Islamic Studies Commons^™

The Development Of Political Secularism In A Nascent State, Tabassum Farooqui

Theses Digitization Project

This study will explore the rise, fall and revival of political secularism in Bangladesh. The exclusion or inclusion of political secularism is a controversial issue in many nascent states, because political groups often use religion as a political tool to manipulate the masses. In some newly-independent states, religious sentiment of citizens may be manipulated by different regimes; yet, the unique style of adopting religion may or may not increase religious tolerance in government.

Creating Knowledge, Volume 5, 2012

Creating Knowledge

It is my great pleasure to introduce the fifth volume of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences’ Creating Knowledge, our undergraduate student scholarship and research journal. First published in 2008, the journal is the outcome of an initiative to enhance and enrich the academic quality of the student experience within the college. Through this publication, the college seeks to encourage students to become actively engaged in creating scholarship and research and give them a venue for the publication of their essays. This fifth volume, like the ones that preceded it, gives considerable testimony to the creativity, hard work …

Al-Shabaab's American Recruits: A Comparative Analysis Of Two Radicalization Pathways, Matthew Wade Richardson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

From 2005 to 2011, at least 41 Americans joined, or attempted to join, al-Shabaab, Somalia's preeminent terrorist organization. This thesis examines the radicalization process for al-Shabaab's American recruits by dividing the sample into two groups: non-Somali and Somali. The author employs causal flow diagramming as a means of visualizing each group's unique radicalization pathway. While most of the non-Somali recruits were motivated by political grievances and Salafism, most of the Somali recruits were motivated by identity conflict and nationalism. Considering al-Shabaab is both a religious and an ethno-nationalist terrorist organization, these results make sense. Radicalization within diaspora communities is a …

Risky Rights? Gender Equality And Sexual Diversity In Muslim Contexts, Anissa Helie

Publications and Research

In her contribution to Sexuality in Muslim Contexts: Restrictions and Resistance (ZED Book, UK), Anissa Hélie contrasts the emphasis on victimization of both ‘Muslim women’ and ‘gay Muslims’ in mainstream Western discourses with actual strategies designed by advocates of gender equality and sexual rights from Muslim contexts.These strategies include religious reinterpretation efforts in South Africa and Indonesia, and organizing geared towards public visibility in Lebanon, Turkey and Morocco.

Deconstructing the false dichotomy between an ‘enlightened West’ and ‘oppressive Muslim contexts’, Hélie insists on the need to take into account a broad range of factors that impact the ability of both …

Diversity Within Islam: Its Intersections With Muslim Immigrant Identities, Esther Smidt

Languages & Cultures Faculty Publications

This article investigates the multiple identities of four Muslim immigrant students, the intersections of these identities, and the students’ understandings of the systems of oppression examined in the multicultural developmental ESL writing course they attended as college freshmen. The research question is “What are Muslim immigrant students’ understandings of their own identities in terms of race, class, and gender as seen through the lens of their religious identity while taking a multicultural college writing class focusing on race, class, and gender?” The four participants of this qualitative multiple case study were chosen on the basis of religion, race, and gender. …

Political Competition, Relative Deprivation, And Perceived Threat: A Research Note On Anti- Christian Violence In India, Chad Bauman, Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

A preliminary subnational statistical analysis of violence against Christians in contemporary India, this article suggests that whereas the data provide very little support for simple, demographic explanations of this violence, they do more robustly support theories emphasizing the relative status of ethnic and religious minorities (vis-à-vis majorities) and the perception, among Hindus, that Christians (and other minorities) represent a threat to their numerical, political and economic strength.

Dearabizing Arabia: Tracing Western Scholarship On The History Of The Arabs And Arabic Language And Script, Saad D. Abulhab

Publications and Research

This book is a reference book on the history of the Arabic Language and script, which goes beyond the sole discussion of technical matters. It studies objectively the evidence presented by modern-day western archeological discoveries together with the evidence presented by the indispensable scholarly work and research of past Islamic Arab civilization era. The book scrutinizes modern western theories regarding the history of the Arabs and Arabic language and script in connection with the roles played by Western Near East scholarship, religion and colonial history in the formation of current belief system, which is an essential step to study this …

Comparing Fundamentalisms: A Social Movement Theory Approach, David Romney

Student Works

The last forty years have witnessed the emergence of a number of Islamist and Jewish fundamentalist groups, resulting in a number of comparative studies that try to explain this phenomenon (e.g. Antoun and Hegland 1987; Sivan and Friedman 1990). Although scholars have argued varying reasons for this recent religious resurgence, most have recognized the importance of the 1967 war to both Jewish and Islamist fundamentalist movements. Some of these scholars see the religious resurgence following this war as a continuation of religious sentiments expressed by pre-1967 Zionist and fundamentalist Islamic groups rather than as a new movement (Davis 1987, 149-152).

Meaning Of Hijab According To Urban Egyptian And Yemeni Muslim Women, Kenneth E. Jackson

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Meanings of hijab held by urban Egyptian and Yemeni Muslim women were the focus of this study. In addition to the meanings held of hijab, the study also explored the relationships between demographic variables and perceptions of hijab. Three null hypotheses led the analyses pertaining to the differences between Egyptian and Yemeni respondents in their perceptions of hijab, demographic differences between those that wore a hijab and those that wore a niqab, and the demographic differences between those that wore a hijab and those that did not wear a hijab. Data analysis was based on the …

Exploratory Study Of Countries Lacking Data On Female Genital Mutilation In The Middle East And Africa, Nazia Rose Naeem

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the cutting off of female genitals for nonmedical purposes (WHO 2008). FGM is a gender specific practice, which has no health benefits and severe consequences. In addition, the victims of this form of physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional violence are predominantly children between birth and age 15 (WHO 2008). Female genital mutilation is an egregious act, which must be eradicated. This study sought to begin the process of securing preliminary estimates for FGM in countries that lacked data on FGM in the Middle East and Africa, thereby shedding light on this extremely detrimental and oppressive …

Succession In Family Businesses: Kinship Culture And Islamic Law Of Inheritance, Nasir Afghan

Business Review

Majority of research has been carried out on succession within family firms in the positivistic tradition of research and also has a very strong normative element to it. The successful research has been defined using researchers determined criterion such as firm performance, viability and harmony among the family members etc. This type of research obviously assumes an independent reality ‘out there’ ready to be collected by objective researcher. This positive stance has been apparent even in the case based research mostly conducted by practitioners. On the contrary, to carry out this research an interpretive approach was adopted. The aim of …

Peace And War In The Qur'an And Juridical Literature: A Comparative Perspective, Liyakat Takim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Qur'anic period of Islamic history took place in a social context of significant diversity. A number of important verses in the Qur'an reflect this diversity and encourage Islamic believers to seek peaceful coexistence with those of other faiths, especially those designated as "people of the Book," specifically Christians, Jews and Sabeans. In the later classical period of Islamic history, the exegesis of Islamic jurists markedly de-emphasized peaceful coexistence in favor of interpretations encouraging conquest and religious uniformity. Although the classical jurists have exercised enormous interpretive authority in subsequent Islamic history, their authority was never understood to be absolute or …

Female Genital Mutilation: Policies To Encourage Abandonment, Melissa Arneson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) also known as Female Genital Cutting (FGC) captured my interest the first time I heard about the practice. I assumed, wrongly, that it was only practiced in remote areas of Africa where educational opportunities were few and outside influences were nil. After researching the topic it is clear that is not the case. FGM is practiced in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and around the world. It is a barbaric practice that has no religious significance and is incredibly harmful to women and their health, both mentally and physically. I focused my research on …

The Changing Face Of El Moudjahid During The Algerian War Of Independence, Andrea L. Stanton

Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The 1956 Soummam conference is considered a turning point for Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN), due to a platform that asserted the supremacy of political over military objectives and the corollary importance of diplomacy and public relations. For domestic outreach, the FLN turned to a small publication that had debuted months previously - El Moudjahid - giving it a heightened profile and a new importance.

From its founding in June 1956 to the Evian Accords in March 1962, El Moudjahid’s layout evolved dramatically – an evolution most evident on its cover page. The simple style and pamphlet-like shape of …

Bangladesh, Megan Adamson Sijapati

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Bangladesh (formally the People's Republic of Bangladesh) is a Muslim-majority parliamentary democracy located in South Asia. Originally called East Pakistan, it was created during the partition of India in 1947 as the eastern wing of the country of Pakistan. Its name was later changed to East Bengal and then to Bangladesh after its union with West Pakistan was broken following a bloody war of secession in 1971. [excerpt]

The Roots And Methodologies Of Contemporary Islamic Legal Reform, Eric Robert Trager

Theses and Dissertations

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The Nation And Its Heretics: ‘Muslim Citizenship’, State Power And Minority Rights In Pakistan, Sadia Saeed

Studio for Law and Culture

In 1984, Pakistan’s military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq passed an executive Ordinance that made it a criminal offence for members of the heterodox Ahmadiyya community, a self-defined minority sect of Islam, to refer to themselves as Muslims and practice Islam in public. Ahmadis challenged the 1984 Ordinance in both the Supreme Court and the Federal Shariat Court in Pakistan – in the former on that grounds that the Ordinance violated their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of religion and in the latter on the grounds that it violated shari’a. In a clear departure from the Pakistani courts’ earlier rulings on the …

The Biblical Witness Of The Character Of God In Relation To The Qur'an, Larry L. Lichtenwalter

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of American-Born Muslim College Students’ Attitudes Toward Mental Health, Benjamin A. Herzig

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Despite American Muslims’ growing numbers in the United States, their frequent encounters with prejudice, and their increased self-reports of emotional stress, little research has been geared toward understanding American Muslims’ attitudes toward mental health, specifically those born and raised in the United States. On the basis of current demographic trends, it is reasonable to suggest that American-born Muslims represent the future of Islam in the United States. This study examined the mental health attitudes of American-born Muslim college students (N = 184). A primarily quantitative survey approach was employed to address several research hypotheses and questions on the topic of …

Human Rights And The Search For Common Ground: A Comparative Study Of Islamic And Christian Thought, Joseph Prud'homme

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Common Ground: Islam, Christianity, and Religious Pluralism. By Paul Heck. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. 2009.