Abrahamic Research Articles

Silverstein, Adam J. Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story: The Reception of a Biblical Book in Islamic Lands. Oxford Studies in the Abrahamic Religions, edited by Adam J. Silverstein and Guy G. Strousma. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. viii+232 pp. $85.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsSilverstein, Adam J. Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story: The Reception of a Biblical Book in Islamic Lands. Oxford Studies in the Abrahamic Religions, edited by Adam J. Silverstein and Guy G. Strousma. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. viii+232 pp. $85.00 (cloth).Adi ShiranAdi ShiranUniversity of Chicago. Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 101, Number 4October 2021 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/715768 Views: 19Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Creencia y pertenencia: El laberinto de las sociedades posotomanas

Post-colonial coagulation is the dilemma of many societies in endless formation due to the aftermath of colonialism and the dominance of coloniality, and even more so when this aftermath has been converted into a never-ending labyrinth for political-Islamic anthropology, particularly in the Arab case. The present study primarily aims to analyze the emergence of Abrahamic religions among Arab tribes and their role in supplanting the canon of identity and belonging, forming a universal standard for legal identity substantially different from the European one, and overturning the ancient tribal concept. The study then shifts to analyz-ing the formation of Islamic ideology as positive law by means of an empirical parallelism with Roman law, thus introducing the Latin concept of interpolare. We therefore arrive at the conclusion of how foreign-colonial interference played the main role in diluting the identity canon and that of belonging, creating a false identity, shaped to conform to colonial compromises, wrapping religious epistemology in a forced normative system to have caused schizophrenia and cognitive resistance to power and normative disobe-dience, even prompting schizophrenia and an aversion to reality.

Zoroaster and the Animals

Abstract Religion is often criticized for failing to uphold animal concerns, yet Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion that underlies the Abrahamic traditions as well as Eastern religions, offers some strikingly contemporary concerns regarding the kinship of human and nonhuman animals. Human and nonhuman animals alike have souls, free will, and life after death. In the middle of the second millennium BCE, Zoroaster called attention to the treatment of animals as necessary to the divine order and righteousness that has been disturbed by evil and sin. How humans treat animals also affects their own well-being in this world and the next.

The Abrahamic Religions: A Very Short Introduction, written by Charles L. Cohen

The Abrahamic Religions: A Very Short Introduction, written by Charles L. Cohen

Redemption, settlement and agriculture in the religious teachings of Hovevei Zion

Hovevei Zion is a collective name for several societies established in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, advocating immigration to the land of Israel, settlement of the land and agricultural work. This article examines the religious approach of several prominent thinkers from among Hovevei Zion and the First Aliya, who shared the perception of farming and settling the land as having religious and even messianic meaning. It was clear to them that the Torah is the foundation of the Jewish people’s existence, however, to this they added another value – work. These thinkers strived to change the identity of the exilic Jew, who was occupied only with spiritual religious life and to reinstate the identity of the biblical Jew, who combined a spiritual and a material religious life. The article examines the approach of Hovevei Zion in light of the general rabbinic approach to redemption, settlement and agriculture and the social changes in 19th century Europe.Contribution: This article contributes to the journal’s multidisciplinary theological perspective, particularly the notion ‘historical thought’, which covers the textual and oral history and hermeneutical studies, narratives and philosophies behind the Abrahamic religions as expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Rabbinic literature.

The Golden Calf between Bible and Qur'an: Scripture, Polemic, and Exegesis from Late Antiquity to Islam. By Michael E. Pregill. Oxford Studies in the Abrahamic Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. xiv + 499 pp. $125.00 cloth.

The Golden Calf between Bible and Qur'an: Scripture, Polemic, and Exegesis from Late Antiquity to Islam. By Michael E. Pregill. Oxford Studies in the Abrahamic Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. xiv + 499 pp. $125.00 cloth. - Volume 90 Issue 3

Жанровые формы в детском юмористическом журнале «Веселые картинки»: 1990-е годы

The article is included in the circle of studies related to the study of genre characteristics of texts. The relevance of the study is determined by the changeable nature of speech genres, each of which contains traditional (archaic) genre-forming features, as well as new, changing ones. The aim of the undertaken research was to consider genre forms and features in the children’s comic magazine “Veselye Kartinki”. Issues of the period from 1985 to 1999 were selected as the research material. From the point of view of genre forms, the analyzed issues of the magazines are divided into two groups. The first group includes issues of the magazine with traditional genre forms (for example, the club of funny people, true stories in pictures, riddles, fairy tales, etc.); the second group includes issues of the magazine with “new” genre forms that appeared in the magazine during the 1990s (for example, biblical legends, a short horoscope, children’s jokes, instructive stories, advertising texts, etc.). The article notes that the so-called “new” genre forms could exist as independent genre forms outside the issues of the magazine “Veselye Kartinki”: in “adult” literature and in literature created for children. During the analysis of the material, essential genre characteristics of the magazine “Veselye Kartinki” were discovered, which include creolization, visualization and polycode.

ENGLISH: Warm and Cold Sources of Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Abrahamic/Semitic Traditions

All the three Abrahamic religions are considered as the monotheistic sources of violence around the globe. The Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments are criticized for encouraging radical religiosity, chauvinism and othering leading to violence in the name of religion while the Quran is blamed for promoting highly political religion which encourages violence in the name of Jihad. Both the militant movements affiliated to these religions and their leftist critics cherry-pick the verses of these holy books and demonstrate them as the religious grounds of radicalism leading to violent extremism. The current endeavor highlights such “warm” sources from the main religious books of these religions which can be/are used to promote violence and become sources of conflicts. It is opined that such sources are highly contextual, and not meant to be generalized in every situation. On the other hand, “cold” sources from these religious books are also unearthed as the timeless teachings of these religions which are both eternal and meant to be propagated to general public for the nurturing the society on peaceful and cooperative grounds so that they avoid conflicts in the first place and even if conflicts do arise, resolve them nobly.

The Causes of Societal Discrimination against Religious Minorities in Christian-Majority Countries

Using the Religion and State-Minorities and WVS datasets, this study examined the impact of religiosity in Christian-majority countries on societal religious discrimination (i.e., discrimination by non-state actors) against religious minorities. We found that increased levels of religious activity and commitment in a country lead to less discrimination against Muslim and Jewish religious minorities but more discrimination against Christian minorities. We offered two explanations for this complex relationship. First, when Christian-majority nations hold high levels of religiosity, other Abrahamic religions are potential allies in the fight against secularism. Second, in religiously active Christian-majority nations, the majority religion views Christian minorities (rather than Jews and Muslims) as an unwanted competitive threat because denomination switching is more common within the same religious tradition.

The religious prism of South East - Asia

When two or more religious belief systems are combined into a new system, this is known as religious syncretism. It may also be defined as the incorporation of beliefs from unconnected traditions into a religious tradition. Polytheism and numerous religious affiliations, on the other hand, are seen as diametrically opposed to one another. These situations can arise for a variety of reasons, with the latter scenario occurring quite frequently in areas where multiple religious traditions coexist in close proximity to one another and are actively practised in the culture. It can also occur when a culture is conquered, with the conquerors bringing their religious beliefs with them but not succeeding in completely eradicating the old beliefs, and especially the old practises. Faiths' beliefs or histories may have syncretic components, however members of these so-labeled systems sometimes object to the label's use, particularly those who belong to "revealed" religious systems, such as Abrahamic religions, or any system that takes an exclusivist stance. Syncretism is viewed as a betrayal of the pure truth by some supporters of such beliefs. According to this logic, introducing a belief that is incompatible with the original religion corrupts it and renders it untrue altogether. Indeed, detractors of a certain syncretistic trend may occasionally use the term "syncretism" as a derogatory pejorative, meaning that individuals who attempt to adopt a new idea, belief, or practise into a religious system are really distorting the original faith by doing so. A fatal compromise of the integrity of the prevailing religion is, according to Keith Ferdinando, as a result of this development. Religions that are not exclusivist, on the other hand, are likely to feel free to absorb other traditions into their own systems of thought. Many traditional beliefs in East Asian civilizations have become entwined with Buddhism due to the assumption that Buddhism is compatible with local religions. The Three Teachings, or Triple Religion, which harmonizes Mahayana Buddhism with Confucian philosophy and elements of Taoism, and Shinbutsu-shg, which is a syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, are two examples of notable concretizations of Buddhism with local beliefs. The Three Teachings, or Triple Religion, harmonizes Mahayana Buddhism with Confucian philosophy and elements of Taoism, and Shinbutsu-shg, which East Asian religious beliefs, practises, and identities (who, by any measure, constitute the majority of the world's Buddhists) frequently incorporate elements of other religious traditions, such as Confucianism, Chinese folk religion.

Racism as Delusion: A Buddhist Perspective

The powerful novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko combines several uncomfortable truths from the perspective of a young Native American who has returned home after World War II: the theft of Native American land, the manipulations that set poor whites against poor Indians (among others) and the effects of these lies on the hearts of white people, who tried and still try to fill up their hollowness with money, technology and patriotic war. However, as Silko emphasizes, the lies do not work. Not only have we white folk been fooling ourselves, but we also know that we have been fooling ourselves, and the consequences of our self-deceptions continue to haunt all of us. This essay is an attempt to say more about how that collective delusion functions—in particular, to understand the emptiness that patriotism never quite fills up, the hollowness that wealth and consumerism cannot glut. In order to do this, I will offer a (not “the”) Buddhist perspective, so we begin with some basic Buddhist teachings, which are quite different from the Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) traditions more familiar to most of us.

Sacred Place and Sacred Time in the Medieval Islamic Middle East: A Historical Perspective

Sacred Place and Sacred Time in the Medieval Islamic Middle East: A Historical Perspective

아브라함계 종교와 세계인권선언: 인권관념 비교연구

This article compares and analyzes the idea of human rights in Abrahamic religions. For this purpose, it reviews Abramamic religions’ contribution to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), their theological interpretations of rights-claiming culture, and human dignity. The article identifies two components that have shaped their varied notion of human rights. The first is that the religions have regarded the universalist claim of human rights as a moral challenge against their religious doctrines, which was established to preserve their Divine revelations. The second is that their historical experiences - religious persecution for Judaism, the Enlightenment for Christianity, and the West European Colonialism for Islam - have respectively shaped their initial hostility towards the idea of human rights. The concept of human rights is commonly considered to be founded on the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Western experience of the Enlightenment. Judaism and Christianity, however, alongside Islam, have in actuality often repudiated the idea of universal human rights following the adoption of the UDHR. This paper demonstrates that this conceptual distance between religion and human rights has ultimately been narrowed due to an increase in shared dialogue. In short, the idea of human rights has earned its universality in Abrahamic religions through a set of debates and compromises.

Ways of Establishing Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Age: An Analytical Study of Abrahamic Religions

Human being is endowed with intellect. The standard and domain of intellectual exposure are different and diverse. Consequently, it gives birth to diversity in opinions and perspective that eventually results in mutual disagreement. A deep assessment of the human life indicates the fact that diversity exist in almost all aspects of human life. The diversity of opinions, perspectives and narratives can be found with reference to culture and civilization, economy, entrepreneurship, modern scientific disciplines, politics and religion. The diversity is an indication of the evolution in human intellect. When the diversity is misunderstood as a negative connotation then it turns into conflict that results into incalculable and disastrous impacts on society. Pluralism plays a pivotal role in the evolution of diverse human society and multicultural civilization and a pluralistic society can tread the phases of socio-cultural development more conveniently and productively. If a society becomes an arena of religious intolerance, hatred and biasness then the fate of society becomes uncertain and bleak. It is need of the day to create awareness and pursue research studies regarding pluralism while keeping in view the golden traditions of Abrahamic religions. The present paper is an attempt to explore the fundamental principles that deal with religious tolerance and pluralism in Abrahamic religions. This paper will help to create awareness about the need and importance of tolerance and pluralism and will suggest recommendations for implementation of those principles both at state and society levels so that the culture of tolerance, pluralism, mutual understanding and human dignity are promoted in wider interest of a unified and peaceful society.

Mystical Transgression of the Body in Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry and Elif Shafak’s Pinhan (Sufi)

Both English writer Jeanette Winterson and Turkish writer Elif Shafak are marked through their involvement with feminism. Considering their concern with mysticism as a reaction against the Orthodox religion which they believe gives support to the patriarchal oppression of women, this study compares Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry and Shafak’s Pinhan. Winterson deals with Kabbala mysticism in Sexing the Cherry whereas Shafak adapts Sufism in Pinhan. Both authors depict, in their novels, fluid character identities who reincarnate in different times and spaces in different bodies. This attitude is considered, even though they adapt different types of mysticism, as the reflection of their concern with spirituality, which they develop against the discriminating patriarchal religion. By privileging spiritual reality over the physical reality, they both annihilate women’s subjection to physical laws of patriarchy.

The Participation of God and the Torah in Early Kabbalah

All Abrahamic religions have developed hypostatic and semi-divine perceptions of scripture. This article presents an integrated picture of a rich tradition developed in early kabbalah (twelfth–thirteenth century) that viewed the Torah as participating and identifying with the Godhead. Such presentation could serve scholars of religion as a valuable tool for future comparisons between the various perceptions of scripture and divine revelation. The participation of God and Torah can be divided into several axes: the identification of Torah with the Sefirot, the divine gradations or emanations according to kabbalah; Torah as the name of God; Torah as the icon and body of God; and the commandments as the substance of the Godhead. The article concludes by examining the mystical implications of this participation, particularly the notion of interpretation as eros in its broad sense, both as the “penetration” of a female Torah and as taking part in the creation of the world and of God, and the notion of unification with Torah and, through it, with the Godhead.

Ivan Bunin and Eastern Mysticism

The influence of ideas of Eastern mysticism is manifested in Ivan Bunin’s understanding of the artistic path as spiritual ascent. This article analyses Bunin’s short stories The Death of the Prophet and The Stone based on the combination of times and spaces. The artistic specificity of these stories is determined by the presence of Biblical and Quranic motifs, as well as Saadi’s philosophical and parable texts. The article contains surahs of the Quran and fragments of Saadi’s poems, which make it possible to clarify the figurative genesis of Bunin’s stories characterised by a high artistic simplicity, brevity, and philosophical depth. The eastern imagery of the stories receives lyrical development in the poems Abraham, Law, Muhammad and Safiya, and others. It is noted that in The Death of the Prophet, the writer creates a typical image of a sage following the mystical path of spiritual improvement. Qur’anic influence is confirmed by the use of Bismillah in The Death of the Prophet and in the poem Law, i. e. the testimony that reveals 113 surahs of the Quran: In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. The authors pay special attention to the presence in The Death of the Prophet of Shahadatain, the formula of conversion to Islam containing the confession of the testimonies of Islam. Depicting the “other” eastern world, Bunin focuses on cultural, moral, and historical issues. In the work of the writer, emphasis is placed on the unity of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Bunin’s orientalism, the distant world is portrayed as spiritualised and light. It is concluded that for the writer, the main thing is to “survey the Beauty of the World”, to see the “combination of the beautiful and the eternal”, to know what the “truth” is, and, finally, to complete the mystical path.

Overview of the concept of human rights in the Muslim world

Problem setting. Islam is the youngest Abrahamic religion in the world. Its beginning was laid in the first half of the VII century AD on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula. The Islamic world is a unique regional phenomenon that causes many people to have different and in some cases even opposing views. The issue of human rights in the Islamic world is also much debated. Every day we receive information about the systematic violation of the honor and dignity of a certain category of the population (women, children) in the region. Analysis of recent researches and publications. The article uses the works of well-known experts in the field of Sharia and legal systems of Muslim countries such as: Syukiyaynen L. R., Abdullah ibn Abd al-Mukhsin at-Turki, Zhdanov N. V., Abashidze A. Kh., Abdul Aziiz Olaemi and others. Special attention is paid to the concepts of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Target of research. The objective of this work is a general overview of the concept of human rights in the Islamic world. Article`s main body. Analyzed the issues of human rights in different countries where Sharia has a significant impact on their systems of law, namely: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The article notes that despite the significant impact of Sharia law on the legal systems of the above countries, certain human rights standards differ between them. Also, the article reveals the first practice of codifying human rights in muslim insight - the General Islamic Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the non-governmental organization Islamic Council in Europe. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (until 2012 - the Organization of the Islamic Conference) (hereinafter - OIC) - is an international intergovernmental organization whose members are representatives of the Muslim world. Thus, the explored activity of the international intergovernmental organization in the field of human rights, namely the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which unites all Muslim countries of the world and in its activities is guided by the principles of Sharia. The study of the activities of this organization in the field of human rights contains an analysis of sectoral acts (for example, the Dhaka and Cairo Declarations), a study of the activities of bodies of special (Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights) and general (Islamic Summit) competencies and other issues that relate to the mechanism of promoting and protecting human rights. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The authors came to the conclusion that the concept of human rights in the Islamic world is quite heterogeneous, even in comparison between countries where Sharia is dominant. The authors note the special role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as a leading basis in the Islamic doctrine of human rights, as this organization unites all Muslim countries into one monolithic bloc, which leads to the formation of a single Muslim autonomous will, which includes all national doctrines and approaches.

John Mbiti on the Monotheistic Attribution of African Traditional Religions: A Refutation

John Mbiti, in his attempt to disprove the charge of paganism by EuroAmerican ethnographic and anthropological scholars against African Traditional Religions argues that traditional African religions are monotheistic. He insists that these traditional religious cultures have the same conception of God as found in the Abrahamic religions. The shared characteristics, according to him are foundational to the spread of the “gospel” in Africa. Mbiti’s effort, though motivated by the desire to refute the imperial charge of inferiority against African religions ran, I argue, into a conceptual and descriptive conflation of ATRs with monotheistic faiths. In this paper, I challenge the superimposition of Judeo-Christian categories upon African religions. I argue that monotheism is just a strand, out of many, that expresses belief in God(s), and that it differs substantially from the polytheistic pre-colonial African understanding of religion. I provide a panentheistic paradigm using traditional Igbo ontology and religion to refute Mbiti’s generalization.
 Keywords: Monotheism, African Traditional Religion, Igbo, Paganism, Theology.

Brief Synopses of New Arabic-Language Publications

Brief Synopses of New Arabic-Language Publications