Islamic concept of sovereignty

The purpose of this study is to analyse the modern trends among the Muslims concerning the problem of sovereignty. The question of sovereignty, which basically deals with political power, has become a matter of great concern to the Muslims since the nineteenth century especially those who are interested in the real principles of Islamic statehood as opposed to the western political concepts. There have been remarkable attempts by modern Muslim scholars to reconstruct early Islamic theories of rulership in cirumstances which have been entirely different to those in which the theories were born, chiefly due to the encounter between Islam and the West. These scholars have attempted to express these theories in modern terms amongst which the word sovereignty is in common use. Owing to the great impact of the Western notions of sovereignty, we shall also consider to what extent they have influenced the emergence of the new Muslim attitudes. It is advisable, therefore, to start the study with an examination of the origins of the Western theories in order to understand the Islamic concept of sovereignty as conceived by the modern Muslims. In Europe, sovereignty emerged as an important political concept after the religious wars of the sixteenth century and as a result of the creation of the territorial nation state. Though, it is generally an accepted working assumption up to the present time, yet it is an ambiguous term and lends itself to different interpretaions. In fact, it has been given a variety of forms in a number of theories which are all surrounded with much controversy. Nonetheless, all states of the modern world, including the Muslim countries, have been founded on the basis of these Western theories. After the Western sources the study looks into the early Islamic ideas of rulership from which the Muslims derive their inspirations. The survey of the modem Muslim views that follows covers the political thought of the Ottomans, the Arabs and the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent since the ninteenth century

Die Al-Azhar : ihre Geschichte, Funktion und Organisation unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer germanistischen Abteilungen / von Muhammad Abu-Hattab Khaled

Die ägyptische Al-Azhar Universität feierte in März des Jahres 1983 ihr tausendjähriges Gründungsjubiläum. Chronologisch ist dieses Jubiläum allerdings etwas umstritten. In Wahrheit sind seit der Gründung der Al-Azhar nämlich keine 1000, sondern bereits 1013 Jahre verstrichen. Die Bauarbeiten an der Al-Azhar Moschee hatten bereits im April 970 angefangen. Die tausend Jahre verstehen sich somit als Beginn des eigentlichen Studienbetriebs an der Al-Azhar, die als Institution einige Jahre älter ist. Schon im Jahre 1942 hatte eine 1000-Jahrfeier an der Al-Azhar abgehalten werden sollen. Laut islamischem Mondkalender waren in eben diesem Jahr 1000 Mondjahre vergangen, doch die Ereignisse des 2. Weltkrieges, in den ja auch Ägypten verwickelt war, machten jede Hoffnung auf dies bezügliche Feierlichkeiten zunichte. Die Al-Azhar-Universität nennt sich die älteste Universität der Welt, durchaus mit Recht. Wenngleich man zugeben muß, daß schon lange vor der Gründung der Al-Azhar, Schulen und Akademien für das Studium aller Wissensgebiete existierten, von denen die bedeutendsten gerade hier in Ägypten angesiedelt waren. Man denke nur an die altägyptische Akademie von On, welcher Ort später von den Griechen Heliopolis genannt wurde, oder an die berühmte antike Akademie von Alexandrien. Es ist somit kein Zufall, daß nach der Ausbreitung des Islam eben hier im Niltal das erste große islamische Wissenszentrum gegründet wurde. ..

Kindness to Servants during the Mamluk Era

Servants in the Mamluk era, as they were in all other ages, engaged in indispensable service activities. Therefore,there was a need to care for them, be kind to them and to treat them humanely.In return, those servants were obligated to perform their duties diligently and to be loyal to theirmasters, and maintain moral courtesy.Fairness and benevolence to this category of workers, and praise of those masters, who granted them adecent living in spite of political turmoil, are worthy research targets.A search in available Mamluk sources yields scattered relevant materials that can be collected andcontextually used, especially as more topics on social life in that era are needed to highlight this category ofworkers.The conditions of the Mamluk society and its various casts indicate that servants were treated kindlyby the Mamluk sultans; they have progressed through the ranks and even assumed senior positions. This pointwas detailed in my paper, al-Waẓyef Allati Taqaladuha al-Khadam fi Al ‘Asr al-Mamlūki (Positions Held byServants in the Mamluk Era) (1). However, this is not the immediate concern of this paper, which rather focuseson the humane treatment they received from their patrons, whether they were members of the ruling classsultansand their deputies, or from other classes of society.Using available historical resources, this research is divided into two parts: First, Kindness of sultansand their households to their servants; and Second, Kindness of senior princes, dignitaries and others to theirservants

Some aspects of the Tafsīr of Mujāhid

This thesis starts with an introduction which contains Mujahid's life, sources for his Tafsir and background to the writing of Tafsir. It also examines the authorities for Mujahid's interpretations and gives the background of their lives and an estimate of their reliability. Chapter One highlights Mujahid's view of the role of the exegete, with special reference to the notion of whether those who are rooted in knowledge/(rasikhun fi al-'ilm) are able to understand the mutash=abihat of the Qur'an or not. Mujahid is shown to have held the view that they are. The Abbreviated Letters a(al-huruf al-muqatta'ah) are given as an example of the mutashabihat which is treated in Chapter Two. Chapter Three examines the theological issue of whether God can or cannot be seen in the Hereafter. Here Mujahid is shown to have held the view that God could be seen in the Hereafter. Chapter Four deals with the interpretation of the expression maqaman mahmuda mentioned in verse 17:79. It shows the rationalism of Mujahid's interpretation. Chapter Five discusses the way into which the Sabbatarians were transformed and Mujahid's unique view that this must be interpreted metaphorically. Chapters Six and Seven are devoted to juristic problems. The former investigates the interpretation of fahishah mentioned in verses 4:15-16, in addition to the interpretation of verse 24:2. In one opinion widely attributed to Mujahid as regards the interpretation of fahishah, he held that this referred to lesbianism and sodomy. The latter chapter (Seven) fully examines the different kinds of 'iddah and in particular Mujahid's view of the widow's 'iddah. The Last Chapter (Eight) treats linguistic aspects where the interpretations of different Qur'anic verses are discussed and Mujahid puts forward some original interpretations. The conclusion estimates Mujahid as an exegete

Manẓūm al-Awjalī (An Apparatus of al-Aujaly)

The entire manuscript is available for download as a single PDF file. Higher-resolution images may be available upon request. For technical assistance, please contact [email protected]. Fieldwork Team: Dr. Mustapha Hashim Kurfi (Principal Investigator), Mohammed Bara’u Musa & Hauwa Usman (Local Project Managers), Adamu Mohammed, Abacha Kachalla, Abdrra’uf Abdullahi & Falmaa Madu Ibrahim (General Field Facilitators), and Haladu Mamman (Photographer). Technical Team: Prof. Fallou Ngom (Director African Studies Center), and Eleni Castro (Technical Lead, BU Libraries). These Collections of Fulfulde & Kanuri Ajami materials are copied as part of the African Studies Center’s African Ajami Library. Access Condition and Copyright: These materials are subject to copyright. All rights reserved to the author. For use, distribution or reproduction contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]). Citation: Materials in this web edition should be cited as: Kurfi, Mustapha Hashim, Ngom, Fallou, and Castro, Eleni (2019). African Ajami Library: Digital Preservation of Fulfulde & Kanuri Ajami Materials of Northeastern Nigeria. Boston: Boston University Libraries: http://hdl.handle.net/2144/38242. For Inquiries: Please contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]).Provenance / Custodial history: This manuscript is owned by Alhaji Bashir who was born and raised in Damask in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria. He is a graduate of the University of Maiduguri, and has a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics. He said that his interest in Kanuri Ajami, coupled with his background (being Kanuri himself and a linguist), motivate him to develop a collection of Kanuri Ajami texts. Alhaji Bashir has extensive Islamic knowledge and currently works for the Borno State government.This manuscript is a very short work in Arabic with extensive explicatory glosses in Kanuri Ajami. It has two parts. The first is Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ’s work dealing with tawḥīd (oneness of God), the five pillars of Islam, the attributes of Allāh, the articles of faith, and elaborated notes on the characteristics of the Almighty God. The second part of the work deals with anger, anxiety, and depression. It provides words of wisdom on how to manage, control and eradicate these conditions. Both parts (tawḥīd and anger management) are written as poems. It is unclear whether the author of the first part is the same as author of the second part. The manuscript reflects the long history of Islamic scholarship in Kanem-Borno. The manuscript is unbound, complete, easy to read, and has no damaged pages. The total number of pages is only 11.The contents of this collection were developed with support of the Title VI National Resource Center grant # P015A180164 from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government

Analisis istinbāṭ al-ahkām fatwa Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî yang kontroversial

Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî adalah seorang ulama kontemporer dari kalangan Al- Azhar dan dunia Islam, yang begitu banyak memberikan sumbangsi pemikiran dan fatwa-fatwa yang berkaitan permasalahan kesyari’ahan yang tetap mengembalikan jawaban syari’ahnya kepada adilah al-Akam yang mu’tabarah. Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî mulai mengeluarkan atau menetapkan fatwa-fatwanya ketika beliau diangkat menjadi Mufti Negara Mesir (1986-1996) setelah itu beliau diangkat menjadi Syaikh al-azhar untuk memimpin al-Azhar (1996-2010), disebabkan aktifitas beliau sebagai seorang mufti dan Syeikh al Azhar menuntutnya banyak dan aktif mengeluarkan fatwa, pemikiran dan pandangan hukum terhadap permasalahan yang ada ketika itu. Yang menjadi rumusan masalah dalam tesis ini adalah “Bagaimana metodologi, coraak pemikiran Istinbāt al-Ahkam Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy dalam fatwa Beliau yang kontroversial?” khususnya permasalahan hukum bolehnya menyumbang ke gereja, bunga bank, dan hukum jilbab bagi pelajar Muslimah di Perancis? Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan“u¡­l fiqh” dalam artian bagaimana upaya dalam menetapkan hukum dilandasi dengan metode yang sistematis dan logis yang biasa disebut dengan ilmu “u¡­l fiqh”,Penelitian ini juga menggunakan pendekatan historis, sehingga dengan mengkaji sejarah sang tokoh, bisa diketahui bagaimana pengaruh ketokohan Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî dalam sosio-religinya ketika mengeluarkan fatwa nya. Sumber data yang penulis gunakan Pertama, Sumber data primer adalah karya Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî yang berkaitan dengan metode istinbath hukumnya seperti: “‘isyrūn suālan wa jawāban, majālāt syahriyyah al-Azhar, fatāwa as-Sya´riyah, al-Ijtihād fil Ahkām as-Syar´iyyah.”. Kedua , sumber data sekunder yaitu tulisan atau karya ulama lain yang mengulas tentang masalah yang sama yang diangkat hukumnya sebagai komparasi antara hasil istinbath Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî dengan ulama yang lain dan juga saduran pendapat Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwî yang disadur oleh media baik cetak maupun elektronik Hasil penelitian penulis menunjukkan bahwa dalam fatwa kontroversi beliau dalam beberapa masalah yaitu bolehnya menyumbang untuk pembangunan gereja, bolehnya berinteraksi dengan bunga bank, dan boleh bagi pelajar muslimah membuka jilbabnya di negara Perancis. Dari beberapa contoh fatwa beliau kita bias melihat, beliau lebih mengedepankan aspek ma¡la¥at ketika berbenturan antar ma¡la¥at dan mu«arr±, dan beliau juga kadang di setiap fatwa nya lebih mementingkan ma¡la¥at dari pada na¡, corak pemikirannya beliau lebih moderat dan menghargai kepluralan agama dan kadang ada misi politk dalam menjaga hubungan baik antara sebangsa dan antar negara

Polysemy in the Modern Arabic Lexicon An applied study on the al-Muˁjam al-ˁArabī al-ˀAsāsī

Polisemia en el léxico árabe contemporáneo. Un estudio aplicado sobre el Muˁǧam al- ˁArabī al-Asāsī. El presente estudio se divide en tres secciones. La primera de ellas aborda el concepto de polisemia y sus diferentes tipos en los autores árabes antiguos y modernos. La segunda sección estudia en detalle el Muˁǧam al-ˁArabī al-Asāsī y su método de presentación de las palabras de carácter polisémico, aportando numerosos ejemplos para aclarar la forma de abordar la cuestión en dicho diccionario. La tercera sección analiza la forma de presentar las palabras con sentidos opuestos (aḍdād), que se consideran una de las clases de polisemia.Polysemy in the Modern Arabic Lexicon. An applied study on the al-Muˁjam al-ˁArabī al-Asāsī”. The research is divided into three sections: Section I discusses the concept of multi - meaning, and types, trying to determine the type of diversity, whether it homonymy, or polysemy. Section II examines al-Muˁjam al-ˁArabī al-Asāsī [“The Fundamental Arabic Dictionary”] in the presentation of multi-meaning words, provinding many exemples to analyse the way this phenomenon is tackled by. Section III studies the antonymy in the dictionary, which constitutes part of the multi-meaning words

Seneyandiraŋ Kitaaboo: Book of Purification

The entire manuscript is available for download as a PDF file(s). Higher-resolution images may be available upon request. For technical assistance, please contact [email protected]. Fieldwork Team: Dr. Fallou Ngom (Pricipal Investigator; Director, African Studies Center), Ablaye Diakité (Local Project Manager), Mr. Ibrahima Yaffa (General Field Facilitator), and Ibrahima Ngom (photographer). Technical Team: Professor Fallou Ngom (Principal Investigator, Project Director and former Director of the African Studies Center at Boston University)), and Eleni Castro (Technical Lead, BU Libraries). This collection of Mandinka Ajami materials is copied as part of the African Studies Center’s African Ajami Library. This is a joint project between BU and the West African Research Center (WARC), funded by the British Library/Arcadia Endangered Archives Programme. Access Condition and Copyright: These materials are subject to copyright and are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are fully cited using the information below. For use, distribution or reproduction beyond these terms, contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]). Citation: Materials in this web edition should be cited as: Ngom, Fallou, Castro, Eleni, & Diakité, Ablaye. (2018). African Ajami Library: EAP 1042. Digital Preservation of Mandinka Ajami Materials of Casamance, Senegal. Boston: Boston University Libraries: http://hdl.handle.net/2144/27112. For Inquiries: please contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]). For technical assistance, please contact [email protected] / Custodial history:The owner inherited it from his father who inherited it from his grandfather, Karang Alphousseyni Cisse. Karang was a religious scholar who was born in Mankonomba and later moved to Bemme where he lived until his death.The document is inspired by an original Arabic text by Muḥammad al-Sanūsī dealing with Islamic rituals, including ways to cleanse oneself after intercourse and ablutions. The original Arabic document was translated in Mandinka to allow Ajami users to access the content easily. It discusses the differents types of purification that Islam teaches and how each part of the body should be washed. The document is bound and made for wider dissemination

A Study of the Premises and Requisites of Belief in a «Text-Centered» Religion and a «Person-Centered» Religion (with Emphasis on Islam and Christianity)

The difference in Islam and Christianity's views in regards to the essence of revelation and prophets is the cause of a clear distinction between these two revealed religions. In Islamic sources, revelation is from the category of speech and word and Islamic theologians believe that God speaks to man in order to have a «connection with him» and shows Himself through a language that is understandable to man; but prevailing Christianity considers «revelation» to be of the category of action and of being an event and believes that God becomes embodied in a human form in order to have a «connection with man». The core of Divine revelation in Islam is the Quran whereas in Christianity it is the person of Jesus. Based on these two different views in regards to revelation, we will call Islam a «text-centered» religion and Christianity a «person-centered» one. The question that is raised here is whether these two different views concerning revelation – from strength of argument perspective – are on the same level. In order to answer this question it is necessary to first study the premises of each view, then to compare the degree of their reasonability and finally, it is necessary to evaluate the requisites of each view in different domains like theology, type of religiosity and the sciences that are formed around each one