Orientalist Studies Research Articles

From Islamic Charity to Muslim Philanthropy: Definitions Across Disciplines

ABSTRACTThe study of Muslim philanthropy is often described as an emerging, multidisciplinary space of inquiry that takes contemporary Muslim practices of generosity such as giving and volunteering alongside behavioral motivations as objects of analysis. This emerging field follows over a century of knowledge production about Islamic charitable practices and institutions stemming from early orientalist studies of legal texts on endowments to more contemporary sociological and anthropological analyses of ritual exchange and giving across various Muslim‐majority and minority societies and communities. As the study of Muslim philanthropy grows, these two literatures are often brought together in generative, if uneven ways. In this paper, we review key themes and questions in the study of Islamic charity and ask what impact it has had on the study of Muslim philanthropy. This article surveys recent literature on charitable endowments/trusts (waqf), obligatory alms giving (zakat), and “extemporaneous charity” (sadaqa). We end with an analysis of dominant definitions of philanthropy currently used in philanthropic studies to argue that non‐denominational categories like “religious charity” exclude many religious practices that Muslims consider central to their charitable actions and their motivations, a point crucially missing in much philanthropy literature.

Orientalist Desires and Gothic Manifestations: A Study of William Beckford's 'Vathek'

This study offers a critical analysis of Gothic motifs and Orientalist themes in William Beckford’s Vathek with a view of how the latter contributes to the construction and reproduction of the ideological boundaries between the East and the West which are underpinned by cultural and moral differentialism. This way, the research illustrates how fear, horror and the supernatural are mobilised by Beckford to represent the Oriental as a space that is inherently dangerous and spiritually degenerate. The focus is also made on how the settings of the novel the confusing, infernal halls of Eblis, the vast, mysterious landscapes are not just the background, but characters themselves who embody and intensify the main character’s moral and spiritual degeneration. Furthermore, the penetration provided by the study gives insights as to how figures such as Nouronihar and Carathis exemplify yet disrupt the Orientalist stereotype of the fatal female. Due to this research, the interconnectivity between Gothic and Orientalist Studies has been presented, and it gives an insight into how socio-political imperialisms such as culture supremacy are perpetuated by Vathek. In other words, the findings enrich extant scholarly debate by offering an analytic of how the two architectonic styles weave together in the novel, to create cultural and moral ideologies.

Kur’ân Nedir: Kur’ân Tarihine Çağdaş Bir Katkı

This study is an attempt to find out the contributions of Ömer Riza Doğrul (1893-1952) to the history of the Qur’an through his work What is the Qur’an. Although the author has many works, God’s Commandment: Translation and Commentary of the Holy Qur’an has not been studied independently. On this occasion, with this work, which is small in volume and large in content, the author has been brought to the attention of contemporary researchers. In Orientalist studies, the debate on the preservation of the Qur’an/the authenticity of the text has been discussed under the headings such as the writing and preservation of the Qur’an at the time of the Prophet, the gathering of the Qur’an in the times of Hazrat Abu Bakr (d. 13/634) and Hazrat Uthman (d. 35/656), the appointment and reproduction of the Imam’s Mushaf, the Companion Mushafs, the Seven Letters and the Qiraats. All these subjects constitute the literature we call “History of the Qur’an” today and examine the textualisation process of the Qur’an. Since the first three chapters of Ömer Riza Doğrul’s What is the Qur’an are completely devoted to these issues, it deserves to be called a contemporary “History of the Qur’an” work. It is understood that the work was also written as a response to the orientalists. It is seen that today, as in the past, the claims and scepticism of the orientalists about the Qur’an persistently continue.

The Shifting of the Critical Criterion from Orientalist Theory to the Modernist Experience

This paper deals with the critical approaches that resulted from Orientalist studies. It attempts to shed light on different aspects of Arabic literature and Arabic language as texts and narration and it shows how the critical theory shifted from the Oriental movement to the modernist experience in Arabic literature. The paper concludes that there is an integral relation between orientalism and the modern experiment in Arabic literature

The Shifting of the Critical Criterion from Orientalist Theory to the Modernist Experience

This paper deals with the critical approaches that resulted from Orientalist studies. It attempts to shed light on different aspects of Arabic literature and Arabic language as texts and narration and it shows how the critical theory shifted from the Oriental movement to the modernist experience in Arabic literature. The paper concludes that there is an integral relation between orientalism and the modern experiment in Arabic literature

Orientalist Studies on the Authenticity of Prophetic Hadiths

This article focuses on analyzing Orientalist arguments against hadith in the phase of Western skepticism. In this study, hadith is the subject and the main basis of discussion. The progress of Islamic civilization in the past has been an attraction for orientalists in studying Islam to subjugate Islamic civilization. This made hadith one of the targets of the orientalists' studies since it is one of the sources of Islamic epistemology. The skepticism of the early generation of orientalists claimed that hadith is a collection of anecdotes. This description will be explained using the library research method, focusing on the argumentation of orientalists in the phase of Western skepticism. The author analyses the data using content analysis. The author finds that there is a misunderstanding in the argumentation of the early generation of orientalists, and the argumentation is weak in terms of methodological and historical truth.

‘They silenced our voices’; a genealogy of the linguistic othering of the Kurds in Iran

Since the turn of the twentieth century, the Kurds in Iran have faced various forms of linguistic exclusion. As part of a genealogical project, this article aims to track the lineages of this exclusion. The linguistic exclusions are inscribed in a field of discursivity, which, tracking one of its lineages, turns our attention to the orientalist interventions. The article discusses two complementary projects: the authentication of the Persian language and the othering of the Kurdish language. These projects were made possible by the hegemony of territorial and linguistic discourses over orientalist studies in Iran. Orientalists proposed a periodization of Iranian languages, dividing them into old, middle, and modern eras, with Persian represented as the sole language that has ever existed throughout history, based on their decoding of ancient manuscripts. Meanwhile, the Kurdish language was completely marginalized, and Persian was represented as the essence of all Iranian languages and, consequently, as the language of all Iranians. As a result, an ontological and epistemic horizon emerged, on which all subsequent instances of othering of the Kurds became possible. Finally, the article also examines the ways in which the Kurds have resisted the linguistic exclusions.

Rus ve İsrailli Oryantalistlerin Çalışmaları Etrafında Oryantalizm Tarifi: ‘el-İstişrâk el-Rûsîyeh dirâseh târîkhîyeh şâmileh’ ile ‘el-İstişrâk el-İsraili fî el-maṣâdir el-ʻIbrīyyeh’ Kitapları Örneği

The definition of Orientalism has gained momentum in more than one area until today and has become controversial in the dimension of a common definition. This study aims to contribute to this definition. Orientalists with the same aim give a new identity to the definition of Orientalism with their work in the East, not in a Western way. Another aim is to examine the loss of meaning of the concepts of "East and West" as regional definitions. The study basically aims to find answers to two important questions. First; Was the definition of Orientalism made only by Western orientalists? Latter; Can an author from an Eastern nation be considered an Orientalist? It is hoped that some titles of works copyrighted in this way will also benefit this discussion. The first of these books ''al-Istishrāq al-Rūsīyah dirāsah tārīkhīyah shāmilah'' (Russian Orientalism- General Historical Study-) which, was published by Prof. Dr. Sadun Mahmud As- Saamuk in 2003 in Jordan. It raises the question of whether Russian orientalism can be seen from Western orientalist studies. However, there is the book'' al-Istishrāq al-Israili fī al-maṣādir al-ʻIbrīyah''(Israel Orientalism in The Hebrew Sources) that was published by Mahmud Cela Idris in 1995 in Egypt, It has brought to mind the question of whether Israeli Orientalism should be reduced to the West, and will form the center of the definition to be described. Working in this way has a comparative method in terms of method. As a result of this study, Orientalism is on the verge of being redefined within the framework of the studies of orientalists who are far from the East-West (Regional) patterns it has, leaving the portrait of the nation and the state, for the same purpose. For this purpose, the ideas, suspicions, and claims of Russian and Israeli orientalists around Islam and Muslims will nullify the definition of Orientalism, which is indexed to the West. Now the East will start a tradition of Orientalism within itself. The globalizing world will have continued the state logic of Israeli orientalists with the help of Israeli orientalists. However, the work of Russian Orientalists will be similar to the work of Israeli Orientalists. In addition, Russian orientalists will reveal the logic of the notion of Islamic Arab History. Under this heading, Islam and Muslims will be targeted.

KTIRIK ATAS ORIENTALIS DALAM INTERPRETASI HADIS

The purpose of this research is to illustrate that Orientalist studies and interpretations of the Prophet's Hadith or Sunnah are positive and negative. Positive Orientalist studies and interpretations are not polemical, but sympathetic and academically good and enlightening. While the study and interpretation of the negative Orientalists brought polemics both among the Orientalists themselves and among Muslim intellectuals. The Orientalist who brought this polemic, is due to untruthfulness, dishonesty and objectivity so that the Orientalist gets sharp criticism from Muslim intellectuals, both inclusive, exclusive and modernist. All of that, aimed at Orientalists studying and interpreting the Hadith of the Prophet and the Sunnah with a scientific and systematic purpose, not for their personal, group and religious interests.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies Abroad in Theology: The Case of Germany

Germany is one of the Western countries where undergraduate and graduate education is given at the university level in the field of Islamic Theology. Germany deserves special attention because of the more than five million Muslim population it hosts and because it has a well-established tradition in orientalist studies of Islam. In addition, the Muslim population of Turkish origin due to business immigration from Turkey that started in the 1960s, the recommendation of the Science Council in 2010, and the Islamic Theology Centers opened with the financial support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, highlight the example of Germany in our paper. It is possible to talk about an Islamic theological education in Germany that is structured in three ways. The first is the Oriental Institute, which was established as a sub-discipline of the Christian teleology department at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen as early as 1477. In addition to the Orientalist departments working with an orientalist perspective, the “Islamic Sciences/Islamwissenschaft” departments exist in more than 20 universities today and the “Islamic Theology Institutes/Centers,” which started to be opened in the early 2000s, are the third structure. In our paper, we will focus on Islamic Sciences departments instead of Orientalist departments, which are shaped with an orientalist perspective, and Islamic Theology, which was established primarily to train Islamic religion teachers and religious officials. There are Bachelor’s and Master's Degrees in different universities and colleges named Islamic Sciences, Islamic Religious Education, Islamic Studies, Islamic-Religious Studies, Islamic Oriental Studies, Asian Studies, Arabic Studies, Iranian Studies, Turkish History Studies, Languages and Cultures of the Islamic World, Religious Sciences. In addition, there are master's degree programs in the names of the Modern Islamic World, the Islamic World in the Modern Era, Arab-Islamic-Semitic Studies, and the Diversity of the Islamic World. It should be accepted that these faculties will have different contributions to Islamic Theology in accordance with their founding goals, mission, and curricula and that they should have mutual relations with the Faculties of Theology / Islamic Sciences in Turkey. Our communique aims to discuss the contribution of Theological education in Germany to Theological education in Turkey, taking into account the differences between the Faculties of Islamic Sciences and Theology. Despite the Islamic Sciences Departments, where academics and students do not have to be Muslim, Islamic Theology Centers take into account the views of religious communities in Germany while forming their academic staff in accordance with the aims of training religious officials/imams. In addition, while a “denominational” education is emphasized in the departments that provide teacher education, a “supra-sectarian” education emphasis in Islamic Theology departments draws attention to their programs. Again, in Islamic Theology, different from Islamic Sciences departments, tafsir, Systematic theology (basic theology, dogmatics, ethics/ethics, Islamic ecumenism), Historical theology (sunnah, kalam, mysticism, philosophy, etc.), Islamic law and legal methodology, Practical 'theology' and Religious Education fields exist based on Science Council recommendation.

“The battle trumpet blown!” : Whitman’s Persian Imitations in Drum Taps

While Walt Whitman’s thematic use of the Orient continues to receive critical attention based on his explicit foreign references, aside from observations of specific Persian signifiers in “A Persian Lesson,” his engagement with the poetry of Iran has remained especially speculative and therefore analogical, with studies like J. R. LeMaster and Sabahat Jahan’s Walt Whitman and the Persian Poets showing how his mystical relation to his own religious influences tends to resemble the Sufism of Rumi and Hafez. A new discovery emerging from an examination of his personal copy of William Alger’s The Poetry of the East along with his reading of Emerson’s essay “Persian Poetry,” however, reveal a rather subtle yet sustained attempt to directly imitate the foreign verse throughout much of Drum-Taps. That his reliance upon identifiable foreign models to depict what he deemed his nation’s most significant historical moment further coincides with a dramatic shift in style of writing calls for closer comparative analysis of how and why he came to mimic translations of this poetry. Such a reading suggests that compared with previous Orientalist studies, Whitman appears even more personally invested in Persian verse, using it to surrender the distinct Romantic individuality of his earlier poems for the greater spiritual preservation of his conflicted nation.

The Rationalistic-Critical Approach of Orientalists in Seerah Writings: An Exploratory Study of Modern Trends

The practice of Seerah composing has prevailed from the classical period of Islamic history, and it has proceeded through the ages, to the contemporary world. With the passage of time developments and different circumstances occurred in the methodology and way of writing on the Seerah as well. Various insightful works to feature the various aspects of the Prophet's (PBUH) life have shown up in the past numerous decades. The reason for composing such sort of works is, principally, to show the significance of the Prophet's life for all occasions, and in conditions. Modern Seerah texts are profoundly impacted by the impressive historical currents that have formed the post-colonial Muslim world. In the 19th century, the Islamic world confronted the Western understanding of science, as it steadily began to go affected by the last option in economic, political, and military perspectives. The examinations done in this period were currently done even with the contributions of the Western perspective. Even though there were a few works, assuming scant managed without concerning the Western techniques for research, some others were composed as criticism of the orientalist studies, and some were delivered affected by the orientalist thoughts. However, in the contemporary era, there have arisen some recent fads in the composing trends of the Seerah. The current paper analyzes the process of internalization, which permitted some writers to create works that peruse feels that they were living in the hour of prophecy as well as targets to display contemporary search trends followed by West and orientalists such as after decolonization and how they affect our Muslim writers.

PANDANGAN ORIENTALIS TERHADAP QIRO’AT AL-QUR’AN

Orientalist studies of qirâ'at are clearly an attempt to give Muslims doubts about the authenticity of the Ottoman manuscripts. Various orientalist views regarding qirâ'at, whether they are regarding the birth of various qirâ'at, then qirâ'at with meaning,as well as regarding qirâ'at with the Ottoman manuscripts are clearly filled with errors. The efforts made by the orientalists in destroying the authenticity of the Ottoman manuscripts still did not produce the results they had hoped for. Allah has guaranteed the authenticity of the Qur'an with all its aspects, therefore, orientalist efforts in destroying the belief of Muslims in the Qur'an will still be in vain.

From Culture to Culturism: Rethinking "Cultural Translation" of Nomadic Bedouin Society

This article examines the concept of Bedouin culture in the Middle East as it is perceived both by the Bedouin themselves and by various scholars. Like other cultures, Bedouin culture has undergone extensive and continuous change. This process can be understood as a dynamic construction process related to agents of change, flexibility, liquid borders, and identity politics, and has enabled Bedouin culture to enter the modern age under conditions that will ensure its continued existence. Yet “cultural translation” – i.e., Orientalist scholars and the Western travelers and historians who followed in their footsteps, alongside imperialist and colonialist powers – has viewed Bedouin culture as weak and detrimental to the sedentary population. Hence, this study presents an approach that differs from that espoused by Orientalist scholars, whose narratives tend to paint a negative picture, claiming that structural violence has defined the Bedouin and the relationships between Bedouin and Fellahin (Arabic for “peasants” or settled Arabs) populations throughout history. Thus, this article seeks to correct assumptions embedded in earlier, Orientalist studies. Accordingly, the main argument is that the Bedouin culture has a material and spiritual historical reputation. Historically, there have been integrative relations between Bedouin and Fellahin. To that end, I make use of historical literature, Arab chronicles, anthropological studies, and four in-depth interviews conducted between the years 2014–2016 with Bedouin from Yafa, a Bedouin-Fellahin village.

PANDANGAN ORIENTALIS TERHADAP QIRO’AT AL-QUR’AN

Orientalist studies of qirâ'at are clearly an attempt to give Muslims doubts about the authenticity of the Ottoman manuscripts. Various orientalist views regarding qirâ'at, whether they are regarding the birth of various qirâ'at, then qirâ'at with meaning, as well as regarding qirâ'at with the Ottoman manuscripts are clearly filled with errors. The efforts made by the orientalists in destroying the authenticity of the Ottoman manuscripts still did not produce the results they had hoped for. Allah has guaranteed the authenticity of the Qur'an with all its aspects, therefore, orientalist efforts in destroying the belief of Muslims in the Qur'an will still be in vain.

Modern Western Critical Discourse on Seerah Sources

Seerah of the Prophet falls mainly under Orientalist studies evolving from an early skeptical normative to revisionism, higher criticism, biblical literary criticism and Hagarism. This perpetual change of Western academic methodology seems to indicate their fragile and non-traditional academic approach. The Orientalists like Goldziher and Schacht have been able to transform skeptical theories considerably to the extent ‘revisionist’ theories have emerged. In this paper, a critical review of modern Western critique has been discussed while conjecturing about its lacunas at the same time.

Kajian Orientalis Terhadap Sanad dan Matan Hadis sebagai Sumber Hukum Islam

Orientalist studies of Islam and hadith have generated mixed responses from Muslims. Some were loud, extreme and quite harsh by rejecting the studies conducted by the Orientalists. However, some other Muslims are gentler by taking the positive side of the studies they have carried out, namely that they can contribute to Islamic knowledge and assets and also study of hadith in particular. Several names emerged which were later considered as orientalists who were quite intense in studying Islam and hadith, they were: Ignaz Goldziher, Duncan Black, Carl Becker, Snouck Hurgronje, and Louis Massignon, A.J. Wensinck, G.H.A. Joynboll, Daniel W. Brown, Alois Sprenger, Sir Willian Muir, A. Guillaume, S. Mackrnsen Ruth, J. Schact, and others. The orientalists who departed from a skeptical attitude began to cause uproar among Muslims by saying that the hadith was only made by the Companions and not from the Prophet. They also criticize the hadith in terms of sanad or matan, whose authenticity is still considered very dubious and lean made by certain parties.Keywords: orientalis, critic, sanad, Matan

Studi Pemikiran MM. Adzami Ahli Hadist Melawan Orientalis

Hadith is the primary source in Islamic studies, in addition to being a legal source of hadith function as well as a track record of evidence of reference in all Islamic studies. The importance of this hadith becomes an interesting study of both Islam and orientalists, , the form of study is also variative and always develops according to the existing context. Josept Schat is a non-Muslim who studied his theory to inspire Islamic thinkers to give a defensive to some of the allegations that became the result of the study. Muhammad Musthofa Al-Adzami is a hadith expert who dares to provide authentic evidence of the existence of hadith even he can prove the original manuscript of hadith as a rebuttal to the study of deviant hadith. This paper seeks to give an overview of Adzami's thinking in criticalizing orientalist studies of hadith.

Joseph Schacht dan Transformasi Hadis Tentang Hukum Islam dalam Konteks Dunia Timur

Hadith studies have not only become the focus of Islamic scholars' attention, but have also become material for orientalist studies. So from this, there are many western scientists and scholars who chose the path of researching hadith. Starting from Ignaz Goldziher to leading scholars of hadith from Germany, Harald Motzki also graces the list of western scholars who are competent in the study of hadith. The long history of hadith in the west is evidence of the proliferation of hadith studies. In contrast to Muslims, western people study hadith departs from their distrust of hadith. Surely this is a different portrait of the traditions of the eastern people. Therefore, various theories and methods they used to justify that the hadith did not come from the Prophet Muhammad, but was made by people after him. This article is in the form of an attempt to explain at length the theory proposed by Joseph Schacht in order to undermine the authenticity of the hadith itself, and some of its weaknesses, which are based on the views of Islamic scholars'.

Orientalism's Suspicions about the Prophet's Infallibility andResponding against them "The Orientalist Schacht as a model"

This study aims at elucidating and clarifying Islam's position towards orientalists' opinions concerning the infallibility of the Prophet Mohammad Peace and Prayers by Upon Him (PPUH) in his acts and diligence (ijtihad) through investigating the orientalist literature and resources in which the suspicions occurred are related to the research subject. Then analyze and criticize those suspicions by referring to Islamic authenticity sources. The research concluded that the claims of orientalism collapsed in the face of the absence of logical and written evidences concerning the subject of infallibility. The research also recommended the importance of paying attention to orientalist studies and intensifying the efforts to overcome these suspicions with thought, study and research.