Woman in the Islamic culture

In polemics between defenders of Western and Muslim social concepts both parties feel that they speak on behalf of their essential values. The former consider equality of women an important part of human rights. The latter claim that the sharīʿa protecte the dignity of woman and stability of family much better than the Western liberalism. -- In the paper an attempt is made to assess the position of woman in Islam from all relevant angles, starting from the core of religious beliefs. The Qur'ānic view has been recently reexamined by Riffat Hassan in what might be termed an attempt at introducing a Muslim feminist theology. In her reading of the Qur'ān, a message of equality and justice is shown i.a. through the absence of any mention of a creation from Adant's rib and through Allah's use of the grammatical dual number when addressing the first couple. The paper further discusses distinguished women in the Qur'ān (Mariam), in Muhammad's life and in Sufism (Rabīʿa), the refutation of female deities (related to the "satanic verses") and popular elaborations on demonic features of the Queen of Sheba (Bilqīs). ...In polemics between defenders of Western and Muslim social concepts both parties feel that they speak on behalf of their essential values. The former consider equality of women an important part of human rights. The latter claim that the sharīʿa protecte the dignity of woman and stability of family much better than the Western liberalism. -- In the paper an attempt is made to assess the position of woman in Islam from all relevant angles, starting from the core of religious beliefs. The Qur'ānic view has been recently reexamined by Riffat Hassan in what might be termed an attempt at introducing a Muslim feminist theology. In her reading of the Qur'ān, a message of equality and justice is shown i.a. through the absence of any mention of a creation from Adant's rib and through Allah's use of the grammatical dual number when addressing the first couple. The paper further discusses distinguished women in the Qur'ān (Mariam), in Muhammad's life and in Sufism (Rabīʿa), the refutation of female deities (related to the "satanic verses") and popular elaborations on demonic features of the Queen of Sheba (Bilqīs). ..

Počátky muslimských menšin ve střední Evropě

The research has been focused on Central Europe in the “long 19th century”. As to the previous history, a_small community of (Lipka) Tatars is attested in Poland since more than 600 years. For Hungary both Latin and Arabic sources point even deeper but the data about the Muslims’ identity and history are rather vacillating. Better information is available concerning the Ottoman expansion reaching as far as Southern parts of present-day Slovakia. In the 19th century relations between Christian Europe and Islam changed on both sides, which encouraged Muslims to settle even in countries of their erstwhile enemies. The paper gives an account of conversions to Islam and of stimuli for Muslims’ migration to the Habsburg monarchy and its successor states. They comprise a_demographic factor and the Austrian occupation and annexation of Bosnia, followed by the Laws on Islam adopted in 1912 and 1916. The paper concludes with a_brief outline of the rise of new Muslim communities in the region after the world wars

Christian-Muslim Discussion of Danteʼs Divine Comedy

Examination of the Islamic sources of inspiration behind Danteʼs imagination raises a debate over the extent of this influence and on the poetʼs personal opinions regarding historical facts, philosophy, theology, mysticism, courtly poetry and divine love, as well as Danteʼs reception within the ferment of subsequent history down to this day. Contemporary attitudes towards Danteʼs relationship to Islamic culture diverge sharply into opposing views.24525

Gellnerova islamika

Ernest Gellner took a great interest in the functioning of Muslim society, which he liked to put in contrast to Western values and social patterns. The article deals with his approach to five topical areas. The first one is his well-known theory of two forms of Islam whose age-long oscillation was stopped in modern times by the triumph of the higher, more individualist version. The ensuing growth of Islamic fundamentalism is further explained within Gellner’s interpretation of this concept in a general philosophical meaning. Other topics comprise nationalism in Muslim societies, discussion on the controversial issue of acceptability of civil society in the world of Islam and, finally, Gellner’s attempt to explain the astonishing collapse of Marxism in 1990s in contrast with the success of the unsecularized modernity of Islam. The paper provides room for critical approaches to Gellner’s views, their week point being mainly ahistorical generalizations neglecting broader patterns of Muslim societies and their trends. Nonetheless his analyses, though partial, are a valuable tool for an endeavour to understand