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Al-Ghazali's Integral Epistemology: A Critical Analysis Of The Jewels Of The Quran, Amani Elshimi

Theses and Dissertations

The Jewels of the Quran by renowned Islamic scholar Abu Hamid al-Ghazali has usually been published as a two-volume publication, consisting of al-Ghazali’s hierarchy of sciences, followed by a thematic classification of verses from the Quran. A recent edition of the book includes a third chapter which is often published alone as The Book of Forty Religious Principles, but which al-Ghazali makes reference to in his introduction. A thorough, contextualized, critical analysis of the 3-chapter publication reveals al-Ghazali’s more comprehensive integral framework of knowledge – one which stems from and is held by a core experience of the Divine, and …

Four Case Studies In Teaching Sermons At A Public University, Robert Ellison

English Faculty Research

In this paper, delivered at the March 2017 meeting of the Northeast Modern Language Association, I discuss my experience with teaching sermons at Marshall University, a public institution in Huntington, WV. I have done this in four classes over the past several years: “Good Essays” (a 200-level general-education course in the English Department); “God Talk” (another gen-ed course, team-taught with a faculty member in religious studies); “Sermon: Text and Performance” (a 400-level class in the Honors College); and “The Victorian Spoken Word” (a graduate seminar in English).

The audiences were very different, as were the texts we used (Newman, Spurgeon, …

Mahmood, Liberalism, And Agency, Bharat Ranganathan

Religion Faculty Publications

In her book, Politics of Piety, Saba Mahmood (1) challenges liberal views about agency, and (2) offers her own account of agency. This article argues that Mahmood's characterization of liberal agency is a caricature. Contrary to her view, liberalism isn't merely procedural but rather espouses stringent commitments toward protecting people's basic rights and liberties. This article then argues that her account of agency may entail practices decried by liberal and some feminist theorists. Specifically, practices that override one's status in moral and political communities cannot be defended on the grounds that they are necessary for particular forms of human …

The Formative Years Of An Iconoclastic Salafi Scholar, Emad Hamdeh

Publications

Despite his great influence on modern Salafism and Islamic studies, relatively few works focus on the life of Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī (d. 1999), a scholar whose life and brand of Salafism are marked by controversy and stand in stark contrast to madhhab Traditionalism. This article provides a translation of one of his autobiographical interviews. I shed light on the biographical details of Albānī’s formative years, namely his sour relationship with his father, quarrels with the Albanian community in Syria, and his controversial professorship at the University of Medina. Among the arguments I make is that Albānī created an image …

The Divine Viscera: Medicine And Religion In The Islamic Golden Age, Isabella A. Pua

Young Historians Conference

Islamic medicine is largely ignored in Western tradition, but in an era when Western European medical practice relied more on mysticism than science and had lost the advances made by Classical Greece, the Islamic Empire entered a golden age of scientific thought. The impetus for the Golden Age medicine that developed can be partially attributed to the Islamic religion itself. This paper explores the role of Islam as both a unifying force and a set of broad cultural values in creating that atmosphere that allowed for the study of medicine, within the context of the scientific-religious duality that characterized discovery …

Meeting With God On The Mountains: Essays In Honor Of Richard M. Davidson, Jiří Moskala

All Books

This Festschrift in honor of Dr. Davidson is divided into four parts that reflect upon his main areas of study, lectures, and publications: (1) Old Testament Exegesis; (2) Intertextuality, Typology, and Ancient Near Eastern Background; (3) New Testament Studies; and (4) Theology and Church History.

Introduction: A Legacy Of Raised Expectations, Leif Stenberg, Christa Salamandra

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Arab 102: First-Year Arabic Language—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Abla Hasan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Goals of the class are derived from goals nationally recognized and agreed upon for low intermediate Arabic learners .This systematic consistency with the nationally recognized standards -albeit can be more challenging- insures students' ability to pursue national major programs in Arabic or their ability to compete for national grants, scholarships and study abroad programs. The standers adopted by ACTFL and STARTALK equally consider the linguistic as well as the cultural content of teaching Arabic. These standers known as the five C's are: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Community. The cultural content of learning Arabic is part of the international and …

The Image Of Women In The Interpreted Qur'an: Translations Of Pickthall, Ali, Hilali And Abdel Haleem, Yassmine Muhammad Mahfouz Muhammad

Theses and Dissertations

The Image of Women in the Interpreted Qur’ān: Translations of Pickthall, Ali, Hilālī, and Abdel Haleem By Yassmine Muhammad Mahfouz (Under the supervision of Professor Tahia Abdel Nasser, The American University in Cairo). I have intended this work with the premise of shedding light on the rights of women in the Qur’ān through examining its English translations since this topic has undergone much controversy between patriarchal and Islamophobic camps. However, through the examination of the translations, I have touched on how translation cannot only be problematic but also dangerously influential in presenting the sacred text. The main finding was that …

Thoughts On Islam, Gender, And The Hizmet Movement, Semiha Topal

Consensus

No abstract provided.

The Hammams Of Cairo: Glorious Past And Endangered Present, Salma Kassem

Theses and Dissertations

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Ottoman Kaftan Culture During 16th-18th Centuries, Bushra Tatari Chaabi

Theses and Dissertations

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Catalogue Of Hijazi Architecture In Jidda And Makkah C. 1850- 1920s: Selected Buildings, Hidaya Monir Abbas

Theses and Dissertations

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Architectural Jurisprudence: The Relationship Between The Four Sunni Schools Of Law And Mosque Architecture, Ahmed Hamdy Kamal

Theses and Dissertations

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The Status Of Women And The Arab Spring, Karen Pimentel

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The social movement known as the Arab Spring brings together various groups, including educated women, demanding the overthrow of decades-old dictatorial regimes. It begins in Tunisia and then extends to neighboring Arab- speaking countries of North Africa, Egypt and Libya. Similar social, cultural, and economic conditions are conducive to the unfolding of a single social movement across national borders. After the successful overthrow of dictatorships, groups that collaborated in it, clash against each other. Despite the fact that the movement was initiated by middle-class youth advocating a Western-style model of democracy, Muslims succeed in gaining control of ―democratic,‖ majority-rule governments …

Creating Knowledge, Volume 6, 2013

Creating Knowledge

It is my great pleasure to introduce the sixth 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 gives them a venue for the publication of their essays.

This sixth volume is, however, unlike the previous ones in one major respect: the papers in this …

Islamophobia In Contemporary America, Matthew Bryce Miller

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Before beginning, it is critical that I establish the scope of this thesis. In an attempt to make this thesis as rewarding and substantive as possible, I have attempted to narrowly construct boundaries for my writing by asking two primary research questions: How and why does Islamophobia manifest in contemporary America? It should be noted that the "How" is the primary focus of this work, while the "Why" is more of a supplementary addition. This was purposefully done because of the sheer magnitude and more objective nature of the first section. I am hesitant to devote too much time or …

One State Or Two In Israel/Palestine: The Stress On Gender And Citizenship, Gordon Babst, Nicole M. Tellier

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

As is the case with any of the three great Abrahamic religions, there is considerable ambiguity regarding the status and role of women both within doctrinal interpretations, and between religious and other cultural traditions in the community. These ambiguities are reflected in political practice and condition women's aspirations regarding what is possible for them to achieve. Nowhere is it more true that understandings of religious imperatives permeate politics and work to make other lines of division all the more intractable than in Israel/Palestine. The proclivity to violence between the two peoples not only victimizes women, but foreshortens attention to their …

The Construction Of Belief : Reflections On The Thought Of Mohammed Arkoun, Abdou Filali-Ansari, Aziz Esmail

Independent Volumes

Mohammed Arkoun was one of the most prominent and influential Arab intellectuals of his day. During a career spanning more than thirty years, he was revered as an outstanding research scholar, a bold critic of the theoretical tensions embedded within Islamic studies and an outspoken public figure, upholding political, social and cultural modernism.

This festschrift honours Mohammed Arkoun’s scholarship, bringing together the contributions of eleven distinguished scholars of history, religious studies and philosophy. It offers a comprehensive selection of critical engagements with Arkoun’s work, reflecting on his considerable influence on contemporary thinking about Islam and its ideological, philosophical and theological …

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 …

Rise Of The Veil: Islamic Modernity And The Hui Woman, Zainab Khalid

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Hui are a familiar sight in most cities in China; famed for their qingzhen restaurants and their business acumen. Known usually as the “Chinese speaking Muslims,” they are separated from the nine other Muslim xiaoshu minzu by a reputation for assimilation and adaptability that is a matter of pride for Hui in urban areas.

A conversation with Hui women at Nancheng Mosque in Kunming revealed that they believed Hui to be at an advantage compared to other xiaoshu minzu because of their abilities to adapt and assimilate, “we are intelligent; we know what to do in order to survive …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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Persecution Of Coptic Christians In Modern Egypt, Alla Rubinstein

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Christian community of Egypt dates back to the seventeenth century and comprises 12 per cent of the population today. As one of the oldest churches of the world, the Coptic Christian Church, first formed in Alexandria, has stood resilient and faithful to its traditions against intolerance, siege and persecutions. Having been present in most institutions of the state among the overwhelmingly Sunni-Muslim population, Copts are not new to the slow process of Islamization that Egypt has been undergoing for the last twenty years. What has been unique to the recent Coptic experience is the forced integration of Shari’a law …

Perbezaan Baris I'Rab Dan Kesannya Dalam Qira'at : Satu Kajian Dalam Surah Al-Baqarah., Al-Muslim Mustapa

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study aims at showing the relationship between i‘rab – one aspect of the Arabic linguistic sciences – and qira’at, which deals with the various i‘rab that exist in a particular qira’at. The i‘rab being studied is the formation of words inflection in the al- Quran according to the qira’at mutawatir. The study focuses on the effect these inflections have on the meaning the Quranic verses based on the various qira’at. This study outlines 3 objectives. First, the general relationship between Arabic language and qira’at. Second, the importance of i‘rab and its relationship with qira’at and its effects on meanings. …

Mosque Of Emir Altunbugha Al-Maridani In Light Of Mamluk Patronage Under Al- Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun, Diana Isaac Bakhoum

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Floriated Kufic On The Monuments Of Fatimid Cairo, Bahia Shehab

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Funeray Complex Of Taghri Bardi, Ahmed Kamal

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Natural Resources As A Source Of Conflict In The Middle East, Alanna C. Torres

Pitzer Senior Theses

The purpose of my thesis was to counter Samuel Huntington’s argument that the world’s conflict is over differing civilizations, religions, or cultures. Whether or not religion is declining or growing, it cannot be used to portray the world in a 'cosmic war,' or a battle between 'good and evil'. Natural resources, not religions, rest at the basis for the Islamic fundamentalist and militant movement due to its response to the Western structural pressures that are modernizing Muslim societies. Oil and water become vital tools for exercising power and authority of one nation over another, and are identified as the true …

Between Qur'an And Custom: Gendered Negotiations In Contemporary Sana'a, Anoush Tamar Suni

Pomona Senior Theses

No abstract provided.