Islamic theology of Christian‐Muslim relations

As Islam becomes an important source for re‐assessing modern international order it needs to engage in a dialogue with its normative tradition to retrieve a relevant theology for the twenty‐first century. This paper undertakes that intellectual dialogue to evaluate the available concepts and ideas within the Islamic tradition and assess them critically to show whether they can become substantial resources for Christian‐Muslim relations in the twenty‐first century. The conclusion of the paper is that unless Muslim thinkers are willing to recognize the necessity to go beyond the epistemes provided in the classical sources, Islam will continue to remain unresponsive to the emerging pluralism in the global community today.     

Political implications of the Islamic notion of ‘supersession’ as reflected in Islamic jurisprudence

The paper undertakes to investigate the ways in which the dominant Muslim community regulated legal‐ethical relations with its non‐Muslim minorities. The ideological underpinnings of the Islamic legal tradition in the area of jihad provided legitimacy for the Muslim political domination of the lands and peoples beyond the original boundaries of Islam. The central argument of the paper is that Muslim jurists were involved in the routinization of the qur'anic message about ‘Islam being the only true religion with God’ (Q. 3:19) in the context of the social and political position of the community. The interaction between the idea of Islam being the universal faith for all humankind and the existing predominance of Muslim political power created the specific legal language that provided the justification to extend the notion of jihad beyond its strictly defensive meaning in the Qur'an to its being an offensive instrument for Muslim creation of a dominant political order.     

Women and the Tablighi Jamacat

Little has been written on theTablighi Jamacat (TJ), probably the largest Islamic movement in the world today and within the existing limited corpus of writings on the TJ, almost no mention has been made of the involvement of women in it. This paper begins with a brief background of the emergence of Islamic reformist efforts in South Asia from the nineteenth century onwards that saw Muslim women as playing an important role in the ‘protection’ and ‘preservation’ of Islam in the wake of Muslim political decline in the region. The particular efforts in this regard of Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, founder of the TJ, are noted. The paper then goes on to discuss the TJ's programme for women's involvement in the work of the movement. This is followed by a discussion of notions of ideal Muslim femininity as spelled out in tracts and books written bytablighi elders. In concluding, we look at what implications the efforts of TJ activity might have for the status of Muslim women generally.     

INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AS AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS

Abstract. I explore the contributions of Ibrahim Moosa, a Muslim legal scholar, to a Muslim‐Christian dialogue on religion and science. Moosa begins from the context of Shari'a, Islamic law, and not from the usual issues of the religion‐science dialogue. Beginning as it does from a legal tradition, the approach suggests a perspective on science and religion that is particular to Islam and provides insight into how an authentic dialogue between Muslims and Christians would proceed—and thereby an alternative model for a religion‐science dialogue.     

Liberals, moderates and jihadists: protesting Danish cartoons in Indonesia

Muslim liberals, moderates, and radical “jihadists,” together with the Indonesian government, condemned Danish caricatures of Prophet Muhammad as insulting and hateful. However, the form of protest of these diverse segments of Indonesian Muslims was shaped by their ideological frameworks and political agendas. The “mainstream” of Indonesia’s increasingly radical “moderate” Muslim community, as represented by Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, and the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS), squarely condemned the images within their particular perspectives, while distancing themselves from the “anarchist” radical demonstrators. The Liberal Islam Network (JIL), dedicated to fighting against “fundamentalists,” pointed out the role of detrimental fundamentalisms around the world. Several small radical groups, MMI, FPI and HTI actively staged street demonstrations fitting this case into their ideological framework of jihad, defending Islam, and/or striving for an Islamic state. These varied responses are better understood as integral to ongoing processes of radicalization, liberalization, and cultural and politico-jural Islamization.

THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ORGAN DONATION AMONG MUSLIMS

Bioethics and health researchers often turn to Islamic jurisconsults (fuqahā’) and their verdicts (fatāwā) to understand how Islam and health intersect. Yet when using fatwā to promote health behavior change, researchers have often found less than ideal results. In this article we examine several health behavior change interventions that partnered with Muslim religious leaders aiming at promoting organ donation. As these efforts have generally met with limited success, we reanalyze these efforts through the lens of the theory of planned behavior, and in light of two distinct scholarly imperatives of Muslim religious leaders, the ?ilmī and the islāhī. We argue for a new approach to health behavior change interventions within the Muslim community that are grounded in theoretical frameworks from the science of behavior change, as well the religious leadership paradigms innate to the Islamic tradition. We conclude by exploring the implications of our proposed model for applied Islamic bioethics and health research.     

A Non‐Muslim Teaching Islam: Pedagogical and Ethical Challenges

Abstract. This paper is a reflection on the two most significant challenges that I have faced teaching the introductory course in Islam. The first is the challenge of teaching Islam after September 11, 2001, the events of which gave rise to such pedagogical questions as how much and in what ways the course syllabus should change, and in particular how we should address issues such as extremism and terrorism. The second is the challenge of being a non‐Muslim teaching Islam, which raises issues of authority (particularly when there are Muslim students in the classroom). The limitations and advantages of teaching a tradition as an outsider are explored, and strategies for compensating for the limitations are suggested. The final section of the essay explores the following question: When, if ever, can (or should) we as teachers move from explaining and analyzing the positions taken by members of a tradition to criticizing them?     

Queer(ing) notions of Islamic authority: a methodological disposition in the work of Khaled Abou El Fadl

ABSTRACT

Queer approaches to Islam take a multitude of forms, and reflect queer lived experiences in a variety of ways. This article focuses on one particular form of queer approach to an aspect of the Islamic tradition, examining Khaled Abou El Fadl’s approach to the Shari’ah, focusing on his particular methodology of de-legitimization, re-presentation, and judgment according to the ethical standard of beauty. In doing so, its retrieval of internally queer aspects of the tradition come to light, including the focus on the nature of certainty within the Shari’ah as problematic, a strong emphasis on procedural non-finality, and the importance of the contextual nature of legal outcomes. Each of these aspects of the methodology have an impact on the lived experiences of Muslims within a community in which the law holds significant legal and social authority. In queering approaches to the Shari’ah, Abou El Fadl’s methodology simultaneously opens up space for a queering of contemporary norms of Muslim identity, society, and performance.     

The Dialogue of Ḥikma: Generating Harmony in Muslim–Non-Muslim Relations

This article seeks to explain the concept of the dialogue of ?ikma as a qur'anic principle in developing harmony in Muslim–non-Muslim relations. Living together harmoniously is essential in a community made up of a myriad of cultures and religions. Efforts to create harmony can be realized through the dialogue of ?ikma and by inculcating it as the culture in daily life interaction. This is truly essential in the context of mixed-faith families. In order to explore how the dialogue of ?ikma can be applied in Muslim–non-Muslim relations, this article examines the experience of Muslim converts living together with their non-Muslim families of origin. The research was conducted through in-depth interviews with selected Muslim converts from a variety of cultural backgrounds, living in the area of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The results indicate that Muslim converts share similar experiences in applying the dialogue of ?ikma as a mechanism for solving family problem arising as a result of conversion to Islam.     

The Interpretational Implications of Progressive Muslims' Qur'an and Sunna Manhaj in Relation to their Formulation of a Normative Muslima Construct1

This article presents a discussion on the interpretational implications of the delineating features of the Qur'an–Sunna hermeneutic of what we here term ‘progressive Muslims’ on the construction of a ‘normative Muslima’. In the first section, the article broadly defines progressive Muslims and their approach to conceptualizing, engaging and interpreting the Islamic tradition (turāth). In the second part, the criteria developed by classical scholarship for constructing the distinct religious identity of a Muslima are outlined. In the third section, the delineating features of progressive Muslims' Qur'an–Sunna model of interpretation (manhaj) are sketched out. In the fourth and final part, the interpretational implications of this manhaj are analysed on the basis of relevant Qur'an and Hadith textual evidence in relation to the construction of a normative Muslima image according to the progressive Muslim manhaj. It will be argued that the classical construct of a normative Muslima image is entirely rejected by the progressive Muslim approach. Instead, it will be contended that, on the basis of their contextualist, thematico-holistic and ethico-values- or objectives-based approach to interpretation of Qur'an and Sunna, progressive Muslims subscribe to the concept of a ‘normative’ Muslima representation which does not impose any social or spatial regulatory mechanisms. Furthermore, it will be proposed that progressive Muslims consider women as fully autonomous human beings, inherently equal to men, whose humanity is judged by their level of taqwā (God consciousness and righteous conduct).     

Qur'anic Recitation and The Aesthetics of Piety

Qur'anic recitation and azan (the call to prayer) are heard everywhere on the Muslim–Arabian Peninsula. Even those outside the Islamic tradition find Qur'anic recitation (tilawa) very beautiful. This article is an attempt to work out some of the puzzles—aesthetic and moral—of appreciating tilawa from outside the tradition. I defend an appreciation of tilawa that is aware and admiring of its piety, but appreciates it as an object of beauty. I further attempt to show how this does not violate Islamic precepts on the “art” of tilawa.     

Modern Pakistani and Indian Muslim perceptions of Christianity

In a forthcoming book,¹ I have examined the development of Muslim perceptions of Christianity over the centuries, with particular reference to contemporary Egyptian views. In the early modern period, the nineteenth century in particular, together with Egypt it was the Indian sub‐continent which was the point of genesis of much of the new Muslim thinking which emerged on the subject of Christianity.² This article will investigate the more recent development of this tradition, in both Pakistan and India, since they achieved their independence in 1947.     

The image of Muhammad in The Message,the first and only feature film about the Prophet of Islam

In 1976 The Message, the first feature film about Muhammad, had its premiere. It was a very special film because as a result of the restrictions imposed by some prominent Muslim legal scholars, the Prophet was not depicted, nor his wives nor his cousin ^cAlī. After an analytical impression of the contents of the film, the article discusses the relationship between the image of Muhammad in The Message and the pictures of the Prophet delineated by Muslim tradition and modern biographies of him. It then considers some new declarations made by Muslim religious authorities in 2002 and 2004 about films dealing with the life of the Prophet. Finally attention is given to the consequences of the rules announced by Muslim religious scholars concerning the image of the Prophet and to the acceptance of such an image by non-Muslims.     

Between Islam and anti-globalization: cultural, political and religious debates in the German Muslim newspaper Islamische Zeitung

This paper examines the Islamische Zeitung (IZ), a newspaper made by German Muslims for German Muslims that informs about political, cultural, and theological topics. I argue that beyond providing information, the paper aims to create a platform of debate for a growing group of, in particular, younger pious educated Muslims who examine current politics by way of an Islamic and also an anti-globalization perspective. Of relevance for this audience are Islamic knowledge, local and global politics, everyday religious concerns and practices, and cultural affairs. I illustrate how by discussing certain topics on its pages, the makers of the IZ support specific issues of debates among some pious individuals, such as for example the participation of pious Muslims (men and women) in the democratic process by way of running in elections. Finally I argue that the IZ seeks to link the German Muslim community to the context of the global ummah and here in particular the globalized ummah as a new community marked by a shared popular culture universe. I illustrate that contrary to the claims of some of its opponents, the IZ is a platform for German Muslim affairs that participates in the broader public sphere as much as it helps to mediate a variety of possibilities for the participation of individuals and communities.     

The mosque and social control in Edinburgh's Muslim community

The present paper is based on an ethnographic study of the social organisation of one of the main mosques (Markazi Jamia Masjid‐i‐Anwar‐i‐Madina) in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The main focus of the paper is the ways the mosque operates as an agency of social control among the Muslim population of Edinburgh. This study identifies sabaq—mosque‐based religious education of young Muslims—and the Jom'a (Friday) congregational prayer as the two main mechanisms of social control within the mosque. It is argued that while the social organisation of the mosque is, in some important ways, a response to and shaped by exclusionary practices in the wider society, it plays a central role in the maintenance of order in the Muslim community of Edinburgh.     

Islamic identity re‐covered: Muslim women after September 11th

For women, hijab is a prominent and oftentimes controversial physical marker of their social identity as Muslims. This study explores the perceptions of Muslim women living in Houston regarding the hijab and how these perceptions were partially shaped by media portrayals of Muslim women overseas after the September 11th tragedy. The effects of these perceptions on women's decisions to wear the hijab after September 11th were also examined. Using a convenience sample of 67 women, semi‐structured interviews were conducted. Results suggest that American Muslim women were more likely to talk about hijab in terms of identity than immigrant Muslim women, and to believe that by wearing hijab they could help portray a more positive image of Muslims in the United States.     

Christian‐Muslim relations in the African context

Abstract

The course of Islam and Christianity in Africa as well as statistical figures suggest a wide variety within, as well as considerable divergence between, both religions in the many African contexts. Though the majority of African Muslims still stick to a ‘traditional African Islam’, we observe a resurgence of Islam reflecting a growing religious awareness, on the one hand, and tendencies towards an ideological re‐interpretation (Islamism), on the other. Trends in resurgent Islam are highlighted by the examples of Islamic internationalism and da'wa, the modernisation of Islamic education, and the proliferation of Islamic political groups all over the continent. Various dimensions of Christian—Muslim relations in Africa today show areas of conflict as well as of cooperation and exchange. Against the background of the economic and social disintegration of many African societies, there is no alternative to inter‐religious dialogue which must be based on an authentic African theological foundation, being rooted in the African heritage shared by Muslim and Christian communities alike.     

The Varied Trajectories of Engaged Buddhism: New Works on Buddhist Environmental Ethics,Interdependence, and Racial Karma

This book discussion reads three works in contemporary Buddhist social ethics alongside one another: Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s Interconnected, David Loy’s Ecodharma, and Larry Ward’s America’s Racial Karma. Each of these works contributes to the subfield of engaged Buddhism, which aims to bring Buddhist value theory to contemporary social and political issues in order to effect social change. The rapid development of engaged Buddhism constitutes a particularly rich moment in the history of Buddhist thought, as Buddhist ethics is showing itself to be actively in process—a tradition in the midst of rapid transformation, revision, and cross-cultural application. This book discussion interrogates these three works with that metaphilosophical and historiographical issue in mind, analyzing the particular ways in which they contribute to challenging and reshaping the traditional contours of Buddhist ethics into a contemporary social and political register. In exemplifying the approaches of translation, extending, and applying, these works demonstrate the creative and experimental moment in which Buddhist social ethics finds itself today. Such adaptations of the Buddhist tradition are historiographically significant as innovations, while also of a piece with Buddhism’s history of intercultural transmission.