Muslim Societies. Unity or Diversity?

It is often claimed that Islam is not only a religion but a culture and a civilization. 'The Islamic world' and 'Islamic history' are commonly used terms, both in popular public discourse and in academic writing, suggesting some kind of coherent unity. At the same time, writers point to the diversity of Muslim countries from Morocco to Indonesia, from Nigeria to Turkey. Is there a unity behind the diversity, at least in the 'heartlands' of Islam in the Middle East and North Africa, as Ernest Gellner and others have claimed

Religious Authority and Public Life

The image of the Middle East projected in current public discourses is one imbued with religion. Media consumers would be forgiven for assuming that the region consists of angry bearded men prostrating themselves in prayer when not shaking their fists and burning American flags, and shadowy women with headscarves or chadors. The region is 'the Islamic world', religion stamped on every aspect of its life and function. The 'clash of civilizations' idea, much criticized, remains a potent notion both in the West and in Muslim circles. A mythical totalized 'Muslim world' is opposed to an equally mythical unified 'West', with religion as the essence of the former and the main key to its politics and society

Inclusion of the Domains of Sustainable Development in Al Hadith Text Books in the Intermediate Stage

This study aims to identify the areas of sustainable development that should be included in the textbooks of Prophetic Sayings (Hadeeth) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to determine the degree of availability, and to find out if there are statistically significant differences at (α≤0.05) in the degree of availability. The descriptive analytical method was used to analyze the whole study population. Cooper coefficient of stability, frequencies, and percentages were used to analyze the results and measure the degree of availability of these fields. Chi Square equation was also used to measure the differences between the availability of fields among grades. The social field was firstly ranked with a percentage of 78.16%, and a total of 433 frequencies, while the environmental field followed it with a percentage of 6.98% and a total of 37 frequencies. The paper showed that there were statistically significant differences in the inclusion in Chi equation

Religious Fundamentalism as an Obstacle to Peace in the Middle East: Under What Conditions Might Pragmatism Prevail?

Religious fundamentalists have in several instances served as barriers to the peaceful conclusion of disputes in the Middle East, especially in the framework of the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a consequence and irrespective of the specific definition of fundamentalism, these groups can constitute in various countries a substantial hurdle for any arms control initiative such as the upcoming Middle East Conference (MEC). This gathering is to deal with the establishment of a zone free of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery vehicles (DVs). Achieving a successful and sustainable outcome at the MEC could be hampered by a host of problems, one of which is the diffi cult role that religious fundamentalism could possibly play in undermining this initiative. Hence, this POLICY BRIEF provides decision makers and practitioners with information on these presumably ‘negative’ actors, drawn from case studies covering various fundamentalist groups within the Middle East and beyond. These recommendations are based on the key finding that, contrary to mainstream expectations, the major players can behave pragmatically, provided they are acting in favorable circumstances

The influence of minimum sitting period of the ActivPAL™ on the measurement of breaks in sitting in young children

Sitting time and breaks in sitting influence cardio-metabolic health. New monitors (e.g. activPAL™) may be more accurate for measurement of sitting time and breaks in sitting although how to optimize measurement accuracy is not yet clear. One important issue is the minimum sitting/upright period (MSUP) to define a new posture. Using the activPAL™, we investigated the effect of variations in MSUP on total sitting time and breaks in sitting, and also determined the criterion validity of different activPAL™ settings for both construct

Islamism and the state after the Arab uprisings: Between people power and state power

The authors would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for facilitating the research for this article through their support of the research network People Power versus State Power of the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World.This paper examines the trajectories of different Islamist trends in the light of the Arab uprisings. It proposes a distinction between statist and non-statist Islamism to help understand the multiplicity of interactions between Islamists and the state, particularly after 2011. It is outlined how statist Islamists (Islamist parties principally) can contribute to the stabilization and democratization of the state when their interactions with other social and political actors facilitate consensus building in national politics. By contrast when these interactions are conflictual, it has a detrimental impact on both the statist Islamists, and the possibility of democratic politics at the national level. Non statist-Islamists (from quietist salafi to armed jihadi) who prioritize the religious community over national politics are directly impacted by the interactions between statist Islamists and the state, and generally tend to benefit from the failure to build a consensus over democratic national politics. Far more than nationally-grounded statist Islamists, non-statist Islamists shape and are shaped by the regional dynamics on the Arab uprisings and the international and transnational relations between the different countries and conflict areas of the Middle East. The Arab uprisings and their aftermath reshaped pre-existing national and international dynamics of confrontation and collaboration between Islamists and the state, and between statist and non-statists Islamists, for better (Tunisia) and for worse (Egypt).PostprintPeer reviewe