Can Islam and democracy coexist? A cross-national analysis of Islamic institutions in the Muslim world

Achilov, Dilshod The University of Arizona 2010 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation investigates the extent to which between Islam and democracy are compatible in the Muslim world. While some scholars have argued that Islam is inherently incompatible with democracy many have found, in contrast, that Islam has many resources to accommodate a successful democratic state. If Islam is compatible with democratic governance at a doctrinal level, why then are the majority of Muslim countries largely authoritarian? To address this question, I introduce a refinement on this discrepancy by focusing on the coexistence of emerging Islamic institutions with democratic transitions in 49 Muslim-majority states. Traditionally, Islam has been operationalized as a "dichotomous" variable based on demographics or an "attitudinal" measure based on survey responses. Both measures have failed to account for an inherent variation of Islam's role across the Muslim world. I developed a new index to assess the variation in Islam factor across Muslim countries: Islamic Institutionalization Index (III). This new index avoids the shortcomings of the current approaches to quantifying "Islam" and captures the range of variation in Islamic Institutions across 49 countries by allowing scholars to gauge the density and level of Islam in each country. With the index I designed, I rely on three different levels of analysis to examine under which circumstances Islam and democracy can coexist. More precisely, by looking into three categories of Islamic institutions (educational, political, and financial), I raise the following question: "To what extent and in what levels do Islamic Institutions support the coexistence between Islam and Democracy?". Analyzing 49 Muslim-majority states, I utilize mixed methodology by using Configurational Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FS/QCA) and focused case study analysis. FS-QCA offers an innovative and robust approach to identify configurationally complex factors while discerning the emerging patterns displayed by medium size (N=49) cases. To further explain the complex interplay of conditions, I focus on two case studies in greater detail: Kazakhstan and Turkey. I find a strong empirical association between the density and scope of Islamic political, educational and financial institutions and the existence of democratic norms (civil and political liberties and democratic institutions). Findings further suggest that Islamic institutions can coexist with civil and political liberties when governments allow Islamic institutionalization to function in society with no stern political restrictions. Among the three categories of III, Islamic states with higher levels of Islamic political institutions manifest particularly higher levels of democracy. Conversely, states that ban the emergence of a range of Islamic institutions in politics, education, and interest-free banking exhibit low levels of freedom and stunted democratic institutions. .

Heirs of the Prophet: Islamic Authority and International Politics in the 21st Century

Mikulec, James A., Jr The George Washington University 2014 해외박사(DDOD)

Senior Islamic authorities (`ulama) have reached different levels of consensus when contesting their response to major international events in the 21st century, largely agreeing on the appropriate response in some cases while remaining strongly divided in others. This variation has been present even in cases when Islamic authorities considered substantively similar issues in close chronological proximity. Furthermore, these levels of consensus changed over time in some cases, growing stronger or weaker, but remained relatively constant in other cases. Therefore, my research question for this project is: What accounts for variation in the level of consensus achieved by Islamic authorities when contesting their responses to major international events and why does this level of consensus change or not change in response to subsequent developments? For each case, I determine the initial level of consensus among Islamic authorities around the issue as captured in the Arabic language press then look to see to what extent this consensus grew stronger, weaker, or stayed the same in response to contestation and subsequent developments. My dependent variable for this study is consensus, which is a strong marker of authority across borders, especially in Islam. Consensus is an ordinal variable (categorized as low, mixed, or high) and consists of the degree to which authorities coalesce around a common position on the event in question. The primary factor that accounts for differences in the level of Islamic authorities' consensus is how these actors frame the events in question and specifically, to what extent these frames align. When the frames chosen by Islamic authorities have a high degree of alignment, a stronger consensus is likely whereas incompatible frames are more likely to produce mixed or low consensus. In addition, uncertainty is the variable that best explains when Islamic authorities' level of consensus is most likely to change. High uncertainty produces the conditions most conducive for change because it forces authorities to take new positions or reevaluate old ones as interests, social identities, etc. are in flux. When uncertainty is low, authorities are more likely to fall back on their previous positions and change in the level of consensus is less likely. In examining the above concepts, the study examines Islamic authorities' contestation surrounding four major international events since 2000 (grouped into sets of two). Each pair contrasts related events that dealt with the same fundamental issue, but that produced different levels of consensus as well as different types of change over time. The first pair compares contests over suicide attacks during the Second Palestinian Intifada (2000-01), which produced a divided consensus among the `ulama that endured over time, and the September 11 attacks (2001), which initially produced high consensus that ultimately devolved into low consensus. The second set of cases contrasts Arab Spring revolutions in 2011 against Husni Mubarak in Egypt, which initially led to a mixed consensus that ultimately strengthened into a strong consensus, and the Qadhafi regime in Libya, which resulted in strong unification among the `ulama that persisted.

Politics for faith: Karamat Ali Jaunpuri and Islamic revivalist movements in British India circa 1800--73

Ghose, Rajarshi The University of Chicago 2012 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation studies the changing contours of an Islamic revivalist movement, the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah in nineteenth century United Provinces and Bengal. Focusing on Karamat Ali Jaunpuri (1800-73), nineteenth century Bengal's most influential Sunni Muslim scholar of religion, I explore why it was imperative for some adherents of the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah movement to abandon anti-colonial militant jihad and evolve into a quietist religious group supporting Britain's empire in India. Such scholars including Karamat Ali declared British India to be a 'domain of Islam' and sought to actualize the normative ideal of Shariah within, and not outside, the religio-political framework that it demarcated. I argue that it was an anxious concern to preserve Sunni Islamic law that prompted this radical reorientation and document how scholars like Karamat Ali legitimized British rule in India through their disciplinary practice of Islamic jurisprudence. The dissertation consists of four chapters. The first chapter studies how in the aftermath of British occupation of Delhi (1803) the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah movement radically critiqued the culture of Islamicate kingship that the imperial Mughals had evolved and called for a new 'politics for faith' that privileged the actualization of Shariah over the concerns of institutional politics. The second chapter reconstructs Karamat Ali's life describing his early days in the northern Indian town of Jaunpur and his emergence as Bengal's most influential Sunni Muslim scholar of religion in the sixth decade of the nineteenth century. The third chapter studies the growth of the non- mujahidin faction of the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah movement in Bengal with a focus on Karamat Ali's reform initiative in the eastern Bengal countryside. The last chapter studies the challenges that the Ahl-i hadis movement, the Faraizi movement, and the wujudiyah Sufis posed to Karamat Ali's initiative. It argues that it was his concern over these sectarian conflicts along with his appreciation of the colonial state's policy of non-interference in religious affairs that converted Karamat Ali to pro-British politics sometime in the 1850s. It also argues that it was the dynamic nature of the movement's 'politics for faith' that enabled him to reorient his religio-juridical position on the political question.

Wife-beating in the pre-modern Islamic tradition: An inter-disciplinary study of H&dotbelow;adith, Qur'anic exegesis and Islamic jurisprudence

Chaudhry, Ayesha Siddiqua New York University 2009 해외박사(DDOD)

In contemporary Muslim discussions of progressive visions of Islam, the role of "tradition" is contested. Some argue that the pre-modern Islamic intellectual tradition offers a complex, nuanced and highly sensitive heritage whose study can be fruitful and relevant, while others argue that the tradition is patriarchal, misogynistic and ought to be abandoned in favor of a direct connection with the Qur'anic text. The present study considers the pre-modern Islamic tradition through an inter-disciplinary approach, by evaluating h&dotbelow;adith literature (normative reports from Muh&dotbelow;ammad), Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir) and Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) concerning the right of husbands to discipline their wives. The ethical discussion surrounding the disciplinary rights of husbands is examined through various methods. The worldview shared by pre-modern scholars, which included a divinely-ordered social hierarchy, is examined. In h&dotbelow;adith, the texts of individual reports are analyzed along with the manner in which scholars labeled, organized and presented specific ah&dotbelow;adith relating to wife beating. The ethical discussion within h&dotbelow;adith literature includes conversations about the basic right of husbands to hit wives and also outline the appropriate procedure for hitting one's wife, which is often described as 'non-extreme ' (ghayr mubarrih&dotbelow; ). In Qur'anic exegesis, exegetical methods such as occasion of revelation, historical precedent, prophetic practice and philology are studied. Finally, in legal works, school specific approaches are surveyed. Both Qur'anic exegesis and Islamic jurisprudence assume a husband's right to discipline his wife and the ethical deliberations therein are concerned only with the procedure of hitting. Since husbands were not liable for exceeding the recommended non-extreme methods of hitting wives - unless the hitting resulted in death or broken bones - pre-modern scholars appealed to the conscience of husbands when suggesting moderate hitting. The weight of this appeal rested in the accountability of husbands before God regarding the just maintenance of their charges, which included wives, children and slaves.

Between Orientalism and Affective Identification: A Paradigm and Four Case Studies Towards the Inclusion of the Moor in Cuban Literary and Cultural Studies

Rodriguez Drissi, Susannah University of California, Los Angeles 2012 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation proposes an interpretive paradigm to explore the Moorish, Arab, Islamic and Algerian presence in Cuban literature and cultural studies, and it offers four case studies in which to do so. The interpretative paradigm involves a dynamic between two coexisting approaches in Cuban cultural history. The first is akin to Edward Said's notion of Orientalism, an exotization of the other that invites a critical stance. The second, here called "affective identification," signals the recognition of and connection with the other as an element of national identity. The four case studies, which correspond to the chapters of the dissertation, are organized with a chronological movement from the nineteenth century until the present, and each is intended to underscore the links between the specific historical moment in question and significant aspects of Cuban literature and cultural studies. Chapter 1 argues that the intersection between the dominant white sector's view of an exclusively white Cuban national identity and specific historical and geopolitical circumstances of the early nineteenth century informs the representation of Muslim pirates in Cirilo Villaverde's Excursion a Vueltabajo. Chapter 2 proposes that changing attitudes towards slavery in the second half of the nineteenth century, as well as the rising importance of the eastern region of the country, among other factors, contributed to the representation of Moors and Arabs in Marti's poetic and political discourse (specifically, Ismaelillo and "Los Moros en Espana"), in keeping with the notion of affective identification. Chapter 3 argues that the general interest in North Africa before the twentieth century, and the presence of the Moor in Cuban literature and nationalist discourse, contributed to the ways in which Algeria and Algerians were represented in Cuban print and television in the 50s and 60s. It gives pride of place to two works: Jorge "Papito" Serguera's Che Guevara, la clave Africana: Memorias de un embajador de Cuba en Argelia and Delia Fiallo's Bajo el cielo de Argelia, a soap opera about the Algerian struggle for liberation, broadcast in Cuba in 1962. Chapter 4 relies on theories of loss to address the affective identification with the Moor in Abilio Estevez's Los palacios distantes, and with the Arab figure in Jesus Diaz's short story "El pianista arabe" that involves the experience of exile and loss at the turn of the twenty-first century. The dissertation concludes suggesting several ways in which the inclusion of Arab and Islamic elements can enrich the study of both Cuban and Latin American literary and cultural studies.

중학교 사회 교과서에 재현된 이슬람 지역 : -교수요목시기부터 2009 개정 교육과정까지 지리영역을 중심으로-

라영숙 제주대학교 일반대학원 2017 국내박사

이 연구의 목적은 중학교 사회 교과서의 이슬람 지역에 대한 재현 속에 내재되어 있는 식민 담론을 비판적으로 분석함으로써 이슬람 지역에 대한 부정적인 시각을 바로 잡을 수 있는 계기를 마련하는데 있다. 연구주제는 첫째, 교육과정 시기별 이슬람 지역 관련 단원의 체계와 서술 분량 및 비중은 어떻게 달라지는가, 둘째, 중학교 사회 교과서의 지리 영역에서 이슬람 지역에 대한 재현은 어떻게 이루어지고 있는가, 셋째, 중학교 사회 교과서의 지리 영역에서 이슬람 지역에 대한 재현은 교육과정별로 어떤 차이가 있는가 하는 3가지로 설정하였다. 연구방법은 문헌연구와 내용분석법을 활용하였다. 문헌연구를 통해 교육과정의 재개념화와 포스트모더니즘 교육과정 연구, 탈식민주의와 사이드의 ��Orientalism��에 대해 검토하였다. 그리고 Said(1978)의 ��Orientalism��과 오리엔탈리즘을 범주화한 기존 연구, 그리고 중학교 사회 교과서의 이슬람 관련 내용에 대한 반복적인 검토를 통해 '열등한 타자', '지배와 관리의 대상', '전쟁과 분쟁 지역'을 분석 준거로 설정하였다. 분석 대상은 교수요목시기부터 2009개정 교육과정 시기에 이르는 중학교 사회 교과서 16권이며, 질적 내용분석법을 활용한 해석적 추론을 통해 문맥이나 내용 속에 숨어 있는 암묵적이고 잠재적인 내용과 맥락에 대해 분석하였다. 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 이슬람 지역 관련 단원의 교육과정 시기별 내용 체계 분석 결과, 교수요목시기에는 서남아시아가 대단원에, 1차·3차·4차·5차·6차·7차 교육과정 시기에는 중단원에, 2차와 2007개정, 2009개정 교육과정에서는 소단원에 편성되고 있다. 그리고 교수요목시기부터 2차 교육과정까지는 서남아시아가 단독 단원으로 편성되고 있으나, 3차와 4차 교육과정시기에는 아프리카와 통합하고 있고, 5차 교육과정부터 7차 교육과정 까지는 북부 아프리카와 통합하여 편성하고 있다. 교육과정 시기별 서술 분량과 비중은, 교수요목시기가 가장 높고(8.3%), 1차 교육과정 시기(5.3%)가 그 다음으로 높게 나타나고 있다. 반면 2차 교육과정 시기 최복현의 교과서는 3.5쪽(1.2%)으로 지역지리 방식으로 세계지리가 구성된 교수요목시기에서 7차 교육과정 시기의 중학교 사회 교과서 중에서 가장 낮은 비중을 보이고 있다. 또한, 계통지리 방식으로 구성된 2007개정 교육과정과 2009개정 교육과정 시기는 서술 분량(2~3쪽)과 비중(0.8~1.0)이 가장 낮게 나타나고 있으며, 지역지리 방식으로 구성되던 시기보다 서술 분량과 비중이 감소하고 있다. 둘째, 오리엔탈리즘이 중학교 사회 교과서의 이슬람 지역에 대한 재현에서 어떤 형태로 등장하고 있는지 분석한 결과, 교수요목시기에서 7차 교육과정까지 시기는 1940년대부터 2000년대까지 약 60여년에 해당하는 시간임에도 불구하고 이슬람 지역을 열악하고 열등한 지역으로 강조하거나, 수동적인 존재로 비하하거나 전쟁과 분쟁 지역으로 왜곡하고, 그리고 부정적으로 서술하는 오리엔탈리즘적인 재현 양상이 지속적으로 나타나고 있었다. 반면에 2007개정 교육과정과 2009개정 교육과정 교과서는 비록 서술 분량과 비중은 낮지만 이슬람 지역의 긍정적인 측면을 강조하여 서술하고 있으며, 이슬람 지역을 부정적으로 왜곡해서 재현하던 오리엔탈리즘적인 서술 형태에서 벗어나고 있었다. 셋째, 이슬람 지역에 대한 중학교 사회 교과서의 재현이 교육과정 시기별로 어떤 차이가 있는지 분석한 결과, 오리엔탈리즘의 태동 시기인 교수요목시기에서부터 1차 교육과정 시기, 오리엔탈리즘의 심화 경향을 보이는 2차에서 3차 교육과정 시기, 일반화와 정형화를 통한 고정관념의 확대가 이루어지는 4차에서 5차 교육과정 시기, 오리엔탈리즘적인 서술 경향이 약화되는 6차 교육과정 시기, 오리엔탈리즘적인 경향이 다시 강화되는 7차 교육과정 시기, 그리고 탈오리엔탈리즘적인 경향을 보이는 2007개정 교육과정과 2009개정 교육과정 시기로 구분 할 수 있었다. 이 연구에서 분석한 결과들을 바탕으로 몇 가지 제언을 하면 다음과 같다, 첫째, 기후에 대한 환경 결정론적이고 서구중심적인 서술 방식을 지양해야 한다. 둘째, 세계 여러 지역을 서술할 때 외부자의 시각이 아니라 그들의 시각에서 서술할 필요가 있다. 셋째, 학생들에게 교과서를 비판적으로 읽어낼 수 있는 시간과 기회를 줘야 한다. 넷째, 교과서를 보는 교사의 인식이 변화되어야 한다. 다섯째, 학생들이 인터넷을 통해 학습 자료를 찾는 경향이 많아지고 있는 만큼, 차후 인터넷 학습 자료의 이슬람지역 재현 양상에 대한 분석이 이루어졌으면 한다. This study aims to redress negative views on Islamic regions within Korean middle school social studies textbooks through a critical analysis of the colonial discourses that underlie the representation of Islamic regions. This study focuses on three areas. The first is the differences in the representation of Islamic regions in terms of unit structure, description quantity, and importance according to each curriculum revision period. The second is how Islamic regions were represented in Korean middle school social studies textbooks according to geographic area. The third is the differences in representation of Islamic regions by the curriculum revision periods. This study utilized literature review and content analysis methods. Through literature review, there was a reexamination of the curricula, postmodern curricula, post-colonialism, and Said’s Orientalism. In addition, the concepts of ‘inferior others’, ‘objects of domination and management’, and ‘war and conflict regions’ were used as analysis criteria alongside an examination of Said's Orientalism and existing literature categorizing orientalism, and Islam-related content in Korean middle school social studies textbooks. 16 Korean middle school social studies textbooks were analyzed from the 1945-54 syllabus period to the 2009 curriculum revision. They were analysed for their implicit and intrinsic contexts and contents through interpretive reasoning with qualitative content analysis. The results of the study are as follows. First, according to the result of the content system analysis of the units relating to Islamic regions, Southwest Asia was covered in the big units during the 1945-1954 syllabus period, in the middle units during the first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh curriculum periods, and in the small units during the second as well as the 2007 and 2009 revision periods. Furthermore, during the syllabus period and the second revision period, Southwest Asia was organized as an independent unit; however, during the third and fourth curriculum periods, it was combined with the units on Africa, and it was combined with the units on North Africa from the fifth to seventh curriculum periods. The quantity and importance of the content on the region were highest during the syllabus period of 1945 through 1954 (8.3%), followed by the first curriculum revision period (5.3%). On the other hand, Choi Bokhyeon’s textbook during the second curriculum revision period allotted only 3.5 pages (1.2%), which is the lowest among the Korean middle school social studies textbooks from the syllabus period in which world geography comprised part of the regional geography method until the seventh curriculum period. In addition, during the 2007 and 2009 curriculum revision period, when textbooks were organized according to the way of systematic geography, the quantity and importance were lowest (2~3 pages, 0.8 ~1.0%), which is lower in quantity and importance than the period in which world geography comprised part of the regional geography method. Second, as a result of analyzing how orientalism was represented in the description of Islamic regions, distorted and negative aspects repeatedly appear when inferior aspects and the backwardness of Islamic regions as regions of war and conflict were emphasized, or the people were degraded as passive beings. On the other hand, in the textbooks during the 2007 and 2009 curriculum revision periods, though quantity and importance remained low, the positive aspects of Islamic regions were described, ending with orientalist perspective descriptions which negatively distorted Islamic regions. Third, as a result of analyzing differences in representation of Islamic regions by period, the syllabus period until the first curriculum revision was the emergence of the period of orientalism; this deepened in the second and third curriculum revision periods; the stereotype of orientalism expanded through generalization and standardization during the periods of the fourth and fifth revision; the orientalism description weakened during the sixth revision; orientalist tendencies strengthened during the seventh revision; and post-orientalism is displayed in the 2007 and 2009 curriculum revision periods. Based on the results of this study, I’d like to make the following proposals. First, the environmental determinism and western-centric narrative has to be abandoned. Second, the diverse regions of the world need to be described from the perspective of the people living in those regions rather than from the perspective of outsiders. Third, students should be given the time and opportunity to critically read textbooks. Fourth, teachers' perceptions of textbooks must change. Fifth, as students tend to search for learning materials on the Internet, there needs to be analysis of the representation of Islam in Internet materials.

The Qussas of Early Islam

Armstrong, Lyall Richard The University of Chicago 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

The Islamic qās&dotbelow;s&dotbelow; (pl. qus&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; ) has been widely viewed as a teller of stories who gathered around him the uneducated public and filled their minds with fabulous stories while commenting on the Qur’ān or while relating unreliable traditions (h&dotbelow;adīth) about the Prophet Muhammad. This research seeks to revisit this image of the qās&dotbelow;s&dotbelow; particularly as it applies to the early period of Islam. The early Islamic qās&dotbelow;s&dotbelow; was a person of diverse interests, engaging in religious education on myriad topics, encouraging soldiers in battle and promoting religio-political causes. A large percentage of the qus&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; excelled in a number of the religious and didactic disciplines of the community. However, while the qās&dotbelow;s&dotbelow; was expected to be knowledgeable and a competent speaker, he was maligned in many traditions for introducing destructive innovations into the community. In spite of these traditions, the qus&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; appear to have been part of the scholarly landscape of the community since the earliest decades of Islamic history and may have even existed from the time of the Prophet Muhammad. The qus&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; continued to play an active role in both the religious and political environment of the community during the Rāshidūn period and throughout the Umayyad period. Building on a new pool of statements described as qas&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; and of scholars identified by the sources as qus&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; , this study reexamines the role that the qus&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; played in the development of early Islamic society, specifically in regard to various religious disciplines, such as Qur’ān commentary and h&dotbelow;adīth, among others. I argue that criticisms of the early qās&dotbelow;s&dotbelow; an unreliable storyteller for the masses cannot be supported by the sources. Moreover, I attempt to trace the involvement of the qus&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;ās&dotbelow; in the religio-political movements of the Islamic community until the end of the Umayyad period.

Transmitters, Texts, and Traditions: the Zoroastrian Priesthood from the Sasanian to the Early Islamic Period

Dang, Kayla ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Yale University 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation examines the institutional framework of the Zoroastrian priesthood through its individual priests and their relationship with ruling authorities. Entitled “Transmitters, Texts, and Traditions: The Zoroastrian Priesthood from Late Antiquity to the Early Islamic Period,” it traces the survival and transformation of the priesthood across the divide of the Arab conquest of Iran, the period of transformation from Zoroastrianism as a state religion under the Sasanid kings to the gradual conversion of the population to Islam under Muslim rulers. Using primary sources in Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, and Greek alongside material culture and literary sources in Middle Persian, I study the priesthood through its interactions with others—including Christians and Muslims. The study of Zoroastrianism has traditionally been the study of its texts. Although many of these were only composed in their present form in the ninth and tenth centuries CE, they are often taken to be representative of earlier religious thought and practice. Besides shifting the focus from texts to the priests who authored them, my research critiques received narratives of continuity and also examines the mechanisms of the transmission of religious knowledge. I conceptualize the priesthood as the institution that is responsible for the preservation of Zoroastrian religious knowledge even until today, but which has never existed in isolation, and I demonstrate the contingency of the priesthood’s survival in the ninth and tenth centuries through the efforts of Zoroastrian priests in dialogue with Muslim rulers and intellectuals and as part of Islamic society.The dissertation consists of an Introduction, four chapters, and a brief Conclusion, followed by Appendices with tables and corollary discussions. Chapter 1 examines the Zoroastrian priesthood as it is represented in the Sasanian administrative corpus of seals and sealings, as well as the early post-Sasanian Ṭabarestan archive, to show the extent of late-Sasanian priestly bureaucracy and its evolution immediately following the end of Sasanian rule. In Chapter 2, I compare this view of the Sasanian priesthood to that found in contemporary literary sources in Syriac, Armenian, Greek, and Middle Persian to demonstrate the role and function of Sasanian-era Zoroastrian priests through their interactions with Christians and other religious groups as representatives of state authority. These two chapters offer a picture of the Zoroastrian priesthood in the late Sasanian period that is more complete than previous scholarship, which has only treated small topics or limited corpora of sources.The full scope of the Zoroastrian priesthood, at the height of its power under the Sasanians, is then contrasted to the situation of Zoroastrian priests in the ninth through eleventh centuries in the final two chapters of the dissertation, when Zoroastrians are living under Muslim rule and the population has gradually converted to Islam. Chapter 3 analyzes Zoroastrian narratives of the past and their elaboration in the Middle Persian books composed in the ninth and tenth centuries. In this chapter I also critique modern scholarly conceptions of Zoroastrian priestly genealogy, and using contemporary Arabic sources I establish a new chronology for the priests of the early Islamic period. Chapter 4 situates the Zoroastrian priesthood in broader Islamic society, using a wide range of Arabic sources to show the role of the Zoroastrian priests outside of the Zoroastrian community, as judge, scholar, sage, and advisor to Muslim rulers and intellectuals. My argument is that the institution of the Zoroastrian priesthood survives from antiquity through the patronage of Muslim rulers and moreover that this is accomplished through a deliberate process of reinvention and adaptation on the part of individual Zoroastrian priests of the ninth and tenth centuries. This process has parallels in the renegotiations of other religious minorities under Muslim rule, but also has implications for how we view the religious traditions which the Zoroastrian priesthood transmits—as the selective transmission of religious knowledge on the part of individuals seeking institutional authority from the Muslim state. My claims build upon the recent work of scholars who seek to contextualize Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts in the Islamic period, but my contribution is unique in its focus on the priesthood and its role in preserving the religion as we know it.

Narrative representations of abu bakr (d. 13/634) in the second/eighth century

Akpinar, Mehmetcan ProQuest Dissertations & Theses The University of 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

Abu Bakr (d. 13/634) is regarded as one of the most preeminent companions of the Prophet Muh&dotbelow;ammad by the majority of (Sunni) Muslims. In the Islamic tradition, he is noted for his early conversion to Islam, his close companionship to the Prophet, his service for the Islamic cause, his exemplary generosity, his participation in the major battles of early Islam, and his caliphate. Yet, all these aspects of Abu Bakr's life were not arranged into a coherent biography immediately upon his death. Rather, they circulated in dispersed (mostly oral) accounts for about two centuries. They were narrated in disparate forms, transmitted in different places, circulated in various intellectual circles, and redacted according to varying interests and needs. It was only when they found their way into the books of the 3rd/9th century that they acquired the shape(s) in which they would survive for over a millennium. This dissertation aims to study the emergence of Abu Bakr's image as the best Muslim after the Prophet, with the superior qualities attributed to him. It is concerned with a thorough examination of the narratives that fostered the formation of Abu Bakr's image and seeks to reconstruct their earliest forms, which often began to circulate in first half of the 2nd/8th century. The analysis then traces their subsequent evolution, and identifies various redactorial efforts that gave them new shapes over the course of the 2nd/8th century. The approach towards the narrative material comprises a combination of different methods of textual analysis: (a) isnad-cum-matn analysis; (b) the reconstruction of accounts from earlier sources; and (c) narrative analysis. This methodology will be applied to narratives about three prominent aspects of Abu Bakr's life, which act as case studies. They include (1) Abu Bakr's conversion to Islam; (2) the explanations offered for the origin of Abu Bakr's title al-s&dotbelow;idd iotaq; and (3) the narratives about Abu Bakr's emancipation of Bil?l. The final analysis offers a survey of the geographical distribution of the individual accounts. This manner of presentation not only allows for a comparison of the character of the narratives that circulated in the 2nd/8th century in Medina, Basra, Kufa, and Baghdad, but also shows the evolution of the accounts.

Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn al-Juwayni on jadal: Juridical and theological dialectic in the fifth/eleventh century

Widigdo, Mohammad Syifa Amin ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Indiana University 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

This is a contextual and textual study of Islamic dialectical reasoning (jadal) as formulated by Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni (d. 478/1085), better known as Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn al-Juwayni, who was the leading jurist and theologian living in Nishapur. The present study addresses two central questions: "why does Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn develop jadal theory and apply it in his scholarly works?" and "how does jadal play a role in the integration between kalam (Islamic theology) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) that leads to the formation of Sunni orthodoxy in the fifth/eleventh century?". In Aristotelian terms, Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn al-Juwayni's jadal is a form of "peirastic dialectic" with its examinational capacity that aims to establish either epistemological certainty (qat&dotbelow;'i) or psychological certainty (yaqin) in juridical and theological knowledge. This kind of jadal that Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn formulated in the fifth/eleventh century not only marked the culmination of the development of jadal theory in the realm of Islamic theology ( kalam) and jurisprudence (fiqh) but also enabled Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn to provide an intellectual tool to deal with religious, social, and political problems in that period. Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn employed jadal to withstand challenges from the Isma'ili missionaries, allegedly heretical religious groups, and prolonged sectarian conflicts in Nishapur as well as to support the project of Saljuq vizier, Niz&dotbelow;am al-Mulk, in uniting the Muslim world under "Sunni Islam." Furthermore, Imam al-H&dotbelow;aramayn's application of his jadal theory in his juridical and theological scholarship not only equips Muslims with epistemological or psychological certainty but also engenders the integration between kalam and fiqh.. This study concludes that such integration between kalam and fiqh renders the incorporation of Islamic theology (kalam) into Sunni-oriented orthodoxy, which eventually shapes a new understanding and formulation of Sunni orthodoxy in the fifth/eleventh century.