History Commons^™

Ecumenical Dialogue Between Reformers And Orthodox Under The Ottomans (15-16th Century), Svetoslav Svetoszarov Ribolov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Despite the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, the Orthodox Church continued to make contacts with the West. In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Patriarchs Joasaph II and Jeremias II had ecumenical contacts and theological dialogues with two generations of Reformers. Martin Luther and Melanchthon, and later Martin Crusius, Jakob Andrеä, and their associates in Wittenberg took up the initiative for a serious ecumenical dialogue with Constantinople. Despite a sincere desire on both sides, lack of a common methodological framework in the talks did not allow for significant results. In the end, both sides did not …

In The Land Of Brothers, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of In the Land of Brothers (2024), directed by Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi.

Inclusion And Hegemony: Reading Salmān Al-Fārisī'S Conversion Story, Stacey Zhang

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

In the otherwise expansive medieval Arabic literature, the scarcity of information concerning the conversion process of the early Islamic community piques interest in the handful of existing conversion narratives.One particular narrative that stands out is the conversion story of Salmān al-Farisi, recounting his transformation from a devout Zoroastrian to a dedicated companion of Prophet Muhammad. In the compilation of stories of Salmān al-Farisi by Louis Massignon named "Khabar Salmān," the persistence of many plot elements across different accounts of the story suggests a deliberate process of repetition and canonization. Recognizing the Salmān al-Farisi story as a site of memory, curation, …

Keepers Of The Peace Or Soldiers: An Analysis Of The 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing And The Rationale Behind Deploying Troops In A Peacekeeping Capacity, Brock Bellinger

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Despite President Reagan’s historic foreign policy success in ushering in the collapse of the Soviet Union and liberation of Eastern Europe, the loss of life during the Beirut Marine barracks bombing marks a substantial failure in Reagan’s foreign policy record. Reagan’s foreign policy failure in Beirut that resulted in the deaths of 241 Americans merits further examination amongst students of international relations as this peacekeeping mission illustrates the dangers of sending American troops into harm’s way without a clear and decisive goal and exit strategy. By evaluating the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing, the hindsight and judgment of history allows …

The Sephardic-Mizrahi Moment: Cultural Renewal, Jewish-Arab Rapprochement And Zionism In The 1920s, Boaz Israel Levy

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

This study examines the Sephardic-Mizrahi nationalist strategy in the British and French mandates of the early 20th century. Scholars including Abigail Jacobson, Moshe Naor, and Yitzhak Bezalel indicate this community developed a unique approach to nationalism. Utilizing Alex Winder’s conceptual framework for violence, Yehuda Shamir’s conceptual framework for culture and Rashid Khalidi’s analytical framework, this study broadens the research on Sephardic-Mizrahi communities, the development of 20th century nationalism, and the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Drawing on correspondences, reports and newspapers, this paper argues a Sephardic-Mizrahi Moment began by 1925, employing institutions— such as activist organizations and the press—to simultaneously …

The Double-Edged Sword: Examining The Contradictory Nature Of Savak And The U.S.-Iran Cliency Relationship, Braedon Mcghee

History in the Making

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 marked the end of the diplomatic relationship between Iran and the United States. This relationship, cultivated by the United States throughout the Cold War, served the interests of the United States’ hegemonic quest to contain communism while also appealing to the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s political goals. This paper analyzes the complex and contradictory nature of the U.S.-Iran relationship during the reign of the Shah, specifically focusing on the role of the Shah’s brutal secret police force Sâzemân-e Ettelâ’ât va Amniat-e Kešvar (SAVAK), created, directed, and funded by the United States to consolidate …

Political Economy Of The Middle East: Historiography And The Making Of An Episteme, Jordan Rothschild

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The Great Divergence accelerated a process of Western European states dominating the majority of the world’s geography and people economically and geopolitically. Given the stakes of this shift and its ramifications for all of the history that followed, and the significant way that the divide continues to shape our world, this phenomenon is subject to considerable debate within the historiography. This paper uses the Great Divergence as a departure point to analyze the different schools of political economic history, from the flawed sociologies of the early 20th century theorists to the World Systems Theorists and beyond. A key aspect of …

The Limits Of Solidarity: Leftist Jewish Israeli Activism For Palestine In The 1960’S And 2010’S, Ryann M. Hubbart

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

What does it mean for Jewish Israelis to engage in Palestinian solidarity? How do they navigate their positions of privilege in their activism? To explore these questions, I begin with a historical trajectory of the rise and fall of leftist Jewish Israeli activist organizations in response to global and local developments. I focus on two periods and their organizations: The Israeli Socialist Organization in the 1960’s and 1970’s and Ta’ayush and Physicians for Human Rights Israel in the 2010’s. In both cases the individuals in question are a very small minority of Israelis. From there I analyze these organizations and …

Dancers Of The Book: Yemenite, Persian, And Kurdish Jewish Dance, Quinn Bicer

Anthós

Despite the cultural significance of dance in Jewish communities around the world, research into Middle Eastern Jewish dance outside of the modern nation-state of Israel is sorely under-researched. This article aims to help rectify this by focusing on Yemenite, Persian/Iranian, and Kurdish Jewish dance and explores how these dancers have functioned and been received within the societies they have been a part of. The methods that have gone into this article are a combination of analyzing primary source recorded dances and existing secondary source research into the dance of these communities. Through these methods, this article reveals how Yemenite, Iranian, …

The Concept Of Hadith, Meaning, And Position Of Hadith, Implementation And Comparison In Hadith Learning Application: Hadith Encyclopedia And Hadith Collection, Nurul Anggraeni Shinta Ilahi, Nurwahidin Nurwahidin, Mohammad Izdiyan

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

The rapid development of information and communication technology has added new perspectives to research on the concept of hadith, the meaning, and position of hadith, which can also be seen as an effort to improve, enforce, and preserve hadith among the Muslim community in the online realm. The results of this study identified two specific mobile applications, namely the Hadith Encyclopedia and the Hadith Collection. This research aims to test several mobile applications that can be used to speed up the learning process and show how simple the verification and authentication of a hadith is in modern times. Hadith data …

Discovering Dune: Essays On Frank Herbert’S Epic Saga., Edited By Dominic J. Nardi And N. Trevor Brierly, G. Connor Salter

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

G. Connor Salter reviews Discovering Dune: Essays on Frank Herbert’s Epic Saga, edited by Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly, considering its new contributions to studies of Frank Herbert's work. Essays included fit into four categories (Politics and Power, History and Religion, Biology and Ecology, and Philosophy, Choice and Ethics) and range from Herbert's use of ecology in Dune to how game theory may help explain certain characters' apparent ability to see the future. Discovering Dune also includes an appendix which contains the only up-to-date bibliography of Herbert's work (primary and secondary sources).

Bagdad On Fire, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Bagdad on Fire (2023), directed by Karrar Al-Azzawi.

Joonam, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Joonam (2023), directed by Sierra Urich.

Bombay Cinema’S Islamicate Histories, Amanda Lanzillo

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Ira Bhaskar and Richard Allen, eds., Bombay Cinema’s Islamicate Histories (Intellect Ltd, 2022).

The Battle Of Tours Reconsidered, Paul Aitchison

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

This paper examines the Battle of Tours/Poitiers in 732 between the Merovingian Mayor of the Palace, Charles Martel, and the Umayyad governor-general of al-Andalus in modern-day Spain, Abdul Rahman Al-Ghafiqi. Since the pivotal works of Sir Edward Gibbons were published in 1776, the battle has been seen as keeping Europe from falling completely to Islam. More recent scholarship highlights the battle as pivotal in Charles's quest to consolidate power in his ultimately successful bid to create a new power in western Europe, the Carolingian dynasty, which would eventually be created in the crowning as the Holy Roman Empire his grandson, …

Coping With Trauma: Evidence That Suggests The Ancient Egyptians Used Transpersonal Psychology To Cope With Birth-Related Trauma, Erika Kelley

History in the Making

Giving birth in the ancient world was very difficult, stressful, and dangerous with many mothers and children sadly not surviving the ordeal. To deal with this often-traumatic event, many ancient Egyptians used rituals, tools, and spells to ensure that their deities would be present during these difficult times and help either physically or mentally. For the ancient Egyptians, interacting with their gods was a way to ensure their survival, but in modernity, relying on religious or spiritual practices during stressful events correlates with psychology. Modern scholars have named this idea transpersonal psychology, and it is a subsection of humanistic psychology …

Organized Savagery: Legitimization Of British Occupation In The Post-Ottoman State, Jamie M. Emerson

The Purdue Historian

The Great War of 1914-1918 saw the internment of hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war, captured and maintained by the hand of their enemy. Allegations and accounts of ill-treatment under the enemy’s care abounded during and after the war. Leading up to the Peace Conference of 1919, negotiators chose to account for the suffering of these prisoners in their demands for indemnities and reparations. This paper assesses how the British Parliament and press used stories about the suffering of British and Indian prisoners of war in Ottoman internment camps as a means to delegitimize Ottoman rule and legitimize British …

From Spark And Flame: A Study Of The Origins Of Gunpowder Firearms, Avery D. Shepherd

Tenor of Our Times

All modern civilizations look to gunpowder for their weapons of war. Few advancements have been able to match their destructive capabilities, versatility, and ease of production. While it is clear to see the modern usage of the advancement, gunpowder’s origins have been debated over centuries. A study of gunpowder is a study of alchemy throughout the middle ages and across the known world. That study begins in China around the 9th century, where the invention is developed into a weapon of war. Advancements in gunpowder weapons continued as the neighboring Mongols took the technology for themselves. From there, the Westward …

Cinquante Cinq Millions De Français?: French Propaganda During The Algerian Revolution, Amaya Escandon

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

In the late 1950’s to early 1960’s, the visual landscape of Algerian communities would have included walls plastered with various posters and pamphlets in both French and Arabic urging them to “talk,” or to enlist in the French Army, or to “say yes to France and Algeria,” or to say “Yes to Peace.” During the Algerian Revolution, a conflict of urban warfare, terrorism, torture, and no detectable enemy for the French to target, both sides recognized that the war would be won through political control of the population. One of the ways they fought for this control was through visual …

Islamic Containment Of Non-Arab Populations, Omar Tadmori

Al Jinan الجنان

No abstract provided.

Nationalist Theory And Politicization Of Archaeological Resources: Manifestations In Iraq, Andrew Vang-Roberts

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

Archaeological resources have been used by political regimes to further their own interests across time and space for many decades since the discipline was established as a profession in the late 19th century. Regime-backed 20^th century dictators like Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein, Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak understood that whoever controls a nation’s archeological resources controls the nation’s memory. By controlling collective memory, a regime can assert control over its people. Archeological resources can be used to validate a regime’s control over physical space as well. Educating a population about its archeological past can …

تراث السوسيين في السيرة النبوية, أحمد بن محمد فكير

Dirassat

The Legacy of the Soussi People in the Biography of the Prophet

The article is about defining the books and references of the Soussi people on the Prophet’s biography from the 3rd until the 8th Hijri century. It also sheds lights on the praiseworthy poems and writings on the subject. Besides, it refers to some Soussi’s writings on the companions of the prophet.

The Spread Of Quranic Sciences And Recitation In Lebanon, Ziad Hajj, Fatima Mourad

Al Jinan الجنان

علمُ القراءات القرآنيّة، من العلوم الّتي عزَّ طالبوها، حيثُ إنّ الإنسان في الأعم الأغلب يتلقّى الرّواية المشهورة في بلاده، ويحفظ كتاب ربّه سبحانه حسب كيفيّتها، ولا يطلُب ما عداها من قراءات أخرى، إلّا في القليل النّادر، فكانت الدراسة عن كيفية انتشار علم القراءات القرآنيّة على أراضي لبنان – بتقسيمه الحالي - ما بين (1280 ه) و(1330 ه)، أي ما بين (1863 م) و(1912 م)، برغم أنّ التّدوين التّاريخي لهذه الفترة الزّمنيّة فيما يخصّ علم القراءات القرآنية نادر، بل شبه معدوم.

وقد تبيّن لي بعد البحث أنّ القرن الرّابع عشر للهجرة يُعتبر بداية النّهضة القرآنيّة مجدّداً على الأراضي اللّبنانيّة، بعد الرّكود …

النفحات الإيمانية في شعر شعراء الدولة الإسلامية في فلسطين, Houssam Sbat, Wael El-Arini, Nabil Abu Ali

Al Jinan الجنان

يكتب شاعر الدعوة في فلسطين ليقترب من داخله وليلقى فسحة أخرى من الحرية يسلط بها الضوء على الزوايا المعتمة في المجتمع , الزوايا التي لا يراها الآخرون , يكتب لأن في داخله وفي عقله رؤى وافكارًا وهواجس يرغب أن يبثها علّها تلقى من يستقبلها , ولا يكتب الشاعر بدافع أن يبيع كتابه ويجني من ورائه المال , فهو يسكب احساسه على الورق , وكل فكره أو جمله أو كلمه يكتبها لا تساويها كل كنوز العالم, فكيف إذا كانت هذه الكلمات تناجي الله رب العالمين ليغفر ذنبه ويفتح له باب التوبة حتى يكون من الناجين في الدنيا والآخرة , فلكل شاعر …

The Waqf Lands In Turkestan During The Colonization Of The Russian Empire ( In 1865-1881 On The Example Of The Syrdarya Region), Odil Zaripov

The Light of Islam

The article examines the state of the waqf lands in the Turkestan general-governorate, created during the colonization of the Russian Empire, using the example of the Syrdarya region. The study mainly used primary archival sources, materials from the office of the Governor-General of the region, and scientific works on this topic. We analyzed the reasons for the establishment of the waqf lands in the area and their significance, as well as the fact that these lands became abandoned as a result of the colonial policy of the tsarist authorities. The General government in Turkestan was created in 1867 based on …

Empire In-The-Round: The Tiered Stages Of Naqsh-I Jahan Square In Isfahan, Sean P. Silvia

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Naqsh-i Jahan Square lies at the heart of the Safavid Empire's capital city of Isfahan, and it is a remarkable unified artistic statement that renders legible Shah 'Abbas' imperial ideology in the urban landscape. It is also a complex made up of many different buildings with theater iconography: the caravanserai, coffeehouse, maydan, and palace. Though there is much existing scholarship analyzing these buildings separately, this paper proposes a new holistic conception of these stage spaces as linked and hierarchal. The stages embody the Shah's goal of centralization by facilitating ease of movement to promote urban consolidation and they invite the …

The Judges In The Rashidun Era - An Analytical Historical Study, Yousef Abdallah Al-Sharifain, Raouf Al-Sharifain

Jerash for Research and Studies Journal مجلة جرش للبحوث والدراسات

This research studies and analyzes the judges in the Rightly Guided Caliphate. By introducing the rightly guided caliphate, the rightly guided caliphs, and the judges in the era of the rightly guided caliphs studied and analyzed To find out the most important and important characteristics that must be taken into account when choosing a judge, as well as the extent of connection or separation of the Rightly Guided Caliphs from the foundations and method of choosing the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, of judges during the prophetic period, by reading the correspondence of the caliphs with …

The Association Of Algerian Muslim Ulama And Women, Djamila Hanafi

Dirassat

The Algerian women’s situation has witnessed, over decades, great transformations and improvements in many fields; such as education, economy and politics. However women remain in the eyes of the Algerian society as a sex of a secondary position. This wrongheaded view is strongly rooted into the Algerian mind, and undoubtedly the inherited traditions and customs are its essential source. I would like to argue in this essay that this traditional background has been deeply-rooted into people's minds many decades ago by the Association of Algerian Muslim "Ulama", the most distinctive and prominent school in Algeria's intellectual landscape. In fact, it …

John Of Damascus’S Theological Methodology: An Effective Way To Answer Islamic Objections, Sherene N. Khouri

Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal

John of Damascus, who is considered one of the three pillars of the Eastern Orthodox church, was not known in the West for a long time. Few scholars studied his work in recent years and highlighted some aspects of his Summa, which is considered the first systematic theology work in the history of Christianity. This paper will have three sections: the first section shall discuss the life and the educational background of John. The second section shall discuss and evaluate John’s theological methodology. The third section shall discuss his methodology in answering the Saracen. This paper aims to highlight …

Arab Authors’ Responses To Cross-Cultural Experiences With Europe: The Contrasting Perspectives Of ‘Abd Al-Rahman Al-Jabarti And Rifa‘A Al-Tahtawi, Clara R. Keuss

Global Tides

This article contrasts the ways in which major Arab authors of the early or pre- Nahda (Ar. "awakening," "renaissance") period (ca. 1850-1950) responded to the French during and after the Napoleonic occupation of Egypt (1798-1801), specifically through Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti’s contemporary chronicles of the invasion and Rifa'a al-Tahtawi's account of his five-year stay in Paris (1826-31). In so doing, it explores how or whether these reflections on the European other inflected the later development of modern Arabic narrative and concepts of Egyptian identity.