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This thesis questions the widespread claim that Protestant Christian and Sunni Muslim ‘fundamentalists’ share a similar approach towards the interpretation of their sacred texts, the Bible and the Qur’an. They are particularly singled out for their preference for hermeneutic ‘literalism’. For that matter, in this comparative study, I explore the concept of ‘literalism’, its meaning and methodological applications through surveying scriptural commentaries of four influential 20th-century figures, prominent in the academic literature on religious ‘fundamentalism’: Jerry Falwell, Rousas Rushdoony, Sayyid Qutb, and Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi. I examine what stands for ‘scriptural literalism’ for each of those authors and the way their ‘literalisms’ correlate and contrast with each other. On that basis, my study offers a typological systematisation of biblical and Qur’anic ‘literalisms’ in order to rectify terminological confusion and conflation which currently exist with regards to Protestant and Sunni ‘fundamentalist hermeneutics’.

‘Friendship’ is among the buzzwords such as ‘peace’, ‘tolerance’, and ‘understanding’, that are part of a shared vocabulary in the interfaith world. In discussions of the goals and benefits of interfaith dialogue, buzzwords such as ‘friendship’ are often implicitly presented as a common currency, and there is little attempt to explore how people within each religious tradition might define, shape, and describe them differently. How might, for example, Christians and Muslims differ in their opinions on the nature, possibilities, and limits of interfaith friendship? Looking at general interfaith dialogue material and at material for a specific type of interfaith dialogue, ‘Scriptural Reasoning’, I consider Christian and Muslim discourse, including promotional material for charities, speeches by religious leaders, religious documents, non-academic material (e.g. online forums, magazines), and academic material. I also look at discussions regarding the Qur’ānic verses about friendship with the religious other, which are one source of a specifically Muslim approach to the idea of interfaith friendship. My data shows that Christians tend to depict friendship as an obvious goal or benefit of interfaith dialogue, typically without explaining what interfaith friendship entails. Muslims tend to use friendship language much more sparingly in the context of interfaith dialogue, and when they do use it, it is with caveats. I note how the generic use of friendship language creates tension with the efforts to pay 'attention to the particularities of the traditions and scriptures' that the founders and practitioners of Scriptural Reasoning, among others, advocate. What questions does this analysis raise about how we frame and promote interfaith dialogue, and what other approaches to naming the goals or benefits of dialogue may be available, once attention to the particularities has made the appeal to friendship more complex?

This dissertation offers a comprehensive study of the life and work of Kuthayyir ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, a love poet and panegyrist who died in AH 106/725 in his hometown of Medina, in the Hijaz. The dissertation reexamines the rise of monothematic love poetry in the pre- and early Islamic period, and offers a new perspective on the relationship between poetry and power, between early Islamic rituals (such as the performance of the Hajj) and rightful claims to rulership, and between cognate motifs in Umayyad poetry and the Qur'an. The interpretation of the life and work of Kuthayyir sets Hijazi love poetry of the first Islamic century within the historical context of political contexts and patronage programs in the period during and following the conflict known as the Second Fitna. Chapter One introduces the fundamental challenges to the study of Umayyad-era poetry, outlines the approach to the sources, and surveys Kuthayyir's life and textual corpus. Chapter Two reviews the scholarship on the emergence of love poetry in the first Islamic century, provides a reading of the akhbar frame in which Umayyad-era ghazal is presented, then provides translations and philological commentaries on four of Kuthayyir's ghazal poems. The translations are followed by two essays studying aspects of Kuthayyir's poetics, comprising a study of the poet's frequent references to pilgrimage (ḥajj), and a discussion of the poet's deployment of a 'love-sick' poetic persona that evokes parallels with prophet-narratives in the Qurʾān. Chapter Three then offers a comprehensive account of Kuthayyir's career as a panegyric poet, tracing his successive patronage relationships, translating and interpreting his major praise poetry, and exploring thematic and tonal overlaps between the poet's love poetry and panegyric. The dissertation makes the case that Kuthayyir's ghazal and panegyric should be read together, and that his patronage by the post-Fitna Marwanid elite must be considered central to our historical interpretation of his poetry. While his love poetry embeds the expression of individual erotic experience within the landscape of the sacred Ḥijāz, so does his praise poetry deploy the representation of the Ḥijāz and its rituals as a means for affirming Marwānid claims of authority. This interpretation of Kuthayyir's work is contrasted to earlier interpretations of Umayyad-era ghazal poetry, which have focussed primarily on ghazal poetry as a creative manifestation of the disruption engendered by the societal shifts of the first Islamic century.

Muḥammad ῾Abduh (d. 1905) and Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā's (d. 1935) Tafsīr al-Manār is widely considered a turning point in Qur'anic exegesis for its presumed departure from traditional Sunni Arabic commentaries on the Qur'an, both methodologically and intellectually. This thesis investigates this assumption by taking a closer look at the text of the Manār commentary itself. With a primary focus on the Tafsīr al-Manār's exegesis of Sūrat al-Mā'ida-authorship of which should, along with most other parts of the commentary, be ascribed to Rashīd Riḍā-I argue that, although certain traditional exegetical techniques and features remain in this commentary, their presence and function appear to be superficial in many ways. Specifically, Rashīd Riḍā breaks with some of the conventions followed by classical mufassirūn not only by introducing a number of novel ideas, some of which stand in opposition to classical Sunni doctrine, but also by demonstrating a much more pronounced interest in the social and political realities of his day. In this context, the author often seems to use tradition in a way that serves the purpose of advancing his own agenda as a social reformer, although he does so in an arguably subtle and nuanced fashion. On the one hand, abiding by certain traditional exegetical rules allows him to showcase his own scholarly credentials to participate in the long-standing tafsīr genre. On the other hand, his proximity to and engagement with tradition seems to help him justify some of his more blatant departures in a manner that signals to the reader that his views are, in fact, not far-fetched at all, but intrinsically Islamic.

In the aftermath of the independence of Morocco and Algeria in the second half of the twentieth century, each sought to create one homogeneous nation-state, defining themselves as Arab, declaring Arabic language as the only official language and embarking on Arabisation campaign that attempted to eliminate any ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity. The Berber community which comprised 40% of the Moroccan population (Madani 2003, Silverstein and Crawford 2004, Maddy-Weitzman 2006) and 25% of the Algerian population (Ennaji 2009) appeared to be relegated to an inferior position and pushed back to the peripheries. This situation gave rise to what is generally referred to as ‘the Berber question’; the Berbers became increasingly aware of their minority status and began to demand certain linguistic and cultural rights. Translation, most importantly the translation of the Holy Quran, became an important means of asserting these rights and the identity of the Berber as a distinct nation. Drawing on paratext theory as proposed by Genette (1997) and framing theory as put forward by Goffman (1974) and elaborated by others (e.g. Entman 1993, Snow and Benford 1988, 2000 and Asimakoulas 2009), the study investigated the role that three Berber translations of the Holy Quran have played in renegotiating the political landscape of Berber communities in the past eighteen years (1999-2017). Analysis of the three translations have shown that the translators, while being faithful to the text, managed to signal their difference, foreground their language and culture and question, challenge and even undermine widespread official claims, through subtle, counter-hegemonic moves, using framing strategies and a toolbox of paratextual devices.

In the past century a new school of Islamic scholarship has emerged and evolved which this thesis refers to as the Farāhī school of thought, henceforth written as the Farāhīs. Research carried out studying the Farāhīs has been very limited in the sense that it has been heavily focused on differences in conclusions, rather than approaches. Where approaches were discussed, only the main premises, as published by the scholars of the Farāhīs themselves, were covered. This thesis delves deeper, to explore the detailed methodological features of the Farāhīs’ approach that result from such premises. This is done through four case studies: stoning, apostasy, ḥijāb, and the return of Jesus. In each case study, after exploring contested areas, the Farāhīs’ approach to the subject is compared with the shī‘ah and sunnī approaches. Interviews with the current leading figure of the Farāhīs are carried out and reported to provide further insights into their approach. Where applicable, points of disagreement among the scholars of the Farāhīs are also discussed. On the subject of stoning, the Farāhīs highlight their method of deriving principles from the Qur’ān alone; they conclude that the law of stoning is associated with the concept of creating anarchy in the land and not adultery per se. On the subject of apostasy, the Farāhīs use the principle of itmām al-ḥujjah to conclude that the punishment for apostasy was related to the sunnah of God at the time of the messengers only. On the subject of ḥijāb, the Farāhīs attempt to remain loyal to the literal meaning of the Qurānīc words, while also noting the context. They conclude that covering the hair is not an obligation, unless it is embellished. On ‘the return of Jesus’, through literary analysis, they conclude that this belief is not fully in line with the Qur’ān. The findings from these four case studies lead to the identification of a number of methodological features in the approach of the Farāhīs, which are further substantiated by tracing them in other documentations of the Farāhīs. The strengths and challenges that these methodological features can bring to the Farāhīs are discussed. At the end of the thesis the Farāhī school of thought is also compared and positioned with regard to the other contemporary approaches.

The crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ is a profound event that holds immense theological significance within Christianity. However, the Islamic perspective as presented in the Qur'an, offers a distinct portrayal of this event, giving rise to an argument known as the Swoon Theory. This theory suggests that Jesus did not die on the cross but instead survived the crucifixion, prompting various interpretations and implications. This thesis aims to explore the depiction of the crucifixion and death of Jesus in the Qur'an, focusing specifically on the swoon theory and its relationship with the medical perspective. By examining relevant Qur'anic verses and exploring medical knowledge and historical context, this research will delve into the plausibility and implications of the Swoon Theory from a medical standpoint.

The shari‘a, or the inherited legal tradition, has tended to dominate discussions of contemporary Islam. Relatively little attention has been given to the Qur’an, however, despite its importance both in terms of Muslim theology, in which it is understood as the actual Word of God, and of Islamic reformist thought. Far from being marginal, the Qur’an has emerged as a rich resource for theological reflection and sociopolitical action. Specifically, it has become a source of empowerment, speaking to contexts of oppression. This thesis examines the commentaries of four Muslim intellectuals who have expounded the Qur’an as a liberating text – namely, the South African Farid Esack (b. 1956), the Indian Asghar Ali Engineer (b. 1939), the American Amina Wadud (b. 1952) and the Pakistani Asma Barlas (b. 1950) – supplemented by in-depth interviews. In so doing, this study seeks (i) to fill a major gap in the literature by offering the first comprehensive survey and analysis of their readings and (ii) to challenge common portrayals of justice-based exegesis as being an obscure, fundamentalist scripturalism; as being rooted in North America; and as being focussed primarily, even exclusively, on gendered oppression. Indeed, the centring of the Qur’an in Islamic thought, I argue, is an increasingly mainstream practice – a global hermeneutic – as Muslims throughout the world seek answers in scripture to the pressing problems of the present. Furthermore, justice-based exegesis has been holistic, addressing (in addition to patriarchy) poverty and racism, communal violence and imperialism. Liberationist and women’s readings are significant, I conclude, for two reasons. Firstly, they shed new insights into the rise of ‘thematic commentary’ (tafsir mawdu‘i) in Qur’anic exegesis. Secondly, their expressly political character exposes the hegemony of Islamism over our understanding of ‘the political’ and ‘the radical’ in an Islamic context, thereby forcing us to redefine political and radical Islam.

This thesis is an analysis and interpretation of six chapters from al-Nabulusi's commentary. One of these is an account of his intentions for writing the commentary and the other five are commentaries on parts of the Fusus al-hikam. These chapters chosen from al-Nabulusi's commentary treat important subjects in the Fusus al-hikam which exemplify Ibn 'Arabi's thought particularly well. They are concerned with certain issues which were perceived to have a special importance in the Islamic religious tradition. One issue, for example, is that of Pharaoh's profession of faith which was a prominent subject of debate and discussion in Islamic literature. Ibn 'Arabi's position on this was severely criticised by many. The thesis argues that there are four ways in which to appreciate the commentary's intellectual and religious outlook: first, with respect to its approach to Ibn 'Arabi's ideas; second, with respect to its use of Qur'an and hadith in the specific context of developing an independence from Ibn 'Arabi's thought and in the general context of Qur'anic exegesis; third, in its use of language, narrative and metaphor, finally, in its legal approach towards the issue of Pharaoh's faith evincing arguments similar to those of Ibn 'Arabi, but not identical, and, like Ibn 'Arabi, adopting positions different from those of the wider Islamic religious tradition. The thesis demonstrates that the commentary's significance can be appreciated in two historical contexts: the anti-Ibn 'Arabi tendency manifest in late 17th century Damascus; and the enduring tradition of polemics surrounding Ibn 'Arabi's thought.

A customary interrogation tactic used against Christians is to question the transmissional accuracy of the Bible from the Apostle’s writing to the present. Muslims are especially antagonistic in this accusation while asserting the superiority of the Qur’ān to near perfect transmissional accuracy. However, they are egregiously mistaken in these assertions. Though on the surface, the bibliographical test might begin to look like the Qur’ān may surpass the Bible, a more in-depth investigation proves otherwise. The fact that the Qur’ān does not, and never has, had a sole autograph but, instead, many varying writings attempting to preserve Mohammad’s teachings. Then later attempts to create a canonical book melding these various readings into one makes it impossible to trace what the original writings stated at all. Whereas the Bible can be recreated nearly word for word accuracy of the writers’ original autographs. Furthermore, few of the Muslim assertions of manuscript numbers and dates can be backed up by scholarly research, instead, they come from estimations or poor scholarship. These poorly done scholarly works break down the Qur’ān’s strength in the bibliographical test even further, yet the Bible’s numbers and dates have been diligently studied and recorded by scholars both from within the faith and outside with minuscule deviations.

This study explores the intersection between the writings of the “School of Ibn ʿArabī” and the mainstream Islamic tafsir tradition through the exemplifying lens of a single issue: “faith of Pharaoh” (īmān Firʿawn)”. It proceeds from the observation that reading across these two scholarly currents and the textual genres comprising them can illuminate a vital area of inquiry in post-classical Islamic intellectual history, namely the reception of Ibn ʿArabī’s (d. 1240) doctrines among the ulama. A small number of Ibn ʿArabī’s theologically-inclined followers defended an alternative view (first proposed by Ibn ʿArabī), for which they developed increasingly sophisticated arguments in commentarial works and independent treatises. In the first core chapter of this study, I survey the classical tafsir tradition on faith of Pharaoh, tracing the consensus among the exegetes to the gradual formation of an “exegetical theology” on this question. In the next chapter, I examine the emergence of an opposition group within a branch of the School of Ibn ʿArabī that I call the Qūnawī tradition, beginning in the thirteenth century. I trace the increasing sophistication of this opposition among lesser-studied members of this tradition, such as ʿAlā al-Dīn Mahāʾimī (d. 1432), and finish by presenting arguments from treatises written by some of Ibn ʿArabī’s little-known supporters among the ulama—Shaykh-i Makkī Kazarūnī (d. 1519-20) and Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rasūl Barzinjī (d. 1691). Next, I turn to post-classical tafsir, identifying several modes and instances of interaction from the Ibn ʿArabī-inspired defenses of faith of Pharaoh within Quran commentaries, including late glosses. I show that this interaction was either indirect—causing exegetes to clarify their positions—or negative—inspiring critical responses. In the conclusion, I suggest reasons why the discipline of tafsir may have been resistant to influence from the “School of Ibn ʿArabī”, despite being generally open to other Islamic disciplines.

This dissertation explores the written Qur’ān and its role in the lives of Sunnī Muslims in the Middle East from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. Until now, medieval Qur’ān manuscripts have been largely the domain of art historians who emphasize the commissioning of luxury Qur’āns as demonstrations of piety and authority. This study relocates the Muslim scripture, taking it off the bookshelf and placing it in the hands of every-day Muslims, literate and illiterate, men and women. By combining the close examination of hundreds of Qur’ān manuscripts with an analysis of the book’s portrayal in a variety of medieval Arabic literary genres, a portrait of the Qur’ān emerges that is very much at odds with the prescriptions and proscriptions set forth in Islamic law regarding the treatment of the book and its designation as a sacred object. I argue that beginning with the rise of the book as a means of transmitting knowledge in the ninth century, attitudes toward the written Qur’ān changed at all levels of society. Recognizing the increased presence of books, elite religious scholars attempted to disassociate women from the transmission of the written Qur’ān. My gendered reading reveals the failure of these men to rewrite the life Ḥafṣa, a wife of the Prophet closely associated with the preservation of the first Qur’ān codex. With the rise of Sufism and its emphasis on a personal relationship with God, every-day Muslims forged a parallel personal relationship with their written scripture, and, ignoring Islamic law, designated some Qur’āns as hyper-sacred and used them as a means of intercession with God. At the same time, the Sunnī Muslim masses in Baghdad raised the Qur’ān during street riots, exposing it to pollution and potential destruction. This dissertation reveals for the first time that rather than the elite Islamic scholars defining orthopraxy concerning the written scripture, it was every-day Muslims who determined what the Qur’ān as a book meant to them and how it was to be treated.

This study investigates Muqātil ibn Sulaymān's (d. 150/767) hermeneutics in his three extant Qur'an commentaries: al-Tafsῑr al-Kabῑr, Tafsῑr al-Khams Mi'at Āyah min al-Qur'ān, and al-Wujūh wa al-Naẓā'ir fῑ al-Qur'ān al-‛Aẓῑm. It explains Muqātil's understanding of the Qur'an, his exegetical approaches, and the theological concerns undergirding his endeavors. Despite his early importance, Muqātil is an understudied figure because of stigma attached to his views and methods. Later Muslim tradition accused Muqātil of anthropomorphism, inattention to transmission chains, fabrication of ḥadῑth (prophetic traditions), and overreliance on biblical narratives, thus rendering his work theologically and methodologically suspect. Two of these accusations are unfounded, and two are only partially correct but misleading as well as anachronistic. Existing modern scholarship on Muqātil and his commentaries has either focused on these accusations or on uncovering his views on specific topics. None has addressed Muqātil's hermeneutics, the focus of this study. Substantively, Muqātil maintains that the Qur'an consists of divine commands, prohibitions, promises, threats, and narratives of the past. Linguistically, the Qur'an is a complex structure containing utterances of different kinds, which he presents in a series of binaries: general-particular, clear-vague, equivocal-unequivocal, explicit-implicit, and so forth. Consequently, a proper understanding of the Qur'an necessitates interpretation. Muqātil uses three major exegetical methods, namely paraphrasing, crossreferencing, and narrative, and three techniques, namely fragmentation, specification, and completion. Muqātil's commentaries persistently focus on theological concerns revolving around the propagation of belief (ῑmān), in opposition to disbelief (kufr), with regard to the oneness of God (tawḥῑd) and the validity of Muhammad's prophethood (taṣdῑq). He uses theological criteria to evaluate non-Muslim communities as well as Muslims who had shown distrust of or rebellious acts against the Prophet Muhammad. Though theologically uncompromising, Muqātil is legally a pragmatist with regard to interreligious coexistence, especially in his conception of muḥkamāt al-Qur'ān as the perennially unchanging elements of revelation, which serves as the "Islamic Decalogue," laying a common ground for interreligious relations. Furthermore, Muqātil is ethically pacifist in advancing his uncompromising theology, including in propagating tawḥῑd and taṣdῑq and in understanding jihad not merely as an armed fight but also as civilized acts undertaken for God's cause.

Tawātur is the concept that if we obtain the same information through a sufficient number of independent channels, we reach certainty about that data. When applied to the transmission of Qur'ān and hadith texts, tawātur can serve as a means by which to assert the truth of a source-text, which in turn has implications for correctness of the religious belief or practice that is conveyed by the text, and hence the orthodoxy of one accepting or rejecting it.

This thesis examines the material which helps scholars understand the Qur’anic use of ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf and arrives at an understanding of ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf translated as “Gentile,” which I demonstrate reconciles the connotation of ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf in the Qur’an with definitions found in the larger Semitic lexica. In order to give semantic meaning to the lexical findings, I group theories which frame signifier ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf into three differing signifieds: (1) a real-world religious group predating Islam in Arabia; (2) Urmonotheism, that is, indication of the existence of an original monotheism in Arabia; (3) an allusion to the mythical status of Abraham as the first monotheist as a legitimization of Muhammad’s message. I address these three signifieds in relation to my proposed interpretation of ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf as “Gentile, non-Israelite,” showing that this interpretation is advantageous for understanding the arguments of the three signifieds encountered in other interpretations which are reflected in the text of the Qur’an. I then explicate the text surrounding each Qur’anic occurrence of ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf and qualify the circumstances around which “Gentile” or ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf is employed. Overall, the suggested interpretation “Gentile” will be demonstrated as reconcilable with the Qur’anic text, the Semitic lexica, and the social and religious context of Arabia. I present a synthesis of al-¿¿¿¿¿¿anīfiyya which shows that its major role was to function as a “middle nation,” as it is referred to in Q 2:143, in negotiation with the increasingly hostile Quraysh, Jewish and Christian groups. A ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf was a Gentile whose appointed role was to reform the disunited society around it and conform its own religious community to a just and moderate standard, as a “middle nation.” The era in which ¿¿¿¿¿¿anīf occurs is immediately before and after the hijra, one in which Muhammad’s group and his message were under great scrutiny and persecution from all fronts. During this period of trial, al-¿¿¿¿¿¿anīfiyya represents the early Islamic community’s social and religious position as a “middle nation” which attempted to mitigate controversy through employing the symbols of Abraham and his House, the Ka‘ba, two figures common to the Jews, Christians and Quraysh. Al-¿¿¿¿¿¿anīfiyya was also a “middle nation” in the temporal sense, indicating that Muhammad’s nation and religion were at a middle point in their development, emphasizing elements common to the surrounding societies “so that men may have no argument against you [Muhammad and his followers], save such as them do injustice….so that I [God] may complete My grace upon you,” an indication that al-¿¿¿¿¿¿anīfiyya belonged to a transitional stage within the dynamic development of Muhammad’s message.

Abstract: several criticisms regarding the treatment of women in Islamic Inheritance Laws have stated that these laws are in favor of males. The most common claim is that women receive half the share of men in the Islamic inheritance system. This thesis examines this issue from legal and economic prospective. It shows that the inheritance system is part of a broader socio-economic system. Moreover, this thesis shows that unlike men, women in Islamic law receive fixed shares, which guarantees a minimum amount of inheritance for women. It concludes that women have more than twenty conditions where they would inherit equivalent share as men, more share than men, or they would exclusively inherit. In addition, women inherit half the share of men only in four cases if there is a man inheriting from an equivalent status and he is, mostly, obliged to maintain her.

The purpose of this analysis was to discover the extent to which dictates of war theory ideals can be considered universal, by comparing the Western (European), Classical Chinese, and Islamic models. It also examined the contextual elements that drove war theory development within each civilization, and the impact of such elements on the differences arising in war theory comparison. These theories were chosen for their differences in major contextual elements, in order to limit the impact of contextual similarities on the war theories. The results revealed a great degree of similarities in the conception of warfare as a social tool of the state, utilized as a sometimes necessary, albeit tragic, means of establishing peace justice and harmony. What differences did arise, were relatively minor, and came primarily from the differing conceptions of morality and justice within each civilization--thus indicating a great degree of universality to the conception of warfare.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION"Who's Better than God to Rule?" - An Inquiry into the Formation of the First Islamic State (622-32 CE)ByFiazuddin ShuaybDoctor of Philosophy in Islamic StudiesUniversity of California, Los Angeles, 2012Professor Khaled Abou El-Fadl, ChairThis dissertation is a historical research in the formation of the first Islamic State during the era of the Prophet Muḥammad (ca. 622-32 CE). While many academic works have referred to it largely within either biographical (e.g. `the life of Muḥammad' and the like) or mega-historical conceptual frameworks (e.g. `the history of Islam' etc), few have focused exclusively on the political context of the rise of Islam in the seventh century CE. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach drawn from the social sciences, especially political anthropology, history and political science, and the Islamic sciences, I describe the various cultural processes involved in the founding of the early Islamic State and its structure, including an in-depth examination of the local Arabian and regional political environments, the make-up of Arabian society and religion, the Makkan opposition to Islam, the Muslim response to persecution, and how the Qur'an undermined ultimately undermined order and authority in Makka. Also explored in this research are the policy functions of the Islamic State, that is, its conduct, including its relations with non-Muslims, law, warfare, political economy, and foreign relations, which are interpreted through an explanatory framework based on the system's idéologique or native logicality. Last but not least, aspects of the nascent Muslim body politic that are distinctively Islamic are highlighted, such as its innovative notion of rulership (namely, the prophet or messenger of God as a political agent who exercises ḥukm Allah or `rule by that which God has revealed'), the concept of Sharia or divine law, the non-distinction of the religious and the secular or spiritual and temporal domains of society, and the practical demonstration of its uncompromising monotheistic theology as a political ideology and mode of governance.

This thesis challenges previous historiography and suggests an alternative explanation for the first appearance in writing of the ḥadīth relating the collection and codification of the Qur’ān. Rather than equating this “sudden” appearance with fabrication, I argue that the ḥadīth were already in oral circulation, and put in writing in Abū ʿUbayd’s Faḍā’il al-Qur’ān in order to serve the religio-political goals of the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mūn (r. 197/813-218/833). I argue that Abū ʿUbayd’s inclusion of the collection and codification accounts, which emphasize caliphal authority over the written Qur’ān, were intended to support al-Ma’mūn’s campaign to control religious authority as exemplified in the Miḥna.

A central concern in the public square is the devaluation or subjugation of a people using the shield of religion. It has become an expedient and nonchalant tool to abuse a certain class of people in the name of a higher power. Islam is no exception. Throughout the holy books of Islam, women are subjected to a life of oppression, one that is approved by Allah. While many are apt to point to Christianity as an example of the same devaluation of women, there are incredible differences between these two religions, and the holy books that dictate the treatment of women. Any discussion about the religious justification for treatment of men, women or children must first turn directly to the texts for these commands. Within the pages of the Koran and the Hadith, there is an oppressive nature towards women. This is drastically different from the role that women play in the Bible. In fact, what may be considered the most oppressive view of women within the Bible, the complementarian view, is still more gracious and fair towards women than that found within Islam. Furthermore, the pages of the Bible teach a kindness, and a love toward the fairer sex as displayed by Jesus Christ himself. It does not sanction the abuse women, or to degrade their place next to God, but rather the Bible unfolds the reasoning behind the complementarian expression of the family unit and expresses this view through God and His actions toward His people.

Islam is often viewed as the religion par excellence of divine transcendence. God is khilāf al-'ālam, “the absolute divergence from the world” and this characteristically Islamic doctrine of mukhālafa “(divine) otherness” precludes divine corporeality. In as much as this latter is conditio sine qua non of visibility, it is axiomatic that the God of Islam in invisible and therefore non-theophanous. This tradition of divine invisibility and incorporeal transcendence is in radical discontinuity with the Biblical/Semitic and ancient Near Eastern tradition of transcendent anthropomorphism and perilous visio Dei, according to which God/the gods has/have bodies human of shape but transcendent in substance, manner of being, and effect. Seeing this transcendently anthropomorphic deity is possible but dangerous for mortal onlookers. The profound disparity between Islamic and Biblical/ancient Near Eastern articulations of divine transcendence raises questions regarding Islam’s place among the Semitic religions. This dissertation argues that as a member of the Semitic religions Islam too possessed a tradition of transcendent anthropomorphism, theophany and visio Dei, which tradition likely originated with the Prophet MuÈammad. When read in the context of possible Biblical and ancient Near Eastern narrative/mythological subtexts, rather than affirming divine invisibility the relevant Qur'ānic passages seem to qualify divine visibility and theophany. It is argued here that despite the Aristotelian-Neoplatonic critique of anthropomorphism by rationalist groups such as the Mu'tazila a defining aspect of the traditionalist Sunnī 'aqīda or creed for the first four centuries (9th-12th CE) was the affirmation of Muhammad’s visual encounter with God. As in post-Maimonidean Judaism, however, the Aristotelian-Neoplatonic revision of the Sunnī creed will eventually be so successful that it has resulted in the near-total forgetting of this earlier Islamic tradition of anthropomorphic theophany and Visio Dei.

This thesis has provided the analytical framework to answer the question: Do American junior and high school World History textbooks present a biased perception of the Middle East? Through both quantitative and qualitative research, this study has found that the ten World History textbooks analyzed presented a biased perspective of the Middle East through word use, omission of data and the presentation of inaccurate information. The thesis is divided into five chapters, summarized as follows: Chapter One discusses current textbook content standards, explains the process of textbook adoption, and presents the purpose of the study. Chapter Two discusses political socialization and its role in this study, followed by theories on where the pre-existing bias against the Middle East comes from, and concludes with a review of the findings from previous studies. Chapter Three then explains and justifies the methodology used, including the quantitative ECO analysis created by Pratt (1972) and the development and use of the qualitative rubric. The results of a preliminary study are presented followed by the evaluation of alternative research designs and the discussion of the study’s strengths and weaknesses. Chapter Four presents the results of both analyses with tables and examples to heighten understanding and finally, Chapter Five explains the conclusions of the study including implications for socialization theories, previous research, and policy, and concludes with recommendations for future research.

The Female Voices of Islam is arguing for feminism to be regarded as a theory instead of an ideology so that the voices of contemporary female Muslims can be heard. This paper reviews the arguments of four such women: Amina Wadud, Fatima Mernissi, Asra Q. Nomani, and finally Zainab al-Ghazali. Collectively their discourses support equality for men and women within the Islamic tradition, while their individual ways of approaching the subject differ dramatically. Wadud and Nomani support the theory that an egalitarian ethic can be found in the roots of the Islamic tradition, in both text and ritual. Mernissi investigates how economic evolution of Islamic society stimulates a shift in spatial boundaries for Muslim women. Al-Ghazali does not address female inequality within the tradition, but advocates an egalitarian ethic through the example she sets in Egyptian society. She is concerned with a world wide observance of “true” Islam.