Digital Commons Network^™

Determinants Of Democratic Regression: The Case Of Tunisia, Bassant Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

On the 25th of July, 2021, the Tunisian president Kais Saied dissolved the cabinet and froze the parliament. These decisions were the first among a series of ensuing measures which curtailed the progression of the nascent Tunisian democracy. This thesis aims to unfold the causes underlying Tunisia’s current democratic regression. It finds that the interplay between institutional, economic, regional and international factors represented an immense challenge to Tunisian democracy. By situating theories of democratic backsliding in the context of the Arab region, the thesis argues that institutional lacunas, military professionalism, expansion of corruption networks and dynamics of regional rivalry have …

A Universe Of Mirrors: The Mirror Metaphor In Ibn ʿArabī’S Thought In Relation To Ontology, Knowledge, And Perfection, Basma Eletreby

Theses and Dissertations

The mirror metaphor is ubiquitous in sufi texts. It operates uniquely in Ibn ʿArabī’s thought and writings as a representation of his conception of the cosmos. Being, knowledge, and perfection are among the seminal themes of al-Shaykh al-Akbar’s thought, and the mirror metaphor is employed in revealing their reality in his writings. As opposed to Unity of Being, a term that Ibn ʿArabī does not employ, the mirror embodies the pillars of Ibn ʿArabī’s conception of Being through representing the quintessential huwa lā huwa, the configuration of oneness and manyness, and most importantly, the definition of the relation between God …

An Analysis Of The Ash’Ari-Mu’Tazilite Conflict In The Ḥāshiya Of Ibn Al- Munayyir In Al-Kashshāf By Al-Zamakhsharī, Nabil Haskanbancha

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I analyze the Sunni Ash’ari response to the Mu’tazilite Qurʾan commentary al- Kashshāf written by al-Zamakhsharī (d.538/1144), and the significant role of the gloss commentary (hashiyā) in highlighting the theological debates between Ash’ari and Mu’tazilite scholars. Alongside the main commentary, this thesis demonstrates the pivotal role of the hashiyā in Islamic studies through its intersection with theology and philology, uncovering active debates on the critical interpretations of the text by exegetes. Al-Kashshāf is the most commented text in the tafsir genre despite its Mu’tazilite influence, mostly receiving criticisms from conservative Sunni scholars. The first Ash’ari scholar to …

I'M Not Sure It Was A Hoopoe Or A Decanter, Ali Kaeini

Theses and Dissertations

“I’m not sure it was a Hoopoe or a Decanter” explores the experience of cultural displacement through the lens of an Iranian artist and immigrant. Drawing on ancient Iranian stories, Persian poetry, and cultural artifacts, my paintings and drawings reflect the uncertainty of the contemporary political and religious conditions in Iran, as well as the challenges faced by individuals forced to flee their homeland due to war, political instability, and social conditions. My work weaves references to ancient Iranian objects, Persian miniatures' structural forms and patterns, and Islamic architecture, using traditional and contemporary materials to create large, unconventional paintings. Through …

Adhkār And Aḥzāb In Islamic Thought And Practice: Invocation And Devotion In Egypt Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries, Mariam Ghorab

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines discourses around duʿāʾ in the disciplines of ḥadīth, Islamic Law, and Sufism during the thirteenth to fifteenth century Egypt. I argue that duʿāʾ shaped Muslim daily life and solidified a community of prayer. Invocations generated a discursive tradition and social organization that allows us to document the experience of this praying public. Prayer was at the heart of daily life, and its significance to Muslim devotion made it the subject of commentaries that analysed its language and its embodiment. Works of ḥadīth archived the plethora of duʿāʾ’s material. Its various manifestations warranted a thorough legal investigation in …

Waqf In Transition: Tracing Local Institutional Change During The British Mandate In Palestine, Zachary Murray

Theses and Dissertations

The British Mandate’s actions of state-building in Palestine were informed by a Zionist-Western modernist envisioned past of Palestine. This state-building ideology was embedded within much of the bureaucracy of the Mandate’s system and infringed on numerous Palestinian institutions such as Waqf. Waqf was disenfranchised in particular through the implementation of urban development programs, like town planning and archaeological regimes, which sought to support the British-Zionist recasting of Palestine.

This thesis aims to show how the British’s ideology of Palestine informed the Mandate’s internal polices and actions which infringed on the rights of waqf. This was done through two axes of …

Zinā In The Criminal Legislation Act (1999-2000): An Evaluation Of The Implication For Muslim Women's Right In Nigeria, Paul Orerhime Akpomie

Theses and Dissertations

The research engages in an exploration of human rights in Islam. Human rights issues are then contrasted with international law positions. The data gotten is then used for investigating women’s human rights issues in Shariʾa penal tradition regarding zinā (adultery) in Nigeria. The re-emergence of Sharia penal codes adopted by 12 Northern states in Nigeria in 1999 as an operative Islamic law has sparked concerns about rulings amounting to stoning to death in several cases of zinā. These events raised concerns about Shariʾa penal traditions’ legality and relationship with other legal traditions operational in Nigeria, a secular political space. …

Factors Influencing Students’ Achievement In Scientific Literacy: A Secondary Analysis Of Pisa 2018 Data From Saudi Arabia, Manal Dhaifallah Alkhudaydi

Theses and Dissertations

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia joined PISA for the first time in 2018, and 6,136 of the students in 235 schools participated. The purpose of this multi-level study was to examine the influence of selected student- and school-level factors on students’ scientific literacy using data that were gathered as part of the 2018 PISA assessment. The sample of this study was obtained from the OECD’s PISA 2018 International Database. In this study, the focus was on the relationship between selected factors measured in PISA school and student surveys and students’ scientific literacy, as measured by the Science section of the …

The Immutability Of Personal Status Law, Leena Soliman

Theses and Dissertations

Personal Status laws in Egypt were first coded in 1920 and were slightly amended throughout time. They were based on religious texts, and hence, are treated as words and teachings of God. Thus, the amendments that were developed throughout history were a result of different interpretations. Throughout the twentieth century, personal status laws in Egypt were enacted by the Egyptian state to build marriage as a more permanent bond as intended by traditional Islamic jurisprudence. Providing women with more marital rights, including more grounds for judicial divorce, was believed to strengthen the marital bond. This paper will trace the insight …

Printing Devotion: Sufi Books And Their Transregional Networks In An Age Of Print, Mariam Elashmawy

Theses and Dissertations

The production of printed books in the Muslim world is a story that encompasses an array of actors, spanning centuries, and taking place in remote, yet connected locales. This thesis provides an intellectual history of Ṣūfī print production of Islamicate mystical works in the nineteenth-twentieth centuries by examining three overlapping genres: poetry, Ṣūfī histories (hagiography), and litanies (aḥzāb). Texts such as the Dīwān of devotional poetry by Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 632/1234), the litany of Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī (d. 656/1258), Ḥizb al-baḥr, and Rashaḥāt ʿayn al-ḥayāt, a history of the Naqshbandiyya order by Fakhr …

Making Yourself At Al-Dar: On Islamic Education, Social Imaginations, And Affective Possibilities, Alia Amr Amin Shaddad

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the Dar as an alternative space of knowledge, and unravels how its different contexts and rhythms allow us to imagine what that alternative means in the everyday. In order to do so, this thesis unpacks questions of space, time, subjectivity, and potential. I look at the ways in which this Dar is constituted as a space through its relations with other spaces and by engaging questions of temporality. By doing so, this thesis maps this space to make clear what and how it is, and highlights the historical and geographical context it exists in. This also includes …

Attitudes Towards Code-Switching Involving Arabic In A Multilingual Situation – The Case Of Accra, Bulukia Abdullah

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated Ghanaians' attitudes towards code-switching involving Arabic and Ghanaian languages in a highly formal religious setting like the Friday sermon. It aimed to offer the perception and beliefs of Ghanaian Islamic scholars and Ghanaian Muslims towards code-switching from Arabic to the local Ghanaian languages and vice versa. Data from 69 Ghanaian Muslims and 5 Islamic scholars from two different mosques in Accra, Ghana, were examined to achieve this purpose. The data was collected through web-based questionnaires, interviews, a Matched-guise test. The study's findings showed that Ghanaians had favorable attitudes towards code-switching from Arabic to Ghanaian languages (GLs) and …

When Shari'a Becomes A Science Of Law, Heba Sewilam

Theses and Dissertations

The Sharīʿa codification, privatization and reconciliation present three reform movements to scientize Sharīʿa in the manner of liberal positivism. The scientism of Sharīʿa makes Islamic law predictable, rational and objective. Its final goal is to protect Sharīʿa from the political encroachments of the ruling elites and facilitate Sharīʿa implementation in a post-colonial era. The three reform movements are, however, incapable of harmonizing Sharīʿa with the liberal norms of a scientized law. Sharīʿa codification makes the law predictable but neglects Sharīʿa’s undemocratic methods of decision-making. Sharīʿa-compliant legislation is still the monopoly of the Muslim jurists and the ruling caliph. Sharīʿa privatization …

Yolkkh: The Story Of My People, Amna Zelimkha Yandarbin

Theses and Dissertations

The name of my project is: Yolkkh, The Story of My People. With this project I present a series of scarves each one bearing an illustrated scene in order to tell a story – my story and the story of the Noxci people. Noxci are the people who are referred to as “Chechens” by Russians and are generally known by that title. As a Muslim, I have witnessed the way Western media tend to dehumanize my community. In order to contrast this dehumanizing process, I thought that telling the story of my family would help reverse Islamophobic tendencies and raise …

A Critical Analysis Of Dower (Mahr) In Theory And Practice In British India Through Court Records From 1800 To 1939, Sunil Tirkey

Theses and Dissertations

The colonial court records between 1800 to 1939 in India show the existence of excessive dower, which were usually paid at the dissolution of marriage to discourage divorce. Supporting this view of excessive dower as a useful device, Mitra Sharafi argues that inflated dower and divorce law protected Muslim women against instant divorce, making it too expensive for husbands to use it. Further, according to her, British judges enhanced women's rights to dower and divorce by pronouncing rulings in favour of a high amount of dower to protect the women against the one-sided authority of men to divorce. Contrary to …

Texts, Language, And History In The Madhab-Law Tradition: A Study Of The ShāfiʿĪ School, Tarek Ghanem

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis advances the study of the legal literature from the madhhab-law tradition by way of studying the Shāfiʿī literary tradition and its two most authoritative classics. These two works are al-Nawawī’s (d. 676/1278) digest Minhāj al-ṭālibīn and Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī’s (d. 974/1567) commentary on it, Tuḥfat al-minhāj. This study will provide a typology of the development of the Shāfiʿī juristic texts. The typology is based on an indigenous and coherent periodization centered around an analysis of the intellectual and social developments within the Shāfiʿī legal tradition, not the classical Eurocentric periodization scheme. The main objective of this typology is …

Readers’ Perceptions Towards Two English Translations Of The Quran, Nour Alanbari

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine readers’ perceptions towards two notable English translations of the Quran, investigating if the readers’ language groups affected their perception of translation quality in terms of fluency, accuracy, clarity, formality, and likability. A total of 136 participants completed a survey where they rated the researched attributes of two different English translations of the Quran. Independent t-tests, paired t-tests, and ANOVA tests were conducted to compare the overall ratings of the two translations to each other, as well as between and within language groups. Ratings of the four attributes were also compared amongst themselves. Significant …

Performance Of Islamic Stocks Versus Conventional Stocks During Crisis And Non Crisis Period: Evidence From Mena Region., Eshraq Abou El Enein

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the performance of both Islamic and conventional stocks, and to investigate whether the Islamic filtering criteria acts as a shield of protection for investors during crisis or not, based on a panel sample of 12 countries in the MENA region covering 10 different sectors from 1998-2018. Using panel fixed effect regression. We divided out sample into three periods; 1998-2006 pre-crisis period, 2007-2008 crisis period and 2009-2018 post crisis period. Our main finding is that the filtering criteria has a positive relation with the returns significant for the post crisis period and positive …

The Impact Of Cultural Values In Advertising On Saudi Consumers’ Loyalty, Abdullah Mohammed Bajaber

Theses and Dissertations

Advertising has been one of the most effective elements of marketing communication used to persuade audiences to behave in a certain way. Many studies have examined factors that affect ads positively. Increasing loyalty was classified as the primary goal of companies. Thus, advertisements were commonly used to achieve this goal. On the other hand, even though many studies discussed advertising elements that might generate negative impacts, the possible results of these ads were not sufficiently addressed. Through the theory of planned behavior, this study aimed to explore the role of the cultural value as an element impacting loyalty negatively by …

Ibn Taymiyya’S Theory Of Exegesis: Rejecting The Ḥaqīqa-Majāz Dichotomy, Isa Kundra

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines a crucial pillar of Ibn Taymiyya’s exegetical methodology: his fierce critique and rejection of the ḥaqīqa-majāz dichotomy in Quranic exegesis. In doing so, I particularly investigate the epistemological and theological motivations for his rejection of the dichotomy. In the first part of the thesis, I discuss some of the difficulties in the perennial task of textual analysis, especially when attempting to decipher divine intent in the Quran (Chapter 2). Then, I set the stage by introducing the ḥaqīqa-majāz dichotomy, the linguistic feat that it attempts to explain in kalām al-‘arab, and the way it serves as the …

How Isis Addresses Women From Western And Middle-Eastern Backgrounds: A Discourse Analysis, Kesmat Taha Nassar

Theses and Dissertations

Although the atrocities the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) commits against women on daily basis are no secret, hundreds of women from different parts of the world have pledged their allegiance to the terrorist group and many more are susceptible to radicalization. The group has capitalized on the opportunity the internet provides to spread their propaganda; however, this also means that it has provided researchers with a lot of accessible data to study. The focus of this thesis is on the language used in by ISIS in articles addressing women in its official online magazines. In order to …

Imprisonment For Insolvent Debtors In Egypt With Specific Reference To Al-Gharemoun Cases, Nivert Elsherif

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, handling debts was a major issue described in the Islamic legal realm and handling insolvent debtors is a category thereof. Recently, in the 21st century in Egypt, the numbers of incarcerated insolvent debtors has increased dramatically constituting one third of the Egyptian prison population. This paper addresses the legal developments relating to adjudication and imprisonment of debtors since the time of the prophet throughout the development of the Islamic legal jurists’ literature that supported practical solutions to debtors’ insolvencies. Investigation of middle age Egyptian and Ottoman court cases are incorporated to prove the success of the Islamic legal system …

Improving Access To Ministerial Training Through The Use Of Electronic Devices: A Qualitative Study Of Educators In Developing Nations, Andrew John Beaty

Theses and Dissertations

This study was based on the concern that in developing nations, the vast majority of pastors in local churches have no training to prepare them for the duties they are expected to carry out as ministers. With the increase of technology being available around the world, the questions have arisen as to whether or not technology can be utilized to help improve access to this training.

A qualitative approach was employed to interview thirteen people involved in global theological education in developing nations and to learn from them as to the trends that they see being utilized in regards to …

Color Symbolism In Islamic Book Painting, Imane Sadek Abaza

Theses and Dissertations

Light plays a central role in the Quran. The contrast between light and dark demonstrates a pivotal conception in the Islamic faith. It is the difference between knowledge and ignorance, faith and infidelity, and right and wrong. As depicted by al-Ghazali, God is the source of the ultimate light, and by seeing that light a person reaches a state of revelation since only the faithful see that light. The ignorant or unfaithful live in darkness without the light of God or faith to guide them through life. Considering the importance of this concept in the Islamic faith, colors as the …

The Innovations In The Ottoman Legal Administration:The 16th Century Between Theory And Practice, Honey El-Moghazi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to bring to light some of the most formative innovations in the Ottoman legal administration that unfolded by the 16th Century. It serves to macroscopically trace back some of the major developments that led to the crystallization of the Ottoman legal system and the state's administration of justice. This study thus aims to demonstrate the process of the making of Ottoman law through the early attempts of codifying a comprehensive legal code together with the creation of a unique form of "Ottoman Hanafism". Furthermore, it aims to examine the role of some of the …

The Analysis Of The Key Doctrines Of Boko Haram (Jama’At Ahl-I- Sunnah Li Al-Da’Wati Wa Al-Jihad)., Aisha Muhammad Iyawa

Theses and Dissertations

The issue of Boko Haram has received considerable critical attention. It is one of the contemporary threats of the globe . They created a devastation that is having an adverse impact on Islam and the socioeconomic situation in the region and in some parts of Africa. There is a growing body of literature on Boko Haram, mostly focusing on the political aspects. Little emphasis has been put on the religious approach. This study is important because it will approach the issue from a religious perspective. This will be done by analyzing some of their doctrines to challenge and correct some …

Student Achievement And Parental Involvement In A Private School: Grades K-8 Learning Outcomes, Darcy Brent Calvillo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) To determine whether there is a relationship between parental involvement and test scores in a K-8 school; and (b) What parental methods and strategies surveyed show an effect on test scores based on research and parental surveys? Approximately 300 parents participated in a parental methods survey. Parents were surveyed and provided English and Math performance data. Data from this researcher’s survey adapted from the Ohio Department of Education (ODE; APPENDIX B) were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including the top 5 methods or strategies according to the parent survey that have an effect …

Enhancing Career Choices And Opportunities For Saudi Women, Walaa Albahoth

Theses and Dissertations

Despite many efforts made by Saudi Arabian government aimed toward providing substantial opportunities to access higher education and the workforce for Saudi women, women's unemployment remains high. The purpose of this study was to explore the internal factors such as self-concept, personal skills, and career aspirations, and external factors such as social norms, education system, and work environment that affect career choice for Saudi women. In addition, the study sought to examine the most important strategies that support Saudi women in their career choices. A quantitative approach was employed for this study. The data was collected primary through online survey, …

The Persistence Of Orientalism And The Positive Portrayal Of The Gulen Movement In The New York Times And In The Wall Street Journal Between 1985 And 2016, Yonca Ipek Cubuk Uzundag

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that the positive portrayal of the Gulen (Hizmet) movement in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal is a direct result of persistent Orientalism in the American academia and news media. The evidence reveals that most of the articles published in the New York Times and in the Wall Street Journal Between 1985 and 2016 and the majority of academic works completely ignored the controversial nature of the Gulen movement. This favorable approach portrays Islam as monolithic and indicates the otherness of Muslims by subjecting them to a separate set of standards for “moderation.” This …

City Squares And Power In Medieval Cairo Manifestations Of Socio-Political Power In The City Squares Of Medieval Cairo, Muhammed Emad Al Din Feteha

Theses and Dissertations

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