Islamic World and Near East History Commons^™

Sufism At The Service Of Ḥadīth Commentary: Re-Framing Al-Kalābādhī'S Baḥr Al-FawāʾId In Fourth-Tenth Century Transoxiana, Fadhil Yunus Alsagoff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Abū Bakr al-Kalābādhī’s (d. 380/990) understudied ḥadīth commentary, the Baḥr al-fawāʾid al-mashhūr bi-maʿānī al-akhbār. The first Anglophone study of the text as a whole, this thesis situates itself within the emergent literature on ḥadīth commentaries and challenges the prevailing scholarly tendency to reduce Sufi-authored commentarial texts to the ishārī method of interpretation and to treat them solely as repositories of Sufi themes. This thesis argues that, contrary to current perceptions of the text as primarily a work of Sufism, the Baḥr al-fawaʾid is first and foremost a work of ḥadīth commentary, its main intent being to …

The Egyptian Discovery Of The Rising Sun: Re-Evaluating The Pan-Asianist Rhetoric Of Mustafa Kamil And Trans-Imperialism, Hung Pan (Eric) Li

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Mustafa Kamil (1874–1908) is widely celebrated in modern historiography as a founding father of modern Egypt for his contributions to Egyptian nationalism. It is conventionally understood that he achieved mastery in "speaking back to the Occident" by leveraging both domestic and international support, reconciling his nationalist agenda of self-determination with Pan-Asianist rhetoric and international solidarity against Western imperialism. One of the most frequently cited pieces of evidence for this position can be found in his 1904 work on Japan, The Rising Sun, in which he praised Japan's modernization and its resistance to the West, and encouraged Egyptians to follow …

Imperial Pedagogy And Religious Constraint: The Politics Of Islamic Education In The Kazakh Steppe Under Tsarist Rule, Kunduzay Yerimbetova, Bekmurat Naimanbayev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the evolution of the Russian Empire’s educational policies toward Islamic schools in the Kazakh Steppe from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1917 Revolution. While the early imperial administration initially tolerated Islamic institutions for pragmatic governance, the latter half of the nineteenth century witnessed a decisive paradigm shift toward systematic surveillance and restriction. Drawing on archival records and colonial administrative decrees, the study analyzes the implementation of the "Ilminsky system" and the compulsory introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet as tools for cultural assimilation and Russification. The research highlights the dual nature of colonial education: while the Tsarist authorities …

Consciousness Under Dual Pressure: Colonial Diglossia, Orthodox Missionary Activity, And Islamic Cultural Resilience In Late Imperial Kazakhstan, Aigerim Aliaskar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the relationship between religious identity, language, and educational experience in the context of the Russian Empire’s educational and Orthodox missionary policies in the Kazakh Steppe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The primary objective of the study is to analyze the spiritual-cognitive resilience of traditional Islamic educational institutions in response to the policy of Orthodoxization and Russification implemented by the tsarist administration through the system of Nikolai Ilminsky. The author examines the phenomenon of colonial diglossia which emerged during this period, wherein Russian-Christian texts were increasingly elevated as the administrative "High-variant," while the Kazakh-Turkic identity, …

International Mediation In The Sudan Conflict: A Critical Appraisal And Alternative Tracks, The Initiative Research And Analysis Committee The Sudanese Initiative To Stop The War And Build Peace

The Journal of Social Encounters

Extensive international intervention is one of the most prominent features of the ongoing war in Sudan since early 2023. As a result of the conflict that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Sudan is witnessing what is widely recognized as one of the most severe humanitarian crises in modern history; It has been characterized by massive displacement, large-scale refugee flows, and famine, along with widespread human rights violations and crimes against humanity—both direct and indirect consequences of military operations that have raged across thirteen of Sudan’s states, where the Rapid Support Forces are actively …

Unraveling The Roots Of Violent Extremism In Sudan: Challenges And Pathways To Peace, Fawzi Ahmed Abdullah Slom

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: African Americans, Sudan, And The Politics Of Solidarity, Walter Hill

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

The Rights Of Religious Minorities In Sudan: A Case Study Of Armenians, Jon Armajani

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay examines the constitutions of the Republic of Sudan and minority rights, with a focus on Armenians in that country.  It provides (1) the demographics of Sudan; (2) an overview of the Armenians of Sudan; (3) a history of Sudan’s constitutions; (4) an analysis of their provisions and related laws on minority rights, citizenship, naturalization, and inheritance; (5) an overview of Sudan’s civil war, which began on April 15, 2023, and (6) a concluding section which analyzes risks to Armenians and other religious and ethnic minorities in Sudan.

The Erosion Of International Norms And The Crisis Of Global Leadership In The Era Of Selective Warfare, Farhia Abdi

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Protection Without Power? The Successes And Failures Of Un Civilian Protection In South Sudan, Gatkuoth Lok Gatwich Diet

The Journal of Social Encounters

Since its establishment in 2011, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has been tasked with protecting civilians in the context of ongoing violent conflict and political instability. The mission has recorded some important achievements, especially through the creation of Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites that have provided shelter to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. However, these gains have been accompanied by major limitations. Repeated attacks on PoC sites, continued communal violence, and the inability to prevent large-scale atrocities highlight a persistent gap between mandate and real-world implementation. This essay examines UNMISS’s performance from 2013 to the present, …

Un-African Union Cooperation In Darfur: Multilevel Governance In Action And The Future Of International-Regional Peace Operations, Philip Mutio

The Journal of Social Encounters

This paper will explore the changing dynamics between global and regional governance frameworks using the example of the UN partnership with regional and sub-regional organizations in the management of intricate peace and security issues. The analysis is anchored on the case of African Union–United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), an example of layered governance, to examine the effect of coordination problems, operational difficulties, and joint mission performance in the areas of peace talks, post-conflict reconstruction, and civilian protection. Along with persistent issues including scarce resources, political instability, and disjointed command structures, the report acknowledges significant advancements such as increased …

Historical Inquiry-Based Lessons In World History Classrooms: Creating Opportunities For Historical Thinking, Melinda Thatcher Lofland

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This Plan B project creates inquiry-based lessons that help students investigate the global tapestry of World History with its vast threads of transregional connections and diverse cultures that color our contemporary world and help prepare them to participate as global citizens. This project uses primary and secondary sources to create evidence-based lesson plans that will help history teachers provide opportunities for students to practice historical inquiry skills in Utah’s world history classrooms. These plans employ current scholarship and best teaching practices while following national and state standards for World History. In addition, these lessons were developed using inquiry-based historical thinking …

Documenting Death: A Question Of Sovereignty In The Cairo Geniza, Thomas Adkins

Theses and Dissertations

How can death offer a case study for the question of sovereignty in eleventh to thirteenth century Egypt as it was performed by sovereigns, officials, and subjects alike, and, in this context, how can the documentary practices preserved in the Geniza be understood as an instrument to perform sovereignty? This thesis uses death as a case study in the same way that scholars of the medieval Islamic world have studied taxation, administration, and ceremonials to understand sovereignty as it was performed by the state, officials, and subjects. This performance of sovereignty by each implicated actor left a rich documentary trail, …

The Narrative Legacy Of Shajar Al-Durr In Arabic Literature, Mary Evelyn Quinlan

Theses and Dissertations

The story of the life of Shajar al-Durr (d. 1257) has been retold many times in Arabic literature in a variety of genres and mediums. In the pre-modern era, Shajar al-Durr’s biography appeared in the works of Ibn Wāṣil, Abū al-Fidāʾ, Al-Maqrīzī, and Ibn Taghrībirdī as well as the popular epic Sīrat Baybars. Many others have written about her since the 19th century, including Qadriyya Ḥusayn and Jurjī Zaydān. Writers of her biography used varying degrees of narrativization to create a story that served their needs, whether that was chronicling the history of 13th century Egypt or promoting contemporary ideological …

Beyond The Veil Of Modernity: René Guénon, Prophet Of The Metapolitical Imaginary, Frederic Colier

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Heralded by some as one of the greatest intellectuals of the 20th century, French metaphysician René Guénon (1886-1951) is also the controversial father of Primordial Tradition, a metaphysics designed to remedy the decline of Western civilization. Guénon viewed the West in the grip of a prolonged cycle of degeneration. He sought to implement a pseudo-authoritarian spiritual reset that required a total rejection of its Western intellectual heritage and an embrace of Eastern doctrines.

Focusing on his landmark book The Crisis of the Modern World (1927), the dissertation examines how Guénon implemented his controversial reset. After outlining the religious, cultural, and …

The Maghrebi Silk Road: A Medieval Exploration, Malak Ouammou

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Maghrebi Silk Road: A Medieval Exploration is an interdisciplinary historical examination of a variety of intellectual and material cross-cultural interactions and connections between Asia and the Maghreb from 900 to 1492. It primarily revolves around agriculture, sericulture, and immaterial and material culture, with an emphasis on knowledge production and dissemination. In it, I focus on the Mediterranean endpoint of the Silk Road network, illustrating the Maghrebi Silk Road through an exploration of various case studies such as rice, silk, and storytelling that demonstrate the role of and the extent to which these “secondary” Silk Road routes existed and were …

Jadughar: The House Of Magic, Dhruvi A. Shah

Masters Theses

Jadughar or the House of Magic is what people call a 'museum' in parts of South Asia. The practice of museum making, at its origin, is the act of collecting, preserving, interpreting and representing a culture’s tangible and intangible heritage to make it accessible to diverse audiences. Since the early 19th century such practices have been performed at various kala bhandars (art centers) in India, without the need of a formal or institutional organisation. The British introduced the model of a ‘museum’ in South Asia, with the aim of not only preserving ethnographic collections, but also showcasing their power and …

How Regime Change In Syria Will Alter The Balance Of Power In The Middle East, Sebastian Victor Oprea

Senior Theses

Regime change often results in a state undergoing a drastic change of governance, largely due to dissatisfaction with the previous ruling government. It has been argued by international relations theorists like John Mearsheimer, that the motivation in a state’s action is derived from fear, power maximization, or self-interest. In the case of Syria, both the Ba’athist regime and the post-Assad governments are motivated by self-interest, which is reflected in their respective conduct of foreign policy. This thesis uses a cumulative methodological approach combined with ethnographic research to understand how the political and social changes in Syria influenced the change in …

An Exploration Of Oman’S Global Identity: Framework For Looking Beyond Colonial Narratives, Kailee G. Pierce

Senior Theses

This paper explores how Oman’s global identity has been historically constructed through religion and tribe rather than solely through modern state institutions or colonial encounters. Challenging eurocentric approaches to International relations, it argues that Oman’s global identity reflects long standing patterns of tribal, religious, and political authority that predates British, and even Portuguese involvement. Focusing on the Nabhani Dynasty, this paper demonstrates that political authority in Oman was never actually a rigid divide of a religious interior and secular coast; these geographical boundaries did not hinder these strong foundational identity forces that moved throughout different global ports and the Omani …

Imagining Karbala: ʿAshura Symbolism In The Iranian Feminist Literary Imagination, 1969-1988, Brock E. Quant

Honors Projects

This paper explores the evolution of Battle of Karbala symbolism in the literary imagination of Iranian feminist writers from the late 1960s through the 1980s - or in other words, across a society-altering revolution and the establishment of an authoritarian theocratic regime in Iran. I begin my analysis by considering Simin Daneshvar’s Savushun, a cornerstone feminist novel which makes heavy use of Karbala symbolism to encapsulate both nationalist and feminist hopes of liberation in the pre-revolutionary period. I continue my analysis by considering a selected poem from each of a pairing of prominent Iranian writers: Simin Behbahani and Tahereh Saffarzadeh. …