Islamic Shari\u27a Law, History and Modernity: Some Reflections

In the last two centuries, Muslim modernists have introduced major legal reforms that led to the restriction of the range and scope of Islamic Shari’a Law and the overhaul of legal thought and practice in the Muslim World. Nevertheless, every time a new legal reform is proposed, it is met with outcries from Islamists who label it un-Islamic and blasphemy against God. This paper examines some major premodern scholars of Islamic jurisprudence whose thought and practice about Shari’a Law featured tremendous flexibility in the way they understood their role as legislators and accepted a diversity of rules. The paper shows how important Islamic history is for a proper understanding of Islamic Shari’a Law, which accommodates change and constant interpretation

Islamic Shariʿa Law, History and Modernity: Some Reflections

In the last two centuries, Muslim modernists have introduced major legal reforms that led to the restriction of the range and scope of Islamic Shariʿa Law and the overhaul of legal thought and practice in the Muslim World. Nevertheless, every time a new legal reform is proposed, it is met with outcries from Islamists who label it un-Islamic and blasphemy against God. This paper examines some major premodern scholars of Islamic jurisprudence whose thought and practice about Shariʿa Law featured tremendous flexibility in the way they understood their role as legislators and accepted a diversity of rules. The paper shows how important Islamic history is for a proper understanding of Islamic Shariʿa Law, which accommodates change and constant interpretatio

CFD and statistical approach to optimize the average air velocity and air volume fraction in an inert-particles spouted-bed reactor (IPSBR) system

Inert-particles spouted bed reactor (IPSBR) is characterized by intense mixing generated by the circular motion of the inert particles. The operating parameters play an important role in the performance of the IPSBR system, and therefore, parameter optimization is critical for the design and scale-up of this gas-liquid contact system. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provides detailed modeling of the system hydrodynamics, enabling the determination of the operating conditions that optimize the performance of this contact system. The present work optimizes the main IPSBR operating parameters, which include a feed-gas velocity in the range 0.5-1.5 m/s, orifice diameter in the range 0.001-0.005 m, gas head in the range 0.15-0.35 m, mixing-particle diameter in the range 0.009-0.0225 m, and mixing-particle to reactor volume fraction in the range 2.0-10.0 vol % (which represents 0.01-0.1 kg of mixing particles loading). The effects of these parameters on the average air velocity and average air volume fraction in the upper, middle, and conical regions of the reactor were studied. The specific distance for each region has been measured from the orifice point to be 50 mm for the conical region, 350 mm for the middle region and 550 mm for the upper rejoin. The selected factors were optimized to obtain the minimum air velocity distribution (maximum gas residence time) and the maximum air volume fraction (maximum interfacial area concentration) because these conditions will increase the gas holdup, the gas-liquid contact area, and the mass transfer coefficient among phases. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimum operating conditions. The regression analysis showed an excellent fit of the experimental data to a second-order polynomial model. The interaction between the process variables was evaluated using the obtained three-dimensional surface plots. The analysis revealed that under the optimized parameters of a feed-gas velocity of 1.5 m/s, orifice diameter of 0.001 m, gas head of 0.164 m, mixing-particle diameter of 0.0225 m, and mixing-particle loading of 0.02 kg, the minimum average air velocity and highest air volume fraction were observed throughout the reactor.This work was supported by the ADNOC Refining Research Center , Abu Dhabi, UAE.Scopu

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of an Inert Particles Spouted Bed Reactor (IPSBR) system

A novel system for contacting gases and liquids, suitable for many applications involving gas-liquid contact such as CO2 capture and brine desalination, has been simulated and experimentally validated. The system comprises a vertical vessel with gas and liquid ports and inert particles that enhance mixing and provide a high gas-liquid interfacial area. A low gas flow rate was statistically demonstrated and experimentally verified to be the optimum condition for CO2 capture and brine desalination; however, the gas velocity can have a considerable effect on the motion of inert particles inside the reactor. Uniform particles motion ensures good mixing within the reactor and hence efficient absorption and stripping process. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, namely Eulerian model, presented in this paper, will help demonstrate the effect of mixing particles at specific conditions on the gas and liquid velocities inside the reactor, gas and liquid volume distribution through reactor, and eddy viscosities stresses of the mixing particles. A mesh-independent study was conducted to demonstrate the independency of mesh structure and size on the output responses. A quasi-steady state was attained to ensure the stability and feasibility of the selected model. The assembled model exhibits remarkable applicability in determining the optimum mixing particles densities, volume ratios, and sizes to ensure best velocity distribution and gas spreading inside the reactor and accordingly enhance the associated chemical reactions.Research funding: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Refining Research Center, Abu Dhabi, UAE (Grant no. 21N224). https://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002672 .Scopu

The intensification and reorientation of Sunni jihad ideology in the Crusader period : Ibn 'Asakir of Damascus (1105-1176) and his age, with an edition and translation of Ibn 'Asakir's The Forty hadiths for inciting jihad

The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period examines the important role of Ibn ʿAsākir, including his Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad, in the promotion of a renewed jihad ideology in twelfth-century Damascus as part of sultan Nūr al-Dīn?s agenda to revivify Sunnism and fight, under the banner of jihad, Crusader and Muslim opponents. This jihad vision was exclusively centered on selected quranic verses and prophetic hadiths. Ibn ʿAsākir and other Sunni scholars in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Syria departed from the earlier scholarly focus on legal nuances and aversion to invoke jihad in intra-Muslim conflicts. They championed this intensification and reorientation of jihad ideology in mainstream Sunni scholarship, and gave it a lasting legacy

Arabia and the Birth of Islam: When History, Myth and Opinion Become Inseparable

In The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity, Aziz al-ʿAzmeh takes on a massive challenge to try to reconstruct the religious scene in Arabia on the eve of the emergence of Islam. He contends that Muhammad was able to champion a little known deity called Allah and the success of his movement made it a major religious divinity in the Near East. This article challenges the premises of Azmeh’s approach, methodology and findings. It argues that the scanty historical evidence does not allow for any credible historical reconstruction of Arabian society and religion. Moreover, the use of the Qurʾan as a window into Muhammad and his mission produces tentative results at best. Essentially, Azmeh only succeeded in analyzing a selection of several religious histories (i.e., what is believed and not what is factual) and presenting them as the history of the rise of Islam

Islamic Shari’a Law, history and modernity: some reflections = Direito Islâmico da Shari’a, história e modernidade: algumas reflexões

Aborda o Direito Islâmico da Shari’a. Analisa as reformas legais modernas que alteraram a restrição e alcance do escopo do Direito islâmico. Examina estudiosos pré-modernos da jurisprudência islâmica.- DOI: 10.5102/rdi.v15i3.593

Too Big to Be Owned: Reflections on Jerusalem in Islamic History

Muslims have venerated Jerusalem since the seventh century. Their direct control of the city began in 638 and lasted, except for a few interruptions, until 1917. When we examine the evolution of an official Muslim attitude towards Jerusalem, it becomes clear that they perceived their role not as owners of the city but rather as custodians. This attitude was informed by the realization that Jerusalem was sacred to Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike, and that all three religious communities share many of the same sacred sites. As such, statesmanship and law oblige Muslim rulers to protect and defend Christian and Jewish sacred spaces, even against occasional Muslim mob behavior that called for the destruction, confiscation, or exclusive use of those places. the Trump administration\u27s embassy to Jerusalem stands as a violation of this historical framework and of the rule of law and sanctions the eradication of Palestinian identity and historical memory