Jeffrey T. Kenney
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195131697
- eISBN:
- 9780199785001
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513169X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The Kharijites were a splinter group that broke away from the main forces of Islam during the formative medieval period, purportedly refusing arbitration and committing bloody outrages against their ...
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The Kharijites were a splinter group that broke away from the main forces of Islam during the formative medieval period, purportedly refusing arbitration and committing bloody outrages against their fellow Muslims. Their influence in the political and theological life of the nascent faith has ensured their place in both critical and religious accounts of early Islamic history. Over the centuries, the Kharijites have repeatedly been invoked whenever militant opposition arose and today the label is frequently applied to extremist Islamic movements. After a brief look at Kharijite origins, this book focuses on contemporary Egypt. The book shows how religious images of the Kharijites have dominated public discussion about political opposition movements, effectively undermining attempts to discuss the real issues generating such movements.Less
The Kharijites were a splinter group that broke away from the main forces of Islam during the formative medieval period, purportedly refusing arbitration and committing bloody outrages against their fellow Muslims. Their influence in the political and theological life of the nascent faith has ensured their place in both critical and religious accounts of early Islamic history. Over the centuries, the Kharijites have repeatedly been invoked whenever militant opposition arose and today the label is frequently applied to extremist Islamic movements. After a brief look at Kharijite origins, this book focuses on contemporary Egypt. The book shows how religious images of the Kharijites have dominated public discussion about political opposition movements, effectively undermining attempts to discuss the real issues generating such movements.
Peter Adamson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195181425
- eISBN:
- 9780199785087
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181425.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This monograph is a comprehensive study of the thought of al-Kindī, the first self-described philosopher in Islam, and the first to write original treatises in Arabic. Al-Kindī’s writings are closely ...
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This monograph is a comprehensive study of the thought of al-Kindī, the first self-described philosopher in Islam, and the first to write original treatises in Arabic. Al-Kindī’s writings are closely engaged with Greek philosophical and scientific texts, whose translation into Arabic he oversaw. Some of the philosophical views for which al-Kindī is known are reactions to Greek thinkers. For instance, he used ideas from Philoponus in arguing against the eternity of the world, and his discussion of divine attributes is based on Neoplatonic texts. However, the book also places al-Kindī’s thought within the context of 9th century Islamic culture, especially contemporary theological developments. The book covers every aspect of al-Kindī’s extant philosophical corpus, including not only his philosophical theology but also his theory of soul, his epistemology, and his ethics. Two chapters are devoted to al-Kindī’s works on the natural sciences (in particular pharmacology, optics, music, and cosmology). The book concludes by discussing how al-Kindī used Greek cosmological ideas in his account of divine providence.Less
This monograph is a comprehensive study of the thought of al-Kindī, the first self-described philosopher in Islam, and the first to write original treatises in Arabic. Al-Kindī’s writings are closely engaged with Greek philosophical and scientific texts, whose translation into Arabic he oversaw. Some of the philosophical views for which al-Kindī is known are reactions to Greek thinkers. For instance, he used ideas from Philoponus in arguing against the eternity of the world, and his discussion of divine attributes is based on Neoplatonic texts. However, the book also places al-Kindī’s thought within the context of 9th century Islamic culture, especially contemporary theological developments. The book covers every aspect of al-Kindī’s extant philosophical corpus, including not only his philosophical theology but also his theory of soul, his epistemology, and his ethics. Two chapters are devoted to al-Kindī’s works on the natural sciences (in particular pharmacology, optics, music, and cosmology). The book concludes by discussing how al-Kindī used Greek cosmological ideas in his account of divine providence.
Kathleen Moore
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195387810
- eISBN:
- 9780199777242
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387810.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Today there are more Muslims living in diaspora than at any time in history. This situation was not envisioned by Islamic law, which makes no provision for permanent as opposed to transient diasporic ...
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Today there are more Muslims living in diaspora than at any time in history. This situation was not envisioned by Islamic law, which makes no provision for permanent as opposed to transient diasporic communities. Western Muslims are therefore faced with the necessity of developing an Islamic law for Muslim communities living in non-Muslim societies. This book explores the development of new forms of Islamic law and legal reasoning in the U.S. and Great Britain, as well as Muslims encountering Anglo-American common law and its unfamiliar commitments to pluralism and participation, and to gender, family, and identity. The underlying context is the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7, the two attacks that arguably recast the way the West views Muslims and Islam. Islamic jurisprudence, the book notes, contains a number of references to various “abodes” and a number of interpretations of how Muslims should conduct themselves within those worlds. These include the dar al harb (house of war), dar al kufr (house of unbelievers), and dar al salam (house of peace). How Islamic law interprets these determines the debates that take shape in and around Islamic legality in these spaces. The book's analysis emphasizes the multiplicities of law, and the tensions between secularism and religiosity. It offers a close examination of the emergence of a contingent legal consciousness shaped by the exceptional circumstances of being Muslim in the U.S. and Britain in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century.Less
Today there are more Muslims living in diaspora than at any time in history. This situation was not envisioned by Islamic law, which makes no provision for permanent as opposed to transient diasporic communities. Western Muslims are therefore faced with the necessity of developing an Islamic law for Muslim communities living in non-Muslim societies. This book explores the development of new forms of Islamic law and legal reasoning in the U.S. and Great Britain, as well as Muslims encountering Anglo-American common law and its unfamiliar commitments to pluralism and participation, and to gender, family, and identity. The underlying context is the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7, the two attacks that arguably recast the way the West views Muslims and Islam. Islamic jurisprudence, the book notes, contains a number of references to various “abodes” and a number of interpretations of how Muslims should conduct themselves within those worlds. These include the dar al harb (house of war), dar al kufr (house of unbelievers), and dar al salam (house of peace). How Islamic law interprets these determines the debates that take shape in and around Islamic legality in these spaces. The book's analysis emphasizes the multiplicities of law, and the tensions between secularism and religiosity. It offers a close examination of the emergence of a contingent legal consciousness shaped by the exceptional circumstances of being Muslim in the U.S. and Britain in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century.
Raymond P. Scheindlin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195315424
- eISBN:
- 9780199872039
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315424.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Judah Halevi, the great medieval Hebrew poet, abandoned home and family in Spain (al-Andalus) at the end of his life and traveled east to die in the Holy Land. This book narrates his journey, quoting ...
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Judah Halevi, the great medieval Hebrew poet, abandoned home and family in Spain (al-Andalus) at the end of his life and traveled east to die in the Holy Land. This book narrates his journey, quoting from Arabic letters by Halevi and his friends, and explores its meaning through analysis of his Hebrew poems. The poems are presented both in Hebrew and in new English verse translations and are provided with full commentary. The discussion introduces Halevi’s circle of Jewish businessmen and intellectuals in al-Andalus and Egypt, examines their way of life, and describes their position vis-à-vis Arabic and Islamic culture. It also explores the interweaving of religious ideas of Jewish, Islamic, and Hellenistic origin in Halevi’s work. Although Halevi was partially motivated by a desire to repudiate the Judeo-Arabic hybrid culture and embrace purely Jewish values, the book demonstrates that his poetry and his pilgrimage continue to reflect the Judeo-Arabic milieu. His poetry and pilgrimage also show that while the Jews’ precarious situation as a tolerated minority weighed on Halevi, he was impelled to the pilgrimage not by a grand plan for ending the Jewish exile, as is widely thought, but by a personal religious quest. Chapters 1 through 3 each deal with one of the major themes of Halevi’s poetry that point in the direction of the pilgrimage. Chapters 4 through 6 are a narrative of the pilgrimage. Chapters 7 through 10 are a study of Halevi’s poems that are explicitly about the Land of Israel and about the pilgrimage. The epilogue explores the later legend of his martyrdom.Less
Judah Halevi, the great medieval Hebrew poet, abandoned home and family in Spain (al-Andalus) at the end of his life and traveled east to die in the Holy Land. This book narrates his journey, quoting from Arabic letters by Halevi and his friends, and explores its meaning through analysis of his Hebrew poems. The poems are presented both in Hebrew and in new English verse translations and are provided with full commentary. The discussion introduces Halevi’s circle of Jewish businessmen and intellectuals in al-Andalus and Egypt, examines their way of life, and describes their position vis-à-vis Arabic and Islamic culture. It also explores the interweaving of religious ideas of Jewish, Islamic, and Hellenistic origin in Halevi’s work. Although Halevi was partially motivated by a desire to repudiate the Judeo-Arabic hybrid culture and embrace purely Jewish values, the book demonstrates that his poetry and his pilgrimage continue to reflect the Judeo-Arabic milieu. His poetry and pilgrimage also show that while the Jews’ precarious situation as a tolerated minority weighed on Halevi, he was impelled to the pilgrimage not by a grand plan for ending the Jewish exile, as is widely thought, but by a personal religious quest. Chapters 1 through 3 each deal with one of the major themes of Halevi’s poetry that point in the direction of the pilgrimage. Chapters 4 through 6 are a narrative of the pilgrimage. Chapters 7 through 10 are a study of Halevi’s poems that are explicitly about the Land of Israel and about the pilgrimage. The epilogue explores the later legend of his martyrdom.
Tariq Ramadan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331714
- eISBN:
- 9780191720987
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331714.003.0018
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The transformation reform proposed in the book involves multiple requirements: a new outlook on texts and human and social contexts, mobilizing ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The transformation reform proposed in the book involves multiple requirements: a new outlook on texts and human and social contexts, mobilizing knowledge and skills, and rebalancing legitimacy and authority in the production of norms and ethics. It means refusing immobilism, formalism, blind imitation (of all kinds), or fatalism.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The transformation reform proposed in the book involves multiple requirements: a new outlook on texts and human and social contexts, mobilizing knowledge and skills, and rebalancing legitimacy and authority in the production of norms and ethics. It means refusing immobilism, formalism, blind imitation (of all kinds), or fatalism.
Tariq Ramadan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331714
- eISBN:
- 9780191720987
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331714.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. It reviews the various classical schools of the fundamentals of usûl al-fiqh. It then proposes a new geography of the ...
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This chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. It reviews the various classical schools of the fundamentals of usûl al-fiqh. It then proposes a new geography of the sources of Islamic law and jurisprudence.Less
This chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. It reviews the various classical schools of the fundamentals of usûl al-fiqh. It then proposes a new geography of the sources of Islamic law and jurisprudence.
Jon McGinnis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195331479
- eISBN:
- 9780199868032
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331479.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The aim of the present work is threefold. One, it intends to place the thought of Avicenna within its proper historical context, whether the philosophical-scientific tradition inherited from the ...
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The aim of the present work is threefold. One, it intends to place the thought of Avicenna within its proper historical context, whether the philosophical-scientific tradition inherited from the Greeks or the indigenous influences coming from the medieval Islamic world. Thus, in addition to a substantive introductory chapter on the Greek and Arabic sources and influences to which Avicenna was heir, the historical and philosophical context central to Avicenna’s own thought is provided in order to assess and appreciate his achievement in the specific fields treated in that chapter. Two, the present volume aims to offer a philosophical survey of Avicenna’s entire system of thought ranging from his understanding of the interrelation of logic, physics, psychology, metaphysics, ethics, politics, and medicine. The emphasis here is on how, using a relatively small handful of novel insights, Avicenna was not only able to address a whole series of issues that had troubled earlier philosophers working in both the ancient Hellenistic and medieval Islamic world, but also how those insights fundamentally changed the direction philosophy took, certainly in the Islamic East, but even in the Jewish and Christian milieus. Three, the present volume will provide philosophers, historians of science, and students of medieval thought with a starting point from which to assess the place, significance, and influence of Avicenna and his philosophy within the history of ideas.Less
The aim of the present work is threefold. One, it intends to place the thought of Avicenna within its proper historical context, whether the philosophical-scientific tradition inherited from the Greeks or the indigenous influences coming from the medieval Islamic world. Thus, in addition to a substantive introductory chapter on the Greek and Arabic sources and influences to which Avicenna was heir, the historical and philosophical context central to Avicenna’s own thought is provided in order to assess and appreciate his achievement in the specific fields treated in that chapter. Two, the present volume aims to offer a philosophical survey of Avicenna’s entire system of thought ranging from his understanding of the interrelation of logic, physics, psychology, metaphysics, ethics, politics, and medicine. The emphasis here is on how, using a relatively small handful of novel insights, Avicenna was not only able to address a whole series of issues that had troubled earlier philosophers working in both the ancient Hellenistic and medieval Islamic world, but also how those insights fundamentally changed the direction philosophy took, certainly in the Islamic East, but even in the Jewish and Christian milieus. Three, the present volume will provide philosophers, historians of science, and students of medieval thought with a starting point from which to assess the place, significance, and influence of Avicenna and his philosophy within the history of ideas.
Anver M. Emon
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579006
- eISBN:
- 9780191722639
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579006.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History
This book offers the first sustained jurisprudential inquiry into Islamic natural law theory. It introduces readers to competing theories of Islamic natural law theory based on close readings of ...
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This book offers the first sustained jurisprudential inquiry into Islamic natural law theory. It introduces readers to competing theories of Islamic natural law theory based on close readings of Islamic legal sources from as early as the ninth and tenth centuries C.E. In popular debates about Islamic law, modern Muslims perpetuate an image of Islamic law as legislated by God, to whom the devout are bound to obey. Reason alone cannot obligate obedience; at most it can confirm or corroborate what is established by source texts endowed with divine authority. This book shows, however, that premodern Sunni Muslim jurists were not so resolute. They asked whether and how reason alone can be the basis for asserting the good and the bad, and thereby obligations and prohibitions of the Shari'a. They theorized about the authority of reason amidst competing theologies of God. For these jurists, nature became the link between the divine will and human reason. Nature is the product of God's creative power. Nature is created by God and reflects his goodness; consequently nature is fused with both fact and value. As a divinely created good, nature can be investigated to reach both empirical and normative conclusions about the good to be pursued. By recasting the Islamic legal tradition in terms of legal philosophy, the book sheds substantial light on an uncharted tradition of natural law theory and offers critical insights into contemporary global debates about Islamic law and reform.Less
This book offers the first sustained jurisprudential inquiry into Islamic natural law theory. It introduces readers to competing theories of Islamic natural law theory based on close readings of Islamic legal sources from as early as the ninth and tenth centuries C.E. In popular debates about Islamic law, modern Muslims perpetuate an image of Islamic law as legislated by God, to whom the devout are bound to obey. Reason alone cannot obligate obedience; at most it can confirm or corroborate what is established by source texts endowed with divine authority. This book shows, however, that premodern Sunni Muslim jurists were not so resolute. They asked whether and how reason alone can be the basis for asserting the good and the bad, and thereby obligations and prohibitions of the Shari'a. They theorized about the authority of reason amidst competing theologies of God. For these jurists, nature became the link between the divine will and human reason. Nature is the product of God's creative power. Nature is created by God and reflects his goodness; consequently nature is fused with both fact and value. As a divinely created good, nature can be investigated to reach both empirical and normative conclusions about the good to be pursued. By recasting the Islamic legal tradition in terms of legal philosophy, the book sheds substantial light on an uncharted tradition of natural law theory and offers critical insights into contemporary global debates about Islamic law and reform.
Abdulaziz Sachedina
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195378504
- eISBN:
- 9780199869688
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378504.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book undertakes to correlate practical ethical decisions in modern medical practice to principles and rules derived from Islamic juridical praxis and theological doctrines. This study links ...
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This book undertakes to correlate practical ethical decisions in modern medical practice to principles and rules derived from Islamic juridical praxis and theological doctrines. This study links these rulings to the moral principles extracted from the normative religious texts and historically documented precedents. Western scholars of Islamic law have pointed out the importance of the historical approach in determining the rules and the juristic practices that were applied to the cases under consideration before the judicial opinions were issued within a specific social, economic, and political context. These decisions reflected aspects of intellectual as well as social history of the Muslim community engaged in making everyday life conform to the religious values. Ethical decisions are an important part of interpersonal relations in Islamic law. Practical guidance affecting all facets of individual and collective human life, have been provided under the general rules of “Public good” and “No harm, no harassment.” However, no judicial decision that claims to further public good is regarded authoritative without supporting documentation from the foundational sources, like the Qur‘an and the Sunna (the exemplary tradition of the Prophet). Hence, Muslim jurists, in order to infer fresh rulings about matters that were not covered by the existing precedents in the Qur‘an and the Sunna, undertook to develop rational stratagems to enable them to solve problems faced by the community. This intellectual activity led to the systematic formulation of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, which has assumed unprecedented importance in connection with the distinct field of medical ethics in the Islamic world that shares the modern medical technology with the West. The book argues that there are distinct Islamic principles that can serve as sources for Muslim biomedical ethics that can engage in dialogue with both secular and other religiously oriented bioethics in the context of universal medical practice and research.Less
This book undertakes to correlate practical ethical decisions in modern medical practice to principles and rules derived from Islamic juridical praxis and theological doctrines. This study links these rulings to the moral principles extracted from the normative religious texts and historically documented precedents. Western scholars of Islamic law have pointed out the importance of the historical approach in determining the rules and the juristic practices that were applied to the cases under consideration before the judicial opinions were issued within a specific social, economic, and political context. These decisions reflected aspects of intellectual as well as social history of the Muslim community engaged in making everyday life conform to the religious values. Ethical decisions are an important part of interpersonal relations in Islamic law. Practical guidance affecting all facets of individual and collective human life, have been provided under the general rules of “Public good” and “No harm, no harassment.” However, no judicial decision that claims to further public good is regarded authoritative without supporting documentation from the foundational sources, like the Qur‘an and the Sunna (the exemplary tradition of the Prophet). Hence, Muslim jurists, in order to infer fresh rulings about matters that were not covered by the existing precedents in the Qur‘an and the Sunna, undertook to develop rational stratagems to enable them to solve problems faced by the community. This intellectual activity led to the systematic formulation of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, which has assumed unprecedented importance in connection with the distinct field of medical ethics in the Islamic world that shares the modern medical technology with the West. The book argues that there are distinct Islamic principles that can serve as sources for Muslim biomedical ethics that can engage in dialogue with both secular and other religiously oriented bioethics in the context of universal medical practice and research.
Abdulaziz Sachedina
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195378504
- eISBN:
- 9780199869688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378504.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The epilogue undertakes to assess the intellectual exchange between religious communities and medical researchers in the Muslim world for the development of biomedical ethics. The problem-solving ...
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The epilogue undertakes to assess the intellectual exchange between religious communities and medical researchers in the Muslim world for the development of biomedical ethics. The problem-solving method adopted by the prestigious Islamic Juridical Council of the World Muslim League in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is founded upon searching for normative responsa based on revealed sources only. The Council, represented by Sunni and Shi‘ite jurists, has deemphasized human dimension of medical enterprise by ignoring to evaluate human moral action and its ramifications for Islamic biomedical ethics. The classical juridical heritage, as demonstrated in this study, instead of functioning as a template for further moral reflection about critical human conditions and vulnerability in the context of modern healthcare institutions, has simply been retrieved to advance or obstruct legitimate advancements in biomedicine. Normative essentialism attached to evolving interhuman relationships has reduced Islamic jurisprudence to the search in the revealed texts rather than in theological ethics to estimate human nature and its ability to take the responsibility of actions performed cognitively and volitionally under variable circumstances. Religious and moral empowerment of average human person appears to be out of question for the Islamic religious establishment across Muslim world. It is this lack of empowerment of an individual capable of discerning right from wrong that makes Islamic juridical rulings in biomedicine inconsonant with international standards of human dignity and autonomous moral agency.Less
The epilogue undertakes to assess the intellectual exchange between religious communities and medical researchers in the Muslim world for the development of biomedical ethics. The problem-solving method adopted by the prestigious Islamic Juridical Council of the World Muslim League in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is founded upon searching for normative responsa based on revealed sources only. The Council, represented by Sunni and Shi‘ite jurists, has deemphasized human dimension of medical enterprise by ignoring to evaluate human moral action and its ramifications for Islamic biomedical ethics. The classical juridical heritage, as demonstrated in this study, instead of functioning as a template for further moral reflection about critical human conditions and vulnerability in the context of modern healthcare institutions, has simply been retrieved to advance or obstruct legitimate advancements in biomedicine. Normative essentialism attached to evolving interhuman relationships has reduced Islamic jurisprudence to the search in the revealed texts rather than in theological ethics to estimate human nature and its ability to take the responsibility of actions performed cognitively and volitionally under variable circumstances. Religious and moral empowerment of average human person appears to be out of question for the Islamic religious establishment across Muslim world. It is this lack of empowerment of an individual capable of discerning right from wrong that makes Islamic juridical rulings in biomedicine inconsonant with international standards of human dignity and autonomous moral agency.
Tariq Ramadan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331714
- eISBN:
- 9780191720987
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331714.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book tackles head-on the rulings of Islamic jurists that make Islam seem incompatible with modern, scientifically, and technologically advanced, democratic societies. The book argues that it is ...
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This book tackles head-on the rulings of Islamic jurists that make Islam seem incompatible with modern, scientifically, and technologically advanced, democratic societies. The book argues that it is crucial to find theoretical and practical solutions that will enable Western Muslims to remain faithful to Islamic ethics while fully living within their societies and their time. It notes that Muslim scholars often refer to the notion of ijtihâd (critical and renewed reading of the foundational texts) as the only way for Muslims to take up these modern challenges. But, the book argues, in practice such readings have effectively reached the limits of their ability to serve the faithful in the West as well as the East. This book sets forward a radical new concept of ijtihâd, which puts context—including the knowledge derived from the hard and human sciences, cultures, and their geographic and historical contingencies—on an equal footing with the scriptures as a source of Islamic law. This global and comprehensive approach, it says, seems to be the only way to go beyond the current limits and face up to the crisis in contemporary Islamic thought: Muslims need a contemporary global and applied ethics. After setting out this proposal, the book applies a new methodology to several practical case studies involving controversial issues in five areas: medical ethics, education, economics, marriage and divorce, culture, and creativity.Less
This book tackles head-on the rulings of Islamic jurists that make Islam seem incompatible with modern, scientifically, and technologically advanced, democratic societies. The book argues that it is crucial to find theoretical and practical solutions that will enable Western Muslims to remain faithful to Islamic ethics while fully living within their societies and their time. It notes that Muslim scholars often refer to the notion of ijtihâd (critical and renewed reading of the foundational texts) as the only way for Muslims to take up these modern challenges. But, the book argues, in practice such readings have effectively reached the limits of their ability to serve the faithful in the West as well as the East. This book sets forward a radical new concept of ijtihâd, which puts context—including the knowledge derived from the hard and human sciences, cultures, and their geographic and historical contingencies—on an equal footing with the scriptures as a source of Islamic law. This global and comprehensive approach, it says, seems to be the only way to go beyond the current limits and face up to the crisis in contemporary Islamic thought: Muslims need a contemporary global and applied ethics. After setting out this proposal, the book applies a new methodology to several practical case studies involving controversial issues in five areas: medical ethics, education, economics, marriage and divorce, culture, and creativity.
Michael W. Dols and Diana E. Immisch
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202219
- eISBN:
- 9780191675218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202219.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In dealing with the concept of insanity in medieval Islamic society several subtopics also emerge such as, what constitutes sanity? A major objective of this study has been to place the subject in ...
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In dealing with the concept of insanity in medieval Islamic society several subtopics also emerge such as, what constitutes sanity? A major objective of this study has been to place the subject in its historical context and not to present insanity as a disembodied medical, religious, or legal notion. Because of the limitations of the medieval evidence, this goal has not always been fully achieved, but, in general, insanity has been presented as a significant aspect of Islamic social history. Insanity as a medical concept was closely related to the development of Islamic sciences and institutions; religious healing was intimately associated with the growth of Muslim saints; and the madman as holy fool was a vivid expression of the evolution of Muslim religiosity.Less
In dealing with the concept of insanity in medieval Islamic society several subtopics also emerge such as, what constitutes sanity? A major objective of this study has been to place the subject in its historical context and not to present insanity as a disembodied medical, religious, or legal notion. Because of the limitations of the medieval evidence, this goal has not always been fully achieved, but, in general, insanity has been presented as a significant aspect of Islamic social history. Insanity as a medical concept was closely related to the development of Islamic sciences and institutions; religious healing was intimately associated with the growth of Muslim saints; and the madman as holy fool was a vivid expression of the evolution of Muslim religiosity.
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144260
- eISBN:
- 9780199833931
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144260.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Islamism is often associated with oppositional social movements. However, increasingly, Muslim states too have served as agents of Islamism. They have adopted Islamization strategies, and realigned ...
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Islamism is often associated with oppositional social movements. However, increasingly, Muslim states too have served as agents of Islamism. They have adopted Islamization strategies, and realigned state ideology and policy‐making to reflect Islamist ideals and to fulfill demands of Islamic ideology. They have done so not only as a reaction to Islamist challenges from below but also to harness the energies of Islamism to expand state power and capacity. By co‐opting Islamism, they have strengthened the postcolonial state. Pakistan during the Zia ul‐Haq period, and Malaysia under Mahathir Mohammad have been at the forefront of this trend, devising Islamization from above strategies that allowed these weak states to effectively alleviate limitations before exercise of state power and to pursue goals such as economic growth. The Islamization of the postcolonial state underscores the importance of religion and culture to state power and capacity.Less
Islamism is often associated with oppositional social movements. However, increasingly, Muslim states too have served as agents of Islamism. They have adopted Islamization strategies, and realigned state ideology and policy‐making to reflect Islamist ideals and to fulfill demands of Islamic ideology. They have done so not only as a reaction to Islamist challenges from below but also to harness the energies of Islamism to expand state power and capacity. By co‐opting Islamism, they have strengthened the postcolonial state. Pakistan during the Zia ul‐Haq period, and Malaysia under Mahathir Mohammad have been at the forefront of this trend, devising Islamization from above strategies that allowed these weak states to effectively alleviate limitations before exercise of state power and to pursue goals such as economic growth. The Islamization of the postcolonial state underscores the importance of religion and culture to state power and capacity.
Charles Kurzman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199766871
- eISBN:
- 9780199897414
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199766871.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Why are there so few Muslim terrorists? With more than a billion Muslims in the world—many of whom supposedly hate the West and ardently desire martyrdom—why don't we see terrorist attacks every day? ...
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Why are there so few Muslim terrorists? With more than a billion Muslims in the world—many of whom supposedly hate the West and ardently desire martyrdom—why don't we see terrorist attacks every day? Where are the missing martyrs? This counterintuitive book demonstrates that terrorist groups are thoroughly marginal in the Muslim world. Drawing on government sources, public opinion surveys, election results, and in-depth interviews with Muslims in the Middle East and around the world, the book finds that young Muslims are indeed angry with what they see as imperialism—and especially at Western support for local dictatorships. But revolutionary Islamists such as al-Qaida and the Taliban have failed to reach them, as can be seen from the terrorists' own websites and publications, which constantly bemoan the dearth of willing recruits. It takes only a small cadre of committed killers to wreak unspeakable havoc. But as easy as terrorism is to commit, few Muslims turn to violence. With each bombing, the terrorists lose support among Muslims. The threat of Islamist terrorism is real, but its dimensions are, so far, tightly confined.Less
Why are there so few Muslim terrorists? With more than a billion Muslims in the world—many of whom supposedly hate the West and ardently desire martyrdom—why don't we see terrorist attacks every day? Where are the missing martyrs? This counterintuitive book demonstrates that terrorist groups are thoroughly marginal in the Muslim world. Drawing on government sources, public opinion surveys, election results, and in-depth interviews with Muslims in the Middle East and around the world, the book finds that young Muslims are indeed angry with what they see as imperialism—and especially at Western support for local dictatorships. But revolutionary Islamists such as al-Qaida and the Taliban have failed to reach them, as can be seen from the terrorists' own websites and publications, which constantly bemoan the dearth of willing recruits. It takes only a small cadre of committed killers to wreak unspeakable havoc. But as easy as terrorism is to commit, few Muslims turn to violence. With each bombing, the terrorists lose support among Muslims. The threat of Islamist terrorism is real, but its dimensions are, so far, tightly confined.
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144260
- eISBN:
- 9780199833931
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144260.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
In the 1980s, Malaysia adopted the policy of state‐led Islamization. The ruling UMNO party co‐opted ABIM, fashioned itself as an Islamically oriented party, and adopted many Islamist ideas. The state ...
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In the 1980s, Malaysia adopted the policy of state‐led Islamization. The ruling UMNO party co‐opted ABIM, fashioned itself as an Islamically oriented party, and adopted many Islamist ideas. The state created Islamic institutions, and supported Islamic cultural, political, and economic activities. It used Islamization to expand its power and to penetrate the Malay society. The state also embarked on rapid economic growth to address racial tensions. It used its control of Islam to manage Islamic politics and define Islamic values with a view of economic growth and accommodating globalization.Less
In the 1980s, Malaysia adopted the policy of state‐led Islamization. The ruling UMNO party co‐opted ABIM, fashioned itself as an Islamically oriented party, and adopted many Islamist ideas. The state created Islamic institutions, and supported Islamic cultural, political, and economic activities. It used Islamization to expand its power and to penetrate the Malay society. The state also embarked on rapid economic growth to address racial tensions. It used its control of Islam to manage Islamic politics and define Islamic values with a view of economic growth and accommodating globalization.
Parvin Paidar
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199256457
- eISBN:
- 9780191601989
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256454.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter explores the interface between the women’s rights movement and the reform movement in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It begins with an overview of the nature of democratic rights and ...
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This chapter explores the interface between the women’s rights movement and the reform movement in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It begins with an overview of the nature of democratic rights and institutions in Iran, the ways women have played their citizenship role, and the recent social and political trends that have strengthened democratisation and women’s rights movements. It then analyses the gender emancipatory potential and limitations of the most influential current Islamist reformist strands, and the feminist contribution to Islamic reformism. Finally, recent debates within the feminist movements are described, presenting the two categories of secularist and Islamist feminisms and the emergence of pragmatic feminism.Less
This chapter explores the interface between the women’s rights movement and the reform movement in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It begins with an overview of the nature of democratic rights and institutions in Iran, the ways women have played their citizenship role, and the recent social and political trends that have strengthened democratisation and women’s rights movements. It then analyses the gender emancipatory potential and limitations of the most influential current Islamist reformist strands, and the feminist contribution to Islamic reformism. Finally, recent debates within the feminist movements are described, presenting the two categories of secularist and Islamist feminisms and the emergence of pragmatic feminism.
Sanjeer Alam
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198076940
- eISBN:
- 9780199080946
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198076940.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
The debate over educational disparities across religious communities in India, especially those concerning the Muslims, is as old as the history of the modern education system in the country. This ...
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The debate over educational disparities across religious communities in India, especially those concerning the Muslims, is as old as the history of the modern education system in the country. This debate has yielded several explanations for educational backwardness among the Muslims which evoke a supposedly low value placed on modern education by Islamic theology, the status of Indian Muslims as a minority, and invidious discrimination against the Muslims in India. Largely cast in a polemical and impressionistic mode, this debate has long awaited empirical underpinnings. The recent upsurge in empirical studies on the topic requires an explanatory frame that admits of precision and complexity. Despite the renewed interest in this subject following the Sachar Committee Report, considerable knowledge gaps continue to exist in our understanding of the dynamics between religion and access to education. The present work brings to fore the spatially contextualized historical trajectories that have shaped educational development and various forms of disparities therein. It argues that religious communities, such as the Muslims, have to be seen as spatially and economically differentiated across regions rather than as homogeneous socio-cultural aggregates. This argument draws upon disaggregation of national-level secondary data and is supplemented by a primary fieldwork-based comparison of the educational status of Muslims in Patna and Purnia districts of Bihar. The relative educational backwardness of the Muslim community is thus seen to have underlying spatial and class patterns that are often overlooked.Less
The debate over educational disparities across religious communities in India, especially those concerning the Muslims, is as old as the history of the modern education system in the country. This debate has yielded several explanations for educational backwardness among the Muslims which evoke a supposedly low value placed on modern education by Islamic theology, the status of Indian Muslims as a minority, and invidious discrimination against the Muslims in India. Largely cast in a polemical and impressionistic mode, this debate has long awaited empirical underpinnings. The recent upsurge in empirical studies on the topic requires an explanatory frame that admits of precision and complexity. Despite the renewed interest in this subject following the Sachar Committee Report, considerable knowledge gaps continue to exist in our understanding of the dynamics between religion and access to education. The present work brings to fore the spatially contextualized historical trajectories that have shaped educational development and various forms of disparities therein. It argues that religious communities, such as the Muslims, have to be seen as spatially and economically differentiated across regions rather than as homogeneous socio-cultural aggregates. This argument draws upon disaggregation of national-level secondary data and is supplemented by a primary fieldwork-based comparison of the educational status of Muslims in Patna and Purnia districts of Bihar. The relative educational backwardness of the Muslim community is thus seen to have underlying spatial and class patterns that are often overlooked.
KATE ZEBIRI
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263302
- eISBN:
- 9780191682469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263302.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the contribution of Shaykh Maḥmūd Shaltūt to Islamic modernism. It suggests that the importance of Shaltūt's work lies not only in ...
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This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the contribution of Shaykh Maḥmūd Shaltūt to Islamic modernism. It suggests that the importance of Shaltūt's work lies not only in his contribution as an Islamic scholar, but in the example he set as a Muslim religious leader. As a religious leader he was a force for moderation, tolerance, and Muslim unity and he always sought to raise the religious consciousness of ordinary Muslims. As a scholar he demystified the Islamic disciplines of fiqh and tafsīr to make them accessible to lay Muslims.Less
This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the contribution of Shaykh Maḥmūd Shaltūt to Islamic modernism. It suggests that the importance of Shaltūt's work lies not only in his contribution as an Islamic scholar, but in the example he set as a Muslim religious leader. As a religious leader he was a force for moderation, tolerance, and Muslim unity and he always sought to raise the religious consciousness of ordinary Muslims. As a scholar he demystified the Islamic disciplines of fiqh and tafsīr to make them accessible to lay Muslims.
Tariq Ramadan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331714
- eISBN:
- 9780191720987
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331714.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter explores the evolution of the sciences to understand better what this is going to entail as far as dealing with texts and establishing an Islamic ethics is concerned. It argues that we ...
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This chapter explores the evolution of the sciences to understand better what this is going to entail as far as dealing with texts and establishing an Islamic ethics is concerned. It argues that we have reached limits that prevent contemporary Islamic thought from moving forward and thus in facing the challenges of our time as it should. It proposes new geography of the sources of law that entails shifting the center of gravity of religious and legal authority in contemporary Muslim societies and communities.Less
This chapter explores the evolution of the sciences to understand better what this is going to entail as far as dealing with texts and establishing an Islamic ethics is concerned. It argues that we have reached limits that prevent contemporary Islamic thought from moving forward and thus in facing the challenges of our time as it should. It proposes new geography of the sources of law that entails shifting the center of gravity of religious and legal authority in contemporary Muslim societies and communities.
Tariq Ramadan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331714
- eISBN:
- 9780191720987
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331714.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter shows how the new geography of the sources of law, and its consequences for spheres of authority, can take concrete shape in Muslim societies and communities, and particularly in the ...
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This chapter shows how the new geography of the sources of law, and its consequences for spheres of authority, can take concrete shape in Muslim societies and communities, and particularly in the circles specializing in fiqh and ethics. This reform is deeply “radical” since it entails reconsidering the sources of the fundamentals of law and jurisprudence, rebalancing them, and necessarily shifting the center of gravity of authority in Islam. However, it springs from a no less fundamental desire to be faithful, and it would be wrong and contradictory to consider it as nothing but a way of projecting an a posteriori ethical apparatus on the scientific Universe with the declared or tacit intention of taking hold of it. The chapter also responds to criticisms for the book's author7s so-called desire to “Islamize modernity” rather than “modernizing Islam”.Less
This chapter shows how the new geography of the sources of law, and its consequences for spheres of authority, can take concrete shape in Muslim societies and communities, and particularly in the circles specializing in fiqh and ethics. This reform is deeply “radical” since it entails reconsidering the sources of the fundamentals of law and jurisprudence, rebalancing them, and necessarily shifting the center of gravity of authority in Islam. However, it springs from a no less fundamental desire to be faithful, and it would be wrong and contradictory to consider it as nothing but a way of projecting an a posteriori ethical apparatus on the scientific Universe with the declared or tacit intention of taking hold of it. The chapter also responds to criticisms for the book's author7s so-called desire to “Islamize modernity” rather than “modernizing Islam”.
