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.
Nathan Spannaus
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190251789
- eISBN:
- 9780190251802
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190251789.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam, Religion and Society
Qursawi’s reformism is conventionally described as rejecting Islamic tradition and ulama authority in favor of secular “enlightenment,” a view that is irretrievably flawed. Addressing this ...
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Qursawi’s reformism is conventionally described as rejecting Islamic tradition and ulama authority in favor of secular “enlightenment,” a view that is irretrievably flawed. Addressing this historiography, which connects Qursawi to Jadidism, this chapter argues that it is based on unfounded and anachronistic premises that skew his historical memory and obscure his contributions. Instead, Qursawi must be viewed from within Islamic tradition, and accordingly his thought is approached from the perspective of Islamic intellectual history. This chapter connects research into Qursawi with the literature on contemporary reformism in the 18th-century Islamic world, and it establishes the present study’s theoretical perspective on the Islamic scholarly tradition, viewing it as a discursive tradition operating through institutions, which are shaped by historical circumstances and therefore shape Islamic discourse in turn.Less
Qursawi’s reformism is conventionally described as rejecting Islamic tradition and ulama authority in favor of secular “enlightenment,” a view that is irretrievably flawed. Addressing this historiography, which connects Qursawi to Jadidism, this chapter argues that it is based on unfounded and anachronistic premises that skew his historical memory and obscure his contributions. Instead, Qursawi must be viewed from within Islamic tradition, and accordingly his thought is approached from the perspective of Islamic intellectual history. This chapter connects research into Qursawi with the literature on contemporary reformism in the 18th-century Islamic world, and it establishes the present study’s theoretical perspective on the Islamic scholarly tradition, viewing it as a discursive tradition operating through institutions, which are shaped by historical circumstances and therefore shape Islamic discourse in turn.
Carool Kersten
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780748681839
- eISBN:
- 9781474434973
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748681839.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Increasing frequency and higher intensity of trans-regional contacts across the Indian Ocean in the course of the 19th century also helped turning Islam into a tool of resistance. The account will ...
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Increasing frequency and higher intensity of trans-regional contacts across the Indian Ocean in the course of the 19th century also helped turning Islam into a tool of resistance. The account will begin with the challenge of local power structures in South Sumatra by returning Hajjis inspired by the Wahhabi capture of Mecca and Medina in the early 1800s, resulting in the Padri Wars. This foreshadowed a changing of the guards of the leadership of anti-colonial activities after the Java War of the 1830s, when aristocrats were replaced by religious figures as resistance leaders. Coincidental with the high imperialism of the industrial age, technological advances making traffic between Indonesia and the holy places easier, thus accelerating the arrival of ideas associated with Islamic reformism and modernism. The political translation of these ideas into Panislamist ideologies and the hybrid religious nationalism of ‘Islamic nationhood’ were met with fierce repression on the part of the Dutch Indies colonial authorities. The chapter ends by pointing out that in the same period we also find the roots of the separatism in Aceh which would continue into the independence era.Less
Increasing frequency and higher intensity of trans-regional contacts across the Indian Ocean in the course of the 19th century also helped turning Islam into a tool of resistance. The account will begin with the challenge of local power structures in South Sumatra by returning Hajjis inspired by the Wahhabi capture of Mecca and Medina in the early 1800s, resulting in the Padri Wars. This foreshadowed a changing of the guards of the leadership of anti-colonial activities after the Java War of the 1830s, when aristocrats were replaced by religious figures as resistance leaders. Coincidental with the high imperialism of the industrial age, technological advances making traffic between Indonesia and the holy places easier, thus accelerating the arrival of ideas associated with Islamic reformism and modernism. The political translation of these ideas into Panislamist ideologies and the hybrid religious nationalism of ‘Islamic nationhood’ were met with fierce repression on the part of the Dutch Indies colonial authorities. The chapter ends by pointing out that in the same period we also find the roots of the separatism in Aceh which would continue into the independence era.
Nathan Spannaus
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190251789
- eISBN:
- 9780190251802
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190251789.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam, Religion and Society
Abu Nasr Qursawi (1776–1812) was a major figure in the history of the Muslim communities of the Russian Empire. An important religious scholar, he wrote works calling for the reform of the Islamic ...
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Abu Nasr Qursawi (1776–1812) was a major figure in the history of the Muslim communities of the Russian Empire. An important religious scholar, he wrote works calling for the reform of the Islamic scholarly tradition that shaped the religious discourse of these communities into the 20th century. Qursawi focused on the construction of Islamic scholarship in the postclassical period (14th–19th centuries), criticizing scholars’ overreliance on taqlid, which had led them to hold incorrect theological views and prevented them from engaging with scripture in legal interpretation (through ijtihad). He argued that all scholarly positions must be verified (tahqiq) to ensure their correctness, and ijtihad was an obligation upon all Muslims to determine their own actions. Though critical, his reformism was grounded within the existing scholarly tradition, and its content was not subject to European influence. Nevertheless, it can be seen as a response to the incorporation of Islamic institutions into the bureaucracy of the Russian imperial state in the late 18th century, which remade the exercise of Islamic law and religious authority in the empire. This book analyzes his reformism in reference to its antecedents and sources and in light of these historical shifts. It also addresses the issue of modernity, arguing that although his reformism is grounded in the postclassical tradition, it is also an early example of Islamic modernism. It is, however, distinct from Jadidism, the 20th-century reform movement, despite frequent claims to contrary, as Jadidism instead grew out of transformations in the Volga-Ural religious environment postdating Qursawi.Less
Abu Nasr Qursawi (1776–1812) was a major figure in the history of the Muslim communities of the Russian Empire. An important religious scholar, he wrote works calling for the reform of the Islamic scholarly tradition that shaped the religious discourse of these communities into the 20th century. Qursawi focused on the construction of Islamic scholarship in the postclassical period (14th–19th centuries), criticizing scholars’ overreliance on taqlid, which had led them to hold incorrect theological views and prevented them from engaging with scripture in legal interpretation (through ijtihad). He argued that all scholarly positions must be verified (tahqiq) to ensure their correctness, and ijtihad was an obligation upon all Muslims to determine their own actions. Though critical, his reformism was grounded within the existing scholarly tradition, and its content was not subject to European influence. Nevertheless, it can be seen as a response to the incorporation of Islamic institutions into the bureaucracy of the Russian imperial state in the late 18th century, which remade the exercise of Islamic law and religious authority in the empire. This book analyzes his reformism in reference to its antecedents and sources and in light of these historical shifts. It also addresses the issue of modernity, arguing that although his reformism is grounded in the postclassical tradition, it is also an early example of Islamic modernism. It is, however, distinct from Jadidism, the 20th-century reform movement, despite frequent claims to contrary, as Jadidism instead grew out of transformations in the Volga-Ural religious environment postdating Qursawi.
Masumi Matsumoto
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474402279
- eISBN:
- 9781474422468
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474402279.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter describes the rise of modern Islamic schooling in China and the disappearance of the traditional curriculum, partially based on Persian textbooks on the unity of being (wahdat al-wujūd). ...
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This chapter describes the rise of modern Islamic schooling in China and the disappearance of the traditional curriculum, partially based on Persian textbooks on the unity of being (wahdat al-wujūd). In the 1920s and 1930s, Islamic reformism became popular among city dwellers in the Chinese coastal regions. They wanted to foster bilingual (Chinese and Arabic) religious and educational leaders who accepted modern schooling, to require Chinese literacy of Muslim students and to promote nation building against foreign pressures. They judged that the traditional learning in both Arabic and Persian was both too time-consuming and ineffective in legitimizing Sino-Muslims’ presence in Chinese society. In Japan’s occupied area during the Anti-Japanese War, however, Persian learning was preserved by some non-political members of Sino-Muslim society. Persian learning is now rapidly disappearing in China, especially since the political turmoil of the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution.Less
This chapter describes the rise of modern Islamic schooling in China and the disappearance of the traditional curriculum, partially based on Persian textbooks on the unity of being (wahdat al-wujūd). In the 1920s and 1930s, Islamic reformism became popular among city dwellers in the Chinese coastal regions. They wanted to foster bilingual (Chinese and Arabic) religious and educational leaders who accepted modern schooling, to require Chinese literacy of Muslim students and to promote nation building against foreign pressures. They judged that the traditional learning in both Arabic and Persian was both too time-consuming and ineffective in legitimizing Sino-Muslims’ presence in Chinese society. In Japan’s occupied area during the Anti-Japanese War, however, Persian learning was preserved by some non-political members of Sino-Muslim society. Persian learning is now rapidly disappearing in China, especially since the political turmoil of the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution.
Jonathan Benthall
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781784993085
- eISBN:
- 9781526124005
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784993085.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
This book is the fruit of twenty years’ reflection on Islamic charities, both in practical terms and as a key to understand the crisis in contemporary Islam. On the one hand Islam is undervalued as a ...
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This book is the fruit of twenty years’ reflection on Islamic charities, both in practical terms and as a key to understand the crisis in contemporary Islam. On the one hand Islam is undervalued as a global moral and political force whose admirable qualities are exemplified in its strong tradition of charitable giving. On the other hand, it suffers from a crisis of authority that cannot be blamed entirely on the history of colonialism and stigmatization to which Muslims have undoubtedly been subjected – most recently, as a result of the “war on terror”.
The book consists of seventeen previously published chapters, with a general Introduction and new prefatory material for each chapter. The first nine chapters review the current situation of Islamic charities from many different viewpoints – theological, historical, diplomatic, legal, sociological and ethnographic – with first-hand data from the United States, Britain, Israel–Palestine, Mali and Indonesia. Chapters 10 to 17 expand the coverage to explore the potential for a twenty-first century “Islamic humanism” that would be devised by Muslims in the light of the human sciences and institutionalized throughout the Muslim world. This means addressing contentious topics such as religious toleration and the meaning of jihad.
The intended readership includes academics and students at all levels, professionals concerned with aid and development, and all who have an interest in the future of Islam.Less
This book is the fruit of twenty years’ reflection on Islamic charities, both in practical terms and as a key to understand the crisis in contemporary Islam. On the one hand Islam is undervalued as a global moral and political force whose admirable qualities are exemplified in its strong tradition of charitable giving. On the other hand, it suffers from a crisis of authority that cannot be blamed entirely on the history of colonialism and stigmatization to which Muslims have undoubtedly been subjected – most recently, as a result of the “war on terror”.
The book consists of seventeen previously published chapters, with a general Introduction and new prefatory material for each chapter. The first nine chapters review the current situation of Islamic charities from many different viewpoints – theological, historical, diplomatic, legal, sociological and ethnographic – with first-hand data from the United States, Britain, Israel–Palestine, Mali and Indonesia. Chapters 10 to 17 expand the coverage to explore the potential for a twenty-first century “Islamic humanism” that would be devised by Muslims in the light of the human sciences and institutionalized throughout the Muslim world. This means addressing contentious topics such as religious toleration and the meaning of jihad.
The intended readership includes academics and students at all levels, professionals concerned with aid and development, and all who have an interest in the future of Islam.
Nathan Spannaus
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190251789
- eISBN:
- 9780190251802
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190251789.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam, Religion and Society
The significant differences between the premises and goals of Jadidism and Qursawi’s reformism call into question the movement’s connection with him. This chapter explores the points of divergence ...
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The significant differences between the premises and goals of Jadidism and Qursawi’s reformism call into question the movement’s connection with him. This chapter explores the points of divergence between the two and, addressing the historiography that presents him as a Jadidist pioneer, shows that Qursawi has no place within the genealogy of Jadidism, and also that Shihab al-Din Marjani cannot serve as the necessary link between them. Instead, Qursawi’s thought must be understood within the contexts of postclassical Islamic thought and the religious environment in the Russian Empire in the early 19th century, separate from posthumous developments transforming that environment and leading to Jadidism as a distinct movement.Less
The significant differences between the premises and goals of Jadidism and Qursawi’s reformism call into question the movement’s connection with him. This chapter explores the points of divergence between the two and, addressing the historiography that presents him as a Jadidist pioneer, shows that Qursawi has no place within the genealogy of Jadidism, and also that Shihab al-Din Marjani cannot serve as the necessary link between them. Instead, Qursawi’s thought must be understood within the contexts of postclassical Islamic thought and the religious environment in the Russian Empire in the early 19th century, separate from posthumous developments transforming that environment and leading to Jadidism as a distinct movement.
Andreas Christmann
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748626052
- eISBN:
- 9780748653126
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748626052.003.0011
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter begins by analysing al-Taftāzānī's construct of ‘al-Tasawwuf al-Islāmī’. It focuses on his discursive strategies by which he tried to harmonise the mystical experiences of Sufism with ...
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This chapter begins by analysing al-Taftāzānī's construct of ‘al-Tasawwuf al-Islāmī’. It focuses on his discursive strategies by which he tried to harmonise the mystical experiences of Sufism with modern Salafic ideals of Islamic reformism. This analysis is followed by a study of his attempts to demonstrate the harmonious relationship between Sufism and theology. This is done within the context of his lifelong goal to create a ‘religious philosophy’ that provides Muslims with an Islamically authentic Weltanschauung. Emulating al-Ghazali's Ihya 'ulūm al-dīn, it brings together all of Islam's traditional sciences. The analysis of these two parts is limited to the examination of al Taftāzānī's composition. The chapter ends with considerations on the politics of al-Taftāzānī's ‘discourse of harmony’.Less
This chapter begins by analysing al-Taftāzānī's construct of ‘al-Tasawwuf al-Islāmī’. It focuses on his discursive strategies by which he tried to harmonise the mystical experiences of Sufism with modern Salafic ideals of Islamic reformism. This analysis is followed by a study of his attempts to demonstrate the harmonious relationship between Sufism and theology. This is done within the context of his lifelong goal to create a ‘religious philosophy’ that provides Muslims with an Islamically authentic Weltanschauung. Emulating al-Ghazali's Ihya 'ulūm al-dīn, it brings together all of Islam's traditional sciences. The analysis of these two parts is limited to the examination of al Taftāzānī's composition. The chapter ends with considerations on the politics of al-Taftāzānī's ‘discourse of harmony’.
Jonathan Benthall
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781784993085
- eISBN:
- 9781526124005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784993085.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
The Introduction summarizes the book’s content under the following headings. Since all the Chapters have been previously published elsewhere, it also adds some complementary material to bring the ...
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The Introduction summarizes the book’s content under the following headings. Since all the Chapters have been previously published elsewhere, it also adds some complementary material to bring the book up to date on some important topics:
Part One: Chapters 1 to 9: Islamic charities
Summary of the Chapters
Some recurrent themes
Faith Based Organizations and “cultural sensitivity”
Islamic Relief Worldwide
The West Bank zakat committees
Banking problems
Towards a more complete description
Pakistan
Turkey
Domestic Islamic charity in the United Kingdom
A zakat movement?
Towards a more comparative approach
Part Two: Chapters 10 to 17: Islamic humanismLess
The Introduction summarizes the book’s content under the following headings. Since all the Chapters have been previously published elsewhere, it also adds some complementary material to bring the book up to date on some important topics:
Part One: Chapters 1 to 9: Islamic charities
Summary of the Chapters
Some recurrent themes
Faith Based Organizations and “cultural sensitivity”
Islamic Relief Worldwide
The West Bank zakat committees
Banking problems
Towards a more complete description
Pakistan
Turkey
Domestic Islamic charity in the United Kingdom
A zakat movement?
Towards a more comparative approach
Part Two: Chapters 10 to 17: Islamic humanism
David Fieni
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780823286409
- eISBN:
- 9780823288748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823286409.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
The introduction presents an overview of the ways that theories and representations of decadence and decay have functioned in the relationship between France and the Arab world since the nineteenth ...
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The introduction presents an overview of the ways that theories and representations of decadence and decay have functioned in the relationship between France and the Arab world since the nineteenth century. Bringing the ideas of Walter Benjamin to bear on the Arab nahda, Islamic reformism, and Orientalist philology, it elaborates a theory of historical awakening as mutual defamiliarization. The introduction concludes by demonstrating how the anti-Semitic Orientalism of Ernest Renan fabricated the “Orient” as an object of knowledge that carried within it the mechanisms of its own undoing.Less
The introduction presents an overview of the ways that theories and representations of decadence and decay have functioned in the relationship between France and the Arab world since the nineteenth century. Bringing the ideas of Walter Benjamin to bear on the Arab nahda, Islamic reformism, and Orientalist philology, it elaborates a theory of historical awakening as mutual defamiliarization. The introduction concludes by demonstrating how the anti-Semitic Orientalism of Ernest Renan fabricated the “Orient” as an object of knowledge that carried within it the mechanisms of its own undoing.
Allison Drew
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780719090240
- eISBN:
- 9781781707029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090240.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
Reflecting Comintern pressure, in the early 1930s the urban-oriented Communist movement began organising peasants and agricultural workers in the Mitidja and other rural areas against expropriation ...
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Reflecting Comintern pressure, in the early 1930s the urban-oriented Communist movement began organising peasants and agricultural workers in the Mitidja and other rural areas against expropriation and used electoral campaigns to promote their ideas. The Mitidja case signalled the importance of alliances, both for peasants and for Communists, who were most successful when they engaged in with land, national and religious struggles that reinforced each other. But by the mid-1930s the overwhelmingly European Communist movement, predisposed to prioritise urban workers and with little desire to traverse the rough roads and mountainous terrain by bus or donkey, refocused on the towns. Nonetheless, the political triangle of city – countryside – mountain was in place.Less
Reflecting Comintern pressure, in the early 1930s the urban-oriented Communist movement began organising peasants and agricultural workers in the Mitidja and other rural areas against expropriation and used electoral campaigns to promote their ideas. The Mitidja case signalled the importance of alliances, both for peasants and for Communists, who were most successful when they engaged in with land, national and religious struggles that reinforced each other. But by the mid-1930s the overwhelmingly European Communist movement, predisposed to prioritise urban workers and with little desire to traverse the rough roads and mountainous terrain by bus or donkey, refocused on the towns. Nonetheless, the political triangle of city – countryside – mountain was in place.