bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interpersonal Communication
Authors: Siddiqui Mohammad A.
Published: December 2020

IntroductionCommunication today is increasingly seen as a process through whichthe exchange and sharing of meaning is made possible. Commtinication asa subject of scientific inquiry is not unique to the field of mass communication.Mathematicians, engineers, sociologists, psychologists, political scientists,anthropologists, and speech communicators have been taking an interest inthe study of communication. This is not surprising because communicationis the basic social process of human beings. Although communication hasgrown into a well developed field of study, Muslim scholars have rdrely hcusedon the study of communication. Thus, a brief introduction to the widely usedcommunication concepts and a framework for the study of communicationwithin the context of this paper is provided.In 1909, Charles Cooley defined communication from a sociologicalperspective as:The mechanism through which human relations exist and develop -all the symbols of mind, together with the means of conveyingthem through space and preserving them in time. It includes theexpression of the face, attitude and gesture, the tones of the voice,words, writing, printing, railways, telegraph, and whatever elsemay be the latest achievement in the conquest of space and time.In 1949, two engineers, Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, definedcommunication in a broader sense to include all procedures:By which one mind may affect another. This, of course, involvesnot only written and oral speeches, but also music, the pictorialarts, the theater, the ballet, and, in kct, all human behavior.Harold Lasswell, a political scientist, defines communication simply as:A convenient way to describe the act of communication is to answerthe following question: Who, says what, in which channel, towhom, with what effect?S.S. Stevens, a behavioral psychologist, defines the act of communication as:Communication occurs when some environmental disturbance (thestimulus) impinges on an organism and the organism doessomething about it (makes a discriminatory response) . . . Themessage that gets no response is not a commnication.Social psychologist Theodore Newcomb assumes that:In any communication situation, at least two persons will becommunicating about a common object or topic. A major functionof communication is to enable them to maintain simultaneousorientation toward one another and toward the common object ofcommunication.Wilbur Schramm, a pioneer in American mass communication research,provides this definition:When we communicate we are trying to share information, anidea, or an attitude. Communication always requires threeelements-the source, the message, and the destination (thereceiver).
Paradigms in Political Science Revisited
Authors: Abul-Fadl Mona
Published: December 2020

It is time for Muslim political scientists to come together to debate thestate of the art in their field and to define the grounds and terms for its prospectiveevolution or transformation in the light of alternative perspectives.The underlying assumptions which provide the parameters and the key conceptswhich they currently apply in the course of their normal practice shouldno longer be assumed but should be questioned. To do so, they will needto be made explicit and examined in a new light. The developments of thepast decade make this imminent in more than one way. ln the West the souJsearchingamong social scientists bas intensified and contributed to shakingthe profession out of its complacency. The resulting meta-critique has heightenedcritical awareness.The decade has also coincided with a dawning epistemic consciousnessamong Muslims. Conscientious scholars and intellectuals have staked theirclaims to autonomy on the grounds of a critical disaffection with their field.Perceived disjunctures bred that kind of essential tension which prompteda review of foundational dimensions of consciousness and being. They identifiedtheir source in dissonant cultural forces and processes comprising education,socialization and the reproduction of knowledge, values, and symbolsas underlying the continuities and discontinuities in the fabric of the Ummah.This constituted the diagnosed malaise.' In this process of critical introspection,the idea of the Islamization of knowledge was conceived. Itsnatural focus was the state of modem knowledge and its modes of diffusionand transmission along the educational and cultural arteries in the Ummah.It contested the myth of modem sciences as value-free, a myth that was particularlydominant within Muslim societies themselves. Claims to valueneutralitywere not only questionable as empirical reality, but they were evenmore dubious and questionable as a moral ideals ...
Second International Islamic Conference on Prevention of Drugs and Alcohol
Authors: Kashif Ghayth Nur
Published: December 2020

More than four hundred scholars and guests from around the worldattended the "Second International Islamic Conference on Prevention of Drugsand Alcohol" held at the International Islamic University, Islamabad, PakistanShawwal 26-28 1409/June 1-3, 1989.The conference, sponsored by Rabita al-Alam al-Islami, Makkah alMukarramah(World Muslim League), and the IIU in Islamabad, re-affim1edthe commitment of the Muslim Ummah to elirnfoate the threat and menaceof drugs and alcohol in Islamic states and societies world-wide.Scholars attending the conference represented both the natural and socialsciences, and individual professions ranged from medical doctors and lawenforcement authorities to social engineers and Islamic authorities in Seerahand Shariah. More than 70 scholars presented papers on critical aspects ofthe problem. The conference agenda embraced six major concerns:l) The Nature and Extent of Drug Abuse.2) Biological Mechanism.3) Religious and Educational Outlook.4 ) Social Context of Drug Abuse ...
An Approach to the Islamization of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Authors: Ali Ausaf
Published: December 2020

AbstractIn this paper I have tried to argue that the two widely used paradigmsof Individualism in Western social science, and Collectivism in Soviet socialscience, are not appropriate for Islamic social science on account of thesecularism (disregard of revelation) of the former and the "scientific atheism"of the latter. I have funher tried to argue that the hypothetico-deductive andempirical methodology (often called logical positivism) of natural and physicalscience is not appropriate for social and behavioral science in general, andIslamic social behavioral science in particular. It would be more fitting toregard the various disciplines of social and behavioral science as moral sciencesin order to incorporate the values, morals, and purposes of society in theorybuildingand hypothesis-formation. Accordingly, I am arguing in favor ofa moral explanation of human behavior and social processes. A moralexplanation is one which seeks to discover the causes (immediate antecedents)as well as reasons (including motives and intentions) behind human behaviorwith the greater responsibility for the explanation resting with the latter.A paradigm, conceptual framework, or what is called grand theory isessential for the formulation of theories in various fields of social and behavioralsciences, on the one hand, and for guiding empirical research. on the other.Western social science and Soviet social science have their respectiveparadigms. The immediate need of Islamic social science is to construct adistinguishable paradigm of its own. I have tried to formulate a list of theunderlying concepts of such a possible paradigm, conceptual framework,or grand theory, but not such a theory per se.Finally, I have made the suggestion that, inasmuch as the understandingof human behavior is our goal, the social and behavioral scientist could enhancethe understanding of human and social phenomena by trying to understandhis/her own motives, behavior, and actions ...
Editorial
Authors: Syeed Sayyid M.
Published: December 2020

In keeping with our tradition, this issue starts with the Guiding Lightcontributed by Dr. ‘AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, Rector of the InternationalIslamic University in Malaysia.We reflect on the direction we have taken with an English rendering ofTaha Jabir Al ‘Alwani’s paper which was presented as a keynote address atthe Fourth International Seminar on Islamic Thought at Khartoum, Sudan.Al ‘Alwani defines thought here as the product of all sources of knowledge,of education, experience, ability and social concepts and trends. In the caseof Muslims it is formulated both by Revelation and by man’s inherent intellectualcapacity. He discusses a balanced approach to the role of reason and revelationduring the earlier generations of Muslims. He shows how deviations haveled to laziness, indifference and apathy.The social sciences and humanities in the disciplines of psychology,sociology, education, economics, politics, media and others, he writes, shapethe contemporary man. All these reflect the Western mind. The role of Islamicuniversities is to enhance the Muslim commitment to give Islamic characterto the methodologies, principles, results and aims of social sciences. In hispaper, Al ‘Awani pleads for a complete revision of “Shari’ah studies: its methodsand materials, and the orientation of researchers and teachers. He argues foradding humanities and social sciences to the syllabus of the fuqaha’ to enablethem to understand various aspects of life so they may interact with it.Al ‘Alwani also summarizes the achievements of the first three internationalconferences on Islamic thought organized by the Institute.From thought we proceed to an issue of economics. A.H. M. Sadeq dealswith the importance of mobilization of resources for economic or noneconomicdevelopment. The economic development in particular requires investiblesources for capital formation and for acquiring all other factors of production.He shows how the Islamic code of life provides an enormous incentiveand a favorable framework for efficient mobilization and utilization of resources,both material and human.The Islamic way of living has great potential for savings and an efficientinstitutional setting for their mobilization and utilization. Sadeq cautions theMuslim countries that in accepting investible resources from external sourcesMuslim countries should direct carelid study to its sociocultural and politicoeconomicimplications. The best choice of action, he suggests, is for Muslimcountries to cooperate among themselves for resource use ...
Reconstruction of Culture and Islam
Authors: Sarwar Ghulam
Published: December 2020

Mohammad Taqi Amini is an erudite religious scholar and profoundthinker. He possesses an inquisitive mind which refuses to accept things attheir face value. He sets out to prove that the reconstruction of Islamic civilizationaims at striking a balance between the physical and the spiritual forcesinherent in men. He attempts an outline of the scheme of cultural reconstruction.Also, he mentions the effects and implications of Western civilizationon modern life and evaluates the impact of two conflicting ideologies.The author believes that for the manifestation of faith and the constructionof culture, the necessary good deeds are not mere rituals or outwardsigns of virtue. Good deeds, on the other hand, comprehend both the innerand outward facets of life and they comprehend the whole being of man.The inner life however, comes first; for without it a healthy community cannotcome into existence, nor can man's use of nature yield any common benefit.The author reveals that in the framework of Western civilizationmaterialism dominates, and materialism recognizes reason as the only sourceof knowledge. But according to the Islamic concept of cultural reconstruction,the spiritual dimension is the basis of everything and which recognizesthe combined guidance of reason, heart and revelation for the acquisitionof knowledge. In all spheres of life such a wholesome and all pervasive guidanceis needed. The guidance of one faculty is not enough.In Western culture, the essential nature of man is regarded as animalisticand therefore the nature of character is determined in terms of material powerand worldly gains. Only those qualities are valuable which have a direct bearingon worldly gains and material power. For example, in business, punctuality,patriotism, social sense, and natural interests are the criteria. On the otherhand, qualities which do not have any bearing on worldly gains are not valued.Rather, violation of these qualities is considered a merit. Qualities like modesty,chastity, affection, mutual friendship and love, caring for the family, generosityof heart, soft-heartedness, sincerity, humanity, and consideration for the rightsof others have no value for a Western mind.The Islamic scheme of cultural reconstruction, on the other hand, isbased on a Divine view of life. This view divides life into material and nonmaterialand insists that both are necessary for the perfection of humanity ...
Fundamentalism, Revivalists, and Violence in South Asia
Authors: DeLorenzo Yusuf Talal
Published: December 2020

The volume under review is essentially a collection of papers presentedat a two-day workshop on the changing division of labor in South Asia heldat the University of Wisconsin in 1984 at which the two major themes werethe emerging role of women; and the “increasingly violent role of religion.”IThe latter theme became the subject of this book.Concerning this subject, the editor, Dr. Bjorkman, writes:“If, then, you have been perplexed about the chronic religiousviolence in contemporary South Asian states, you need search nofurther for relief. The following chapters examine, explore, andexplain aspects of religious fundamentalism, self-righteousrevivalists, and murderous mayhem among the four major faithsof South Asia."Then, evincing his concern for the human situation in the area, and hisown obviously painful experiences there, Dr. Bjorkman continues:“. . . one may justifiably conclude that a no-win situationcharacterizes the South Asian mosaic. Contemporary reality isdepressing, if not gruesome; the daily documentation of death anddestruction, cruelty and carnage, is sufficient evidence thereof?Candidly assessing the objective of his work, Dr. Bjorkman states:“The aim of this book is to uncover some of the socio-politicaltruths disguised by the frequent invocation of “fundamentalist” and“revivalist” claims in contemporary South Asian religions.”And in order to prepare the reader for what lies ahead, the learned editoradds:“One can come away from this volume wringing one’s hands indespair at the utter hopelessness of human foibles. Or one cancatch glimpses of truth and possible points of leverage by whichthe certain slide into anarchy might be arrested and even reversed.Sigmund Freud once wrote: ‘The truths contained in religious doctrinesare after all so distorted and systematically disguised thatthe mass of mankind cannot recognize them as truth (Freud1928 :78) .“Thus, before moving on to even the editor’s introductory chapter, theinterested reader, in the sense of his or her faith or allegiance to one or theother of the four major religions of South Asia, will begin to feel queasyat the prospect of what lies ahead. Many such, I suspect, will put the volumedown and start wringing their own hands at the utter hopelessness of humanfoibles in the guise of Western academic treatments of Eastern affairs of thespirit. But no, gentle reader, dismay not; the volume is not your averagewitch hunt. On the contrary, as food for thought it is immediately engaging,and as an opportunity for self-exam ...
Islamic Economics and the Economy of Indian Muslims
Authors: Mahdi Syed Iqbal
Published: December 2020

The International Seminar on Islamic Economics and the Economy ofIndian Muslims was held July 21-24, 1989 in the Convention Center of HamdardUniversity, New Delhi, India, under the auspices of the Institute ofObjective Studies (IOS). The Seminar was the first of its kind in India. Therewere 10 sessions, with over 60 participants, on various aspects of IslamicEconomics as well as on the economy of Indian Muslims. In addition therewere inaugural and plenary sessions, and a public lecture. All the sessionswere well-attended. Conference delegates and participants came from all overIndia, as well as Egypt and the U.S. A number of scholars from other countriescould not attend the Conference because of the denial of visa for attendingthe Conference by the Indian Embassies in their respective countries.The Conference convened on Friday, July 21, 1989 at 1190 A.M. withthe inaugural session chaired by Dr. S. Z. Qasim, Vice-Chancellor of JamiaMillia Islamia, New Delhi. After the welcome speech by Mr. A. R. Agwan,Director of the IOS, Dr. Manzoor Alam, Chairman of the IOS, introducedthe 10s and its activities. The inaugural address was delivered by Dr. A.R. Kidwai, Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Following that,the keynote address was given by Dr. F. R. Faridi of AMU, who was alsothe convenor of this seminar.Among the foreign delegates were Dr. Shawki Ismail Shehata of FaisalIslamic Bank of Egypt, Prof. Syed Iqbal Mahdi (who is the Secretary ofthe AMSS Economics Discipline Group),and Dr. A. Q. J. Shaikh from theU.S.A., and Dr. M. Ayub Munir from Pakistan.The Conference organizers had carefully selected the topics which weretimely and relevant both in terms of Islamic economics and the economyof Indian Muslims. Each session had 4 to 5 papers. The following were someof the topics:1. Employment Situation of Indian Muslims: An Appraisal ofits Nature and Magnitude2. Islamic Banking: Theory and Practice3. An Islamic Approach to Economic Development ...
"Royall Tyler’s Thee Algerine Captive and the Barbary Orient”
Authors: Al Disuqi Rasha
Published: December 2020

The first problem is constant quotations of distorted Islamic image portrayals,and a one and a half page dialogue without evaluation. If the dialoguedoes anything, it increases hostility between Muslim and non-Muslim withoutproviding a critical Islamic evaluation. Options are: examination of sources,Orientalist roots, Tyler’s erroneous characterization, all with enhancementof Islamic values, correcting the thought process. One option the paper missesis captivity due to piracy- a Western coinage invented to cover up the West’sillegitimate attack of Muslim shores. Historically, the Muslims were on thedefensive from the previous century, when Spain and Portugal raided theirshores and persecuted Moriscos, Moroccans, and Islamic North Africa.America joined later, assuming the Muslims’ guilt. That captivity brings outan awareness of the despotic American slavery system is not the sole valueof Underhill’s experience. That he continues forming erroneous judgementsbased on racial biases is more important. The entire experience provides astroke of Islamic irony. While a Christian fails to judge Islam, Islam’s systemof equality in the eyes of God renders Underhill’s awareness stale, captivitya legend, and blindness of war purpose ignorance. Of course the issue couldbe discussed in more profundity and length. If the Islamic perspective is notbrought out, then, the casual non-Muslim reader may read the paper as anadventure of a romantic nationalist when war was a romantic enterprise. Inthis way, the Islamic thesis is lost. There has to be a definite awareness ofthe historical context of such Orientalist writings. This issue is extremely crucialfor Muslim scholars and sheds light on the purpose of Orientalist works witha political goal. We will not go so far as researching who has created racism,or who has created slavery in the American system, which are equally validpoints for this paper, but we should see the historical milieu of this work.Placement in context helps Muslims understand academic endeavors atmisrepresenting Islam at this point in history.The author’s paper entitled “In Search of the Orient: The Muslim Easton the Contemporary American Literary Scene,’’ published by the InternationalInstitute of Islamic and Arabic Studies is of much hgher quality becauseof covering new ground, although it does not mention an important work bya Muslim scholar, Dr. Layla al-Farsy; “Washington Irving’s Mahomet: A Studyof the Sources.” ...
The Portrayal of Islam in Some Early Nigerian Newspapers (1880-1910)
Authors: Yusuf Salahudeen
Published: December 2020

The history of Islam in part of what is known today as Nigeria datesto about the loth Century. Christianity dates to the late 18th Century. Bythe middle of the 19th Century, when Nigerian newspapers began to appearon the streets of Nigeria, both religions had won so many followers and extendedto so many places in Nigeria that very few areas were untouched bytheir influence. The impact of both religions on their adherents not only determinedtheir spiritual life, but influenced their social and political lives aswell. It therefore became inevitable that both religions receive coverage frommost of the newspapers of the time. How the newspapers as media of informationand communication reported issues about the two religions is thetheme of this paper.Rationale for the StudyThe purpose of this study is to highlight the context in which such earlynewspapers operated and the factors that dictated their performance. Thisis because it is assumed that when a society faces external threat to its territory,culture, and independence, all hands (the press inclusive) ought tobe on deck to resist the threat with all might. Were newspapers used as verbalartillery and how did they present each religion? It is also assumed thatin a multireligious society a true press should be objective and serve as avanguard in the promotion of the interest of the people in general and notcreate or foster an atmosphere of religious conflict. The study also aims atfinding out whether the papers promoted intellectual honesty and fosteredthe spirit of unity particularly when the society was faced with the encroachmentof the British who posed a threat to their freedom, culture, economy ...
Editorial
Authors: Syeed Sayyid M.
Published: December 2020

Our first contributor is Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian Minister ofEducation. He has described in very convincing style the need to differentiatebetween science and non-science. The values, politics, ideology, power, prestigeand polemics of science play an important role in it. In shaping a contemporaryphilosophy of science, Anwar Ibrahim emphasizes the need to infuse the entiresystem of science, its method, its processes, and its goals with the ethicaland value concerns of the world-view of Islam. Our study of the history ofscience in Islam should help us to understand what was original and Islamicabout Islamic science and how the Muslim scientists infused their wrk withIslamic ethics and values and interpreted their task through Muslim eyes.The purpose of developing a contemporary philosophy of Islamic science,according to Anwar Ibrahim, is to help our scientists to construct a globalfoundation for contemporary Islamic knowledge and science. This would allowthe development of a pragmatic philosophy which takes the ethical concernsof Islam into the laboratory. This kind of theory should help prioritize certainresearch, and formulate science policies for Muslim societies.This theory should be able to demonstrate to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike that science not only helps in meeting the intellectual andphysical challenges of modern times but can also solve contemporary problemsof mankind in more satisfying and ethically sound ways.In his opening remarks at the Seminar on ‘‘Paradigms in Pblitical Science:Muslim Perspectives,” organized by the International Institute of IslamicThought (IIIT) and The Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) inJumada al Awwal 1410/Dec. 1989, Dr. Taha Jabir Al ‘Alwani, President ofIIIT, traced political science in classical Islamic heritage. Al ‘Alwanithat we do not have specializep studies in our classical legacythat may be described today as political thought. Issues related to subjectslike international relations, systems of government, history of diplomacy,political development, or methods of political planning, however, were treatedthrough the medium of fiqh. There were no well-defined divisions betweenall other aspects of life and the political issues as there are’in contemporarysocial sciences. Al ‘Alwani argues that the fiqh of contemporary politics andgovernment must turn to the goals and purposes of Islam, to its generalprinciples and to its precepts. This will build a complete system of politicalthought that will interact with contemporary realities for the realization ofIslam’s greater purposes. Al ‘Alwani, however, warns that theories will haveto be erected upon the basis of accepted Shari‘ah source-evidence, whiledrawing from the experience of historical and contemporary humanity ...
Islamic Liberalism and Beyond
Authors: Manzoor Parvez
Published: December 2020

Islamic Liberalism and Beyond Parvez Manzoor The logic of faith is truth: it proclaims a paradigmatic order of reality. The logic of the world is power: it promotes a pragmatic view of things. The logic of Islam is to conjoin the paradigmatic truth of faith with the pragmatic order of the Community. Holding fast to the transcendence of Truth, Islam does not, as it were, allow the world to slip out of its hands. For the existence of its faith transcendence and immanence are as essential as exhaling and inhaling. Of course, by renoucing the "either/or" option, Islamic tradition gets entangled in a number of moral and metaphysical paradoxes: its secular public order gets confounded with the transcendent realm of faith and the historical community emerges as the supreme value of Islam. And yet, despite the identity of 'Islamic reason' and raison d'etat in the sacrosanct discourse of the fuqaha; the dominant ethos of Islamic civilization has been apolitical, nay downright antipolitical. Even the most ardent champions of the 'inerrancy' of the Community have upheld the sovereignty of the paradigmatic and renounced all pretenceof the pragmatic. The absolute verity of a transcendent Revelation, they have argued with unyielding logic, requisitions no authentication from the contingent praxis of an immanent Community. The truth of Islam, sublime, transcendant and unassailable, cannot suffer any humiliation on account of the existential infirmity of sinful Muslims. Islam stands in need of no validation save its own self-validation. Doubtless, this reckless and imperious transcendentalism of tradition has had catastrophic consequences for the Muslim polity. The paradigmatic logic of faith has successfully prevented Muslim consciousness from perceiving any pragmatic order of reality as 'Islamic'. Indeed, perverting the argument for transcendence into a pretext for abdicating history, Muslims have been guilty of practising the kind of pernicious dichotomy of faith and community that they have vehemently described in theory. The doctrinal quest for Islamic legitimacy has been instrumental in devalourizing the historic Community and its existential testimony. Theory and practice, in other words, have come to dwell in separate spheres in the civilization of Islam. Indeed, every assertion to the contrary, the Muslim Ummah of history is not a power-polity, not a ...
Guiding Light
Authors: AbuSulayman 'AbdulHamid A.
Published: December 2020

TranslationIn the nume of Aualr, Most Gracious,Most Merciful.1. Ye are the bestOf Peoples, evolvedFor mankind,Enjoining what is right,Forbidding what is wrong,And believing in Allah.If only the People of the BookHad faith, it were bestFor them: among themAre some who have faith,But most of themAre perverted transgressors.Al ‘Imran (3:110)2. (They are) those who,If We establish themIn the land, establishRegular prayer and giveRegular charity, enjoinThe right and forbid wrong:With Allah rests the end(And decision) of (all) affairs.Al Hajj (22:41)3. “Those who follow the Messenger,The unlettered Prophet,Whom they find mentionedIn their own (Scriptures)In the Law and the Gospel-For he commands themWhat is just and forbids themWhat is evil; he allows,Them as lawful what is good(And pure) and prohibits them ...
Islamization of Knowledge
Authors: Moten A. Rashid
Published: December 2020

Islamic science, as an active creative agent, once imparted life and motionto Islamic civilization and society. It is now confined within the walls ofold schools and imprisoned among its classical books. Having embraced thenew sciences and accepted Western behavioral modes of thinking, the Muslimintelligentsia has made Islam into an abstract spirit fossilized inside traditionalforms of ancient mores, customs, rites, and rituals. This situation alone pmidesenough justification to reconstruct the methodology of Islamic sciences, butthe on-going Islamization movement makes such an attempt even morepertinent. “To recast knowledge as Islam relates to it, is to Islamize it. . . .To this end, the methodological categories of Islam . . . must replace theWestern categories and determine the perception of ordering reality.”lThis article is an attempt to contribute to reconstructing the methodologyof social sciences with specific reference to political science. This isaccomplished by identifying and exposing, through systematic contrast withIslamic principles, the weaknesses of elements and key concepts molded inthe crucible of Western culture and civilization. This is essential becauseIslamization warrants, ipso facto, liberating people from the world-view ofthe West so that they can strive toward that state of perfection reached inMadinah under Divine guidance during the age of the last Prophet (SAAS)of Islam ...
Islamic Law and Society
Authors: Safi Louay M.
Published: December 2020

Shari'ah (Islamic law) has been the dominant moral and legal code ofMuslim societies for the gnxter part of their history. During the early centuriesof Islam, Shari'ah hcilitated the social growth and develojment of the Muslims,growth that culminaa in the establishment of a vast emph and an outstandmgcivilization. By the close of the fifth century of Islam, however, Shari'ahbegan to lose its role as the guiding force that inspired Muslim creativityand ingenuity and that nurtured the growing spirit of the Muslim community(Ummah). Consequently, the Ummah entered a period of stagnation thatgradually gave way to intellectual decline and social decadence. Regrettably,this painful trend continues to be more or less 'part of the individualconsciousness and collective experience of Muslims.This paper attempts to trace the development of the principles of Islamicjurisprudence, and to assess the impact of Shari'ah on society. It argues thatthe law ceased to grow by the sixth century of Islam as a result of thedevelopment of classical legal theory; more specifically, law was put on hold,as it were, after the doctrine of the infallibility of ijma' (juristic consensus)was articulated. The rigid principles of classical theory, it is contended, havebeen primarily induced by the hulty epistemology employed.by sixth-centuryjurists.Shari'ah, or Islamic law, is a comprehensive system encompassing thewhole field of human experience. It is not simply a legal system, but rathera composite system of law and morality. That is, Islamic law aspires to regulateall aspects of human activities, not only those that may entail legalconsequences. Hence, all actions and relationships are evaluated in accordancewith a scale of five moral standards.According to Shari'ah, an act may be classified as obligatory (wajib),recommended (mandub), permissible (mubah), reprehensible (makruh), orprohibited (haram). These five categories reflect the varying levels of moral ...
Beyond Cultural Parodies and Parodizing Cultures
Authors: Abul-Fadl Mona
Published: December 2020

Contrasting Epistemics“why if a fish came to me and told me he was going on a journey, I shouldsay, With what porpoise?”’ “Don’t you mean burpose’?” said Alice.“I mean what I say,” the Mock Turtle replied in an ofended tone.(Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland)Consider this analogy: There was a man beneath a tree. He wished to collecthis thoughts, but the sparrows disturbed him with their chirping. He wouldchase them with his stick and then resume his train of thought, but the sparrowswould come back and he would have to scare them away. . . Eventuallysomeone told him: %is is like being a slave at the wheel going round andround forever. Ifyou want to escape the vicious circle, you shouldfell the tree:Imam al Ghazali,(Ihya’ ‘Ulum al Din)Cultural Parodies: Shaping a DiscourseAbstractIt has been the practice for the dominant paradigm to set the terms ofrational discourse and for the “Other” to defer in reverence - if it wanted tobe admitted to the circle of respectability. In this case, the tables are turnedMOM Abul-Fadl directs the Research Project on Western Thought at the InternationalInstitute of Islamic Thought, Herndon, Virginia and is the chairperson of the Political ScienceDiscipline Council of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists.and the dominant paradigm, which is secularist, is viewed critically throughthe lens of a re-emerging tawhidi paradigm. The purpose is not to engagein a test of will or vision, but to lay the ground for a discourse which canaccommodate a genuine diversity-in-dignity for all, and which would includeSelf and Other in a re-formed world of inter-relatedness developed throughnew categories and points of reference. In a common human heritage richin communicable symbols and transitive experiences, cultivating the termsof a hermeneutic of mutuality is imminent. Its objectives would be to redefineand assure worldly morality and rationality at higher levels of reality. Onlythen can the self-imposed constraints, constrictions, and anomalies whichare inherent in the prevailing culture be transcended. The context for shapingthis discourse can be as broad and encompassing or as concrete and particularas the response in the concurrent fields of the humanities and the social scienceswill admit ...
Trends and Issues in Contemporary Arab Thought
Authors: Abu-Rabi’ Ibrahim
Published: December 2020

The author, Issa Boullata, states that his intention is to study Arabintellectual and social phenomena and trends against the background ofmodernity: “Particularly insufficient in Western studies are publications onArab intellectuals who are grappling with the idea of modernity” (p. ix).Furthermore, “this book, concerned with the present-day Arab culture andits crisis, will attempt to present a number of important themes that haveengaged Arab intellectuals” (p. 9) who “exhibit a profound desire to grapplewith the problem of modernity” (p. 2).Boullata uses two essential terms in his study- modernity andmodernization - without exploring their epistemological structure and meaning,historical formation (especially in the context of Europe), and social viabilityin the modern Arab world. He takes it for granted that the Arab world hasbeen a part of the modernization process for many decades. Furthermore,he seems to make a distinction between two types of Arab intellectuals:progressive/modernizing (forces of modernity), and conservative/traditionalist(forces of tradition). He claims that the first type “voiced and articulatedthe frustration of the Arab masses against Arab regimes and the prevalentculture of Arab society. Their writings were characterized by deep socialinsight, self-analysis and a great measure of self-criticism” (p. 2). And, “themore progressive among Arab intellectuals have tried to analyze the relationshipof contemporary Arabs and the West” (p. 8). Also, “the forces of modernity,using mostly external ideas and models for change, are oriented towards thefuture, which they see as opening new horizons for the Arabs. Opposingthem the forces of tradition, using mostly internal ideas and models for change,are oriented towards the past, which they see as an ideal to be repted becausethey perceive it as having the promise of certainty and surety of proven success”(p. 6). Finally, “The difference between the extremist Arab thinker on theRight and the extremist Arab thinker on the Left is that the former conformsto a past-oriented ideology which he believes originates in God and divine ...
God and Religion in the Postmodern World
Authors: Winkel Eric A.
Published: December 2020

Griffin's larger program in God and Religion in the Postmodern Worldis to develop a process theology able to meet the challenges and opportunitiespresented by science and modernity. This process theology draws extensivelyon the work of Whitehead and Hartshorne and essentially entails destroyingmodernity as an ideology while retaining certain parts of the scientificworldview, returning to some aspects of premodernity (such as the view ofenchanted nature), and creating a holistic, pluralistic, dynamic view of thenature of God and humanity.Besides this program, Griffin develops a number of insightful ideas.Getting around the problem of describing a phenomenon like postmodernism,which wants to preclude all closure and definition, Griffin makes the casethat destructive postmodemism is really ultramodernism, modernism carriedto its logical conclusion. This avoids the confusion of "constructive" postmodernthought.Griffin also makes the case for panentheism, as opposed to pantheismor the absolute dichotomy popular two or more centuries ago among Christiantheologians. Throughout the book, Griffin puts forward many original andinsightful ways of looking at Western thought, Christian theology, and therise of modernism. These insights deserve to be explored; they certainly shouldstimulate fruitful discussion.The major problem of Griffin's work for the Muslim is his desire, andthat of process theologians as a whole, to create a new religion. Huston Smithaddresses this issue in a forthcoming work where the two debate this andother issues. (I look forward to reading this book.) Griffin is not sufficientlyaware of the perennial perspective, which makes me predict that Huston Smithwill offer quite persuasive arguments against process theology. This perspectiveholds that no meaningful religious experience can take place without agrounding and foundation in a divinely revealed tradition. Islam has beencompleted and protected by Allah Himself in the form of the Qur'an andthe Sunnah, and so we need not create a new religion to appreciatepremodernity or to destroy modernity. It is the task of Islamic scholars toengage the issues Griffin brings up, a project which will surely lead us torediscover ideas and processes in our heritage which may be fruitfully ...
Imam al Tirmidhi and the Modern Age
Authors: Yusuf Mufti M.Y.M.
Published: December 2020

The Muslim Religious Board for Central Asia and Kazakhstan organizedan international conference in Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, inconnection with the observances of the twelfth centenary of the birth of ImamAbu 'Isa Muhammad Ibn 'Isa al Tirmidhi, a native son. The conference wasattended by scholars from the Soviet Union and nearly 100 delegates fromoverseas.The keynote address, which was also the conference's theme, was deliveredThe American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 8, No. 1 1991 185by the Board's Chairman Mufti Muhanunad Sadyq Muhammad Yusuf. Hepresented a detailed account of the Imam's work, e pecially the well-knownbook Al Jami' al Sahih, and its impact on the contemporary world.The scholars stressed the need for greater attention to research and studyof the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (SAAS). They also adopted a numberof recommendations, including a call for greater attention to research on thehadith in order to facilitate its effective application in the everyday lives ofMuslims. This, it was observed, would contribute toward the assertion anddevelopoment of Islamic values throughout the ummah ...
The Qur’an and the Sunnah on Violence, Armed Struggle, and the Political Process
Authors: AbuSulayman 'AbdulHamid A.
Published: December 2020

TranslationIn the name of Allah, Most Gmcious,Most Merciful.1. To those against whomWar is made, permissionis given (to fight), becauseThey are wronged-and verily,Allah is Most PowerfulFor their aid-(They are) those who haveBeen expelled from their homesIn defiance of right-(For no cause) exceptThat they say, “Our LordIs Allah.“ Did not AllahCheck one set of peopleBy means of anotherThere would surely have beenPulled down monasteries, churches,Synagogues, and mosques, in whichThe name of Allah is commemoratedIn abundant measure. Allah willCertainly aid those whoAid His (cause)-for verilyAllah is Full of Strength,Exalted in Might,(Able to enforce His Will).Al Hajj {22:39-40)2. Fight in the cause of AllahThose who fight you,But do not transgress limits;For Allah loveth not transgressors.And slay themWherever ye catch them,And turn them outFrom where they haveTurned you out; ...
The Crisis in Fiqh and the Methodology of ljtihad
Authors: Al 'Alwani Taha J.
Published: December 2020

The year 310 AH (922 AC), the year in which the last of the acknowledgedmujtahidun died, may be marked as the beginning of the crisis of fiqh thatcontinues even to this day. At that time Islamic fiqh took a very serious turnand, near the end of the fourth hijri century, its most negative effects beganto be apparent. It was then that the thmkmg of scholars was seriously influencedby the apprehension that certain rulers, through their citing permission obtainedas the result of the misuse of fiqh, were exploiting the things held dear bythe ummah.Thus it was out of fear that the idea of closing the door of ijtihad wasborn. This essentially defensive notion was accomplished by stipulations tothe effect that recourse might only be had to the ijtihad made by the scholarsof the earliest generations, that no changes could be made to the ijtihadperformed by them, and that any opinion that did not conform to their opinionsshould be rejected.In this way, the sun set on true ijtihad, and in its place there came meretaqlid, which allowed the state of legal and intellectual lassitude to becomewidespread. Moreover, the ties of the ummah to the two sources of legislation,the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and to the other sources weakened and then fellaway entirely. Finally, fiqhi studies were confined to a few specific textbooks,commentaries on those textbooks, commentaries on the commentaries, andannotations on the commentaries on the commentaries.Let us see how al Ghazzali (505 AH/1111 AC) described the situation,and how his explanation included mention ofthe most important developmentsto take place in Shari‘ah studies in general and in fiqh in particular. He wrote:You must know that the office of khliafah after the Prophet ofAllah, upon him be peace, was assumed by the al khulafa’ alrashidun, who were imams and Shari’ah scholars in their awn right.Moreover, they were active in giving futiiwii and making legaljudgments. Therefore, only rarely if ever did they need to seekthe opinions of the fuqaha’. The result of this was that the fuqaha’immersed themselves in knowledge of the next world and shunnedall else. Thus, they were known for their refusals to give fatawaand legal advice on issues of worldly import, perferring insteadto devote all of their deductive abilities to the worship of AllahMost High.But when, soon after the deaths of the al khulafa' al rashidun,the office of khalifah passed into the hands of those unqualifiedto lead the ummah and unlearned in matters of fiqh and fatwa,it became necessary to consult the fuqaha’ and to seek their advicein nearly everything. At that time, there still remained of thesuccessor generation (the Tabi’un) those who continued in the sameway as before, practicing Islam in complete purity, and followingthe example of the most learned and devout from their predecessors.Thus, if they were sought out (by those in power who would askthem questions), they would flee or otherwise evade them.The result of this attitude was that the rulers had to resort topressuring scholars to accept positions as qadis and government ...
Islam and the Cultural Accommodation of Social Change
Authors: Abu-Rabi' Ibrahim M.
Published: December 2020

In a previous work entitled The Crisis ofModem Islam, Bassam Tibiargues for the understanding of religion in the social process as it is incorporatedinto reality as a social fact. Toward this goal, his methodology allowsno place for religion as theology and metaphysics. He draws from bothDurkheim’s sociology of religion and Bloch’s philosophy of religion but, ashe explains, his intention is directed toward international relations and towardIslam as a cultural system. This intention evokes some disappointment, fordespite the fact that Tibi sees international relations and the Islamic culturesystem as interdependent, one must conclude that his understanding of thegreat philosophical tradition of Islam is reductionist.In the book under review, Tibi defines his central thesis as follows:“[Religion consists of sociocultural symbols that convey a conception of realityand construe a plan for it. These symbols are concerned with reality butdo not correspond to it, as is the case, for example, with symbols of nature”(p. 8). This is by no means an original thesis. Tibi’s new mentor is the bourgeoisanthropologist Clifford Geertz, who in the late 1960s wrote an essay on“Religion as a Cultural System,” in which he defines religion in the followingterms: Religion is: (1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful,pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in man by (3) formulatingconceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing theseconceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods of motivationsseem uniquely realistic. Tibi’s focus is, therefore, on the production of meaningin Muslim societies.In order to interpret the religious and cultural reality of contemporaryMuslim societies, Tibi takes on a number of challenges. In the first chapter,he attempts to define Islam by using sociological criteria. Since he dismissesthe spiritual side of religion, Tibi’s endeavor emerges as yet another reductionistapproach to Islam. On the basis of this approach, he ventures to discusswhat he calls “the basic cultural patterns for the perception of change in Islam.”He contends that Muslims from all walks of life have constantly striven tobring their actions into harmony with the message of the Qur’an and, consequently,the need to reinterpret the Qur’an has always arisen.Tibi maintains that Muslim societies are traditional and thus incompatiblewith modern needs and conditions. He claims that there is an important ...