The Calls of Kairos and Islam

The greatest challenge to Christianity during the second half of the twentieth century emerged from liberation theologies and specifically from the point of view of pitting the Christian faith against the most despicable conditions of inhumanity. Oppressive contexts and conditions gave rise to deep reflection on what it means to be a Christian in situations where Christians oppress fellow Christians. The negative goal of Muslim-Christian relations requires looking into both religious traditions to see how the messages of Islam and Christianity have been misappropriated and distorted to serve the interests of the powerful. The positive goal will be to rediscover the emancipatory functions of Islam and Christianity in the midst of history and culture, and direct the resultant awareness to serve present and future objectives of Muslim-Muslim, Christian-Christian and Muslim-Christian relations.     

The Current Discourse on Islam in Germany

Islam has become a dominant issue in the German debate about the integration of “foreigners”. This debate has generated several buzzwords such as “Islamophobia” on the one hand and the fear of “fundamentalism” and the need for “security” on the other. Initial empirical studies of that deconstruct those concepts. The paper gives an overview of these attempts, including several undertaken by the author. It shows that the organizational development of Islam in Germany and the intergenerational change of its clientele have little correspondence with the conditions for inclusion established by the discourse of the German majority. At the same time, the discourse itself proves to be complex and more determined by conflicting interests between various groups within the Muslim and German communities than simply a Muslim–German divide.     

The Politicisation of Islam in Postsoviet Central Asia

Abstract

The paper analyses the recent debate on human rights in the Russian Orthodox Church published as a series of articles, conference discussions and official church documents. The current Russian Orthodox vision of rights is an example of response to the dominant liberal discourse from within a spiritual tradition. Russian Orthodox authors try to combine major categories of Christian anthropology with the liberal ‘rights talk’. The purpose of the ‘teaching’ is ambiguous, because of the dual identity of the Russian Orthodox Church as a self-protecting minority and dominant cultural tradition. The paper then applies to the case the social theories of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls.     

The Implications of Martyrdom Operations for Contemporary Islam

This article explores the implications of the prevalence of suicide attacks or ‘martyrdom operations’ in contemporary Islam. Historical and legal precedents from Islam and Christianity are adduced for the analysis and placed within the context of radical Islam.     

The modernity of premodern Islam in contemporary Daghestan

This ethnographic essay investigates the relations between past and present forms of Islam in the north Caucasian Republic of Daghestan. Conversations culled from fieldwork in Daghestani urban and rural spaces are used to elucidate the cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity of life in this region. Ethnographies in a bookstore, a shrine to the Imam Shamil, and a scholarly archive in Makhachkala unfold against the historical background of Daghestan’s long-standing encounter with the Arabo-Islamic world. The essay explores how the post-Soviet turn to post-secular Islam represents an alternative to colonialism and a new way of making meaning in the present. It is intended as a contribution to Islamic studies, modernity theory, and post-Soviet Union area studies.     

The Fascination of Wisdom: Its Nature, Ontogeny, and Function

ABSTRACT— Wisdom has intrigued both scholars and laypersons since antiquity. On the one hand, its seemingly ethereal yet obvious qualities are timeless and universal. On the other hand, these same qualities are evolving and responsive to historical and cultural change. Novel societal and personal dilemmas emerge over time, and the ways and means to deal with recurring dilemmas are revisited and updated with prudence. Building on philosophical analyses of the role of theoretical and practical wisdom in good conduct and judgment about life matters, psychologists have begun to apply scientific methods to questions about the nature, function, and ontogeny of wisdom. We outline these research directions and focus on the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm, which was one of the first attempts to bring wisdom into the laboratory. Future research on wisdom would profit from interdisciplinary collaboration and creative application of new methods drawn from developmental, social, and cognitive psychology.     

Islam and suicide

Suicide and homicide rates of a sample of 72 nations were associated with a cluster of social variables related to economic development but not with a cluster related to the proportion of Islamic adherents.     

Revelation in Islam

Among the world's religions, Islam has one of the most fully developed understandings of the notion of revelation. It views the whole of the created order as a revelation and, accordingly, considers religious revelation in the form of Scripture as an integral feature of the human condition. It is within this context that Muhammad's own revelatory experiences must be considered. These are well‐attested in the Hadith literature. Islam recognises three distinct grades of revelation. Muhammad's was the highest of these which, as the ahadith make clear, is a “passing into the deep sleep state in full consciousness ...”. The explicit nature of these traditional accounts of prophecy in action, as well as Islam's universalism, sheds light upon revelation in all religious traditions.     

The Diverse Voices of Political Islam in Post-Suharto Indonesia

Since the resignation of Suharto as president of Indonesia in May 1998, the country has suffered from chronic instability on various fronts. Economic disruption resulting from the Asian economic crisis of 1997 continues. Food shortages have been widespread throughout the archipelago. Social instability has been rife, especially in densely populated areas where communities have had to compete for scarce resources. Inter-religious conflict has exploded, especially between Muslim and Christian communities, reflecting a common outcome of economic and social instability. This paper will focus upon Indonesia in the period May 1998-July 2001 and will draw upon wide-ranging print and electronic media reports as well as secondary scholarship. Particular attention will be devoted to the political stage and to the changing role of Islam in that context. We will consider the different voices being heard among the Muslim community, the key issues of debate that have preoccupied Muslim political leaders and the ingredients which have contributed to a surge in Muslim-Christian conflict in Indonesia during the period being examined.     

“伊儒会通”传统与新时代伊斯兰教中国化

习近平主席在亚洲文明对话大会开幕式上的主旨演讲中指出,中华文明是在同其他文明不断交流互鉴中形成的开放体系。从历史上的佛教东传、伊儒会通,到近代以来的西学东渐、新文化运动、马克思主义和社会主义思想传入中国,再到改革开放以来全方位对外开放,中华文明始终在兼收并蓄中历久弥新。     

中国伊斯兰教都市化的过程及其发展趋势

文章依据调研数据对我国伊斯兰教都市化进程及阶段性特征作了明确划分,对西北教派门宦、中原经堂教育、江南"以儒诠经"产生的历史背景和社会条件予以客观分析;并指出都市化带来的穆斯林社会的新变化和新问题,以及进一步加强伊斯兰教事务管理的重要性。     

从独一走向多元 探析伊斯兰思想的变迁

对伊斯兰思想进行历史的考察,我们看到它与所有一神论宗教一样,不可避免地会陷入排他性宗教教导与多样性社会现实之间的矛盾。特别是进入现代世界之后,这一矛盾似乎表现的更加明显。特别是自19世纪末期开始.伊斯兰世界内部冲突不断。而在与外部世界的关系中,或是受宗教保守主义思潮的影响,或是基于一些激进主义者的排他性主张,伊斯兰教时常显现出巨大的抗力.