bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DETERMINANTS TO HOMEOWNERSHIP AND/OR LEASING INTENTIONS: A REVIEW AND PROPOSED FRAMEWORK
Authors: Hew William Wee-Lim , Tan Cheng Ling , Yeo Sook Fern
Published: December 2020

The contribution the housing and construction sector makes to the national economy is closely tied to new project launches in the country. At present, nations are suffering from a global economic slowdown and a slumping property market. Governments and private developers have even initiated many affordable housing projects, but interestingly these units are not as popular as expected. Many housing projects across the world are initiated without a clear understanding of the needs and behavioural tendencies of homebuyers. The ability to understand homebuyers' behaviour is limited due to the lack of sufficient research using a concise and all-encompassing framework that is supported by a strong theoretical foundation. A thorough review and comparison of three fields of psychology found environmental psychology to be suitable and Mehrabian and Russell's (1974) theory to be relevant, and ought to be complemented with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A framework is proposed, positing that favourable evaluations of the environment (residential environment) and social factors (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control) will elicit favourable emotional states (pleasure, arousal, dominance/place attachment) which in turn lead to favourable behavioural response (homeownership intention). On the other hand, should the evaluations of the environment and social factors be unfavourable, this would lead to unfavourable emotions and subsequently unfavourable behavioural response (leasing intention).
DIGITAL MEDIA LITERACY IN JORDAN: CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Abu Halka Mohamad Ahmad Abdallah , Mohamed Shafizan
Published: December 2020

Digital media literacy refers to having the ability to use digital technologies to participate in and contribute to social, cultural, political, and economic life. It includes understanding the impact of recent technologies on society, understanding and having the ability to manage digital identities fittingly, and having the ability to find, organize, understand, evaluate, analyze and create digital information. While the level of digital media literacy in Jordan is still in its infancy, there is a positive move towards educating the Jordanian people about digital media. Recently the Jordanian government has developed a national executive plan for digital media literacy to develop community awareness and improve its capabilities in dealing with information and media sources during the Corona pandemic through the Ministry of Culture, Therefore, in this study, we will review the digital media literacy in Jordan and we will study the challenges and development of digital media literacy in Jordan.
Muhammad
Authors: Ba-Yunus Ilyas
Published: December 2020

During the almost one thousand years of European obsession withIslam, only a few authors have tried to rise above their contemporaries bypresenting a more balanced view of this religious ideology. Armstrong'smain aim is to encourage "this more tolerant, compassionate, and courageoustradition" (p. 15). From the very beginning, it is apparent that thisbook is written with an unsurpassed empathy and that it contains a degreeof dismay and resentment that the truth about the Prophet and Islam hasbeen compromised and hidden by ethnocentric European writers inspiredeither by the Christian church and its missionaries or modem secularism.The main strength of the book lies in the fact that the author is nota run-of-the-mill orientalist With experience as a free-lance writer, commentator,and television documentary producer, Armstrong does not avoidthe themes so dear to European critics of the Prophet, but deals with themdirectly. For instance, rather than rationalizing the Prophet's polygamy, ...
Universal Social Culture
Authors: Al Ghazali Muhammad
Published: December 2020

Shah Wali Allah's (1703-63) ideas and profound intellectual legacycontinue to atrract scholastic interest. Despite many works on his legacy,significant facets remain unknown. As his futuristic ideas hold great promisefor modem and future Islamic thought, his works should be analyzed.We will focus on one such idea: his synthesis of reason, revelation,and empiricism. Building on evidence from an inductive survey of socialphenomena to support the claims of revelation and staying within thedoctrinal framework of revealed guidance, he constructs a universal socialcultute paradigm and says that all Qur'anic injunctions and instructionsof the Prophet are compatible with the demands of human nature.His view of the individual and human society is an integral facet ofhis philosophy of life and is one of the most original parts of his legacy.He sees life as a display of the grand divine scheme in natural order andSocial organization. Although his exposition of humanity's social developmentseems to be in the nature of a humanist and sometimes assumes theform of an empirical survey, his final conclusions confirm the fundamentalpostulates of religion. Some modem exponents of his social doctrinessuggest that his ideas are not original and say that he might havetaken them from Ibn Sin$ or Ibn Khaldiin. However, a totalist view ofhis framework of thought shows that this is an unwamted assertion ...
Pluralism and Ethnic and Sectarian Diversity in the Arab World
Authors: Nafi Basheer
Published: December 2020

lbis seminar, sponsored jointly by the International Institute of IslamicThought and the Waqf Fund of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf, washeld at Herndon, Virginia. Twenty-five papers were presented during theseminar's eight sessions, which were attended by scores of Arab Muslimscholars and intellectuals from the United States and abroad, either as primaryauthors of research papers, commentators, or contributors to theserious and in-depth debate that followed each session.Issues of democratization and how to deal with ethnic and sectariandiversity in a context of modem society have become topical and centralto the political and intellectual debates in the Arab world. During the pastfew decades, social and political instability has nndermined profoundlythe prospects for progress and prosperity in the Arab world. Pertinent tothis instability was the failure to establish consensual policies and institutionsin the post-Ottoman era. Hence, questions relating to "traditional"and "modem," "pan-Islamic" and "nationalist," "absolute" and "relative,"and "us" and "others" were raised prominently and discussed during theseminar's five days.The opening session, chaired by Hisham Altalib (IIIT), consisted ofthree contributions. The first was that of Khalid al Zir (Kuwaiti Ministryof Awqaf), who foc.ussed on the value of research as a higher value andemphasized the role of waqf in Islamic life. Taha J. al 'Alwani (President,lllT), spoke on behalf of IIIT and elaborated on the significance of ...
Contemporary Social Theory
Authors: Abul-Fadl Mona M.
Published: December 2020

IntroductionContemporary social theory is conventionally addresed from withinthe dominant tradition of inquiry. Rarely is it subject to a criticalreflection from beyond its own ken. This is a pity, for the subject matterand scope of social theory go beyond the confines of any exclusivetradition, while its reach and influence in the global context of our timesmerely reinforce its extended compass. Given the fact that the ambitiousclaims made by social theorists about the univetsality of their project arehardly borne out by the reality, any pretensions at exclusivism orhegemony would be as anachronistic as they are morally reprehensible.The gap between the legitimate ambitions for a universally relevant socialtheory and the mdity of a field grounded in its historical coflstral.l lt sandcultural prejudices can be filled only by a critical and constructiveinitiative taken from within the profession to constitute a candid, open,and reflexive self-encounter. The opportuneness for such an initiative isenhanced by its urgency: the discrepancies that follow on the ineptitudeof our social knowledge can only raise doubts about the relevance of ourscience to our social condition.In deploring the tesulting ineptitude and irrelevance, it is possible todo so in the voice of a genemlized subject, the universal "I," for surelythis is one of the ateas of convergence where scholats from different traditionscould agree. The measure of this agreement can only be gaugedby remembering that "a science for the study of society" originally wentbeyond its grounding in scientific reason to its justification in a moralreasoning. And here, regardless of the grounding of that morality, we findanother significant area of convergence for scholars working in different ...
The Imperialist Epistemological Vision
Authors: Al Masseri Abdulwahab
Published: December 2020

There is a view that imperialism, as a historical practice, constitutesa deviation from western civilization and its conception of the universe,and that the adoption of the imperialist solution, which involves exportingproblems to the rest of the world and hegemony over other nations, isinconsistent with being a liberal, humane, and enlightened civilizatian thathas accepted democracy as philosophy of government, laissez-faire as itseconomic order, and rationalism and humanism as universal philosophy.It is our contention, however, that these varied philosophies do not standin contradiction to the imperialist epistemological vision. Rather, there isa close link between these philosophies and the imperialist vision, whichwill be fully undelstmd once we turn to the epistemological level. Inorder to be aware of such a link, it has to be recognized that all of thesephilosophies are secular in nature, in the sense that they do not admit ofany philosophical system outside the domain of the materialistic order.In our view, secularism is not a separation between religion and thestate, as propagated in both western and Arab writings. Rather, it is theremoval of absolute values-epistemological and ethical-from the worldsuch that the entire world-humanity and nature- alike-becomes merelya utilitarian object to be utilized and subjugated. From this standpoint, wecan see the structural similarity between the secular epistemologicalvision and the imperialist epistemological vision. We can also realize thatimperialism is no more than the exporting of a secular epistemologicaland ethical paradigm from the western world, where it first emerged, tothe rest of the world ...
Annual Meeting of The American Sociological Association
Authors: Hashem Mazen
Published: December 2020

Thi conference, which consisted of many sessions, was very wellattended. Since giving a review of each session is impractical, I will discussthose points that relate to academic trategies and intellectual trendsand that are relevant to Muslim academia.Organization: Social disciplines have become very diverse.Sociology, if not at the top, is no exception. Thus it seems that organizinga conference aroW1d a theme is rather limiting. This meeting, entitled "TheChallenge of Democratic Participation," consisted of nine categories: plenary,thematic, regular/section session, special session, didactic seminar,open topic refereed roundtables/informal discussion roundtables, bookpanel/poster sessions, and professional and teaching workshops. Plenarysessions discussed subjects of national or statewide policy concerns, suchas "Reconstructing the Political," or "Reflection of the 1992 Los AngelesRebellion: Views of Community Leaders." The thematk sessions analyzeddemocratic participation on many levels: labor's role in democratization,trade unions, religion and institutions, governance in highereducation, mass media strategies, and gender. The thirty-three special sessionsfocused on timely topics: pan-ethnicity in the United States; the relevanceof the Black church; the politics of educational texts, health care,and the family values debate; xenophobia in Europe; fundamentalism inthe Middle East; NAFTA; and federal support to social sciences ...
Assassination in Khartoum
Authors: Lowrie Arthur L.
Published: December 2020

This is a fascinating insider's account of one of the most tragic events in the history of the American Foreign Service. Cleo Noel and Curt Moore were among the Foreign Service's finest professionals- dedicated, hard­working men of impeccable integrity. Although from very different back­grounds, hard work had brought them close to the pinnacle of the service. 

Circumstances brought them together on 1 March 1973 at the residence of the Saudi Arabian an1bassador in Khartoum. The ambassador was hosting a diplomatic farewell p????rty for Moore, and newly-appointed Ambassador Noel was anending as a courtesy. As the party was ending around 7:00 p.m., eight heavily anned Palestinians of the Black September extremist organization burst in and seized all diplomats who failed to flee. Most were unhrumed, but Curt Moore. whom they had been told (incorrectly) was the chief CIA agent for the Middle East, Cleo Noel, and (inexplicably) the Belgian charge d'affaires, were singled out, beaten, and tied up. Ironically, as fair-minded and objective professionals, Noel and Moore were dedicat­ed to establishing the best possible relations between the United States and the Arab world and were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.What happened during the next thirty hours leading up to the brutal assassination is told in chilling detail by Korn, who was then a Foreign Service officer serving in Washington on the task force dealing with the hostage crisis. Mr. Korn also has had extensive experience in Aral>-hraeli affairs and is able to put the subsequent events, personalities involved, and government actions in the context of the early 1970s. For example. he leaves little doubt that Yasser Arafat and Fatah were involved, if not actu­ally directing. the Khartoum operation as part of their effort to refurbish their radical credentials in competition with George Habash 's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which had carried out most of the airplane hijackings of the early 1970s. In addition, he is able to explain. but with no attempt to justify, the less-than-courageous roles played by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudanese president Jafaar Nimeiry, and others ...
Islam in a More Conservative Western World
Authors: Mazrui Ali A.
Published: December 2020

My findings are tentative and subject to further research. This presentationrests on three paradoxes of great relevance to Muslims in the West.The first paradox is that, from the point of views of Muslims in the West,western secularism might be good news and western materialism might bebad news. In other words, western secularism is perhaps a blessing in disguisefor Muslims, whereas western materialism is a curse. The secondparadox is that recent Republican, rather than Democratic, foreign policyhas been more friendly to Muslims, wherea Democratic, rather thenRepublican, domestic policies are probably more friendly to Muslims. Thethird paradox concerns the two Islams in the United States: indigenou andimmigrant. In the United States, western secularism has protected minorityreligious groups by insisting on the separation of church and state. Thisis as major reason why American Jews have been among the greatestdefenders of the separation of church and state, for any breach could leadto the imposition of some practices of the religious majority, such as forcingJewish children to participate in Christian prayers at school.The secular state permits religious minorities to practice their religionsin relative peace. Of course, like all doctrines, secularism has its fanaticwho sometimes want to degrade, rather than protect, the sacred. But at itsbest, a secular state is a refuge of safety for minority religions. It is in thissense that western secularism is a friend of Muslims living in the West.But while secularism represents a divorce from formal religion, materialismis a dilution of spirituality. One can be without a formal religion andstill be deeply spiritual in a humanistic sense. John Stuart Mill and BertrandRussell, for example, had no formal religion, yet each had deeply spiritualvalues. Albert Schweitzer, the Nobel Laureate for Peace and an eventualagnostic, remained deeply committed to the principle of reverence for life,even to the extent of protecting the lives of insects in Africa ...
Toward Islamic Political Economy at the Turn of the Century
Authors: Choudhury Masudul Alam
Published: December 2020

Background and Some Explanatory TermsWith the distancing of Muslim societies from the pristine tawhidi(unity of God) origins of the Qur’an ingrained in the Madinah Charter(metareligious constitution of the earliest organized Islamic state)’ as theexperience of the Prophet Muhammad during his flight to the realm ofknowledge across the sidrat al rnuntaha (the tree/region of perfect knowledge,i.e., bliss), their constitutional strengths of life and thought decayedexponentially. This marked both the intolerance and the increasing severanceof the Muslim community from the roots of Qur’anic epistemology.Neither rationalism, scholasticism, nor controlled clerical dominance(fatwas) can be the methodology to replace the otherwise unifying epistemologyof tawhidi precept in all walks of life.Unification epistemology (also termed alternatively as tawhidi epistemologyand unity precept equivalent to Qur’anic epistemology) is theworldview that establishes life, thought, and their cognitive constituents inthe fold of a universally interactiveintegrative pervasion of inter- andintrasystemic relationships. In this fold, God-Man-Universe interrelationshipsare framed according to precise principles. These principles thenground the emergence of laws that remain integral with the unifying epistemology.The emergence and convergence of all processes in this frameworkare then seen to uphold cause-effect relationships with a uniquelyirreducible and logical presence of unity.The worldview of unification epistemology is premised in thismethodical deconstruction of all processes to the irreducible core thatfoundationally unifies all relationships and that is, in turn, reflected in theself-referential conclusions of all unified systems. What else can that irreducible,unified epistemological premise be but tawhid! While the ...
Exploring the Futures of the Ummah
Authors: Lnayatullah Sohail
Published: December 2020

This article is both a critique of ways of approaching the future and a presentation of scenarios of the Islamic world a generation ahead. The critique covers various global models, including The Club of Rome's classic Limits to Growth (L TG), 1 Mankind at the Turning Point (MTP), and World 2000, and other approaches to the understanding of the future. Drawing from poststructural theory, we ask: What is missing, who does the analysis privilege, and what epistemological frames or ways of knowing are accentuated, are made primary, by the models used? What can the Islamic world learn from these models? We attempt to go a step further than merely asking the Marxist class question of who benefits financially. For us, the issue is deeper. We are concerned with what knowledge frames and (more appropriately, from an Islamic per­spective) what civilizational frames are privileged, are considered more important. An appendix presents recommendations focused on making the Islamic urrunah more future oriented. However, global models are only one way of approaching or under­standing the future. There are other ways of approaching the study of the future from which can be derived specific assertions about issues, trends, and scenarios as to the likely and possible shape of the future. We also inquire into the utility of these models for better understanding the future of the Islamic ummah. We conclude with visions of the future of the ummah ...
Another Introduction to Islam
Authors: Senay Bulend
Published: December 2020

“ . . . a form of secular intellectual arrogance which, even while itcannot claim absolute certainty for a particular hypothesis, deemsits findings superior to the content of religious truth.” (p. 267)David Waines, Introduction to Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1995). x + 332 pp. (hardback).Following the recent events in the Muslim world, bookshops havebeen flooded by works on the subject of Islam. On examination, itbecomes clear that very few authors are willing, or indeed able, to writeabout the cultural phenomenon of the Islamic religion. Waines showswith his Introduction to Islam that he is one of those few. The approachtaken in the book raises important methodological issues for the study ofIslam and religion in general. Waines’s phenomenological approach raisesdoubt about the validity of a purely secular account of Islam whichattempts to be “value-free.” The author is on the right track in terms of asocial anthropological perspective in saying, “Religion is not a thing, buta happening, and it is people who make things happen.” This reminds thereader that Islam too has to be understood within its social and historicalmanifestations.In general, Waines portrays Islam in accordance with the phenomenologicalapproach, from the traditional Muslim standpoint, and leaves thereaders to judge Islam for themselves. In the introduction he states “Itseemed more appropriate to present the Qur’an and the ProphetMohammed as Muslims might recognize them, rather than as othershave described them.” It is in this approach that he generally breaks with ...
The Crown and the Turban
Authors: Salem Ahmed Ali
Published: December 2020

The Crown and the Turban is a new, valuable, and controversial contributionto two debates. First, it is a part of the debate on Africa's triple heritage: Africantradition, Islam, and Christianity. Second, it contributes to the debate on "secular"versus "religious" governance.For the first debate, the author argues that Muslims in West Africa are part oftwo encounters. First, they encounter the indigenous people and societies andparticularly their traditional religions and political institutions. Second, theyencounter Europeans who colonized and still indirectJy dominate West Africa.The reason for tension, the author claims, is what he calls "Islamic politicalism"and Muslim militancy on one hand and African tolerance and European secularismon the other.However, African Muslims are in an advantaged position compared toAfrican Christians. African Muslims are indigenous and Islam is considered anAfrican religion. Moreover, African Muslims demonstrate a political confidence based on an authentic tradition and long experience of Muslim rule in precolonialWest Africa (p. 1).Nevertheless, the author argues that Africa offers a fresh opportunity to theadherents of the two missionary faiths, i.e., Islam and Christianity, vis-his thepluralist challenge of indigenous societies. Muslim and Christian Africans arealready favored relatives in the African household but without the prodigal rightor presumption to dispossess it or each other (p. 181).For the second debate, the author argues that Africa offers the promise, andthe attendant hazards, of formulating and resolving the most crucial of debatesfor religious modernization: the debate on secular versus religious governance(p. 182). In the fmal analysis, the author approves and defends the secular governanceas opposed to the religious one ...
Islamic Studies in the ASEAN Region
Authors: Yusuf Imtiyaz
Published: December 2020

The College of Islamic Studies, Prince of Songkla University, organizedan international seminar on Islamic Studies in the ASEAN Region:History, Approaches, and Future Trends, between 25-28 June 1998 at thePattani campus of the Prince of Songkla University. The seminar wassponsored by the Toyota Foundation (Japan) and the Center for IMT-GTStudies, and the Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. The opening ceremonywas presided over by His Excellency Mr. Wan Muhammad NoorMatta (Speaker and President of the Thai Parliament). He was welcomedby Dr. Sunthorn Sotthibandhu (President, Prince of Songkla University).Dr. Hasan Madmarn (Director, College of Islamic Studies, Prince ofSongkla University) presented a briefing, and Mr. Shiro Honda representedJapan’s Toyota Foundation, the event’s major sponsor.In his speech, HE Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor Matta said that the traditionof Islamic studies has played, for several centuries, a significantrole in building a spirit of fraternity and the development of education,economy, society, and politics in Southeast Asia. Pattani, he noted, hadbeen an important center of this intellectual and social activity. Hence,this gathering of prominent contemporary scholars of Islamic studies recognizedthis legacy and contributed to the further development of Islamicstudies in the region. Commenting upon the traditional and modem formsof the Islamic tradition present in the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), he called upon scholars to address cooperatively theintellectual and social challenges facing the Southeast Asian Muslimcommunities for the larger benefit and progress of the ASEAN countriesand the Muslim worldThe total number of participants in the seminar was 1 17, consisting of45 delegates from outside Thailand and 72 delegates from academic institutionsin various Thai provinces. A total of 33 research papers were ...
Encyclopedia of Religions and Society
Authors: Gilliat-Ray Sophie
Published: December 2020

The Encyclopedia ofReligion and Society can be regarded as the fmt substantialreference work specifically concerned with the sociological study ofreligion. Simply by filling this gap in the existing literature, it is a book thatdeserves to be widely recognized for making this contribution to the field.Although Islam and consideration of Islam in relation to the social sciencesmakes only a very limited appearance in the volume, this new work needs tobe thoroughly assessed for its value in the social scientific study of Muslimcommunities and Islamic societies.One hundred and nine international experts in the sociology of religion havecontributed to the volume. Reflecting the development of the discipline, theencyclopedia has an interdisciplinary character, which makes it a usefulresource not only for sociologists, but also for scholars from anthropology,psychology, and religious studies. As a reference work in the sociology of religion,it would be hard to identify any gaps in terms of entries, especially as allthe standard terms and theories are comprehensively covered. Many conceptsmore closely associated with mainstream sociology (such as “deviance,” “attitude,”“research methods”) also carry an entry and their particular relationshipto the sociology of religion is often drawn out. An especially valuable featureof the work is that there are entries for people and organizations, thereby makingit possible to identify key personalities, publications, and professional societies,past and present. Through the encyclopedia it is possible to piece togetherthe academic and institutional development of the discipline. There is a criticalaspect to most of the longer entries, and this evaluative dimension makesthe book a valuable resource for students. ’Ihe varying length of entries, fromjust a few sentences to essay-length, appears to be carefully and appropriatelyjudged. Most entries carry either a short bibliography or references thus assistingresearchers to locate key texts. The helpful and extensive cross-referencingprovides a further pointer to related concepts and terms, whilst the avoidanceof complex technical jargon makes the book accessible to a wide readership,and those new to the field. The encyclopedia’s very comprehensive anddetailed index will help readers to locate all the occurrences of theories and ...
Islam in the United States of America
Authors: Sillah Mohammed Bassiru
Published: December 2020

Although Islam is the youngest of the three Abrahamic religions, it bas succeededin making breakthroughs in all comers of the globe. Today, it is thefastest growing religion in the world. and its presence has become a recognizedfact in rich industrialized nations like the United States. In the book underreview, Professor Sulayman Nyang examines the arrival and development ofIslam in America and asserts that it will stand permanently side-by-side withChristianity and Judaism and that these religions will co-exist peacefully.In the first chapter. the author tells the story of the African Muslim slaves inNorth America. The discovery of the New World by Columbus resulted in thetransplantation of millions of African slaves to work in the plantations of whitesettler farmers. A large number of slaves were captured in West Africa - aregion where Islam had already become firmly rooted. However, the nature of slavery itself (as it was practiced in America) and the separation of the childrenfrom their Muslim parents impeded the take-off process of Islam in America.These were also critical times for the African Muslim slaves, as they were notallowed to practice their religion freely. This lack of religious tolerance forcedmany of the slaves to convert to Christianity, which was the faith of their "masters."The author also mentions the wave of Muslim immigrants that occurredduring the frrst quarter of the twentieth century and involved people from theMiddle East, North Africa, southern and central Asia, and southern and centralEurope. Some of these immigrants returned home after the war, but manydecided to stay in the United States in order to pursue the American Dream.The next turning point for Islam was the Islamic Revolution, which broke outin Iran in 1979 and had a very strong impact in the United States due to thecountry's close alliance with the ousted Shah ...
The Expanding Spiritual-Moral Role of World Religions in the New Millenium
Authors: Hassan M. Kamal
Published: December 2020

The problems and challenges of the twenty-fmt century will force worldreligions to play a more meaningful role in society and civilization. Bysubjecting human reason to transcendental truths and spiritual guidance,religion serves a~ a powerful molder of wholesome, balanced and coherentpersonality, culture and civilization. Legislation alone is inadequate tocombat the serious moral corruption in institutions and systems. The statewill also have to make room for the expansion of religlon-based ethics andspiritual values into business, international trade, media, judiciary andpolitics. The continued separation of spiritual values from worldly affairsis not only untenable from a holistic perspective of man but wouldultimately be dhtrous to human civilization. A pervasive ethicalconsciousness, engendered by a tawhidic worldview, is greatly needed apanacea to the crisis of contemporary society.
Between Memory and Desire
Authors: Yazicioglu Umeyye
Published: December 2020

Between Memory and Desire is a joy to read, since it does justice to manymisunderstood subjects about Islam and the Middle East. Humphreys'genuine effort to be objective saves him from dismissing the reality of thephenomenon he is observing with his subjective redefinition of it.Being objective need not involve giving up one's set of values: it is neitherdesired nor possible not to have any values. Rather, objectivity is frankly toadmit that we do have values through which we respond to what weobserve. Because the author does this, he quite successfully compares andcontrasts his own point of reference, i.e. contemporary American values,with Islamic values. Humphreys' discussion not only will help theoutsiders understand Islam and Middle Eastern phenomenon better, butalso will enable the "insiders" to view how things look from outside anddo self-criticism.In the first chapter, Hard Realities: Population Overgrowthand Economic Stagnation, the author considers the difficult economicsituation of the Middle East. Humphreys notes that powerful market forcesof the first world have negative impact on the Middle Eastern economy,an effect persisting from colonial times. This point could have beenemphasized more, for the impact of the global capitalist economy on the ...
Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak
Authors: Allee Feroza
Published: December 2020

In Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak, editors Fernea and Bezirgan havemade a valiant effort to unveil an important dimension of Middle Eastern historyand society, a dimension that has been for the most part, hidden from viewbecause of the false notion that the world of Islam is a world created by menfor men rather than a joint creation of men and women.The book is a collection of documents from different historical periods andregions of the Middle East, as well as from different social and economicgroups. it provides a somewhat clearer view of the conditions, aspirations,struggles, and achievements of Middle Eastern Muslim women.In some ways the book is a paradox. The editors show how Middle Easternwomen haved risen to greater political and public eminence than women inthe United States, while as a sex remaining largely subservient to men andenjoying less access to the means of personal advancement.The first book to use a documentary approach rather than essays by thirdpersons, it is also the first book to include material unavailable in English.Many of the selections of these autobiographical and biographical writingshave been translated by the editors from Arabic, Persian, or French. And,it is the first to gather together materials from A.D. 622 (beginning of Islam)to the present. Offering a fresh and lively approach the book should be ofvalue not only to those interested in the Middle East, but also to anthropologistsand social historians.From a vast area, the editors have chosen a sample of women from twelvecountries. Despite their different backgrounds and experiences, the womenrepresented have all worked out their own solutions within the context of localpractice established between the two contradictory poles of Koranic injunctionand family and tribal custom.The book has a well-presented Foreword, a detailed Introduction, and is ...
Royal Tyler’s The Algerine Captive and the Barbary Orient
Authors: Obeidat Marwan M.
Published: December 2020

There stood the infidel of Modern breed, Blest vegetation of infernalseed, Alike no Deist, and no Christian, he; But from all principle,all virtue, free. To him all things the same, as good or evil; Jehovah,Jove, the Lama, or the Devil; Mohammed‘s braying, or Isaiah’slays; The Indian’s Powaws, or the Christian’s Praise.Timothy Dwight,The Triumph of Infidelity (1788)The American literary acquaintanceship with the Muslim Near Orient,or the Near East as some prefer to say, in the eighteenth and in the nineteenthcentury respectively, was principally an enterprise based on indirect encounterand exotic experience. A handful of inquisitive travelers and curious religiousmissionaries had some opportunity to observe directly, but most authors hadto rely on the printed page-books and other sources written by studentswho had no real chance of penetrating into the Orient first hand. Europeanwriters, the British romanticists in particular, played a tremendous role inthe formation of the American perception of Muslim thought and character.While part of the problem was fragmentary sources and faulty knowledge,the root cause was the deeply established Occidental preconception of Islamand Muslims, which is a subject that lies beyond the scope of this paper ...
Some Issues In Risk Management and Insurance In a Non-Muslim State
Authors: Zaman M. Raquibuz
Published: December 2020

IntroductionThis paper is not intended to be a discourse on whether or not insuranceis permitted under Islam. The subject is controversial and, hence, there areat least five different viewpoints on the subject which are:1. Insurance is permissible (mutbuh).2. Insurance is prohibited (haram).3. Insurance is not permitted in an Islamic state (dar-ul-Islam) .4 . Insurance may be permissible between Muslim policy holdersand non-Muslim insurers in a non-Muslim state whereMuslims have religious freedom and security (dar-ul-amn),and in an enemy state (dar-ul-harb), if required to do so.5 . Insurance provides important social benefits which areotherwise not available at all. However, some features and/orpractices of modem insurance companies are undesirable and,hence, they must be changed before insurance can be permitted.

The controversy on insurance is quite understandable. There was no suchinstitution in existence at the time of the Prophet (on him be peace) or the ...
Second Annual Economics Seminar
Authors: Mahdi Syed Iqbal
Published: December 2020

The Second Economics Seminar of the AMSS Economic DisciplineCouncil on Islamic Economics co-sponsored by the International Instituteof Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists(AMSS) was held Rabi‘ al Akhir 8-10, 1409/November 18-20, 1988, at theIIIT headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. The program chairman for theconference was Dr. Mohammad Safa of Southeastern University, Washington,DC and the Seminar was attended by over fifty (50) people from variousparts of the United States and Canada including academicians, Islamic bankers,and graduate economics students.Following recitations from the Holy Qur’in, the opening sessioncommenced with the welcome addresses of Dr. Taha Jabir Al-Alwani,President, and Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, Director-General of the ID”,respectively. Dr. Taha emphasized the importance of the implementation ofIslamization of Knowledge in modem social sciences particularly in economics,and the role of IIIT in this process. Dr. Taha also paid tribute to the servicesof Dr. AbuSulayman in building Islamic institutions like the AMSS and theIIIT in their formative years. He prayed for the success of Dr. ’AbuSulaymanin his new assignment as the Rector of the International Islamic Universityin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Dr. AbuSulayman then outlined the challenges lying ahead for Muslimeconomists in their efforts to Islamize the science of economics.Conference Program and Papers:The conference program was divided into four sessions. The first sessionwas on “Methodological Issues in Islamic Economics” chaired by Dr. RasoolM. Hashimi of Southern Illinois University. Drs. Syed Iqbal Mahdi of BenedictCollege and Masudul Alam Choudhury of University College of Cape Bretonpresented papers entitled “Methodological Issues in Islamic Economics” and“Cost-Benefit Framework in an Islamic Economic System” respectively. Thelast paper in this session was given by Shamim Siddiqui who is a doctoralcandidate at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The title ofhis paper was “Savings and Investment in an Islamic Economic System.” ...
Islamization as a Force of Global Cultural Renewal or
Authors: Abul Fadl Mona
Published: December 2020

Islamization constitutes a major force of renovation upon the contemporaryworld scene. A little over a decade ago, the mid-seventies witnessed aheightened awareness of Islamic cultural identity among the Ummahworldwide, an awareness which was projected in the space of activities andevents which marked the fourteenth centennial of the Islamic Hijri calendar.One of the more auspicious developments on this occasion was an emergingtrend that is distinctly novel among Muslims, namely, a growing appreciationfor the importance of coordination and organization reflected in quests forinstitutionalization. The Muslims of the modern world, it seems, had at lastcome of age as they sought to transform the festivities of the day into a moreenduring and effective enterprise. Islamization is a concrete expression ofthese concerns. It was born as a wide-ranging cultural movement whichessentially sought to recover the vitality of the community by recovering thevitality of its heritage. As such, it received its first sustained impetus andits systematic articulation in the efforts to give effect to the resolutions ofthe various maiden conferences of the period.The focus of this paper will be limited to exploring one aspect of thismovement, namely the potential of Islamization as a force for cultural renewaland direction. The context of the discussion will be more general taking thecontemporary cultural setting as its framework and making it clear from theoutset that the implications of Islamization have a universal bearing. The ...
Guiding Light
Authors: AbuSulayman 'AbdulHamid A.
Published: December 2020

TranslationIn the name of Allah, Most Gracious,Most Merciful.6. Have We not madeThe earth as a wideExpanse,7. And the mountains as pegs?8. And (have We not) createdYou in pairs,9. And made your sleepFor rest,10. And made the nightAs a covering,11. And made the dayAs a means of subsistence?12. And (have We not)Built over youThe seven firmaments,13. And placed (therein)A Light of Splendour?14. And do We not send downFrom the clouds waterIn abundance,15. That We may produceTherewith corn and vegetables, ...
Toward Islamization of the Non-Visual Arts
Authors: Al Disuqi Rasha
Published: December 2020

In his recent article, "Religious Fascism and Art," Dr. Sa'ad al DTn Ibrahimconcludes with these words addressed to all scholars in the visual and nonvisualarts field: "Those who have the 'Islamic alternative or aJtematives'let them be obliged, if they truly believe in the existence of refined standardsfor aesthetic creativity different from those available, (let them) endeavorto present these refinements to society. They have endeavored and succeededin recent years in presenting alternatives in economic institutions, servicesand investments, which attracted large numbers . . . why do they not dothe same in the arts field?"1Frantic endeavors at lslarnizing the non-visual arts have reached a highpointat the present time. These endeavors are primarily due to the realization ofthe grave effect art has on shaping morals and channeling, or swaying themin certain directions, and to its easy accessibility to, and profound effect on,emotion and intellect. Many contemporary Islamistsi have found some basisfor Literary theory but have not arrived at one grounded in the Qur'an andthe Sunnah with a view leading to Islamization of the non-visual arts (literature)and the fine arts as a whole. Although this discussion does not present atheory, it attempts to draw attention to crucial issues which may invite furtherendeavors for the Islamization of these artistic disciplines.The Present State Of The Arts And Islamic ResearchContributionsThe problem oflabeling all kinds of written material "literature," is itself ...
Ethics In Islam
Authors: Danish Iqbal
Published: December 2020

The seminar on "Ethics in Islam" was held in Faridabad, Haryana, onJuly 30-31 1988, sponsored by the Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhiand the Department of Philosophy at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh,India. Mr. Muqimuddin, the seminar organizer, opened the proceedings byremarking at the outset that the seminar's theme was of prime importancein the context of the present world. Justifying any aspect of Islamic Ethicsis both tricky and difficult. According to him, ethics has developed in theWest in the form of philosophical theories but classical philosophers did notgive much attention to the theoretical aspects of Islamic Ethics and virtuallyno effort has been made toward the documentation of ethics in Islam.The keynote address, delivered by Dr. Mohammed Abdul Haq Ansarientitled "Islamic Ethics: Concept and Prospect," (presently a professor atImam Muhammad Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), revieweddifferent streams of writing in the spheres of Islamic philosophy, Sufism,theology, jurisprudence, politics, and economy, and highlighted the contributioneach has made to the subject. He asserted that in view of the material availablein these writings, Islamic scholars of our time can develop a veritable chronicleof Islamic Ethics in a period shorter than the Islamic econoll}ists have takento develop Islamic Economics. According to Prof. Ansari, there is a wellformulatedsystem of morality in the Qur'an, but there is no such theorizationin the field of ethics. He pointed out that there are several ethical problemswhich need our attention while proceeding towards theorization of IslamicEthics, e.g., determinism, freedom of will, distinction between good andevil, etc.The keynote address was followed by a lively discussion. Prof. FazlurRahman Ginnori was of the opinion that Islam has provided a complete codeof morality obliviating the need for theorizing about Islamic Ethics. Otherparticipants were of the opinion that in order to convince the world of thefeasibility of Islamic Ethics, especially because of its identification with mostaspects of science, there is a need for an ethical theory of Islam.Dr. Sanaullah Mir of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, reada paper on "Philosophical Justification of the Islamic Ethical Standard: theOntological and Deontological Standards." While discussing the nature of ...
Sociological Realism
Authors: Ba-Yunus Ilyas
Published: December 2020

Ever since its revelation more than fourteen hundred years ago, the Qur’anhas been the object of recitation and memorization, as well as scholarly analysisby millions in every generation. During this long span of time, not onlyreligious scholars and jurists, but also other professionals like physicists,medical doctors, historians, and orientalists have tried to scrutinize and analyzethe Qur’an. It is about time that sociologists paid attention to this primarysource of Islam.Sociological interest in the Qur’an, as belated as it is, is in fact natural,for, after a brief foray in the direction of what one may call Origin IheoZogy,the basic thrust of the Qur’an remains ideological- humanity and its societyin this world. Not that this is such a revealing idea. Whether one looks atit from a juristic point of view or from a historical perspective, it hardlyescapes notice that the Qur’anic verses speak out loudly about the natureof plural living as fabricated by the crisscrossing episodes generated by veryactive, assertive, and expressive individuals over the course of history. Mostof what has been going on in Islamic studies, under the rubric of law andhistory in particular, provides us with sufficient encouragement to cast a freshlook at the same source of knowledge.Questions Sociological Theory Should AnswerAs we have already seen, sociologists have at different times asked differentand disparate, although quite relevant, questions. They have also beeninsufficient questions. For example, symbolic interactionists remained interestedprimarily in the indeterminstic nature of the human act. This microscopicpreoccupation prevented them from asking questions about social processesof a larger magnitude. Even Blumer’s emphasis on collective behavior, whichshowed an early promise for the analysis of revolutionary social change, hashad only scant appeal for his fellow symbolic interactionists.On the other hand, structural-functionalists as well as conflict theoristsremained interested in the deterministic nature of the macro social order ...