The Holy Qurʾān has remained the central source of Islamic faith, law, and civilization for over fourteen centuries. Alongside its profound influence, it has also been the subject of extensive scrutiny by Orientalist scholars, many of whom questioned its authenticity, textual preservation, historical reliability, and divine origin. This study introduces the most prominent Orientalists who raised objections to the Qurʾān and critically examines their arguments concerning the Qurʾānic text (nuṣūṣ al-Qurʾān). Employing a descriptive, analytical, and comparative methodology, the research explores the intellectual background and scholarly approaches of selected Orientalists before evaluating their claims in light of classical and contemporary Islamic scholarship. The study analyzes major objections related to the compilation and preservation of the Qurʾān, the authenticity of its text, the nature of revelation, linguistic characteristics, and allegations of external influences on its contents. These arguments are assessed through primary Islamic sources, including the Qurʾān, authentic ḥadīth literature, and the works of leading Muslim scholars of tafsīr, ʿulūm al-Qurʾān, and Islamic history. The research demonstrates that many Orientalist criticisms stem from selective use of historical evidence, methodological inconsistencies, and inadequate engagement with the Islamic intellectual tradition. By presenting a balanced and evidence-based evaluation of Orientalist perspectives, this study seeks to clarify common misconceptions, strengthen scholarly understanding of Qurʾānic studies, and contribute to contemporary research on the interaction between Orientalism and the Islamic intellectual heritage.

This study draws upon a corpus of primary Crimean Tatar sources in Arabic script, introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time, to reconstruct and offer a cultural-historical analysis of Ethem Feyzi’s authorial discourse as a representative example of economic modernization and institutional transformation within the social structures of the Crimean Tatar people during the years 1917–1920. The obtained results indicate that the main substantive and ideological dominant of Feyzi’s journalism is the development of an original model for the economic self-organization of Crimean Tatar society amid revolutionary crisis conditions. This orientation markedly distinguishes his intellectual stance from the predominant cultural-political inclinations of most contemporaries. To provide theoretical justification for national financial and credit institutions, Feyzi accomplished an intercultural synthesis by integrating and adapting key principles from classical European social thought to the conditions and requirements of the local historical context. Feyzi’s literary and public writings exhibit a notable intergeneric hybridity and a high degree of rhetorical mastery. This is evident in the skillful deployment of the triad of pathos, logos, and ethos, combined with a clearly structured narrative framework that guides the progression of thought from the diagnosis of systemic crisis to the justification of a program of national revival and restructuring. The texts derive particular semantic density and persuasive force from medico-anatomical metaphors, through which national reforms are interpreted as the essential and rationally grounded “healing” of the social organism. The most distinctive feature of Feyzi’s rhetorical strategy is the deliberate and systematic interweaving of complex socio-economic concepts with Islamic ethical traditions and elements of national folkloric knowledge. This approach fostered a strong emotional and axiological resonance with a traditionally oriented readership, thereby significantly enhancing the persuasiveness and legitimacy of the proposed reform program.

ABSTRACT This scoping review examines how contemporary Islamic education integrates environmental ethics (Eco-Islam) and democratic multicultural values as potential resources for reimagining Religious Education (RE) in the Anthropocene. Drawing on a corpus of 120 international scholarly articles (2014–2025), the study maps dominant thematic mechanisms, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and proposes a conceptual framework for transformative RE. While the corpus is dominated by Indonesian studies (79%), reflecting its role as a laboratory for Islamic education innovation, the proposed TES-RE framework is presented as a transferable heuristic, not a prescriptive model, with explicitly stated contextual limitations. The findings identify three integrative mechanisms: Critical Wisdom-Based Environments, which foster holistic, spiritually-grounded pedagogies; Prophetic Eco-Pedagogy, which roots environmental stewardship in Qur’anic hermeneutics and jurisprudence; and Critical Democratic Encounter, which engages Islamic traditions with pluralistic citizenship. Using Floridi’s ‘infosphere’ and Chasokela’s Transformative Learning Theory as lenses, the review argues that these mechanisms offer viable pathways for developing an eco-social, critically reflective RE paradigm. The study concludes with a SWOT analysis and a CIMO-logic framework to guide curriculum and pedagogical innovation in RE, aiming to equip learners for ethical, ecological, and civic engagement in a pluralistic world.

This article presents a multidimensional study of underground shrines and caves located within the sacred landscape of the Turkestan region. The aim of the article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the historical, cultural, psychological, and phenomenological nature of cave cults associated with such sacred sites of the Turkestan region as Akmeshit Ata, Zhylagan Ata, Ukasha Ata, and Kyluet. The caves are examined as archetypal space, with particular attention given to revealing its symbolic meaning as a primordial home a “maternal womb,” and a space of transformation, In addition, the article explores the semiotic structure and religious-ideological content of legends and rituals connected with these sacrеed sites, and offers a comparative analysis with similar cave cults within the worldview system of the Turkic peoples. The research is aimed at scholarly interpretation of the origins and evolution of cave cults their functioning within Shamanic-Tengrian worldviews in the pre-Islamic period and within Islamic tradition, as well as at determining their role in contemporary cultural memory. Alongside general phenomenological, psychological, and hermeneutical approaches, the study employs the method of historical and cultural reconstruction. The results lead to conclude that the sacredness of caves represents not only an element of a religious belief system but also an archetypal manifestation of national and spiritual identity that is a cultural-philosophical phenomenon reflecting the holistic unity of human existence with nature. Key finding: from a psychological perspective, being inside a cave contributes to stress reduction induces a meditative state, and enhances connection with the unconscious. Sacred places especially cave-related sacred sites, may contribute to restoring an individual’s inner spiritual balance, while reflective practices conducted in such spaces can facilitate the renewal of personal value orientations. This determines the practical significance of the study. Keywords: Turkestan region, sacred space, cave symbolism, speleological heritage, pilgrimage culture

The increasing involvement of women in Islamic educational leadership has challenged the long-standing assumption that religious authority within pesantren is predominantly male. However, limited attention has been given to how female leadership is sustained and transferred across generations within Islamic boarding schools. This study aims to examine the construction of female religious authority and the process of leadership succession at Pondok Pesantren Zumrotuththolibin through a sociological feminist perspective. A qualitative case study design was employed, involving in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. Fifteen participants, including the nyai, prospective successors, administrators, teachers, students, and community members, were selected through purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis supported by triangulation and member-checking procedures to ensure credibility. The findings reveal that female leadership legitimacy is established through a combination of religious competence, moral authority, managerial capability, and community trust. The study further demonstrates that leadership succession is intentionally institutionalized through religious education, family mentorship, gradual delegation of responsibilities, and active involvement of future female leaders in pesantren management and community engagement. The regeneration of authority among the nyai’s daughters illustrates how female leadership can be reproduced beyond individual charisma and transformed into a sustainable institutional structure. From a sociological feminist perspective, these findings challenge patriarchal assumptions regarding religious leadership while demonstrating the compatibility of female authority with Islamic educational traditions. This study contributes to the literature on gender, religious leadership, and succession in Islamic educational institutions by providing empirical evidence of how female authority is constructed, legitimized, and sustained within contemporary Indonesian pesantren.

Mindfulness-based interventions are increasingly applied in health care; however, many remain grounded in secular Western paradigms that insufficiently reflect patients' spiritual and cultural worldviews. Within transcultural nursing, integrating spirituality into mindfulness may enhance cultural congruence and support holistic care. This systematic integrative review synthesized interdisciplinary evidence on spiritually integrated mindfulness interventions and their relevance for culturally congruent nursing practice. Guided by PRISMA, 28 studies published between 2015 and 2025 were analyzed. Findings indicate consistent improvements in spiritual well-being, psychological distress, coping, and meaning-making across diverse cultural contexts, particularly within Buddhist, Islamic, and Christian traditions. Spiritual mindfulness operates through interconnected mechanisms, including emotional regulation, spiritual connectedness, relational awareness, and compassionate engagement. Integrative synthesis informed by Watson's Theory of Human Caring and CIMO logic suggests that culturally congruent spiritual mindfulness practices facilitate meaning-centered adaptation and person-centered healing. These findings demonstrate the theoretical and practical relevance of spiritual mindfulness for transcultural nursing and highlight the need for culturally grounded and methodologically rigorous research to strengthen evidence-based holistic care.

Cultural heritage preservation involves critical trade-offs between traditional authenticity and modern commercial utility in transforming historical patterns into animatable digital media. This paper presents a unified framework integrating cultural semantic encoding, diffusion models guided by knowledge graphs, and multi-view animation synthesis to modernize traditional patterns while preserving cultural authenticity. The approach includes a knowledge graph of 487 cultural concepts with 1243 semantic relations to condition the diffusion generation process. Comprehensive experiments on 10,010 culturally diverse patterns achieve a Fréchet Inception Distance of 24.3, representing a 7.6% improvement over state-of-the-art baselines with a Cultural Semantic Similarity of 0.85, exceeding existing methods by 18.1%. Expert evaluation by 50 cultural specialists confirms cultural fidelity scores of 4.6 ± 0.3 on a 5-point scale. Cross-cultural analysis of generalization confirms strong performance on Chinese, Persian, and Islamic traditions with 0.82-0.87 Cultural Semantic Similarity scores. The framework is successful in deploying on varied hardware platforms achieving 10× model compression on mobile devices with negligible quality degradation. These results establish systematic methods for heritage-aware generative systems, demonstrating that culturally explicit constraints enhance creative output while enabling commercially viable applications that respect traditional artistic expression.

The problems of Qur’an memorization among adolescents constitute a complex pedagogical issue because they involve cognitive, psychological, spiritual, and environmental dimensions that interact with one another. This study aims to analyze the strategies of tahfidz teachers in overcoming difficulties in Qur’an memorization among students at Madrasah Aliyah Al-Islam Surakarta in the 2025/2026 academic year. This study used a descriptive qualitative approach with a case study design. The research subjects consisted of tahfidz teachers as the main informants, as well as Madrasah Aliyah students and madrasah management as supporting informants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, non-participatory observation, and documentation analysis, then analyzed using thematic analysis techniques. Data validity was ensured through source and technique triangulation, member checking, and researcher reflexivity. The results showed that the main problems faced by students included low concentration, lack of learning motivation, boredom in muroja’ah, and weak time management between general academic workloads and memorization targets. Tahfidz teachers responded to these problems through adaptive pedagogical strategies, including the integration of the talaqqi, tikrar, tasmi’, and muroja’ah methods, personal approaches and the development of intrinsic motivation, the creation of a conducive learning environment based on spiritual values, and a structured and continuous memorization evaluation system. These findings indicate that the effectiveness of tahfidz teachers’ strategies is influenced by their ability to integrate modern pedagogical approaches with classical Islamic learning traditions. The conclusion of this study emphasizes the importance of integrative, adaptive, and contextual tahfidz learning strategies in overcoming difficulties in Qur’an memorization in formal madrasahs. The contribution of this study lies in strengthening the conceptual model of tahfidz learning that integrates pedagogical, psychological, spiritual, and managerial aspects in Islamic education.

This study examines the economic institutions that governed tax-farming contracts in the Ottoman Empire between 1550 and 1800. Utilizing institutional and game-theoretic frameworks, it analyzes the strategic interactions between the state and its agents under conditions of weak commitment and asymmetric information. In contrast to Western Europe, where corporate fiscal entities and long-term partnerships ensured credible commitment, the Ottoman system depended on individualized short-term contracts that lacked organizational continuity. Although this arrangement generated short-term revenue, it discouraged investment in administrative capacity and sustained cooperation, resulting in a low efficiency equilibrium. The study further addresses a central paradox in business history: whether the absence of corporate fiscal organization in the Ottoman context was due to enduring Islamic commercial traditions such as mudaraba, or the restrictive institutional design of tax-farming contracts. By elucidating this paradox, this study clarifies how institutional rigidity and monopolized fiscal authority impeded the emergence of long-lived business organizations.

The tension between human free will, on the one hand, and divine foreknowledge and sovereignty, on the other, has been addressed differently in different Islamic and Christian traditions. This article examines whether these differences are reflected in how lay Christians and Muslims think about free will, control, blame, and punishment, both when answering abstract questions about God and free will, and when making judgments about concrete situations. We find that despite theological differences among Christian denominations, Christians have similar attitudes in both abstract and concrete contexts, suggesting that lay religious experience is not fully penetrated by theological differences. Muslims differ from Christians: In agreement with the "Qur'an," they embrace both free will and divine sovereignty when answering abstract questions, but they deemphasize free will when making concrete judgments. These findings reveal the complexity of the interplay between theological reflection and lay moral and religious cognition, and show that the tension between free will and divine foreknowledge and sovereignty is not just a challenge for philosophers and theologians, but is part of lay believers' religious experience.

This research is based on the importance of studying Malay-Jawi religious manuscripts as a source of transmission of Islamic teachings in the archipelago, particularly in the field of monotheism. The study aims to examine the textual content of Jawi manuscripts containing the treatise of monotheism, especially the concept of the sentence of monotheism and the attributes of twenty, and to explain their position in the intellectual tradition of Malay Islam. The research employs This research is based on the importance of studying Malay-Jawi religious manuscripts as a source of transmission of Islamic teachings in the archipelago, particularly in the field of monotheism. The study aims to examine the textual content of Jawi manuscripts containing the treatise of monotheism, especially the concept of the sentence of monotheism and the attributes of twenty, and to explain their position in the intellectual tradition of Malay Islam. The research employs a qualitative method with a philological approach and content analysis. Primary data consist of Jawi manuscripts, while secondary data are obtained through library research. Data were collected through documentation and literature review and analyzed descriptively. The findings reveal that the manuscripts contain systematically arranged monotheistic teachings, including the meaning of lā ilāha illa Allāh through the principles of negation and affirmation, as well as the concept of faith involving the heart, speech, and actions. The manuscripts also explain the twenty attributes within the classifications of nafsiyah, salbiyah, ma‘ani, and ma‘nawiyah, reflecting the theological framework of Ahlussunnah wal Jama‘ah. These manuscripts function as both religious texts and pedagogical media, highlighting the importance of preserving Nusantara Islamic manuscripts as part of the region’s intellectual heritage.

This study critically analyzes the necessity of having a teacher within the Indonesian Islamic boarding school (pesantren) tradition through the lens of classical Islamic epistemology and contemporary philosophy of science. Employing qualitative hermeneutic-analytical approach based on library research adn focus group discussion, this investigation examines the epistemological validity of the teacher-student transmission system that has become the target of criticism from modern liberal Muslims such as Guru Gembul. The theoretical framework combines Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics (fusion of horizons) with Imre Lakatos's methodology of scientific research programmes to evaluate the pesantren tradition. Key findings reveal that: (1) the Arab-Islamic oral tradition practiced in pesantren is a sophisticated quality control system that anticipated insights of modern hermeneutics; (2) the sanad-ijazah system instantiates Gadamerian fusion of horizons where knowledge transmission is a dialogical encounter between tradition and context; (3) within Lakatos's, the pesantren tradition demonstrates characteristics of a progressive research programme over centuries, while liberal Muslim critiques exhibit mixed-evaluation; (4) critiques of "intellectual dependence" on teachers reveal a category mistake assuming epistemological autonomy ex-nihilo. This research contributes to contemporary Islamic epistemology discourse by demonstrating the necessity for epistemological justice that acknowledges the complexity of Islamic scholarly traditions often subordinated in modern discourse.

This study aims to analyze the concepts of rote learning and meaningful learning from an Islamic perspective and to examine the integration of both approaches in contemporary Islamic education. Islamic education faces challenges in creating learning processes that emphasize not only memorization but also understanding and reflection on Islamic values. Learning practices that are overly oriented toward memorization may result in superficial knowledge, while meaningful learning has not been optimally implemented. This study employs a qualitative approach using library research. The findings reveal that rote learning has legitimacy within the Islamic tradition, particularly in the practice of Qur’anic memorization (tahfidz Al-Qur’an) as an effort to preserve the authenticity of revelation. However, this approach needs to be balanced with meaningful learning, which aligns with the concepts of tafakkur and tadabbur. The integration of these two approaches represents an ideal model in Islamic education, where memorization serves as the foundation while understanding develops critical, reflective, and applicative thinking skills in real-life contexts.

ABSTRACT This study examines how 1.5- and second-generation Muslim undergraduates in the United States make meaning of higher education amid the competing demands of displacement, racialized belonging, neoliberal aspiration, and Islamic ethical commitment. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and life history interviews with 20 Muslim students, I use an arrivant framework to analyze how the conditions of migration, empire, and racial capitalism shape students’ relationships to education. The findings reveal that arrivant Muslim students do not simply absorb or resist neoliberal educational logics but rework them through familial narratives of displacement, gendered constructions of cultural authenticity, and moral reasoning rooted in Islamic traditions. Students invoke American exceptionalist discourses of opportunity while contending with anti-Muslim racism, surveillance, and conditional belonging. Rather than treating educational aspiration as a cultural trait of immigrant families, this study theorizes it as a structural condition of arrivant subjectivity, produced by imperial histories and sustained by racial capitalism.

ABSTRACT This paper introduces Transcendent Proxy Agency (TPA) as an ontological expansion of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), offering a psychologically pluralistic account of entrepreneurial engagement. While SCT has traditionally emphasized personal agency, we argue that sustained action, or purposeful cessation, in contexts of uncertainty depends on agentic alignment with external reinforcement. We distinguish between socially mediated proxy agency (mentors, institutions) and transcendent proxy agency, defined as the perceived relationship with a Sovereign Agent. We theorize the latter as a dual-natured mechanism that provides both motivational scaffolding and sovereign constraints. Drawing on the Islamic tradition as an illustrative case, we demonstrate how TPA reconfigures commitment through a Dual Logic of Agency: balancing rigorous mastery over means (Asbāb) with a metaphysical decoupling from outcomes (Qadar) as a normative ideal. This approach reveals how religious agency can facilitate resilience in the face of trial and a morally grounded productive exit when ventures conflict with perceived divine stewardship (Amānah), while acknowledging that its enactment is effortful, variable, and marked by oscillation between trust and doubt. By integrating transcendent influence into the architecture of agency, this paper moves beyond individualist, secular paradigms to offer a relational and context-sensitive framework for understanding entrepreneurial behaviour in socio-cultural environments.

This article examines the life, scholarly contributions, and distinctive methodological features of Imam Abu Isa Muhammad al-Tirmidhi (209–279 AH), one of the most eminent hadith scholars of the classical Islamic tradition. Special attention is given to his monumental compilation “Sunan al-Tirmidhi” (also known as “Al-Jamiʼ”), its various titles in the scholarly tradition, its unique technical terminology – including the categories of hasan, gharib, and hasan sahih – and its structural and jurisprudential characteristics. The study draws on primary Islamic scholarly sources and contextualizes Tirmidhi’s contribution within the broader history of hadith science and its integration with Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).

This article contests the tendency to see Islam as overwhelmingly collective and theorizes the individual from Islamic history and tradition of thought. It does so by recovering and recasting the ideas of Abul Hashim (1905–1974), a prominent South Asian anticolonial Muslim thinker and political actor. It examines how Hashim reconstructs Quranic ideas to oppose modern individualism primarily due to its loss of moral unity and advances a theory of the individual that argues for a unified ethical framework, which binds the individual, God, and others in an embedded relationship of love and care in the community. The article explores a unique trajectory for self-constitution developed within Islamic history and tradition—a trajectory that goes beyond the rise of the autonomous, reflexive, and self-serving individual without compromising the importance of one’s intention and conscience in shaping the self. This theory of the individual from Islamic tradition refutes the Eurocentric framework of theorizing the concept by presenting a distinct framework that transcends the dichotomy between the individual and the community, a battle that is pervasive in contemporary Euro-American political thought.

General Background: Islam as a knowledge-centered religion historically contributes to scientific and technological development through the integration of revelation and rational inquiry. Specific Background: During its golden age, Muslim scholars produced foundational theories, methods, and innovations across disciplines, including mathematics, medicine, and economics, which remain relevant in modern science. Knowledge Gap: Contemporary discourse often positions religion and science as dichotomous, overlooking the integrative epistemology embedded in Islamic intellectual traditions. Aims: This study analyzes the role of Muslim scholars, examines the urgency of science within Islamic perspectives, and identifies supporting factors in scientific advancement. Results: Findings reveal that Islam promotes knowledge without separating religion and science, demonstrated through contributions of scholars such as Sayyidina Ali, Ibn Sina, Al-Khwarizmi, Abu Wafa, and Ibn Khaldun. Their works continue to shape modern scientific concepts and practices. Additionally, scientific progress was supported by cultural assimilation, translation movements, and leadership awareness. Novelty: The study emphasizes an integrated epistemological framework where Qur’anic principles and scientific reasoning coexist as a unified system of knowledge production. Implications: Reinforcing this integration can stimulate renewed scientific development within Muslim societies and support contemporary interdisciplinary research grounded in both revelation and empirical inquiry. Highlights• Unified epistemology links revelation with empirical reasoning in knowledge formation• Classical Muslim scholarship establishes enduring theoretical and conceptual frameworks• Scientific advancement supported by translation, cultural exchange, and intellectual climate KeywordsIslam; Science; Integration; Scholars; Knowledge

The study discusses that the Prophet’s marriage with Maria al-Qibtia was not just a social or personal event but a well calculated diplomatic technique that contributed to long-lasting Muslim–Coptic relations and enabled peaceful political integration of Egypt. Maria al-Qibtia, titled by Quran as ‘Mother of believers’, arrived Madinah from Egypt in 7 AH, 628 CE. She was a noble lady, sent by the Byzantine governor of Egypt Muqawqis to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as a goodwill diplomatic gesture. The prophet married her and she gave birth to the only child of the Prophet born after his migration to Madinah. The objective of the study is to bring forward the political aspect of the marriage as it is of great significance with respect to Islamic tradition of tolerance and peaceful coexistence with other communities. Moreover, the marriage has a political and diplomatic angle both at the Muqawqis and the Prophet’s side. Qualitative methodology has been followed while carrying out research for the study, focusing on authentic sources of the Prophet’s biography and commentary of Quran. It is revealed that getting noble woman married to rulers as a diplomatic step, has remained a practice in the past. The Prophet’s acceptance of Maria al-Qibtia as her wife had far reaching results with respect to political point of view. His directions to the Muslims to treat the Copts kindly upon conquering Egypt and its subsequent manifestation, after his death, was the ultimate political success of this whole event.

The Rohingya refugee crisis presents a complex humanitarian challenge in Southeast Asia, exposing the inherent tension between state-centric nationalism and localised refugee management. This study interrogates Indonesia’s bifurcated response to the crisis by contrasting the national legal framework, exemplified by Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016, with Acehnese customary law as codified in the Qanun Meukuta Alam. While national policies prioritise sovereignty, security and containment, Acehnese practices emphasise justice, compassion and community solidarity, deeply rooted in Islamic and maritime traditions. Through a qualitative analysis of legal texts, historical manuscripts and field observations, this research highlights how Acehnese cosmopolitanism, forged through centuries of transregional trade, offers a more inclusive, rights-based alternative to restrictive state frameworks. The study argues that integrating such ‘local wisdom’ into Indonesia’s national policy could foster more human refugee governance. Furthermore, it explores the broader implications for regional collaboration, advocating for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to pivot towards community-driven support systems. Ultimately, this research underscores the transformative potential of localised hospitality in balancing the exigencies of state sovereignty with ethical responsibility.