Arabic Studies 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 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 …

Numb., Anna Rapson

Masters Theses

Social media platforms, from their conception, posed a break in the lived experience of the average human being’s day to day routines. Although access to information has always been shaped by portals into other lived realities—through photojournalism, print legacy media, news broadcasts both on radio and television—social media has posited a novel phenomenological architecture where borders between embodied reality and perception of lived experience are simultaneously blurred and reinforced. This morphed duality of consciousness positions the body and mind in tension, deconstructing pre-social media conceptions of the ontology of lived experience. In a digital world shaped by limitless input by …

The Digital Rentier State: Saudi Arabia, George Ngoh

Master in Public Policy Theses

As artificial intelligence reshapes Great Power Competition, control over digital infrastructure has become a key measure of global hegemony. In this context, Saudi Arabia is using its Vision 2030 strategy to pivot from traditional hydrocarbon reliance toward diversification into the AI and emerging technology sector, seeking to secure a position of power in an increasingly multipolar world.

This thesis analyzes whether Saudi Arabia’s AI investments signal a transition away from traditional resource rentierism or the creation of a new digital rentier model. Through primary and secondary research, this study argues that the Kingdom is establishing a sustainable pathway toward a …

Building Artistic Identity, Visual Heritage, And Contemporaneity Of The Arab World: Case Studies Of The 1974 Arab Art Biennale And 'Calligraphy In Contemporary Arab Painting' At The 1989 Havana Biennial, Amanda Msallem

Theses and Dissertations

The 1974 Arab Art Biennale held in Baghdad, Iraq, and the exhibition Calligraphy in Contemporary Arab Painting of the 1989 Havana Biennial in Cuba are unique biennial initiatives that represent a decisive transitional period of modern art of the Arab world, during which Arab artists moved from the aspirations of the Pan-Arab collective and toward increasingly individualized, experimental practices with local cultural specificity.

Parallel Concepts Found In The Thousand And One Nights And Sufi Hagiography, Walaa Kamal Emam Kamel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that The Thousand and One Nights functions as more than mere populist entertainment; rather, it constitutes a literary corpus imbued with Sufi mystical epistemologies that reflect the spiritual quests and Sufi concepts evident in hagiographical traditions. Through discourse and intertextual analysis of two Nights stories, “The City of Brass” and “The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad,” alongside Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār’s Tadhkirat al-awliyāʾ, this study demonstrates how shared rhetorical strategies—specifically David Pinault’s Leitwörter analysis and L.A. Paul’s Transformative Experience concept—reveal a narrative and rhetorical emphasis on the metamorphosis of the self from worldly attachment toward …

Visual Word Recognition And The Role Of Diacritics: Evidence From Arabic Vowelization., Maram Alharbi

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the role of vowelization diacritics in Arabic visual word recognition and their contribution to early stages of lexical processing. Across writing systems, diacritical marks differ in their functional role and in whether they are part of letter identity, raising fundamental questions about how such features are encoded during word recognition. Arabic provides a particularly informative testing ground for these questions: vowelization diacritics in this language carry rich phonological information yet are systematically absent from the texts that skilled readers encounter daily. This interaction between the linguistic value of vowelization and its near-total omission in naturalistic reading positions …

From Crisis To Construction: Museum And Institutional Maturation In The Uae, Csilla Brigitta Lazar

MA Theses

This thesis examines the growth of museums and art institutions in the UAE against the backdrop of international debates about museum crisis. While many museums in Europe and North America are struggling with funding pressures, audience disconnection, collection issues and institutional reinvention, the UAE presents a different trajectory: one of rapid cultural investment, state ambition, private support and institutional construction. This thesis argues that the UAE does not represent a single alternative museum model, but a layered ecosystem made up of civic-educational, heritage, cultural diplomacy, philanthropic, creative economy and independent experimental models. Although UAE institutions benefit from financial stability, their …

Phonetic Attrition As An Outcome Of L1-L2 Phonetic Interaction: Effects Of L2 Exposure In Arabic-English Bilinguals, Dema Smadi

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how length of second language (L2) exposure shapes the phonetic relationship between the first language (L1) and the L2 in adult Arabic-English bilinguals. Focusing on the production of voiced stops /b/ and /d/, the study examines how L1 Arabic and L2 English interact within a shared phonetic system and how this interaction develops as a function of increasing L2 exposure. Building on the Speech Learning Model and its revised version (SLM, SLM-r), the study adopts a relational perspective in which L1 and L2 are not treated as independent systems, but as dynamically interacting components of a shared …

Examining The Results Of Revolutions In The Third World: A Case Study Of The Iranian, Libyan, And Nicaraguan Revolutions, Noah A. Mohammedelamien

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the post-revolutionary trajectories of Libya, Iran, and Nicaragua to explain why some Third World revolutionary projects preserve and use elements of their founding ideology while others fragment, personalize, or diffuse over time. Rather than focusing on the causes of revolution alone, it analyzes the durability of religious-socialist ideological continuity after revolutionary upheaval. Using a (MDSD) comparative historical and institutional approach grounded in primary and secondary sources, the study evaluates five key dimensions across the cases: religious-socialist ideological fusion, religious elite loyalty, popular religious mobilization, institutional embedding of ideology, and external pressure. The findings suggest ideological continuity is …

Ottoman Wikālas In Cairo: Islamic Architecture Beyond The Mosque, Yumna Moussa

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis traces one of the largest architectural typologies in Cairo: the wikāla, a type of urban caravanserai unique to Egypt. Estimated to have reached more than five hundred buildings by the 18^th century, the wikāla was the building of choice for most patrons in Ottoman Cairo. This study initially investigates the evolution of commercial architecture within the Islamic city. It then explores the defining architectural features of Cairene wikālas built between the 16^th and 18^th centuries—their plans, decorative/iconographic programs, and urban distribution—based on waqfiyyas, chronicles, travelers’ accounts, and photographic archives. Since many of …

The Birth Of Afghanistan: From Ancient Persia To A Modern-Day Multiethnic And Linguistic Country, Tyler A. Worm

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis offers a comprehensive historical analysis of the formation and evolution of Afghan identity from antiquity through the early medieval period, emphasizing the region’s role as a dynamic crossroads of civilizations. It traces the origins of Afghan populations to Indo-Iranian pastoralist migrations and examines the successive influence of major imperial formations, including the Median and Achaemenid Persian empires, the conquests of Alexander and the Seleucid period, and the rise of the Kushan, Parthian, and Sasanian states. Through this longue durée approach, the study demonstrates how Afghanistan’s geographic position facilitated continuous cultural interaction, economic exchange, and political contestation, producing a …

The Cultural Adaptation Of Abstract Expressionism In The Middle East, Solmaz Shoukohi

MA Theses

Abstract Expressionism emerged in post-WWII New York as both an artistic revolution and a tool of cultural diplomacy. This thesis examines how that ostensibly “American” art movement was adapted and transformed in the Middle East from the 1950s through the  1980s. Chapter 1 outlines the rise of Abstract Expressionism amid Cold War politics, highlighting how the style was promoted globally as a symbol of freedom. It discusses the role of U.S. institutions in exporting avant-garde art – famously described by Eva Cockcroft as a “weapon of the Cold War” – through touring exhibitions and covert sponsorship. Chapter 2 then traces …

Maritime Trade And Imperial Ambitions: Yemeni Politics And Trade In The Indian Ocean World (626/1228-858/1454), Beck Sjostedt

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the role of Yemen, particularly under the Rasūlid dynasty (626/1228-858/1454) in the medieval Indian Ocean trade. I argue that the Rasūlids attempted to create an “imperial maritime space” wherein Yemen would be the imperial core, and the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea the subjugated peripheries. While the Rasūlids managed to organize state power towards their imperial project via diplomacy, military and naval expansion, and a robust and efficient bureaucracy, they never fully realized their goal of creating a thalassocratic empire in the western Indian Ocean. Nonetheless, medieval Yemen played a significant role in the political, social, …

From Homeland To Hostland: Language Ownership Of Heritage Dialect And Narratives Of Third Culture Kids Of The Gulf, Maryam Aref

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study is to examine Arab Adult Third Culture Kids’ sense of heritage language ownership and their identity constructions in relation to their transnational Arab Gulf context. The present study has three main aims: to ascertain their sense of ownership towards their heritage dialects, to understand the basis for their claimed or denied ownership, and to investigate the positions they ascribed to themselves and others in relation to their belonging and transnational and linguistic experiences. The study aims to fill the gap where there is a scarcity of sociolinguistic research around Arab Third Culture Kids in …

The Communal Lyric: Poetry In Devotional And Oppressed Communities, Michael N. Yacoub

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the interaction between lyric and community; it asks what a communal lyric is, how it functions, and to what ends. In Chapter One, I compare Jonathan Culler’s performative model of lyric with the theory of Takhyīl as expounded by Arab philosopher-critics al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and al-Qartajanni to argue that a communal lyric is a form of audience-oriented public discourse distinguished by formal features that prompt the poem’s (re-)iteration and establish an interpersonal relationship with the audience in order to influence them and make shareable value claims about the world. In Chapters Two and Three I provide close-reading …

“Perfect Hearts And Pure Pages”: The Transmission And Recitation Of The Qur’An In Mamluk Cairo—The Shāṭibiyya As A Case Study, Jonathan Hearn

Theses and Dissertations

The Ḥirz al-Amānī wa-Wajh al-Tahānī of Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh al-Shāṭibī (d. 590/1193) became one of the most widely studied texts associated with the recitation of the Qur’an. A didactic versification of Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī’s (d. 444/1053) Kitāb al-Taysīr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabaʿ, the Shāṭibiyya was composed in Ayyubid Egypt and transformed the discipline of the variant readings (qirāʾāt). Despite its popularity and acknowledged impact upon the discipline, the Shāṭibiyya remains a relatively untapped resource for understanding the Qur’an in its recited form. This thesis studies the recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo through the Shāṭibiyya, …

Negotiating The Canon: Arab Women Romantic Poets Jamila Al-ʿAlayli And Zahra Al-Hurr, Osama Amer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the engagement of two Arab romantic women poets, Jamila al-ʿAlayli and Zahra al-Hurr, with the Arabic literary canon, focusing on how they negotiated their positions within the canon. Despite being active contributors to the Arabic romantic movement, their works remain overlooked in literary histories and anthologies. The study explores the modes of canonization, such as gender essentialism, exceptionalism, and socio-political engagement, by which the canon operates. Through a feminist lens, this research analyzes selected poems, autobiographical texts, articles, interviews, and critical writings by both poets, highlighting their distinct strategies for challenging and reshaping their literary status. Al-ʿAlayli …

The Islamic Orient In Antebellum America: The Influence Of Edgar Allan Poe In Contemporary Arabic Literature, Sohaib Alkamal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation posits a comprehensive overview of the debate about Orientalism, particularly early American depictions of the Islamic Orient. The study investigates the antebellum American portrayal of the Islamic Orient, focusing on Edgar Allan Poe’s Orientalist readings. While Said’s Orientalism concentrates heavily on aspects of power in West-East relations throughout history, this study expands on several aspects of Said’s book. This study provides a new approach to exploring the field of Orientalism by giving a voice to Arabic sources that are absent in Said’s Orientalism and rarely known to Western audiences. Such sources are medieval Islamic sources, which include phantasies …

Musnad ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Al-Zubayr Al-Ḥumaydī As An Early Source Of Madanī Isnād: A Source Critical Study, Heba Mohamed Gaafar

Theses and Dissertations

The transmission of ḥadīth has been a subject of intense debate, particularly regarding the authenticity of early compilations. Musnad al-Ḥumaydī is a ḥadīth collection that has not received significant scholarly attention despite its potential to shed light on early ḥadīth transmission. This study critically examines Musnad al-Ḥumaydī by analyzing its structure, sources, and methodology, focusing on its relationship with Sufyān b. ʿUyayna, the primary transmitter of its ḥadīth. By applying isnād analysis and source criticism, this research challenges the assumption that early ḥadīth compilations were unreliable or retrospectively constructed. Al-Ḥumaydī did not simply collect narrations. The study demonstrates that Musnad …

Syrian Perspectives On The U.S. Intervention Against Isis: Analysis Of Youtube Videos, Nelson Cleveland

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates Syrian public opinion surrounding the 2014 U.S.-led military intervention against ISIS through critical discourse analysis of Arabic-language YouTube videos. In light of the renewed interest and continued presence of U.S. troops in Syria following the Assad regime’s collapse in 2024, the study examines how Syrians originally responded to the coalition strikes and political context in which they occurred. Drawing on four primary videos including street interviews, protest recordings, and discussions from expert panelists, the analysis uncovers recurring themes of distrust towards the U.S. and other states who engaged in intervention, condemnation of perceived collusion and exploitation, and …

Displaced Nostalgia, Nava Derakhshani

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring themes of identity, displacement, gender, and belonging, this paper examines the artist's work and her approach to her art. She covers the many influences that she has access to while unable to visit her ancestral homelands. Acknowledging the translation that comes from this removal, her art is in conversation with other diasporic, exiled, marginalised groups. She makes art with various materials such as clay, shadow, light, and paint, to work on the themes that she is pursuing.

Beyond The Basics Motivation And Assessment In Sustaining Arabic Learning, Laila Eissa

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This portfolio presents the teaching philosophy, examples of teaching approaches and techniques, and a research project of the writer for the Master of Second Language Teaching at Utah State University (USU). It highlights collaboration with colleagues and faculty in Second Language Acquisition research, providing an overall overview of the entire experience. The research in this portfolio explores the theories behind language teaching and assessment through two sections: first, the teaching philosophy, and second, hands-on experience section. The third section focuses on the main research paper, which examines the motivational factors influencing students in Arabic, French, and German classes to continue …

What Role Do Economic Interests Play In Improving Bilateral Relations Between Algeria And Morocco?, Sabrina Laib

International Studies (MA) Theses

Tensions between Algeria and Morocco began after Algeria gained independence from France in 1962, culminating in the Sand War of 1963. Since then, various mediation efforts and economic reconciliation attempts have been initiated, but have consistently been hindered by differing stances—particularly regarding the Western Sahara conflict. I argue that economic interests, especially those in illicit trade, are impactful factors that have negatively affected the bilateral cooperation between Algeria and Morocco. To explain the factors facilitating bilateral relations, this project explores four variables: mediation attempts, regional development schemes, trade, and illicit economy. Qualitative data is used to provide historical-contextual and thematic …

A Voice For The People: Hybrid Arabic In The Political Oratory Of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Tate E. Bell

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the political oratory of Gamal Abdel Nasser through the lens of Arabic sociolinguistics, arguing that his speeches are best understood not as simple alternations between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA), but as instances of hybridization—a strategic and fluid interweaving of registers across a linguistic continuum. While earlier studies by Clive Holes and Nathalie Mazraani have identified register variation and code-switching in Nasser’s rhetoric, this project expands upon their findings by applying El-Said Badawi’s five-level framework to track intra-utterance blending of MSA and ECA. Drawing on a transcription and linguistic analysis of a key …

Arabizi (Franco) In Egypt: A Study Of Features, Reasons, Attitudes, And Educational Influence Among Youth In Online Communication, Muhammad Wafa

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the phenomenon of Arabizi (Franco) as it is employed by Egyptian youth in online communication, focusing on the sociolinguistic factors that influence language choice, particularly educational background. Through a mixed-methods approach, including quantitative analysis of an online questionnaire using inferential statistics and qualitative examination of text samples, this study investigates the most common language varieties used by Egyptian youth, the underlying reasons for Arabizi's adoption, attitudes towards its usage, and the salient features of this variety of online communication. The findings reveal that Arabizi is widely used among Egyptian youth from all educational backgrounds. It is especially …

The Principles Of Islamic Moral Philosophy And The Possibility Of Re-Conceptualizing Classical Islamic Aesthetics Of Architecture, Muhammad Feteha

Theses and Dissertations

This study is primarily concerned with the intersection of the moral and aesthetic theories of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 1111). Al-Ghazālī’s theory of aesthetics has been the subject of thorough scholarly investigations and diverse interpretations in the field of Islamic art history since the 1940s. This thesis critiques the premises upon which the use of al-Ghazālī’s writings in studies of Islamic art and architecture were built. It suggests that they lead to what could be described as “the contradiction of unethical beauty.” To overcome this contradiction, it offers a comprehensive interpretation of al-Ghazālī’s aesthetics through analyzing the concept ḥusn in …

Local And Transregional Networks Of Women In Late Medieval Mecca And The Mamluk Empire, Mona Hafiz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the local and transregional networks of women in Mecca during the ninth/fifteenth century, as represented in the biographical dictionaries of al-Sakhāwī (d. 902/1497), Ibn Fahd (d. 885/1480), and al-Fāsī (d. 832/1429). It combines qualitative and quantitative methods in order to analyze the family, knowledge, and travels networks of women in late medieval Mecca and the Mamluk empire. It argues that Meccan women’s social and intellectual roles extended beyond their families, to other families, scholars, and regions. Simultaneously, the thesis focuses on Mecca as a central node in the networks that tied together different regions of the Mamluk …

Revealing Students’ And Teachers’ Perceptions Of Challenges And Strategies In Arabic Reading Comprehension, Osama Othman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the perceptions of Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) students and teachers regarding the influence of eight textual features on reading comprehension. These features are: vowelization, word patterns, roots, vocabulary, case endings, word order, punctuation marks, and text organization. It also investigates reading comprehension strategies employed by both groups to overcome comprehension challenges associated with these features. Data were collected from 102 AFL students and 26 AFL teachers through questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 students and 11 teachers. Results revealed that students generally rated the influence of these features more highly than teachers. The …

It Is Not Her Fault She Didn’T Know Mary Had A Lamb, Samer Ridikkuluz

Theses and Dissertations

“It is not her fault she didn’t know Mary had a lamb” is not an Arab Queer conflict. It is the genocide of everything they told me art was and the decolonial clarity of what art can be. Whether it be bridging the gap between the East and the West, the straights and the gays, or me and the world—I investigate the human condition, the parts we play, and how identity evolves and hides.