Orthodox Muslim Research Articles

Religion and Science in the Eastern Mediterranean

“Science and Orthodox Christianity: An Overview” is an ambitious survey that reminds scholars of science in Islamic societies that the conversation between Islam and science is really a conversation between Islam and science in different contexts and that conversations between Islam and science can be found with less renowned scientific developments such as prophetic medicine. This response points out parallels in how Greek Orthodox and Ottoman Muslim scholars mediated new developments in Western European science and in how both Greek Orthodox and some Ottoman Muslim scholars propounded a mathematical humanism. Finally, it argues that the account of post-1453 scientific exchange is more complex than “Science and Orthodox Christianity” intimates. At the least, if there was no scholarly exchange between Greek Orthodox Christians, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, Muslims and Jews—who, in turn, enjoyed scholarly exchange with the West well after 1453—there are clearly two different Easts.

The Political Economy of Support for Sharia: Evidence from the Russian North Caucasus

AbstractMany scholars have argued that orthodox Muslims harbor attitudes that are more economically communitarian and politically illiberal, since individuals are seen as embedded within a larger community that places a premium on social order. Yet most studies have ignored the potential of Islam as an ideological platform for political reformers. Religion in general and Islam in particular has mostly been treated as a predictor rather than a derivative of political-economic preferences. This article suggests that, in the absence of credible secular political ideologies and representative political mechanisms, reformist-minded individuals are likely to use religion as a political platform for change. When Muslims are a minority in a repressive non-Muslim society, Islamic orthodoxy can serve as a political platform for politically and economically liberal forces. We test these conjectures with original micro-level data from the Russian North Caucasus and find strong support for them.

Relasi Kuasa antara Muslim Ortodoks dan Penghayat Kaweruh Kamanungsan di Banyuwangi dalam Perspektif Ideological State Apparatus Louis Althusser

This article attempts to scrutinize the relation between Orthodox Muslim and the followers of Kaweruh Kamanungsan in Sedoyo, Banyuwangi, East Java. These two religious groups that have two different and opposite ideological perspectives, apparently, have influenced cultural and structural agencies in the village. Having utilized Althusser’s Ideological State Apparatus, the elites of these groups are competing each other to introduce their own ideologies into social institutions like religion, education, family, and legal instruments. As a result, village structures are divided into Muslim and Kaweruh Kamanungsan groups. Evidently, Muslim groups who have vertical link into government and horizontal one into society succeeded to eliminate “deviant” local tradition groups. However, Kaweruh Kamanungsan, as one of local tradition in this village, has survived from the proselytizing program and has successfully built a bridge to eliminate the gap between religious and cultural differences in society.

Muhammad Iqbal on Muslim Orthodoxy and Transgression: A Response to Nehru

In 1934, Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) wrote “Qadianis and Orthodox Muslims” in which he made the case that Ahmadis ought to declare themselves a separate community from Indian Muslims. One year later, Nehru responded to Iqbal through a series of pieces in the Modern Review of Calcutta, calling into question Iqbal's presuppositions about religion. Iqbal thereafter responded with “Islam and Ahmadism” in 1935, in which he formulated an extensive position about religious orthodoxy and to which the denouncement of Ahmadis as heretics of Islam was central. This essay explores Iqbal's positions on Muslim unity, religious orthodoxy, and the question of Muslim leadership. In particular, it focuses on how minority Muslim communities (Ahmadis and Ismailis) are fundamental to the arguments through which Iqbal defends his position on religious orthodoxy.

Destiny: The Life of Prince Diponegoro of Yogyakarta, 1785–1855 by Peter Carey (review)

Reviewed by: Destiny: The Life of Prince Diponegoro of Yogyakarta, 1785–1855 by Peter Carey Anton O. Zakharov Destiny: The Life of Prince Diponegoro of Yogyakarta, 1785–1855 Peter Carey Bern: Peter Lang, 2014. xlix, 381 pp., illus. US $81.95. ISBN 978-3-0343-0926-4 Prince Diponegoro is an Indonesian national hero who led a major uprising against the Dutch colonial regime, or the Java War, in 1825–30 and who wrote a valuable autobiography Babad Dipanagara. His life and the Java War itself have been subjects of numerous stories, research and ever paintings. Peter Carey, who published Diponegoro’s biography The Power of Prophecy: Prince Dipanagara and the End of an Old Order in Java, 1785–1855 in 2007 (Leiden: KITLV Press) offers an updated reconstruction of his life. The new book title speaks for itself: Diponegoro’s life is treated as determined by his specific environments that considerably and even drastically changed over [End Page 120] time, and their connections with changing world patterns as well as inner Javanese developments. Carey shows that Diponegoro became the ‘crucial figure’ of the Java War (p. 327) due to historical coincidence. Despite the fact that the Java War was decisively the summit of Diponegoro’s fate—the time when he enjoyed greatest impact on the Dutch and Javanese—Carey places his life in a much broader historical context covering economic, social, political, and cultural changes in Europe that were influenced by the Double Revolution and in turn had influenced the changes in Southeast Asia and particularly in Java. Carey divides his book into four well-balanced parts of three chapters each: ‘Youth and Upbringing, 1785–1808’, ‘The Beginning of the Ruin of the Land of Java, 1808–1812’, ‘Golden Years, Iron Years, 1812–1825’, and ‘War and Exile, 1825–1855’. The monograph also contains a glossary of Javanese terms and an index. The first chapter, ‘Diponegoro’s Youth and Upbringing, 1785–1803’, shows that the prince was greatly influenced by his great-grandmother, Ratu Ageng Tegalrejo, who was his guardian and to whom he was obliged for his early and deep acquaintance with the needs of Javanese peasantry, for his great devotion to Muslim beliefs and Javanese practices, for his knowledge of the ideas and representatives of the Javanese Muslim (santri) communities in south-central Java. Such upbringing was unusual for the Yogyakarta princes and may be treated as a factor of Diponegoro’s unique destiny. The death of Ratu Ageng in 1803 made Diponegoro the lord of her estate, Tegalrejo, and opened a new page in his life. The second chapter, ‘Young Manhood: Marriage, Education and Links with the Religious (santri) Community, 1803–1805’, stresses that, despite his impressive knowledge of Javanese and Muslim literary works, Diponegoro was in fact an ‘autodidact’ (p. 31). The prince ‘[w]as more a typical Javanese mystic than an orthodox Muslim reformer’ who concentrated more on ‘the use of dhikr (short prayers for the glorification of Allah endlessly repeated in ritual order and on various forms of meditation’ (pp. 33–4). Carey also emphasizes that Diponegoro was ‘flawed and all too human’, a fact which may be easily ignored due to on-going national myth-making in Indonesia (p. 42). The third chapter, ‘Pilgrimage to the South Coast, circa 1805’, sheds a light on Diponegoro’s wanderings and spiritual visions. From them he learned that he ‘would become king’ (p. 51), that ‘the ruin of the Land of Java’ would begin soon, and that he should help his father and reject the title of Crown prince. Carey takes Diponegoro’s own stories about these prophecies, be they correct or imaginary, as the indispensable markers of his destiny. Diponegoro also strongly identified himself with the Javanese puppet theatre (wayang) hero Arjuna, a famous ascetic warrior. The fourth chapter, ‘The Beginning of Ruin: Daendels’ “New Order” and the Central Javanese Courts, 1808’ touches upon Marshal Daendels’ reforms in Java. Daendels ordered new etiquette and ceremonial to the Yogyakarta court that had [End Page 121] broken the Yogyanese perception of Java as divided between the Dutch in west Java with Batavia and the Sultan of Yogyakarta in south-central and eastern Java. From then on...

Religious Food Taboo as a Cause of Reciprocal Hospitality between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Ethiopia

Religious Food Taboo as a Cause of Reciprocal Hospitality between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Ethiopia

“Protecting Our Girls Through Single-Gender Education”: “Pirate” High School for Girls in the Israeli Town of Sunobola

An unofficial “pirate” high school (named Iman) for girls has been formed by a clandestine orthodox Islamic group (Almasheikh) in the Muslim city of Sunobola 1 in Israel—a modern multicultural society where Muslims are the minority. Using an ethnographic, phenomenological case study, we examined the phenomenon and attempted to understand the causes and processes that lead to the establishment of Iman Schools in 2007 and the implications for the local community and the girls themselves. The school focuses on religious learning and channels the students towards their future role as wives and mothers, in accordance with traditional Islam. The students reported satisfaction with the school's family-like atmosphere. However, since Iman will not entitle the girls to a full matriculation certificate, thus barring their entry to university, it marginalizes them in the modern society. Furthermore, the Almasheikh group's attitudes and behaviours created tremendous tension between its members and the majority of the local population and its leaders. This study aims to offer a potential basis for developing tailored educational approaches to cope with this unofficial orthodox Muslim school and to bridge the gap between these group members and their community.

Uganda in the 1970s: a decade of paradoxes and ambiguities

This article reprises the author's 1977 essay on ethnicity and military governance in Idi Amin's Uganda. In its rhetoric, the Amin regime was committed to the singular goal of allaying ethnic conflict. But in practice, the Amin years were marked by contractions and by often rapid shifts in policy. In the military the Amin years saw the elevation of the president's compatriots and the marginalization of Ganda and other competitors. In religious life, Amin encouraged the consolidation of ecclesiastic hierarchy, banning dissident sects and elevating Catholic, Anglican and orthodox Muslim leaders. In the economy, Amin nationalized Asian-owned businesses and launched an “economic war”, but was unable to provide basic goods and services to Uganda's citizenry. Ideology had little role to play in shaping Uganda's politics. The tensions between rhetoric and practice made the Amin regime into a paradox.

Assessing the Aftermath of War among Teens in Bosnia & Serbia: Measures of Substance Abuse and Delinquency with the POSIT (Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teens)

The Balkan Wars of 1991 to 2002 left the former Yugoslavia in ruins, a situation made only worst with the recent worldwide recession. Untreated civilians and Veterans caught up in the war, the worst in Europe since World War II, has had an even greater impact on youth. Sectarian hostilities and prejudices within and between the three major ethnic populations in Bosnia–Herzegovina—Orthodox Serbs, Muslim Bosniaks, and Catholic Croats, as well as the Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Albanians in Serbia/Kosovo—has led to impulsive violence and increasing mental and physical health problems among these second-generation war victims. The authors' pilot study administered a Slavic-language Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teens to schools in Bosnia–Herzegovina that represented the three major sectarian groups (Orthodox, Bosniak, Catholic) as well as in the war-torn Vojvodina province of Serbia.

PREVENTING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AGAINST AHMADIYAH

As a global phenomenon, religious persecution might occur within all religions as well as nations. In Indonesia, this phenomenon occurs within Islam. One of the most controversial cases regarding religious persecution is the discrimination experienced by Ahmadiyah. Here, they could not perform religious active­tie­s freely as they are prohibited to do so. In ad­dition, their properties as well as their religious and educational facilities have been destroyed. To resolve this case, there are at least, two approaches that can be used, which include judicial and non-judicial strategies. This resear­ch suggests the use of non-judicial strategies, which aim at eradicating religious persecution experienced by Ahmadis by raising people’s consciousness about religious tolerance and human rights. This includes intra-religious di­alog­ue and multicultural and human rights education. In terms of dialogue, this research suggests the use of intra-religious dialogue within Islam, especially between Ahmadiyah and orthodox Muslims.

From Medina to Runnymede: Comparing the Foundational Legacies of the Constitution of Medina and the Magna Carta

Identifying an Islamic constitutional tradition can be controversial due to orthodox Muslim understandings of God’s sovereignty and agency. Further complicating such discussions are arguments surrounding the compatibility of Muslim traditions with international norms alternately referred to as ‘Western’ or ‘universal’, depending upon one’s political preferences. This comparative examination of Muhammad’s ‘Constitution of Medina’ and the Magna Carta argues that where there is assent and accountability, there is also agency. Just as the relatively spare discussion of rights in the Magna Carta laid the foundations of what would become a far more expansive constitutional tradition in the West, the very existence of Muhammad’s covenant along with the fact that this covenant details specific tribal duties with corresponding rights to societal goods and a vision of the rule of law, indicates that Islamic states can indeed codify and negotiate the challenges of governing, even within the framework of a transcendent law (sharīʿa). Assessing the unique constitutional characteristics of the ‘Constitution of Medina’ and the Magna Carta will reveal that each of these documents, while not properly constitutions, are concerned with fundamental constitutional issues that have surprising resonance in the aftermath of the Arab Revolutions of 2011 and in other redistributions of international power.

Arabic death discourse in translation: Euphemism and metaphorical conceptualization in Jordanian obituaries

Some events are too distasteful and coarse to be approached without linguistic ‘gymnastics’ or ‘maneuvering’. One of these is undoubtedlydeath, a timeless taboo in which psychological, religious, and social interdictions coexist. This paper investigates the conceptualization and translation of the euphemistic metaphorical encoding operative in Arabic death discourse, particularly in a selected corpus consisting of 450 obituaries, drawn from three respectable Jordanian newspapers, where the sentimentalization of death, deriving from orthodox Muslim beliefs, provided a fertile soil for the burgeoning of metaphorical fatalism-laden euphemism. Given the pervasiveness of metaphor to refer to human mortality, the present study utilizes the influential “Conceptual Metaphor Theory” advanced by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) to account for the different conceptual metaphors, and their relevant linguistic instantiations which substituted the notions ofdeathanddying. The analysis also reveals that the translation hurdles encountered essentially originate from the fact that Arabic and English offer conflicting prototypical models ofagency, thereby landing the translator with the laborious task of negotiating the meaning between two contrasting cultural models, which has been found to strip the source language text from its dynamism, and, consequently, to procure irredressable translation loss, however satisfactory the translation equivalents may be.

Kejawen (Javanese Sufism) and Perennial Philosophy in Kuntowijoyo's Khotbah di Atas Bukit

Khotbah di Atas Bukit (Sermon on a Hill) by Kuntowijoyo was written to foreground transcendental principles, in accordance with the Theory of Transcendental Literature. Transcendental principles are brought to the fore and applied in this work through the use of symbolism. Kuntowijoyo uses a local subject for enquiry, kejawen (Javanese sufism), to address issues of faith and tauhid (Islamic Monotheism or the Oneness of Allah). However, there is some ambiguity in the text which could affect the aspects of tauhid discussed. In presenting the teachings of Sufism, Kuntowijoyo may in the process be misunderstood and consequently considered to subscribe to global theology where tauhid is simplified and religions “combined”. Khotbah di Atas Bukit is a complex work to read because of the overuse of symbolism aimed at obscuring meaning. This kind of symbolism needs to be explained, particularly to readers who have little knowledge of sufism. It is this that makes Khotbah di Atas Bukit a specialized work for a specialized readership. Key words: Islamic literature, Islam kejawen , sufism, perennial philosophy, Islamic leadership, tauhid , Kuntowijoyo, pluralism, mysticism, Transcendental Literature, myth, global religion, orthodox Muslims (the faithful).

Religious Intolerance among Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Russia1

Religious intolerance (the unwillingness to grant religious liberties to other faiths) among Russia's Orthodox Christians and Muslims is widespread, as our 2005 national survey data (2972 interviews) show. The intolerance is strongest among the Orthodox in the largely non-Muslim areas of Russia and among both faith groups in the conflict-torn Caucasus. Mutual tolerance is highest in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. The intolerance has more to do with reactionary ideological influences and regional socio-political conditions than with Orthodox and Muslim core religious beliefs and practices. Orthodox-Muslim intolerance reflects a broader popular hostility to religious freedom in Russia. Fuelled by Russia's current undemocratic tendencies, this hostility poses a threat to Eurasian stability and calls for efforts to lessen ethno-religious tensions. Such efforts need to include systematic sociological monitoring of religious intolerance, and this study is a first step in this direction.

Public Interactions between Orthodox Christian and Muslim Organisations at the Federal Level in Russia Today

When we discuss Orthodox–Muslim relations in Russia we need to be clear which particular partners we are talking about. My article is about relationships among the religious leaderships at the federal level. These relationships are essentially asymmetrical, and this is the result not only of differences in the number of believers, but also of differences in political weight and ideological loyalty to the regime. One important factor is that Orthodoxy is part of the basis of Russian ethnic self-identification, whereas Islam has not become a unifying factor for many varied ethnic groups in the country. Orthodox and Muslims have asymmetrical relations as far as tolerance is concerned. At all levels – ordinary citizens, the mass media, the actions of leaders – this is heavily dependent on the dominant political mythology. The Russian Orthodox Church has privileged relations with the federal power, and Muslim leaders simply have to accept this as a fact. Some of the latter are preoccupied with their own ethnic issues; some follow the ideological lead of the Orthodox Church; others invoke Islamic unity; yet others see themselves as defending minority rights. Relations between Orthodox and Muslim leaderships are intimately involved with discourse about identity, and in the context of the ever-increasing significance of this discourse in Russia their relations are becoming ever more strained. Meanwhile the federal authorities do not seem to be paying serious attention to this phenomenon.

Quest for divinity: a critical examination of the thought of Mahmud Muhammad Taha

Quest for Divinity makes an intriguing contribution to explain the debatable thought of Mahmud Muhammad Taha. The author analyzes competently different complexities, inter-relatedness, and comprehensiveness of the thinker's doctrine, which articulates the unique accomplishment of his individuality. The author's fluent style, comparative research, and serious attempt to scrutinize the Jumhuri thought and reform project based on academic sources, in addition to personal acquaintance with the movement, provide an opportunity to both scholars and students of religious studies to understand closely major similarities, differences, and spiritual linkages that tie up the Jumhuris with both Sufi spiritualities and orthodox Muslim faith. Still, there is essential need to comprehend the thinker's stands and ideas in their pure originality and totality, as a full package of his doctrinal commitments, rather than tearing them apart by a piece-meal approach, with due consideration to the significant analysis the author offers.

The True, the Good and the Reasonable: The Theological and Ethical Roots of Public Reason in Islamic Law

The events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent declaration of an open-ended “war on terror” have given a new urgency to long-standing discussions of the relationship of Islam to liberalism. In order to avoid the polemics that characterize much of the writing in the “Islam/Liberalism” genre, this Article proposes to use the framework set forth in John Rawls’ Political Liberalism to examine the grounds on which Muslim citizens of a liberal state could participate in a Rawlsian overlapping consensus. An overlapping consensus according to Rawls arises among citizens in a politically liberal state when they - despite holding incompatible theories of the good - each endorse the constitutional essentials of a politically liberal state for reasons within their own comprehensive religious or philosophical doctrines. This Article argues that the basis on which orthodox Muslims can participate in such an overlapping consensus can be found in Islamic theology and ethics. Because theology and ethics comprise the fundamental commitments of orthodox Islam, the political commitments set forth in Islamic substantive law which are inconsistent with constitutional essentials must be interpreted in light of those commitments. After describing orthodox Islam’s theological and ethical commitments to rational theological and moral inquiry, the Article argues that such commitments implicitly require political institutions that allow free theological and ethical inquiry. The Article illustrates this aspect of Islam by describing the development of a system of intra-Muslim normative pluralism in which the existence of conflicting ethical judgments was accepted as a legitimate and inevitable product of moral reasoning. The existence of normative pluralism in the realm of ethics, in turn, made the project of a legal system derived entirely from revelation an epistemological impossibility. The result was that Islamic substantive law was forced to adopt non-theological modes of justification. The Article argues that, in the course of so doing, Muslim jurists made appeals to what Rawls would deem to be public reason. The Article concludes with a series of examples from Islamic substantive law that illustrate the ways in which the pre-modern Islamic legal system represents a qualified form of public reason, consistent with the public culture of a liberal democracy.

The True, the Good and the Reasonable: The Theological and Ethical Roots of Public Reason in Islamic Law

The events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent declaration of an open-ended war on terror have given a new urgency to long-standing discussions of the relationship of Islam to liberalism. In order to avoid the polemics that characterize much of the writing in the Islam/Liberalism genre, this Article proposes to use the framework set forth in John Rawls' Political Liberalism to examine the grounds on which Muslim citizens of a liberal state could participate in a Rawlsian overlapping consensus. An overlapping consensus according to Rawls arises among citizens in a politically liberal state when they - despite holding incompatible theories of the good - each endorse the constitutional essentials of a politically liberal state for reasons within their own comprehensive religious or philosophical doctrines. This Article argues that the basis on which orthodox Muslims can participate in such an overlapping consensus can be found in Islamic theology and ethics. Because theology and ethics comprise the fundamental commitments of orthodox Islam, the political commitments set forth in Islamic substantive law which are inconsistent with constitutional essentials must be interpreted in light of those commitments. After describing orthodox Islam's theological and ethical commitments to rational theological and moral inquiry, the Article argues that such commitments implicitly require political institutions that allow free theological and ethical inquiry. The Article illustrates this aspect of Islam by describing the development of a system of intra-Muslim normative pluralism in which the existence of conflicting ethical judgments was accepted as a legitimate and inevitable product of moral reasoning. The existence of normative pluralism in the realm of ethics, in turn, made the project of a legal system derived entirely from revelation an epistemological impossibility. The result was that Islamic substantive law was forced to adopt non-theological modes of justification. The Article argues that, in the course of so doing, Muslim jurists made appeals to what Rawls would deem to be public reason. The Article concludes with a series of examples from Islamic substantive law that illustrate the ways in which the pre-modern Islamic legal system represents a qualified form of public reason, consistent with the public culture of a liberal democracy.

A POPULAR INDONESIAN PREACHER: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AA GYMNASTIAR

Aa Gymnastiar (Gym) is a popular Indonesian Muslim preacher who seems to be now at the pinnacle of his fame. He regularly gives advice to the head of state and to ministers and yet at the same time his approach to Islam appeals to all sections of the national Muslim community. His is a familiar face in newspaper columns and above all on television screens; Aa Gym has a masterful command of the media. This article describes and accounts for his popularity and discusses it in terms of continuity and change in the rise and decline of Muslim celebrities in Indonesia. It points out the difference between Gym and some obvious forerunners such as the scholar Hamka, and stresses that the nature of Gym's appeal is new in as much as he does not come from within the circle of traditional families of Muslim ulama. He seems to draw his information as much from secular sources of self‐help manuals as from books of Sufi wisdom. Although very popular and influential among the general circle of believers, he is regarded with some suspicion by those who criticize his sufistic leanings and lack of an orthodox Muslim education. The article concludes by arguing that Gym and his approach to the implementation of Muslim precepts is more representative of the nature of Islam in Indonesia today than the activities of terrorists.

Ottoman Symbolism in British-Occupied Egypt, 1882–1909

The so-called ‘Edict of Inheritance’ of 1841 formalized the autonomous status of Egypt as a privileged province within the Ottoman Empire and secured hereditary succession to its government for the...