Version Of Islam Research Articles

Tourism and Normalization—The Case of Abraham Accords

ABSTRACT The study aims to explore the implementation of the Israeli-Arab normalization with focus on the role of tourism. It discusses the connection between tourism and Israel's relations with Morocco, Bahrain, and the UAE since the signing of the Abraham Accords arguing that tourism positively influenced the development of normalization. Using the theories of tourism diplomacy and cultural diplomacy, the results show that (1) governments use tourism as a political mechanism to promote relations; (2) the Moroccan case showed that an emotional tourism campaign is used to promote tourism; (3) the UAE's case shows that its unique version of moderate Islam has strengthened local conditions to create a more welcoming environment for Israeli tourists; (4) the analysis demonstrates the importance of tourism in the context of Israel-Arab relations. This carries important policy implications according to which tourism can play a major tool to improve Israels relations with Arab countries.

A case for democratic pluralism instead of democratic minimalism

This paper proposes a theory of democratic pluralism instead of democratic minimalism developed by Shadi Hamid in his book “The Problem of Democracy”. Democratic pluralism will leverage pluralism to create a possibility for reconciliation between liberalism, secularism, religion, and democracy. It presents a framework of democratic pluralism based on four key elements: (1) a conception of democracy that includes performance and political action in the public sphere beyond electoral participation; (2) recognition of diversity and intercultural dialog, alongside the agonistic dimension of pluralism; (3) moderation of individual autonomy and identity politics; and (4) pluralistic accommodation of religion. The paper critiques Hamid’s monolithic notions of liberalism, secularism, and democracy, suggesting that more nuanced approaches to these concepts are necessary. It contends that rather than abandoning liberalism and secularism, exploring compatible versions of liberalism and Islam within a pluralistic framework offers a more promising path for reforming religion and polity in the Muslim world.

Key Elements of Risk Management in Islamic Quality Management System: An Analysis on MS 1900:2014 Standard

MS 1900:2014 Sharīʿah-based Quality Management Systems-Requirements with Guidance (First Revision) or MS 1900:2014 is the Islamic version of the ISO 9001. Compared to ISO 9001:2015-Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001:2015), which is characterised by “risk-based thinking,” the aspect of risk management is not given due focus in MS 1900:2014. Instead, the focus is more on efforts to improve governance and organisational efficiency as outlined by Islamic principles. However, since MS 1900:2014 makes Sharīʿah as the main basis of its certification requirements, the element of risk management is definitely implicit in the standard. This is because in an effort to ensure its objective, i.e., realisation of benefits (taḥqīq al-maṣlaḥah) is achieved, the Sharīʿah uses the approach of promoting what is good and beneficial (jalb al-maṣlaḥah) and preventing what is evil and harmful (dafʿ al-mafsadah). Therefore, although it does not clearly state the concept of risk management in the standard, any organisation that uses MS 1900:2014 may also achieve the advantages of risk management if they adopt the standard. Thus, by using content analysis method, this article seeks to analyse and describe the requirements implicitly related to the aspect of risk management contained in the MS 1900:2014 standard. Based on the analysis of the certification requirements, it was found that MS 1900:2014 indeed has riskbased characteristics even though this is not clearly stated in the standard document. Therefore, if the MS 1900 is implemented correctly by any company, it will not only achieve efficiency and effectiveness in organisation management but also can further improve its risk management capabilities.

Key Elements of Risk Management in Islamic Quality Management System: An Analysis on MS 1900:2014 Standard

MS 1900:2014 Sharīʿah-based Quality Management Systems-Requirements with Guidance (First Revision) or MS 1900:2014 is the Islamic version of the ISO 9001. Compared to ISO 9001:2015-Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001:2015), which is characterised by “risk-based thinking,” the aspect of risk management is not given due focus in MS 1900:2014. Instead, the focus is more on efforts to improve governance and organisational efficiency as outlined by Islamic principles. However, since MS 1900:2014 makes Sharīʿah as the main basis of its certification requirements, the element of risk management is definitely implicit in the standard. This is because in an effort to ensure its objective, i.e., realisation of benefits (taḥqīq al-maṣlaḥah) is achieved, the Sharīʿah uses the approach of promoting what is good and beneficial (jalb al-maṣlaḥah) and preventing what is evil and harmful (dafʿ al-mafsadah). Therefore, although it does not clearly state the concept of risk management in the standard, any organisation that uses MS 1900:2014 may also achieve the advantages of risk management if they adopt the standard. Thus, by using content analysis method, this article seeks to analyse and describe the requirements implicitly related to the aspect of risk management contained in the MS 1900:2014 standard. Based on the analysis of the certification requirements, it was found that MS 1900:2014 indeed has riskbased characteristics even though this is not clearly stated in the standard document. Therefore, if the MS 1900 is implemented correctly by any company, it will not only achieve efficiency and effectiveness in organisation management but also can further improve its risk management capabilities.

Islamic Universities in Egypt and Indonesia as Tools of Liberal Governance: How States Use them to Canonize Reformed Versions of Islam

Abstract This article examines how liberal states regulate religion through a comparative study of government-run Islamic universities in Egypt and Indonesia. Building on recent historical scholarship, it is argued that, contrary to conventional views, liberal states have frequently endorsed government intervention in religious life – including “authoritarian” repression of disfavored religious beliefs and practices. Liberal interventionist policies were first developed in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where they were applied most intensely to Catholics. The policies were then brought to the Muslim world during the colonial era, and have been maintained by liberal post-colonial Muslim states like Egypt and Indonesia. It is argued that such Muslim states utilize heavy government intervention to promote liberal ideals of “civilizational progress” (i.e., development) and “religiously inclusive nationalism”. Intervention is carried out, in large part, through state-run systems of religious education, which include Islamic universities. Such universities canonize reformed “progressive” “nationalist” versions of Islam, while simultaneously decanonizing “fanatic” versions of Islam which oppose civilizational progress and religiously inclusive nationalism. It is shown that the canonization process involves ascribing unique importance to particular languages, places, persons, and texts associated with the Islamic tradition.

تحديد مصطلح النحو ودور تاريخه في تدوير اللغة العربية

The objective of this research was to reveal seven sections, namely the definition of nahwu, the identification of the term nahwu, its implications and section, the time of the development of the science of nahwu, and its status was purely Arab or influenced by other cultures of nations other than the Arabs, and the author of the first nahwu, and the reason for the emergence of nahwu, and the role of nahwu and its history in the development of Arabic language education. The model in this paper is explanatory. Its approach is qualitative. Data collection techniques are documents. The data analysis in this research followed four steps from Miles and Huberman. This research concludes that the definition of nahwu is the intention. It has nine other meanings. Defining the term nahwu is the change that follows the end of the word. As for the status of nahwu, there are two different opinions, and they are in the first version of Islam and nahwu is in the Arabs older than the first version of Islam. Scientists went on to develop the science of nahwu. First, they agree that the status of nahwu is purely Arabic. Second, they see nahwu as a transfer from the Greek language. Third, they believe nahwu was initially purely Arabic and later influenced by Greek philosophy. As for the first author of the science of nahwu, most scholars agree that the first author of the science of nahwu is Abu Al-Aswad Al-Du'ali by order of Ali bin Abi Talib. The reason for the emergence of nahwu is the distortion of the melody and the corruption of tongues after the spread of Islam and the mixing of Arabs with other nations that embraced Islam. As for the role of nahwu and its history in the development of Arabic language teaching, there are two opinions. The first mixed in the research of nahwu, derivation and morphology, or derivation and morphology. The second was in Arabic sciences three sciences. They are nahwu or grammar, derivation, and morphology. These three sciences are still taught and taught under one name, nahwu.

The revival of traditional culture as an element of the national security policy of the Central Asian countries in the 1991-2010's.

The subject of the study is the formation of one of the ideological components of national security policy in the countries of the Central Asian region (CAR) - the concept of preserving historical, cultural and religious traditions as the basis of social stability and security. The authors focus on the process of incorporating this concept into the theory and practice of ensuring the national security of the CAR countries at different historical stages of their development after 1991. The objects of the research are scientific theories and legal acts reflecting the relationship between culture and security in the Central Asian states, official statements and writings of the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and other political leaders of Central Asia. The article touches upon the problems of countering radical religious movements and other ideological influences from outside by the CAR states, and shows the controversial nature of the measures taken in this area by the authorities of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Methodologically, the research is based on a civilizational approach to understanding the historical process, as well as on the idea of the influence of geopolitical trends on the internal life of countries and peoples of the modern world, including the Central Asian region. The work is based on the principles of historicism and consistency, using chronological, synchronous, dichronous, comparative and other methods of historical research. The novelty of the study lies in the generalization of data revealing the role of traditional values in the security systems of the CAR countries. The results of the work include a set of facts and theoretical provisions on the evolution of the security ideology of the CAR countries and can be used in scientific projects in the field of universal history and political science. The authors conclude that the revival of traditional culture and the local version of Islam (Hanafism) in the 1991-2010's were consistently considered by the leaders of the CAR countries as one of the most important factors in strengthening the state, its independence and international authority. This line was carried out most fully and consistently in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which was reflected in the development programs, legislation, scientific and journalistic literature of these countries. There is a tendency in Kazakhstan to integrate cultural policy based on traditional civilizational values with national security policy.

‘Jihad literacy’: the legacy of US-sponsored textbooks for Afghan children

ABSTRACT This paper uses critical discourse analysis and critical literacy to analyze the first in a series of literacy primers developed with US support for children in Afghanistan in the 1980s, called ‘Jihad literacy’. The text is analyzed for its ideological content as related to the themes of religion, violence, and martyrdom in the historical perspective of the Cold War and the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. The paper demonstrates how the notion of ‘Jihad’ was subverted to promote a holy war against the Soviet invasion. The educational system supported by the US created a radical version of Islam based on violence and martyrdom, shaping the Afghan society to this day. We contend that the same or similar institutions shape current discourses as in the past and that children are the main victims of politico-economic warfare.

Роль исламского фактора во внешней политике Турции в Центральной Азии

The article examines the religious component of Turkey's foreign policy strategy in the countries of Central Asia. Relying on a common Islamic identity with the Turkic republics, Ankara seeks to re-shape the geopolitical space of this strategically important region in its own interests. Back in the 90s, Turkey successfully managed to promote its version of moderate Islam in the countries of Cen-tral Asia, using state and non-state religious structures for this purpose. For official Ankara, Islam has become a tool for spreading the ideas of pan-Turkism as evidenced by the official discourse of top state officials and the activities of Turkish religious movements. The Islamization of Turkey's domestic policy under the current political leadership determines the religious and ideological con-tours of the country’s foreign policy. The authorities are intensifying the Islamic discourse position-ing Turkey as the center of the Muslim world. In the Muslim countries of Central Asia, Ankara as-pires to achieve Islamic and Turkic solidarity simultaneously, using the tools of “soft power” con-trolled by the state such as Dianet and the Turkish Religious Foundation. Despite the closure (ex-cept for Kyrgyzstan) of a network of educational institutions funded by the popular preacher F. Gulen, his followers managed to create a positive image of Turkey among the population of Central Asian countries. In the context of the world order transformation, Turkey will strengthen the ideo-logical and religious orientation of its foreign policy in the Central Asia which in the future may allow Ankara to increase its importance in a changing world.

Islamic Love Stories: How Indonesian Soap Opperas Presented Islamic Version of Romantic Love in the 2000s

Islamic Love Stories: How Indonesian Soap Opperas Presented Islamic Version of Romantic Love in the 2000s

Migration and islamic fundamentalism in the context of discourse of postmodernism

The article analyses the reasons for the choice of radical Islam by young Muslims in the European countries. Islam became a Western religion as a result of the migration of millions of Muslims. The authors provide a number of indications of the formation of a new global religious system. The new religious cross-border communities constitute a globalised network. Their dynamic nature and partial virtualisation of their activities weaken the state control. The activities of “parallel societies” are associated with Muslim immigrants. Their parallel system of leadership and law creates real competition for the state governance structures. The fundamentalist version of Islam becomes attractive to Muslims who have endured its de-territorialisation. Their religious identity is formed under the influence of new interactions, media resources and participation in a global network of like-minded people. Islamic fundamentalism does not naturally emerge from Islam. This is the result of the secularisation of Islam, when the priority of politics over religion uses the latter as a resource for legitimising its social and political protest. It is also a reaction to the search for an identity that is relevant in a new environment. The attitudes inherent in fundamentalism, such as distrust of the values of European civilisation, the call for radical measures in their denial, the construction of a private version of the tradition and its idealisation, are based on modern problems. This represents fundamentalism as a postmodern phenomenon.

“Tunisian Islam,” Women’s Rights, and the Limits of French Empire in Twentieth-Century North Africa

Abstract European colonialism catalyzed a proliferation of arguments linking national territories to allegedly distinctive forms of Islam. I consider “Tunisian Islam” under the French protectorate in Tunisia (1881–1956), a case that allows scholars not simply to track the formation of an orientalist discourse but to reveal the histories that the discourse has elided. This analysis has spatial and temporal parameters. First, the geographies of Muslim scholarship in colonial Tunisia exceeded both the national boundaries and the territory of the French empire. Above all, Muslim intellectuals in Tunisia under French rule pursued a multidirectional exchange with their colleagues in Egypt and the wider Middle East. This transnational context reveals the singular Tunisian Islam to be a specious construction. Second, colonial ideas about so-called Tunisian Islam were far from durable. Independence in 1956 led to a significant rupture as personal status legislation of the Tunisian Republic reconceived Tunisian Islam and created a new “invented tradition.” Crucially, the Tunisian state fused national Islam with promotion of women’s rights, a connection orientalists never made. Yet the regional circuits of intellectual life evident under the protectorate persisted after independence, raising questions about the tenability of the new version of national Islam.

Muslim Indonesian women entrepreneurs: a factor analysis of business performance

PurposeMuslim Indonesian women entrepreneurs (MIWEs) lie at the intersection of religion and gender. Given the growing participation of women in entrepreneurship and economic stability in Indonesia, the purpose of this study is to identify the factors (and their significance) influencing MIWEs’ business performance.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 101 MIWEs was conducted, and results were analyzed via structural modelling equation using SmartPLS 3.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that, within the macro frame of the moderate version of Islam practiced and women’s economic engagement, women business owners’ skills and religious factors significantly influence their business performance. Factor analysis indicates that the role of the veil, Shariah guidance for business and managing stress through the practice of Salah (prayer) are important for MIWEs. However, this study also indicates that, in addition to religious factors, MIWEs’ own effective and participative leadership style, honesty and fairness reputation in business dealings and a good market image are also significant variables affecting business performance. This is in contrast to past studies, where the role of environmental factors such as access to capital, family and government has been shown to have a stronger influence on Muslim women entrepreneurs’ business performance.Originality/valueBecause of Indonesia’s unique pluralistic national context, along with increasing women’s economic participation, MIWEs emerge as a distinct category of entrepreneurs who integrate religion and their own skills to navigate their business performance.

‘Forgiveness’ in Building Bridges With Muslims: An Intertextual Analysis of the Joseph's Narrative

Joseph's story in Genesis 37–50 is well-known among Christians. It is similar to the Torah's account of Yōsef's life. The Islamic version celebrates the triumph of the virtuous. In contrast, the biblical narrative highlights the unwavering loyalty of Joseph to his family and forgiveness; an account that could serve as a model for coexistence and fostering harmonious interfaith relations. In this article, the Qurʾānic story of al-Yῡsuf, as well as the Jewish and Christian interpretations of the same story, are used for an intertextual interpretation. Drawing from the idea of ‘from the foreign to the familiar,’ the author describes Joseph's story in Islamic, Jewish and Christian traditions in that sequence. Joseph's story, she suggests, has valuable lessons for the Jews, Christians and Muslims who are connected with each other in a sense through this common narrative; she argues that an intertextual reading of similar narratives in their traditional sources has promise for building bridges between them.

Embodied Faith and the Limits of Female Agency in Randa Abdel-Fattah’s Does My Head Look Big in This?

The present essay discusses Randa Abdel-Fattah’s Does My Head Look Big in This? by focusing on the rendition of Islam as an axis of social agency in an environment that is excessively antagonistic of any version of Islam that falls outside the contours of the “liberal model” morphed by the Western creed of equality, liberty. Amal, the protagonist, embodies the dilemmas of choice and agency within an ideological rubric which disassociates such notions from faith-based convictions. The analysis relies on the notion of Muslim agency as theorized by Saba Mahmood, for whom the conscious formation of deeply rooted religious subjectivities is sidelined within the modern secular rubrics of self-formation. The article also draws on W.E.B Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness to highlight the extent to which Muslim female bodies are caught at the intersection between religion and nation. Hence, this essay discloses the challenges facing Muslim women whose exercise of agency is tied to their religious beliefs in a backdrop characterized by multicultural and secular economies. More particularly, it explores Amal’s religious tradition of habituated practices—such as wearing the veil in a hostile environment—as embodiments of autonomous agency.

Praxis and policy: Discourse on Cham Bani religious identity in Vietnam

Past scholarship has described the Cham Bani religious community as a heterodox and syncretic version of Islam. We argue for a more nuanced interpretation: assertions of orthopraxy and heteropraxy shape contemporary debates in Cham communities in Vietnam. Based on a robust selection of source material—including the positions of government officials, high-ranking clerics, community members, and local activists, along with historicised anthropological accounts, Cham manuscripts, and government documents—our multidisciplinary approach, combining in-depth interviews and historical analysis, suggests religious classifications cannot be viewed as static in Cham communities, especially in the case of the ‘Cham Bani’, currently best thought of as a Cham particularist religious community.

The Rise of Islamic Liberalism: A Qualitative Study

The contemporary world order from public to private, academic to politics and society is largely based on liberal values and ideals. This global hegemony of the liberal order has also become a catalyst for the liberalization of Islam. This article details the emerging trends of Liberal Islam in Muslim societies and focuses on the post 9/11 period. The wave of fundamentalism has not only caused a strange response among the modernized classes of the Muslim population, but also among traditionalists and the fundamentalists. This response is the emergence of a cosmopolitan liberalism in Muslim societies. In this article, various aspects and factors of Islamic liberalism will be discussed. The process of liberalization in the traditional circles of Pakistan and the liberalization of the Islamist political organizations are discussed as representative cases. The article would be concluded by suggesting the future of liberal Islam, the challenges it faces and how it will dominate the major interpreted versions of Islam.  

Negotiating religion-state relations in the MENA region: actors’ dynamics, modes, and norms

ABSTRACT Religion-state relations in the MENA region have been shaped by two main dynamics. First is the modern political elites’ interest in shaping their own versions of Islam to legitimise their rule. Second is the desire of religious actors to use modern state structures to impose their religious norms on society. Despite moments of tension, political and religious leaders have often reached a compromise on regulating the relationship between Islam and the state. In different cases, different agreements that reflect the different balances of power between political and religious actors have been reached. These agreements between political and religious authorities have been contested twice, leading in some cases to a renegotiation of their terms: the first time with the religious revival in 1970s, and the second after the 2011 popular uprisings known as the Arab Spring. This contribution seeks to unpack these dynamics between political and religious elites, their impact on the rules governing religion-state relations, how they have been renegotiated over time, and how these different institutional arrangements have created their own norms, policies, and practices, highlighting the gaps between formal mechanisms and informal practices.

A Contested Identity: Contemporary Representation of Indonesian Chinese-Muslims on Instagram

The existence of Chinese Muslims in Indonesia is surrounded by a heavily prejudiced belief that Chinese-ness and Islam are considered "unsuitable". Chinese Muslims, particularly 'converts- turned-preachers', are still considered a unique identity. However, the rise of online Islamic piety on Instagram has become one of many ways for Chinese Muslims' to represent themselves and, to some extent, "normalize" their identities. This paper discusses how Chinese-Muslim preachers, namely Felix Siauw and Koko Liem, represent their versions of Chinese-ness and Islam on Instagram, a popular visual-based social media platform in Indonesia. This research uses Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) to observe the preachers' identity narratives and ways to articulate their Chinese-ness and Islam on their respective accounts posts. It is shown that the heterogeneous stances and contesting interpretations on and about Chinese-ness and Islam in the Chinese-Muslim minority group are to some extent represented through the visual appearance and narrative on Instagram of both preachers. From these two figures, the researcher concludes that elements of Islamic religious identity tend to dominate and even fade ethnic Chinese identity in the negotiations between Chinese and Muslim identities. However, their Chinese-ness was strategically used and symbolically commodified to attract the masses. These two preachers become part of the heterogeneous spectrum of Chinese-Muslim representation in Indonesia and the "pavement" for a common image of the combination of the two identities in Indonesia.

The Effect of Motivational Incentives on Clients’ Religious Self-Regulation in an Institutionalized Drug Treatment Program

Performing religious and spiritual activities is known to have a positive effect on substance use treatment and rehabilitation. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effect of motivational incentives in motivating clients to perform religious activities in a Narcotic Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre, also known as PUSPEN in Malaysia. A true experimental study was conducted involving the randomization of participants into the experimental groups that received tangible incentives for performing compulsory religious activities and the controlled groups that doesn’t receive any incentive. A total of 44 clients were selected as participants based on the inclusion criteria set by the researcher. The participants were assessed by their achievement in memorizing surahs as well as adherence to religious programs and activities in the PUSPEN within 12 weeks of study. A total of seven surahs and three extra surahs were targeted to be memorized by the participants throughout the study period. For the experimental group, participants were given incentives for each successful surah memorized. Meanwhile, for the control group, no form of incentive was given to the participants. CM rewards are in the form of stickers with a monetary value of RM5.00 each which can be used to exchange for items within the PUSPEN. Pre-test analysis to obtain baseline data was done prior to the study session and the post-test analysis was done after week-12 of study. Participants were gathered after one month the study ended for the follow-up test using the same instrument. The Religious Self-Regulated Questionnaire (SRQ-R) which have been translated into the Malay language and adapted into the Islamic version was used to examine the level of religious self-regulation during pre, post and follow-up test. The findings showed that there are no significant differences between the experimental group and the control group on the client's level of religious self-regulated in pre, post and follow-up tests. CM incentives helped improve the performance of the clients in memorizing surahs but did not significantly affect the clients’ motivation in performing religious activities during rehabilitation in the PUSPEN. The implementation of CM in the psycho-spiritual aspect in the PUSPEN environment is still considered as new and inconclusive. Future researchers can improve the study by increasing the sample size and uses higher incentives values to obtain a more accurate and comprehensive findings on the effectiveness of CM intervention on religious self-regulation.