Search

This article discusses the underdevelopment of Islamic theology and the need for a more comprehensive approach that encompasses the entire way of a Muslim's life, rather than focusing solely on legal dimensions. The author argues that theology has been overshadowed by legal discourse and offers reasons for this, including the defensive nature of Islamic theology and the influence of Greek philosophy. The article proposes a systematic Islamic theology based on the Islamic tradition itself, divided into five chapters that explore the historical roots, sources, and methods of maqāṣid al‐'aqīda (the higher objectives of Islamic theology). The author also discusses the significance of maqāṣid al‐'aqīda in promoting interfaith and intrafaith relations. Overall, the article highlights the importance of pursuing, preserving, and promoting truth in Islamic theology and suggests avenues for further development in the field. [Extracted from the article]

, 51 106 Winter, I Travelling Home: Essays on Islam in Europe i , 85; Winter, I Travelling Home: Essays on Islam in Europe i , 86-87; Winter, I Travelling Home: Essays on Islam in Europe i , 94. 107 Winter, I Between Heaven and Hell: Islam, Salvation, and the Fate of Others i , 24; Winter, "British and Muslim?" 124 Winter, I Travelling Home: Essays on Islam in Europe i , 19-104 125 S. Murata, I The Tao of Islam i (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1992); H. Yusuf, "Women, Shar'iah, and Islam - Hamza Yusuf", online video recording, YouTube, 25 March. One part of the argument is therefore an effort to disassociate Islam from any hints of Arab particularism; Winter even calls Islam an "un-Arabian religion". because it condemns such practices as 'the worship of I Al-"Uzza i ...prideful boasting, and walking naked around the House". Mark Sedgwick drew attention to the radically anti-modern Traditionalist School, a Western esoteric movement initiated by René Guénon that calls for the retrieval of a spiritual wisdom found in all religions but lost in modernity. [Extracted from the article]

In Argentina some branches of Islam have their own ziyāra circuits, building a local diasporic shrine culture. This paper examines sacred geographies created by 'Alawis descendants of Syrian immigrants, who arrived in the early decades of the twentieth century, and Naqshbandi‐Haqqani sufis, Muslims who have converted from a Christian background. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Sufi and 'Alawi communities, in Shaykh Ahmed Merhej's shrine and in the Naqshbandiyya‐Haqqaniyya dergāhs where there are maqāms ‐ cenotaphs erected in honor of Shaykh 'Abdullah Daghestani‐ this article analyzes the configuration of two shrine cultures and their recent contact, showing the local rooting of a global practice among Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salafi I "ulama" i in Egypt dedicate sermons, lectures, religious rulings and publications to undermining Al-Azhar's religious credibility and commitment to what the Salafis consider to be "authentic" Islam. Al-Azhar's religious authority extends beyond Egypt to many parts of the Sunni world. This article finds that the Salafi-Azhari contestation revolves around three overlapping issues: Salafi disdain for Sufism, the I Ahl al- adith i -Ash'ari creedal divide, and socio-political contestation in modern Egypt. The perceived rise of Salafi popularity through Salafi satellite channels in the early 2000s, and the relentless criticism by Salafi clerics of the Azharis, contributed to an intense anti-Salafi counter-attack from al-Azhar. [Extracted from the article]

In Argentina some branches of Islam have their own ziyāra circuits, building a local diasporic shrine culture. This paper examines sacred geographies created by 'Alawis descendants of Syrian immigrants, who arrived in the early decades of the twentieth century, and Naqshbandi‐Haqqani sufis, Muslims who have converted from a Christian background. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Sufi and 'Alawi communities, in Shaykh Ahmed Merhej's shrine and in the Naqshbandiyya‐Haqqaniyya dergāhs where there are maqāms ‐ cenotaphs erected in honor of Shaykh 'Abdullah Daghestani‐ this article analyzes the configuration of two shrine cultures and their recent contact, showing the local rooting of a global practice among Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the problem of the "praxis gap," which can be understood as the epistemological space between academic and practitioner discourses engaged in the study and practice of issues along the aid and development spectrum. It does so by discussing the way practitioners approach the topic of Islam and Muslim practices vis‐à‐vis the problem of Female Genital Cutting or Mutilation (FGC/M) and in light of the geopolitical context surrounding gender, development, and Islam. Through a review of practitioner‐oriented studies, the essay demonstrates that the praxis gap–between scholars of religion and Muslim society on the one hand and aid/development practitioners on the other–generates significant problems in the study and practice of aid/development in Muslim contexts. After this analysis, the essay closes by arguing that the patterns and paradigms governing the production of knowledge surrounding the aid/development in Muslim societies are closely related to similar problems of mistranslation found across the subject of religion and development more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers why despite mass displacement significantly affecting people from Muslim majority countries, Islamic understandings of refuge, protection and assistance remain de‐centered and made peripheral in formulations of asylum and refuge. The paper begins with an interrogation of how knowledge production on Muslim life‐worlds a priori gives emphasis to certain essential characteristics identified as Muslim. It is argued that this collapses understandings of the diversity of being and 'doing' Muslim in ways that make less visible everyday lived experiences attuned to the materiality, affect and emotion prompted by readings of Islamic tradition in displacement settings. To do so, I draw on Syrian experiences of displacement in Turkey and Greece to parse out the implications of this (in)visibility for Muslim responses to mass‐displacement and question whether they can be substantively different to modalities of humanitarianism and development anchored in liberal European ontologies. It is argued that by being attentive to the structures of feeling prompted by Islamic traditions pertaining to refuge and protection reveals ways of being and doing Islam outside of statist readings of humanitarianism. Here, the Islamic tradition of jiwār (a right of and to neighbourliness) provides a decolonial vocabulary to respond to state‐defined patterns of hospitality rooted in European knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While some, such as the recent Sawyer Seminar on Humanitarianisms, have sought to do so by pluralizing humanitarianism in order to underscore various and distinct genealogies, others, such as Amira Mittermaier, have posited a Muslim "non-humanitarianism" to disrupt secular logics and affects of care for the poor. How might our understanding of humanitarianism and development be enriched if we centered Muslims, not only as the largest recipients of care but also as significant actors and donors? By centering Muslims, then, this special issue situates Muslims squarely I within i global powers of neoliberalism, state direction, and secularism, while simultaneously remains to the ways that Muslims themselves understand the worlds they live in. This special issue examines social welfare interventions lead by Muslim individuals and organizations and Muslim-majority nation-states that often speak of and/or understand their work as somehow Muslim or "Islamic.". [Extracted from the article]

Since the 1960s, the shari'a has been equated with belligerent calls for the establishment of Islamic states. One effect of such "global shari'a‐phobia" is the growth of alarmist coverage of Islamic penal law (hudud). Indonesia and Malaysia, which jointly form the home of the largest Muslim population in the world, has witnessed constitutionalization, nationalization, and localization of the shari'a amidst fierce resistance by secular forces. This article examines the ideas of one active Southeast Asian participant in discussions over the shari'a ‐ the late Ahmad Ibrahim (1916‐1999). A legal practitioner, scholar, and social activist, he lived through the key phases of shari'a activism in the Muslim world. In this article, I argue that Ahmad Ibrahim sought to rehabilitate the shari'a, that is, he viewed the shari'a as a legal and ethical code needing of a thorough reinterpretation and repositioning in order to make it applicable for all citizens in modern nation‐states. Rehabilitating the shari'a entailed underlining three modalities of reforms: historicization, amplification, and harmonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing body of research applying the insights of race theory to the experiences of Muslims in the West, including Muslim converts. Within the U.S. context, much of this research has focused on the experiences of whites, despite the fact that black Americans convert at a much higher rate and make up a considerably larger proportion of the Muslim American population. This study draws attention to the incorporation experiences of black American converts as they work to establish authentic religious identities as legitimate members of a faith community that is comprised mostly of first‐ and second‐generation immigrants. Rather than immigrant incorporation, this study is concerned with the incorporation of an indigenous population into a primarily immigrant one. Findings suggest that many black converts face difficulty being recognized as valued members of their adopted religious communities, and many report experiences of racial prejudice and discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's religious gatherings or Islamic study circles in Indonesian public spaces have become remarkably diverse. These informal learning groups, referred to as majlis taklim, have flourished across Indonesia, from large towns to small villages, and have become places for Muslim communities to increase their awareness of Islam and improve their spirituality. Although majlis taklim are non‐gendered organizations, they are formed in many places by women's groups with different social and economic backgrounds. This paper analyzes the adaptability of women‐run majlis taklim in terms of offering and religious discourse to transform society's spiritual and social lives. Apart from nurturing members' self‐spiritual feelings, the models of majlis taklim in formulating discourse and addressing women participants represent Islamization's trajectory in Indonesia, characterized by two types of religious orientations: domesticating discourse and empowerment efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the problem of the "praxis gap," which can be understood as the epistemological space between academic and practitioner discourses engaged in the study and practice of issues along the aid and development spectrum. It does so by discussing the way practitioners approach the topic of Islam and Muslim practices vis‐à‐vis the problem of Female Genital Cutting or Mutilation (FGC/M) and in light of the geopolitical context surrounding gender, development, and Islam. Through a review of practitioner‐oriented studies, the essay demonstrates that the praxis gap–between scholars of religion and Muslim society on the one hand and aid/development practitioners on the other–generates significant problems in the study and practice of aid/development in Muslim contexts. After this analysis, the essay closes by arguing that the patterns and paradigms governing the production of knowledge surrounding the aid/development in Muslim societies are closely related to similar problems of mistranslation found across the subject of religion and development more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers why despite mass displacement significantly affecting people from Muslim majority countries, Islamic understandings of refuge, protection and assistance remain de‐centered and made peripheral in formulations of asylum and refuge. The paper begins with an interrogation of how knowledge production on Muslim life‐worlds a priori gives emphasis to certain essential characteristics identified as Muslim. It is argued that this collapses understandings of the diversity of being and 'doing' Muslim in ways that make less visible everyday lived experiences attuned to the materiality, affect and emotion prompted by readings of Islamic tradition in displacement settings. To do so, I draw on Syrian experiences of displacement in Turkey and Greece to parse out the implications of this (in)visibility for Muslim responses to mass‐displacement and question whether they can be substantively different to modalities of humanitarianism and development anchored in liberal European ontologies. It is argued that by being attentive to the structures of feeling prompted by Islamic traditions pertaining to refuge and protection reveals ways of being and doing Islam outside of statist readings of humanitarianism. Here, the Islamic tradition of jiwār (a right of and to neighbourliness) provides a decolonial vocabulary to respond to state‐defined patterns of hospitality rooted in European knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inclusion that I Muslim Space i seeks and practices is challenging to other Muslim communities that are trying to clarify a unitive and authorized Islamic tradition. Articulation, or as Bhabha puts it, enunciation, is a political act, reshaping the communities on both sides of the imagined border, the traditional mosque community, other Third Space experiments, and the wider social networks of religious expression. In 2017, a group of women began to meet casually, and then more intentionally, to talk about their experiences in traditional mosques and the kind of Islamic experience they might want for themselves and for their families in Austin, Texas. They describe its mission as follows: I Muslim Space, a non-profit, is a Muslim community organization that fosters an open, inclusive, multicultural, and pluralistic space for self-identifying Muslims and the larger Austin community. [Extracted from the article]

"When Someone is Dying, We Prefer....": COVID-19 and The Challenges to Muslim Health Care Choices The COVID-19 coronovirus has challenged health care providers and families, and with them, many faith communities, in their response to end-of-life care issues, especially end-of-life choices informed by their traditional social, religious, and spiritual values. It is important that, even with the flexibility of the Islamic tradition to modify certain Islamic rituals, COVID-19 restrictions should not affect the patient's right to be buried according to Islamic tradition, specifically honoring their belief against cremating their bodies. As a result, Muslims have collaborated with other faith communities worldwide to advocate for the religious rights of COVID-19 patients. [Extracted from the article]

Andrew F. March's I The Caliphate of Man: Popular Sovereignty in Modern Islamic Thought i represents a major authority in the fields of political theory, political theology and modern political thought in Islam. As the most sophisticated scholar/activist of I The Caliphate of Man i , Ghannushi's thoughts represent striking liberal and democratic features such as "radical moral pluralism" (p. 220), which is in perfect harmony with Islamic teachings. [Extracted from the article]

It created distinct realms of authorities distinguishing clearly between "law", "religion" and "public life", and in doing so introduced new hierarchies of authority and power in the state. However, it remains unclear whether Graham's depiction of the ineptitude and ineffectiveness of the state administration, which - incidentally - coincides closely with existing colonial opinions, was an accurate assessment of the social and political realities of Kelantan society at the time. This dynamic, more pronounced in Kelantan than among the peninsula Malay states, allowed the ulama to assume important political and social functions, which naturally led to their pivotal role in the formation of the Majlis Agama, and the administration of the state. [Extracted from the article]

Iqbal, who initially regarded Ghulam A mad and the A madiyya in a favorable light, later wrote two refutations of Ghulam A mad, and the A madiyya Jama at as he had ultimately come to the conclusion they were to be regarded as heretics or apostates. That which was meant by "the seal of the prophets" was not, according to Ghulam A mad, that Mu ammad had ended the chain of prophets but rather that nobody can be a true prophet unless they are given the seal of Mu ammad. In A madiyya circles, this fact has been used to develop an image of Ghulam A mad as I ummi i , i.e., unlettered in the same way as the Prophet Mu ammad, Khan, I From Sufism to Ahmadiyya, i 39-40. 24 Lavan, I The Ahmadiyyah Movement i , 28ff, 47ff; Khan 2015. Concurrently, work on a new translation was started by another close companion of Mirza Ghulam A mad's, Maulana Mu ammad Ali (1874-1951), who also helped translate Mirza Ghulam A mad's writings into English. [Extracted from the article]

These unique icons - which reverse the Catholic Our Lady of Victory/Orthodox Our Lady of Defeat distinction - demonstrate the endless flexibility of Marian images, and the resilience and creativity of the Christians who call these Bosnian borderlands home. The famous I Akathistos i hymn (fifth century) also describes Mary combatting foreign idolaters: "Shining upon Egypt the Light of Truth, you dispelled the darkness of falsehood, for her idols, O Saviour [Mary], fell down unable to endure your power", and also calls Mary the one who "trampled upon the delusion of error" and "refuted the deceit of the idols." But at the same time, another Mary was being invoked by Orthodox Christians coming under Ottoman Rule in southeastern Europe, a Mary that art historian Matthew Milliner has recently dubbed the "Virgin of the Passion" or "Mourning Mary." There is no clearer transformation than this: the simple, modest "Our Lady of Rama", originally an Our Lady of Defeat in Bosnia, crossed the border into Croatia and was physically altered by Catholics to become the new, golden crowned and triumphant Our Lady of Victory of Sinj. [Extracted from the article]

Footnotes 1 Leila Ahmed asserts that the decision to remove hijab "while remaining a committed Muslim" seems to be "a growing trend among this generation of professional Muslim Americans" ( I A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East to America i (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001), 284). Eid examines the meanings given to hijab by eleven veiled and nine non-veiled high school students in Montréal; and Litchmore and Safdar interview five Canadian Muslim women who veil and five who do not to bring out the interplay of personal and environmental factors, including discrimination, in attitudes toward hijab. Some women who identify as Muslim do not veil. Having removed their hijab because of discrimination, social isolation, and inability to find a job, the students reviewed their beliefs to finally conclude that modesty rather than veiling was the standard required by Islam and that being able to relate to non-Muslims without the stigma of veiling made them more "effective" as Muslims. [Extracted from the article]

59 Ausma Zehanat Khan, I Language of Secrets i (New York: Minotaur Books, 2016), 87. 60 A. Z. Khan, I The Unquiet Dead i , 99. 61 A. Z. Khan, I The Unquiet Dead i , 107. An Attempt to De-criminalize Muslims: The Detective Novels of Ausma Zehanat Khan I The Unquiet Dead i was followed by five more novels in which Khan made a Muslim protagonist visible, different, and global, while also keeping him safely within the boundaries of detective-series tropes and expectations. In her study, I Lesbian Detective Fiction i , Phyllis M. Betz suggest that lesbian authors succeeded in co-opting the detective novel and using it to turn a subject position considered socially aberrant and quasi-criminal - queer identity - into one that was normal or generic. [Extracted from the article]

South African poet Gabeba Baderoon is from the Muslim Cape Malay community, a mixed group who were brought as slaves to South Africa from across the Indian Ocean littoral by Dutch colonizers in the seventeenth century. Maria Olaussen, "Approaching Asia through the Figure of the Slave in Rayda Jacob's I The Slave Book i ", I Research in African Literatures i 42/3 (2011), 31-45: 32 36 See G. Baderoon, I Regarding Muslims i . 37 See J. McCorkle, "Narrating Memory." I am essentially arguing that some of Baderoon's poems have echoes of the genre of "the new slave narrative", as they meditate upon the ways in which invisibility of slave women haunt the South African present. [Extracted from the article]

"Neighbors: Christians and Muslims Building Community" is a practical guide aimed at American Christians who are interested in developing positive relationships with their Muslim neighbors. The book is divided into three parts, covering topics such as religious diversity in America, the historical presence of Christian-Muslim interaction, and practical issues related to interfaith awareness and collaboration. The author emphasizes the responsibility of the reader to take action and engage in meaningful dialogue and activities with Muslims. While the book focuses on Christian-Muslim relations, it also encourages American Christians to confront their own ambivalent feelings about living in a religiously diverse society. [Extracted from the article]

The literature on populism in Asian countries over the past two decades has generally featured charismatic and often autocratic leaders, as notably demonstrated elsewhere by the rise (and fall) of Thaksin Shinawatra due to his vehement rhetoric that antagonized political elites in Bangkok, Rodrigo Duterte's brutal and lawless war on drugs, and the continuous electoral success of Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government, which propagates a divisive rhetoric that alienates Muslim minorities. As neither candidate directly represented Islamic ideological interests, incumbent President Jokowi accommodated Java-based Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) as the country's largest Islamic organization, whereas Prabowo was backed by the burgeoning Islamist forces. With the burgeoning presence of Abdul Somad as a populist preacher in the Muslim community, Islamist figures coalesced around him and the GNPF-MUI reached an agreement in July 2018, which recommended that Prabowo appoint Abdul Somad as his candidate for vice-president. According to him, unlike the two countries, Indonesia's Islamic populism did not have significant power because they failed to dominate either state institutions or civil society. [Extracted from the article]

While conducting this research, I encountered numerous generalizations from Madurese people about people's religious identities within Madura, such as "Are there any religions other than Islam in Madura?" In general, many Madurese perceive that Chinese-Madurese relations represent Christian-Muslim relations because the majority of Christians living in Madura are Chinese. In this context, I interviewed Madurese Christians, non-Madurese Christians (the majority of them are Chinese), and Christian leaders living in Madura. [Extracted from the article]

An Analysis of the Islamic Fatwa on the Prohibition against Wearing Non-Muslim Symbols in Indonesia The purpose of this study is not to regard the MUI's fatwa as merely a product of the growing conservatism among Indonesian Muslims causing negative social effects, but instead to situate the MUI and its fatwa in a more nuanced position. Previously, in 2005, when he was the head of the MUI's fatwa commission, the MUI issued the two controversial fatwas prohibiting religious pluralism, liberalism, and secularism, and condemning the Ahmadiyya group. 59 Ahmad Romadoni, "Sikapi Fatwa MUI soal Atribut Natal, Jokowi Panggil Kapolri" ["Responding to the MUI's Fatwa on Christmas Symbols, Jokowi Called the Head of Indonesian Police"], I Liputan 6 i , December 19, 2016, https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/2682793/sikapi-fatwa-mui-soal-atribut-natal-jokowi-panggil-kapolri. [Extracted from the article]

In academic commentary since the Amistad was decided - and likely because of the way that the social and religious identities of the Muslim slaves was largely written out of the case - the religious identities of the Muslim slaves on the Amistad have rarely been part of the case study." Using Nathaniel Jocelyn's 1840 portrait to create his likeness of Cinque, Bearden then tells his hero's story by depicting the moment when Cinque kills the Amistad's captain (identifiable by his cap). "Cinque's second in command on the Amistad, Grabeau, had seen people in his hometown write "from right to left...that one unnamed Amistad African knew how to recite prayers in Arabic.". [Extracted from the article]

The concept of protecting the Citadel of Islam (Hifẓ Bayzat al‐Islam), is common in the lexicon of Shiʿi political jurisprudence. It refers to those Islamic principles and foundations without which the existence of Islam and the Muslim community would be in danger. During the Occultation Era, Shiʿi mujtahids, as general deputies of the Hidden Imam, are believed to commit their utmost effort to fulfilling this sacrosanct responsibility. The meaning and applications of the concept have been evolved throughout the Shiʿi history. A noteworthy case of protecting the citadel of Islam is the position of Sayyid Abu'l‐Ḥasan al‐Iṣfahānī (1867‐1946) and Mirza Muḥammad‐Ḥusayn Nāʾīnī (1862‐1937), vis‐à‐vis the Najaf seminary and the newly established Hashemite dynasty in early twentieth century. This paper aims to shed more light on the concept of the Citadel of Islam, its implications in Shiʿi political thought, and contemporary applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muhammad Iqbal and Mohd. Kamal Hassan respectively wrote "To the Holy Prophet" and "SMS to Sir Muhammad Iqbal" in the 1930s and in the 2000s – two extremely challenging times, as in the former most Muslim‐majority countries were under European colonial rule and in the latter, Western global powers wove an all‐pervasive web of domination and exploitation of them. They focus on the internal weaknesses of subjugated Muslims and lament that, since the attitude of many of them is characterized by inaction and reliance on others, domination by foreign powers became an inevitable corollary. A culture of self‐indulgence, stagnation, and complacency precipitated their decline and facilitated their exploitation by powerful outside interests. In their pursuit to understand the reasons for Western domination over Muslim societies, they studied the "moral paralysis" of colonized Muslims in order to reform them. Accordingly, their analysis of the subordinate position of Muslim peoples and countries can clearly be viewed through the lens of Bennabi's notion of "colonizability," as Iqbal's and Hassan's complaints in the poems mostly involve exposing several of their weaknesses that prevented them from playing their actual role, and hindered them from realising their potential, in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the political thought and careers of two important Shi'i religious figures in the twentieth century in Lebanon, Shaykh Mu ammad Mahdi Shams al-Din (d. 2001) and Sayyid Mu ammad usayn Fa lallah (d. 2010). Mughniyya may have opposed the establishment of the ISSC out of fear that such an institution, which was previously unknown in Shi'i history, would invite government intervention and thus undermine the independence and authority the ulema had traditionally enjoyed by forgoing government patronage. But again, Shams al-Din responded to the sociopolitical realities of Lebanon by developing his theory of consultative, majority-based democracy to include discussion of civil government, while Fa lallah merely shifted his focus from Islamic government to the religious and social needs of those who looked to him for religious guidance. The position on Lebanon expressed in the Papers of the Islamic Shi'i Council reflected al- adr and Shams al-Din's understanding of the roots of the conflict between Lebanon's Shi'a, the state, and the other confessional groups and included suggestions for fundamentally reforming the political system. [Extracted from the article]

This paper presents the discourse about the religious Other of an influential cleric of the twentieth century, Mu ammad Jawad Maghniyah. RAPPROCHEMENT WITH SUNNISM Maghniyah was one of the few active Shiite members of the Cairo-based initiative for rapprochement ( I taqrib i ) between Sunnis and Shiites, persisting in his efforts even as it faltered and wound down. He also allows marriage of Shiites with Sunnis, including a Shiite female with a Sunni male, which is forbidden or disliked by many authorities. The phrase "the polytheists are impure" ( I najas i ) in Q. 9:28 has been taken by many Sunni and Shiite exegetes to include the People of the Book, but Maghniyah rejects this (according to Darwish, he is one of the first if not the first Shiite commentator to do so). [Extracted from the article]

"World-class Muslims": Examining the Discursive Construction of a Singapore Muslim Identity The Muslim minority community in Singapore came under great scrutiny in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and even more so, after the arrests of local members of terrorist network, Jemaah Islamiyah, in 2001 and the 2002 Bali bombings. When unpacking the identity of the ideal Singaporean Muslim in government speeches, it can be argued that Singaporean Muslims are still viewed through the lens of securitisation, and that the approach to understanding the Singapore Muslim identity remains prescriptive and essentialised. The purpose of focusing on government speeches, instead of discourse used in initiatives by Muslim institutions (like the SMI project), is due to the far-reaching impact that the national government has, affecting how citizens perceive the Singaporean Muslim identity. [Extracted from the article]

At the turn of the twentieth century, the interest of American Protestant churches in foreign missions increased dramatically. "The evangelization of the world in this generation" became a powerful slogan and a new understanding of the Great Commission or the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, was among factors that "revolutionized American missionary movement."1 This article presents the views on Islam of Rev. John G. Lansing from the New Brunswick Seminary of the Reformed Church of America,2 and suggests that Lansing changed the view that Islam is not approachable and awakened the imagination of his disciples concerning the land of Islam and its inhabitants as people to whom the words of the gospel should be addressed. Although the Arabian Mission established by Lansing in 1889 finally failed in ensuring mass conversions of Muslims, it did result in a great discovery of Islam by the missionaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to 'Abd al-Mun'im Abu al-Futu , then a prominent Egyptian Ikhwan figure, the position of the Jordanian Ikhwan diverged significantly from that of the Egyptian Brotherhood, which attempted to assert a position for the Brotherhood as a collective:The Jordanian Brothers may have had a more rebellious position than others for they backed addam usayn and some of their preachers started comparing him to ala al-Din. The Jordanian Brotherhood's position on Palestine was far more politically strident in opposing the Jordan-Israel peace accords signed in 1994 and marked the first hints of a structural transformation in the relationship between the Ikhwan and the Jordanian state. 1 The terms "Muslim Brotherhood", "Ikhwan", "Muslim Brothers", "Brothers", and "Brotherhood" will be used interchangeably throughout this article to refer to the Muslim Brotherhood. 27 The terms "Muslim Brotherhood", "Ikhwan", "Muslim Brothers", "Brothers", and "Brotherhood" will be used interchangeably throughout this article to refer to the Muslim Brotherhood. [Extracted from the article]

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Russian Empire (aside from the protectorates of Bukhara and Khiva, which were declared independent according to international law) had a Muslim population of more than fourteen million, constituting at least eleven per cent of the total population. Yet, at that particular moment of time, they all considered Islam and only Islam to be the basis for the religious, social, educational as well as political lives of Russia's Muslims. 35 Ibrahimov, I Alem-i Islam ve Yaponyada Intishar Islamiyet i [The Muslim World and the Spread of Islam in Japan] (Istanbul: Ahmad Saqi Bek Matbaasi, n.d), 2:25-26; and Landau, I The Politics of Pan-Islam i , 29-30. 91 Ibrahimov, I Alem-i Islam ve Yaponyada Intishar Islamiyet i [The Muslim World and the Spread of Islam in Japan] (Istanbul: Ahmad Saqi Bek Matbaasi, n.d), 2:25-26; and Landau, I The Politics of Pan-Islam i , 29-30. [Extracted from the article]

This book focuses on Indonesia as the country that has the most significant number of Muslims in the world and analyzes the intricate relations between modernity and religions, especially Islam, that shaped the Indonesian people's way of thinking and behaving. It demonstrates how Indonesia is unique for having a culture that merges traditional culture, modernity, and religious values, in which sacred cosmos still becomes a reality for Indonesians. One may have the impression that the term suggests Islam as the main character of Indonesian society, which contradicts the author's idea of Indonesia as nurtured by several ancient civilizations. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract: In this paper, we examine Shakespeare's sixteenth‐century play, The Merchant of Venice. Anti‐Semitism is a key theme in this play. The well‐known central character, Shylock, is a Jewish man ridiculed and victimised because of his identity. Much literary research has been done on the anti‐Semitism of the play, and many social studies have compared anti‐Semitism and Islamophobia, but scarcely any research brings a Shakespearean play from the sixteenth century into the context of twenty‐first century Islamophobia. There are a number of similarities between the manner in which Shylock is ostracised and the current victimisation that Muslim communities are facing in Europe and more specifically the UK. With this in mind, we explore contextual and thematic elements of this play and argue that it is possible to apply the way Shylock is unfairly victimised on stage because of his identity as a Jew to the treatment of some Muslims today. In particular, the treatment he faces shares stark similarities with the types, impacts and consequences of Islamophobic hate crime today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Muslim studies program at Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Canada. The college has hired Muslim faculty and accepted Muslims into its diverse student body,and include new areas of research that have a theological and practical dimension, such as spiritual care and counseling. It mentions the opportunities and challenges to initiate the Emmanuel College Muslim studies program.

The article focuses on the contribution of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in training Muslim spiritual caregivers, as profession Islamic spiritual care requires specialized theological knowledge, academic preparation and practical experience. The topics discussed includes establishment of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) and its impact on Islamic spiritual care, and challenges of CPE in Islamic spiritual care training in Ontario, and in North America.

The article reports on the authors views on the politics in the reformation on the nature of the sociopolitical impact the Ottomans had on the European Reformation. The issues discussed includes External Perspectives in relation to Attempts to Convince the rulers for the change and Ottoman-Lutheran Relationship and Protection of Protestantism by the Ottoman State.

The article reports that Martin Luther wrote directly about Islam or Muslim religious beliefs and practices on only six occasion. Martin Luther's sources on Turk and Islam in the midst of the fear of Ottoman imperialism and role of Turks in the political and social and theological conditions of Europe and his views on Quran are mentioned.

The article repoprts on the view of the author on the sixteenth century travel of the french travelers to the Ottoman empire and also the impact of travels in the ottoman empire on the Guillaume postel and philippe Canaye"s views on the reformation. The view and contour of the scoiety on their travel are discussed.

The article reports on the condition of the society in the Ottoman empire and the change in the patriarchal culture in turkey and also presents views of kyrillos Loukaris on the changes brought upon the society by the rulers. Renewal, Innovation and Tradition as a matter of common discourse in Early Modern Ottoman Empire are also discussed.

The article discusses the origins of the churches and monasteries of Baghdad, Iraq. Topics discussed include discourses of Islamic legal theory, instance in which the pact of 'Umar failed to shape Islamic society, Muslim and Christian sources of the construction of the churches and the process that allowed the East Syrians and other groups of Baghdad Christians to construct their place of worship.

The article investigates Pakistani British writer and Islamic activist Kalim Siddiqui and his ideas and the role he played for British Muslims. Topics discussed include biography of Siddiqui and his views about the state of Muslims, Siddiqui's influence in Great Britain and outside Britain and interviews with individuals who associated themselves with Siddiqui's ideas during his lifetime.

The article discusses legends about the mysterious friar-cum- Muslim, drawing upon the historical methods and the argument of historian John Tolan's "Saint Francis and the Sultan." Topics discussed include the crucial notion of lieux de mémoire, two friars who went among the Muslims and the realms of their memory, Francis of Assisi and Anselm Turmeda and development of the Turmeda legend.

The article focuses on the works of Abd al-Fatta¯ Abu¯ Ghudda, a scholar who sought to represent tractional Islam in its most unpopular moments, and his perception of the role of the Ulama¯'. Topics discussed include background on Abu ¯ Ghudda's life, the disenfranchisement of the Ulama¯' and the necessity of following ulama ¯'.

The article discusses some of the motivations for Muslim migration to Ireland since the 1950s, focusing on the biographies of Muslims who engaged in religious activities upon their arrival to the country. Topics discussed include how these Muslims contributed to the establishment of differing aspects of religiosity in a communal Irish setting and biographies of some of these Muslims including Yusuf Vaizie, Ismail Coovadia and Mian Ghulam.