode disintegrasi ke integrasi dan menggarisbawahi pentingnya pendekatan universalisme dalam menyatukan berbagai aliran dan pandangan di dunia Islam. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kepustakaan (library research) dengan menggunakan pendekatan analisis filosofis-historis paradigmatik. Penelitian ini menggabungkan tiga pendekatan: analisis filosofis, historis, dan paradigmatik. Dalam konteks ini, ketiga pendekatan tersebut dipergunakan untuk mengeksplorasi konsep-konsep yang berkaitan dengan universalisme dalam Islam. Data dalam penelitian ini diperoleh melalui studi pustaka, yang melibatkan pengumpulan buku, makalah, artikel, dan teks klasik yang relevan dengan topik penelitian yang mencerminkan pemahaman masa lalu tentang universalisme, juga digunakan untuk pengayaan perspektif. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan orisinalitas tradisi dan modernitas sebagai akar sejarah dan pijakan berangkat dari pembahasan universalisme tradisi ilmiah Islam. Selain itu, hasil penelitian ini juga menekankan tiga metode pendekatan untuk menghasilkan universalisme tradisi ilmiah, yaitu: kritik ideologis, analisis sejarah, dan analisis struktural.</em>

Female Religious Authority in Shi'i Islam: Past and Present

Islamic religious authority is conventionally understood to be an exclusively male purview. Yet when dissected into its various manifestations – leading prayer, preaching, issuing fatwas, transmitting hadith, judging in court, teaching law, theology, and other Islamic sciences and, generally shaping the Islamic scholarly tradition – nuances emerge that hint at the presence of women in the performance of some of these functions. This collection of case studies, covering the period from classical Islam to the present, and taken from across the Twelver Shi‘i Islamic world, reflects on the roles that women have played in exercising religious authority across time and space. Comparative reflection on the case studies allows for the formulation of hypotheses regarding the conditions and developments – whether theological, jurisprudential, social, economic, or political – that enhanced or stifled the flourishing of female religious authority in Twelver Shi‘i Islam.

Ibn Taymiyya on Human Nature and Belief in God: Using the Cognitive Science of Religion to Study the Fiṭra

Ibn Taymiyya proposes his unique epistemology by employing the concept of the fiṭra. When his statements describing the fiṭra are collected, we see that Ibn Taymiyya has presented a detailed view of human nature and how that nature relates to God and the universe as a whole. His fiṭra-centric theory of human nature can be usefully compared to other theories, not only within the Islamic tradition but also in theories of the self found in other religions or even contemporary scientific theories. As of yet, Ibn Taymiyya’s work has not been studied through the lens of Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR). Ibn Taymiyya is an ideal candidate for applying CSR research to Islamic thought in order to reach broader insights about theories of human nature within the Islamic scholarly tradition. CSR findings are relevant to Ibn Taymiyya’s work specifically because Ibn Taymiyya claims that certain human emotions, intuitions, and behaviors are inborn and universal. By applying CSR, we can conclude that some aspects of Ibn Taymiyya’s theological perspective are grounded in deeper and more universal features of human cognition that are not specific to the particularities of his biases, his milieu, political pressures of his time, etc.

Locating Ḥākimiyya in Global History: The Concept of Sovereignty in Premodern Islam and Its Reception after Mawdūdī and Quṭb

AbstractThe concept of ḥākimiyya (sovereignty), as understood by its leading proponents, refers to the notion that it is God, rather than humans, Who possesses the prerogative to make laws. A concomitant of this is that Muslims with political power and authority must recognise the supremacy of Islamic law. This notion, perhaps most notably articulated in modern times by Abū al-Aʿlā Mawdūdī, may be viewed as the rearticulation of ideas latent in the premodern Islamic juristic tradition, but whose modern incarnation as ḥākimiyya emerged in response to the legislative norms of the liberal colonial state. Despite its modern articulation, and against the views of several scholars, I argue that ḥākimiyya qua sovereignty finds its antecedents quite clearly in the Islamic scholarly tradition. Such an understanding leads into a discussion of how Islamic conceptions of sovereignty can help us reassess influential Western articulations of the concept. I also show that Mawdūdī's influential younger contemporary, the Islamist alim Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Nadwī, upholds ḥākimiyya despite his critique of Mawdūdī and Sayyid Quṭb's conceptions of it. I conclude with a brief reflection on how our understanding of ḥākimiyya as sovereignty can help us provincialise Europe in global historical studies.

İslamî yahut Seküler Tarih: Tarif Khalidi ve Thomas Bauer’in Müslüman Tarih Yazımı Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi

The growing acceptance to challenge long-held notions have led to many new insights and opened up ways to access the Islamic scholarly tradition anew. This applies especially when it comes to the categories of Islamic and Secular. The present paper focuses on the works by Tarif Khalidi, a historian of Palestinian origin, and Thomas Bauer, a German scholar specializing in Arabic language and literature, and tries to achieve three objectives. First, applying the concept of cultural ambiguity to the formative period and observing it in its formative stages. Second, showing how and when a secular approach to history became the norm. Third, demonstrating how Muslim scholars demarcated a sharʿī realm in which the subject matters of the different sciences were in one way or another dealing with the revelation. This self-imposed boundary opened up a space for other discourses with their epistemologies based on reason and empirical knowledge. From a very early stage, history was to be found in this non-sharʿī realm of secular sciences.

Bir 7./13. Yüzyıl Âliminin Gözünden Eğitim: Nevevî’nin Hoca ve Talebe Âdâbına Dair Görüşleri

İslâm ilim geleneğinin gelişim ve dönüşümünün anlaşılmasında ilmî hayatın işleyişini doğrudan ele alan ya da bu alana temas eden metinler son derece önemlidir. İslâmî ilimlerin teşekkül süreçlerini tamamlamalarından sonra sayıları artmaya başlayan bu türden telifâtın özellikle medreselerin ortaya çıkışıyla yeni bir ivme kazandığı dikkati çeker. Ulemadan bazı isimler gerek talebelik gerekse hocalık yıllarını kayıt altına alarak kendi tecrübelerini gelecek nesillere aktarmak istemiştir. Bu isimlerden biri de ilmî hayatını büyük ölçüde Eyyûbî ve Memlük hâkimiyetindeki Dımaşk’ta geçiren ve bu süreçte çeşitli müesseselerde ilmî mansıplar edinen Nevevî’dir. Nevevî, el-Mecmû‘ şerhu’l-Mühezzeb adlı eserinin mukaddimesinde hem talebe ve hoca olarak ilmî kariyeri boyunca edindiği tecrübelerini hem de kendisinden önceki ulemanın konu hakkındaki bazı görüşlerini zikretmiştir. Nevevî’nin bu açıdan konu hakkında kendisinden önceki gelenekten etkilendiği gibi kendisinden sonraki müellifleri de etkilediği dikkat çekmektedir. Bu makalede Nevevî’nin görüşleri genel olarak dört ana başlıkta derlenmiştir. İlimle meşgul olmanın öneminin ele alındığı ilk kısımda Nevevî’nin ilmi en yüce meşguliyet olarak değerlendirmesi üzerinde durulmuştur. Nevevî’ye göre ilimle meşgul olmak bir ibadettir ve kişinin sadece kendisine değil bütün Müslümanlara fayda sağlaması bakımından diğer pek çok ibadetten de daha üstündür. Bununla birlikte bir ibadet olarak ilmin sahibine bir fayda sağlamasının olmazsa olmaz şartı ilmin yalnızca Allah rızasını elde etmek için tahsil edilmesi ve öğretilmesidir. Başta medreselerdekiler olmak üzere ulema için sayısız mansıbın ortaya çıktığı ve bu mansıpların elde edilebilmesi için çeşitli faktörlerin etkili olduğu bir dönemde yaşayan Nevevî’nin ilimle Allah rızası dışında bir gaye ile meşgul olunmaması gerektiğine dair ifadeleri bu bakımdan dikkat çekicidir. Nevevî daha sonra önce hocanın daha sonra ise talebenin ilmî faaliyetlerinin her safhasında sahip olmaları gereken âdâb ve ahlâkı ele alır. Onun anlatımından hocanın her hâliyle örnek bir Müslüman olması gerektiği anlaşılmaktadır. Hoca, manevi açıdan güzel ahlakla bezenmiş bir mümin olması gerekirken temizliği, düzeni, insanlarla ilişkisi gibi dünyevi işlerinde de örnek bir şahsiyet olmalıdır. Nevevî’ye göre hoca hoş karşılanmayacak davranışlarla ilmin şerefini yere düşürmemelidir. İlim öğrenme konusunda azmini hiç yitirmemeli, ilmini saklamamalı ve ancak ehil bir kimse olduğunda eser telif etmeye girişmelidir. Diğer taraftan ise talebesine karşı bir baba şefkatiyle yaklaşmalı, onu hem ilmi açıdan hem de ahlaki açıdan eğitmeye kendisini adamalıdır. Hoca talebenin ilim tahsiline hangi ilimlerden başlaması gerektiğine dair bir plan çıkarırken, hangi konuları hangi sırayla öğrenmesi gerektiğini de belirlemedir. Talebeye anlayabileceği şekilde yaklaşmalı, talebenin idrakine en kısa şekilde ulaşabileceği yolu keşfetmelidir. Nevevî bunun için hocanın ders sırasında oturduğu yerden ders ortamına, ders işleme usulünden talebeye yaklaşımına kadar birçok hususun önemine işaret eder. Nevevî’ye göre talebe ilme düşkün olmalıdır. Ayrıca ilim tahsili süresince karşılaşacağı türlü zorluklara karşı da hazırlıklı ve sabırlı olması gerekir. Talebe yemesine, içmesine, uykusuna kadar disiplinli bir hayat yaşamalı, dersini günün hangi zamanında ve nasıl çalışması gerektiğine dair bir bilince sahip olmalıdır. Nevevî bir talebenin ilmin basamaklarını tırmanışında hocası ile ilişkisine büyük önem verir. Bir ilmi ya da kitabı tek başına öğrenmeye çalışmanın son derece yanlış olduğuna ve bunun kişiyi birçok hataya düşürebileceğine vurgu yapan Nevevî, bu noktada hocanın ilim tahsilindeki merkezi rolüne işaret etmektedir. Ona göre ilmî hayatın temelini oluşturan hoca-talebe ilişkisi netice itibarıyla talebenin hayatının her noktasına etki edecek niteliktedir. Bu bakımdan talebe, hocasının ilmî birikim ve tecrübelerinden istifade ederken bir ölçüde onun ahlakını da benimsemektedir. Nevevî’ye göre hoca ve talebe arasındaki bu ilişki tarafların birbirlerine karşı hak ve sorumluluklarının olduğu bir zemine oturmaktadır. Ayrıca talebe kendisi gibi ilim tahsil etmek üzere hocadan ders alan bir halkanın üyesidir ve hem ders sırasında hem de ders dışında halkada yer alan diğer talebelere karşı yerine getirmesi gereken bazı sorumlulukları vardır. Talebe halka içerisinde bir taraftan ilim tahsil ederken diğer taraftan ise ileriki yıllarda talebeler yetiştiren bir hoca olmanın ilk deneyimlerini bu halkada yaşamaktadır. Bu noktada Nevevî’nin bir ders halkasının nasıl olması gerektiğine dair sunduğu canlı tasvirler dikkat çekicidir. Son kısımda ise hocanın ve talebenin, ilmi faaliyetin en önemli araçlarından biri olarak “kitap” üzerinden ilim çevresiyle geliştirdikleri ilişki üzerinde durulmuştur. Bu açıdan Nevevî’nin hoca ve talebe âdâbına dair anlattıkları bir taraftan kendi dönemindeki ilmî hayatın işleyişini anlamaya, diğer taraftan ise daha geniş manada İslâm ilim geleneğinin pratik işleyişine dair genel bir tasavvurun oluşumuna katkı sağlamaktadır.

Official al-Azhar versus al-Azhar Imagined: The Arab Spring and the Revival of Religious Imagination

AbstractWhile the impact of the Arab Spring on the political imagination of the Egyptian youth has been well documented, scholars have largely ignored how the revolutionary fervour of the time also sparked the imagination of religiously inclined young people, especially the young scholars and graduates of al-Azhar. Spurred by the revolutionary spirit of the moment, these young Azharis not only questioned the official Azhari establishment, they also established two new religious institutions: Shaykh al-ʿAmūd and Dār al-ʿImād. Both institutions credited their origin to the Arab Spring; and, while they specialised in different aspects of Islamic scholarly tradition, both shared a similar critique of al-Azhar’s loss of authentic tradition. Engaging with their critiques and approaches informs our understanding of how the Arab Spring spurred creative imagination even within the religious sphere. The article contributes to the existing scholarship on how the 1961 reforms of al-Azhar have challenged its popular legitimacy.

Epistemological Foundations of Natural Sciences in Islam

Every scientific system relies on a particular civilization and cultural origin. Islamic science is no exception to this rule and is dependent on Islamic civilization and derived from its specific intellectual and epistemological system. This intellectual system that relies on the teachings of the revelation gives rise to an insight into the world as a metaphysical backbone and philosophical presuppositions in science and scientific work. Islamic science, based on Islamic epistemology, is influenced by religious propositions in various aspects. An Islamic scholarly tradition that emerged in the golden age of Islam is an example of this science. In this period of history, a close connection between Islamic worldview and epistemological foundations in all branches of science, especially natural sciences, can be established. Here, we have addressed the theory of Islamic science and discussed about the foundations of Islamic epistemology and its impact on determining the subject, purpose, and methods of research in the natural sciences in Islamic civilization. The present study discerns Islamic science as a science based on Islamic epistemology.

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

The Islamic Scholarly Tradition. Studies in History, Law, and Thought in Honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook Edited by ASAD Q. AHMED, BEHNAM SADEGHI, and MICHAEL BONNER

The Islamic Scholarly Tradition. Studies in History, Law, and Thought in Honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook Edited by ASAD Q. AHMED, BEHNAM SADEGHI, and MICHAEL BONNER

The Islamic Scholarly Tradition

This collection comprises fourteen papers delivered at a December 2010 conference
 held at Princeton University in honor of Michael A. Cook, as well as
 a preface and an introduction. Its four sections are designed to reflect the prin-
 cipal areas of Near Eastern and Islamic studies to which Cook has contributed:
 “Early Islamic History,” “Early Modern and Modern Islamic History,” “Juridical
 and Intellectual History,” and “Reinterpretations and Transformations.”
 The papers cover a broad geographic range from al-Andalus to Central Asia,
 and an extensive disciplinary range, with studies of calendars, conquest,
 fatāwā, tafsīr, and logic, among other subjects.
 Part 1 begins with Michael Bonner’s “‘Time Has Come Full Circle’:
 Markets, Fairs, and the Calendar in Arabia before Islam,” which addresses
 the intercalation of Arabia’s pre-Islamic calendar and the utility of sources
 for social history in dealing with this topic. He extends his confirmation of
 intercalation to a discussion of trade and social activity, noting that the shift
 to the Islamic lunar calendar indicated a shift to a new moral and social order
 and a true “revolution” in breaking with the past. In “The Wasiyya of Abū
 Hāshim: The Impact of Polemic in Premodern Muslim Historiography,”
 Najam Haider focuses on reports of the alleged testament (in 98/716-17) of
 Abu Hashim in which, written just before his death, he transferred his imamate
 and leadership to the Abbasid Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah. Relying
 primarily on Jacob Lassner’s approach to early material of this kind,
 which focuses on political propaganda and ideological debates, the author
 highlights the competition among reports of this testament and, later on in
 the Mamluk period, the processes of crafting a historical narrative that removed
 the polemical aspects. His study exemplifies the use of an alternative
 approach to early Islamic history, one that focuses on what compilations of
 historical reports tell us about contemporaneous political situations and religious
 doctrine, as well as about the historiographic methods of pre-modern
 historians ...

The Islamic Scholarly Tradition: Studies in History, Law, and Thought in Honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook, edited by Asad Q. Ahmed, Behnam Sadeghi, and Michael Bonner

The Islamic Scholarly Tradition: Studies in History, Law, and Thought in Honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook, edited by Asad Q. Ahmed, Behnam Sadeghi, and Michael Bonner