Shah Wali Allah\u27s Arrangement of the Subtle Spiritual Centers

This paper will present an explanation of some previously unexamined aspects of fillah Wali Allah\u27s (d. 1762) conception of the subtJe spiritual centres (/afii\u27if). For Shah Wali Allah these spiritual components of a person were of great importance in explaining the theory and practice of individual spiritual progress on the Sufi path. His arrangement of these centres, together with his explanation of their interaction with one another directly reflects his more comprehensive understanding of cosmology and ontology, and therefore this aspect of his thought is less esoteric than it might initially seem

South Asian Muslim American Girl Power: Structures and Symbols of Control and Self Expression

South Asian Muslim American (SAMA) girls studied ethnographically in Chicago and more broadly in the United States negotiate these three components (South Asian, Muslim, and American) of identity across the spheres of home, Islamic institutions, and the public “American” realm. . Drawing on interviews and fieldwork at an Islamic school and within South Asian families and mosques, the authors illustrate how nascent “girl” power is evidenced in these contexts drawing on media representations, academic sources, and data drawn from participant observation. Sources of SAMA girls’ expressions of confidence and power are selective use of identity markers, increased mastery of Islamic knowledge, and various subtle acts of resistance to norms imposed upon them within home and family interactions, Islamic spaces, and the American public sphere

Islamic economics: a survey of the literature

A central thesis of this paper is that social science is the study of human experience, and hence is strongly conditioned by history. Modern Western political, economic and social structures have emerged as a consequence of the repudiation of religion associated with the Enlightenment and are based on secular principles. Many of these are inimical to Islamic principles, and cannot be adapted to an Islamic society. Muslim societies achieved freedom from colonial rule in the first half of the twentieth century and have sought to construct institutions in conformity with Islam. The development of Islamic economics is part of this process of transition away from Western colonial institutions. This paper is a survey of the literature on Islamic economics, which focuses on the contrasts between Western economic theories and Islamic approaches to the organization of economic affairs