The 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, the first in which both Fatah and Hamas fielded candidates, resulted in a resounding victory for Hamas. Winning 74 out of the 132 seats (compared to Fatah s 45), Hamas election strategy had proved effective against Fatah s ineffectual campaign and failure to properly consider public opinion. Erika Schwarze offers here an in-depth examination of these two separate campaigns, and how Fatah s lack of responsiveness to the popular mood in the run-up to elections following Arafat s death and beyond, led to its defeat in spite of its considerable experience of electioneering. She analyses the conduct of Palestinian leadership during this critical period, exploring the reasons for Fatah s inability to prioritise responsiveness to public opinion, and providing insights into the movement s electoral prospects in the future and its chances of survival and revival."

Islamic religious teachers (asatizah) and scholars (ulama) play a significant role in providing spiritual leadership for the Singapore Malay/Muslim community. Lately, the group has been cast under the spotlight over a range of issues, from underperformance in the national examination, their ability to integrate into the broader society, exposure to radical and conservative ideas such as Salafism from the Middle East, and unemployment. Reaching for the Crescent examines a growing segment within the group, namely Islamic studies graduates, who obtained their degrees from universities in the Middle East and neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia. It identifies factors that condition the proliferation of Islamic studies graduates in Singapore, examine the dominant religious institutions they attend, the nature of Islamic education they received, and their challenges. It tackles the impact of their religious education on the spiritual life and well-being of the community. Based on qualitative and quantitative data collected, the book calls for a rethinking of a prevailing discourse of Arabization of Singapore Muslims and academic approaches that focus on madrasah education and Islam through the security lens.

Folklore has been a phenomenon based on nostalgic and autochthonous nuances conveyed with a story-telling technique with a penchant for over-playing and nationalistic pomp and circumstance, often with significant consequences for societal, poetic, and cultural areas. These papers highlight challenges that have an outreaching relationship to the regional, rhetorical, and trans-rhetorical devices and manners in Kurdish folklore, which subscribes to an ironic sense of hope all the while issuing an appeal for a largely unaccomplished nationhood, simultaneously insisting on a linguistic solidarity. In a folkloric literature that has an overarching theory of poetics - perhaps even trans-figurative cognitive poetics due to the multi-faceted nature of its application and the complexity of its linguistic structure - the relationship of man (and less frequently woman) with others takes center stage in many of the folkloric creations. Arts are not figurative representations of the real in the Kurdish world; they are the real.

Despite the current negative image of Islam in Europe there has been a steady growth of converts to Islam over the past few decades. British converts are a highly diverse group, with different social, economic and educational backgrounds. Recently this group has grown in confidence and become increasingly active in influencing positive Islamic discourse in Britain. The book sheds light on the intellectual and spiritual contributions of some of the prominent figures of this group of 'new Muslims', and assesses their efforts in shaping Islam in British society; including: Martin Lings, Gai Eaton, Tim Winter and Hamza Yusuf. The research investigates the potential benefit 'new Muslims' can bring to bridge the gap between Muslim communities and wider British society, thus helping in the process of building mutual trust, greater cooperation and positive understanding among all parties in Britain. The work will help readers to become aware of the evolution of a "British Islam" that is more open, rooted in British values and spiritual traditions, and forms a part of the continually changing British religious landscape.

As racist undercurrents in many western societies become manifestly entrenched, the prevalence of Islamophobia - and the need to understand what perpetuates it - has never been greater. Critiquing the arguments found in notionally left accounts and addressing the limitations of existing responses, What is Islamophobia? demonstrates that Islamophobia is not simply a product of abstract, or discursive, ideological processes, but of concrete social, political and cultural actions undertaken in the pursuit of certain interests. The book centres on what the editors refer to as the 'five pillars of Islamophobia': the institutions and machinery of the state; the far right, incorporating the counterjihad movement; the neoconservative movement; the transnational Zionist movement; and assorted liberal groupings including the pro-war left, and the new atheist movement. The book concludes with reflections on existing strategies for tackling Islamophobia, considering what their distinctive approaches mean for fighting back.

Since the age of the Sasanian Empire (224-651 AD), Iran and the West have time and again appeared to be at odds. Iran and the West charts this contentious and complex relationship by examining the myriad ways the two have perceived each other, from antiquity to today. Across disciplines, perspectives and periods contributors consider literary, imagined, mythical, visual, filmic, political and historical representations of the 'other' and the ways in which these have been constructed in, and often in spite of, their specific historical contexts. Many of these narratives, for example, have their origin in the ancient world but have since been altered, recycled and manipulated to fit a particular agenda. Ranging from Tacitus, Leonidas and Xerxes via Shahriar Mandanipour and Azar Nafisi to Rosewater, Argo and 300, this inter-disciplinary and wide-ranging volume is essential reading for anyone working on the complex history, present and future of Iranian-Western relations.

Long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, awakened the United States and the Western world to the heightened level of the terrorist threat, Southeast Asia had been dealing with this threat. The bombing in Bali that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists, was by no means the region's first experience with Islamic extremism, which can be traced back to the 1940s, and the Darul Islam struggle. The most recent group to emerge is Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyah (AJAI), the most potent Islamic terrorist organization to date in the region and the group behind the Bali bombing. Prior to 9/11, the terrorist challenge was essentially national in character, with groups attempting either to secede from the central government to form a new state or to force the central government to adopt policies that would support the raison d'etre of these extremist groups. Essentially, this involved the establishment of a political system that was more Islamic in character, either nationally or within a specific territory of a national state. This book analyzes the increasing Talibanization of Southeast Asia, a relatively new phenomenon that involves the adoption of Islamist doctrines, ideologies, and values that are largely militant in character, and that for some groups includes the adoption of violence to achieve their goals. Understanding this process of Talibanization in Southeast Asia, which was once an oasis of moderate Islam in the modern world, is the key to unraveling the mystery of the increased radicalization in the region. The AJAI represents the birth of the first regional terrorist organization in Southeast Asia. It is a transnational terrorist organization along the lines ofal-Qaeda. It aims to establish a regional Islamic state covering most of southern Southeast Asia that would ultimately form a new Islamic epicenter in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, what has made the AJAI a potent force has been its ability to synergize with various existing religious extremist groups in the region and beyond, including al-Qaeda and other like-minded groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This has succeeded in posing one of the most serious security challenges to the region since the end of the Cold War. Jihadists are operating in small and localized cells even though the broad goals remain the same, namely, to spread sharia, establish an Islamic state, and bring down secular regimes. As most governments do not have the credibility or the expertise to diminish the threat posed by Islamist extremism, Wahhabism, and Salafism, Southeast Asia is in danger of being Talibanized in the near future.

When the Islamic Republic of Iran launched its fully-articulated political agenda in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution, it merged the concept of political Islam with the previously secular readings of the republican doctrine of state. This book provides an analysis of the constitutional and institutional structure of public power in the most emblematic instance of a theocratic republic to date: the Islamic Republic of Iran, using the methods of political science. Nearly four decades after the 1979 revolution, a thorough evaluation of Iran's prevalently anti-modernist political discourse and concurrent claims of republican popular sovereignty is here carried out and their theoretical coherence and applied success investigated. Vahid Nick Pay surveys the major republican schools of political philosophy on the one hand, and the principal narratives of the prevailing Shi'a political theology on the other, to provide a pioneering evaluation of the republican credentials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It will be essential reading for scholars of political science and modern Iranian politics and history.

This collection of papers explores the facets of gender and sex in history, language and society of Altaic cultures, reflecting the unique interdisciplinary approach of the PIAC. It examines the position of women in contemporary Central Asia at large, the expression of gender in linguistic terms in Mongolian, Manju, Tibetan and Turkic languages, and gender aspects presented in historical literary monuments as well as in contemporary sources.

In less than a century after Muhammad's death, Islam swept through Asia, Africa and Europe, dominating an area larger than that of the Roman Empire at its peak.
This book represents 3.5 years of effort, researching and editing hundreds of books and internet sources, resulting in an authoritative biography of 420+ Islamic leaders, during the past 1,500 years.

Arriving in Europe in the 14th century, the Qipchaq Tatars are the longest surviving Muslim people in Europe. They form the historical core of the Muslim community in the Baltic States, Belarus and Poland where Muslims are few in number compared with those in other parts of the European Union and in Russia. In the first historical study of this important community, Harry Norris investigates the earliest contacts between the Baltic peoples and the world of Islam. He examines the trade routes of the Vikings and the early Slavs and Balts who had commercial relations with Arab merchants, trading in amber, furs, Middle Eastern silks and other luxury goods.
Norris surveys the Qipchaq Tatars' history, their Muslim faith, their culture, their literature and their life as indigenous Europeans in New Europe today. He draws contrasts and similarities between other Muslim communities in Europe, including the diverse immigrant Muslim groups in the Nordic countries that border the Baltic Sea: Finland, Sweden and Denmark. This book is of importance to those studying the rich cultural heritage of minority groups of European Muslims and their position in Europe today, as well as those interested in the study of migration.

This book is the first extensive research on the role of poetry during the Iranian Revolution (1979) and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). How can poetry, especially peaceful medieval Sufi poems, be applied to exalt violence, to present death as martyrdom, and to process war traumas? Examining poetry by both Islamic revolutionary and established dissident poets, it demonstrates how poetry spurs people to action, even leading them to sacrifice their lives. The book's originality lies in fresh analyses of how themes such as martyrdom and violence, and mystical themes such as love and wine, are integrated in a vehemently political context, while showing how Shiite ritual such as the pilgrimage to Mecca clash with Saudi Wahhabi appreciations. A distinguishing quality of the book is its examination of how martyrdom was instilled in the minds of Iranians through poetry, employing Sufi themes, motifs and doctrines to justify death. Such inculcation proved effective in mobilising people to the front, ready to sacrifice their lives. As such, the book is a must for readers interested in Iranian culture and history, in Sufi poetry, in martyrdom and war poetry. Those involved with Middle Eastern Studies, Iranian Studies, Literary Studies, Political Philosophy and Religious Studies will benefit from this book. "From his own memories and expert research, the author gives us a ravishing account of 'a poetry stained with blood, violence and death'. His brilliantly layered analysis of modern Persian poetry shows how it integrates political and religious ideology and motivational propaganda with age-old mystical themes for the most traumatic of times for Iran." (Alan Williams, Research Professor of Iranian Studies, University of Manchester) "When Asghar Seyed Gohrab, a highly prolific academician, publishes a new book, you can be certain he has paid attention to an exciting and largely unexplored subject. Martyrdom, Mysticism and Dissent: The Poetry of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) is no exception in the sense that he combines a few different cultural, religious, mystic, and political aspects of Iranian life to present a vivid picture and thorough analysis of the development and effect of what became known as the revolutionary poetry of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This time, he has even enriched his narrative by inserting his voice into his analysis. It is a thoughtful book and a fantastic read." (Professor Kamran Talattof, University of Arizona)

Islam has been part of the increasingly complex American religious scene for well over a century, and was brought into more dramatic focus by the attacks of September 11, 2001. American Islam is practiced by a unique blend of immigrants and American-born Muslims. The immigrants have come from all corners of the world; they include rich and poor, well-educated and illiterate, those from upper and lower classes as well as economic and political refugees. The community's diversity has been enhanced by the conversion of African Americans, Latina/os, and others, making it the most heterogeneous Muslim community in the world.
With an up-to-the-minute analysis by thirty of the top scholars in the field, this handbook covers the growth of Islam in America from the earliest Muslims to set foot on American soil to the current wave of Islamophobia. Topics covered include the development of African American Islam; pre- and post-WWII immigrants; Sunni, Shi'ite, sectarian and Sufi movements in America; the role and status of women, marriage, and family; and the Americanization of Islamic culture.
Throughout these chapters the contributors explore the meaning of religious identity in the context of race, ethnicity, gender, and politics, both within the American Islamic community and in relation to international Islam.

The Umayyad caliphate, ruling over much of what is now the modern Middle East after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, governe from Damascus from 661 to750CE, when they were expelled by the Abbasids. Here, Mohammad Rihan sheds light on the tribal system of this empir, by looking at one of its Syrian tribes; the 'Amila, based around today's Jabal 'Amil in southern Lebanon. Using this tribe as a lens through which to examine the wider Umayyad world, he looks at the political structures and conflicts that prevailed at the time, seeking to nuance the understanding of the relationship between the tribes and the ruling elite. For Rihan, early Islamic political history can only be understood in the context of the tribal history. This book thus illustrates how the political and social milieu of the 'Amila tribe sheds light on the wider history of the Umayyad world. Utilizing a wide range of sources, from the books of genealogies to poetry, Rihan expertly portrays Umayyad political life. First providing a background on 'Amila's tribal structure and its functions and dynamics, Rihan then presents the pre-Islamic past of the tribe. Building on this, he then investigates the role the 'Amila played in the emergence of the Umayyad state to understand the ways in which political life developed for the tribes and their relations with those holding political power in the region. By exploring the literature, culture, kinship structures and the socio-political conditions of the tribe, this book highlights the ways in which alliances and divisions shifted and were used by caliphs of the period and offers new insights into the Middle East at a pivotal point in its early and medieval history. This historical analysis thus not only illuminates the political condition of the Umayyad world, but also investigates the ever-important relationship between tribal political structures and state-based rule.

Originally published in 1952, al-Din, by prominent Egyptian scholar Muhammad Abdullah Draz (1894-1958), has been critically acclaimed as one of the most influential Arab Muslim studies of universal 'religion' and forms of religiosity in modern times. Written as an introductory textbook for a course in the "History of Religions" at King Fuad I University in Cairo-the first of its kind offered at an Egyptian institution of higher learning-this book presents a critical overview of classical approaches to the scholarly study of religion. While ultimately adapted to an Islamic paradigm, the book is a novel attempt to construct a grand narrative about the large methodological issues of Religious Studies and the History of Religions and in relation to modernity and secularism. Translated for the first time in English by Yahya Haidar, this book demonstrates how the scholarly academic study of religion in the West, often described as 'Orientalist', came to influence and help shape a counter-discourse from one of the leading Arab Muslim scholars of his time.

The percentage of women aged 15-49 in Egypt who have undergone the procedure of female circumcision, or genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) stands at 91%, according to the latest research carried out by UNICEF. Female circumcision has become a global political minefield with 'Western' interventions affecting Egyptian politics and social development, not least in the area of democracy and human rights. Maria Frederika Malmstrom employs an ethnographic approach to this controversial issue, with the aim of understanding how female gender identity is continually created and re-created in Egypt through a number of daily practices, and the central role which female circumcision plays in this process. Viewing the concept of 'agency' as critical to the examination of social and cultural trends in the region, Malmstrom explores the lived experiences and social meanings of circumcision and femininity as narrated by women from Cairo. It is through the examination of the voices of these women that she offers an analysis of gender identity in Egypt and its impact on women's sexuality.

This collection of essays explores the nature of political and religious leadership in Shi'ism. Contributors look at a variety of critical historical periods--from medieval to modern--to reveal the social, political, and theological factors that have influenced the development of Shi'ite leadership.

Books on aspects of Islamophobia have been proliferating in the past decade but so are the instances of this phenomenon worldwide. The diverse aspects of the issue; the complicated sociopolitical nature of concerns in this regard; and the increasing number of geographical settings where the issue is relevant, cause numerous problems and questions that remain far from exhausted even in the case of multiple treatments of similar topics and contexts. Therefore, faces and facets of Islamophobia in different countries around the world need to be extensively explored, and awareness should be raised on the part of Muslim communities, Western populations, and non-Western non-Muslims. Chapters of this volume, written by authorities on Islamophobia from around the world, examine various instances of the topic and explore different discursive contexts such as media coverage and manipulation; political debates and discourses; and general attitudes and attitude-building in the public sphere. The book aims to further extend and expand discussions on the issue and to highlight some hitherto less discussed concerns.

Saudi Arabia is generally and justifiably viewed as a country with some of the fewest democratic institutions and the weakest traditions of pluralism. It is therefore surprising to learn that at least in one corner of the Saudi world, there can be found a plurality of opinions and lively debate. Jorg Matthias Determann brings this element to light by analyzing an important field of cultural activity in Saudi Arabia: historical writing. Since the 1920s local, tribal, Shi'i and dynastic histories have contributed to a growing plurality of narratives. Paradoxically, this happened because of the expansion of the Saudi state, including state provision of mass education. It was also due to globalizing processes, such as the spread of the internet. In challenging the widely-held perception of Saudi Arabia as an irredeemably closed and monolithic society, Historiography in Saudi Arabia provides a deeper understanding of modern Arab historiography, the Saudi state, and education and scholarship in the Middle East.

This book examines a range of current issues in Islamic development management. The first part of the book explores practical issues in governance and the application of Islamic governance in new areas such as quality management systems and the tourism industry, while the second delves into questions of sustainability. The book proposes a new Islamic sustainability and offers new perspectives on CSR in connection with waqf (Islamic endowments) and microfinance. The third part of the book addresses Islamic values and how they are applied in entrepreneurship, inheritance, consumer behavior and marketing. The fourth part examines the issues of waqf and takaful (a form of insurance in line with the Islamic laws), while the fifth discusses the fiqh (the study of Islamic legal codes) and legal framework from the perspectives of entrepreneurship, higher education, reporting and inheritance (wills). The final chapter is dedicated to the application of Islamic principles in various other issues. Written in an accessible style, the book will appeal to newcomers to the field, as well as researchers and academics with an interest in Islamic development management.

This is an era when the Islamic World is making a range of attempts to redefine itself and to grapple with the challenges of modernity. Many schools of thought have emerged which seek to position modern Islam within the context of a rapidly changing contemporary world. Exploring and defining the relationship between religion and knowledge, Ismail Rafi Al-Faruqi, a distinguished 20th century Arab-American scholar of Islam, formulated ideas which have made substantial contributions to the Islam-and-modernity discourse. His review of the interaction between Islam and knowledge examines the philosophy behind this relationship, and the ways in which Islam can relate to our understanding of science, the arts, architecture, technology and other knowledge-based fields of enquiry. This book includes contributions from Seyyed Hossein Nasr, John Esposito, Charles Fletcher and others, and will prove an essential reference point for scholars of Islam and students of philosophy and comparative religion.

Introducing undergraduate students to Islamic law, this accessible textbook does not presume legal or technical knowledge. Drawing on a comparative approach, it encourages students to think through the issues of the application of Islamic law where Muslims live as a majority and where they live as a minority, including the USA, Saudia Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan. The book surveys the historical development as well as the contemporary contexts of Islamic law. In distilling the history of Islamic law for non-specialists, the author covers important topics such as the development and transformation of Islamic institutions before and after colonialism. Coverage of Islamic law across contemporary contexts draws on real case material, and allows for discussion of Islam as a legal and a moral code that is activated both inside and outside the court. Readers will learn about rituals, dietary restrictions, family, contracts and property, lawful and unlawful gain, criminal law and punishments, and what makes a government legitimate in the eyes of Muslim individuals and authorities.

Officials and religious scholars in the Gulf states have repeatedly banned the teaching of the theory of evolution because of its association with atheism. But Jorg Matthias Determann argues here that, despite official prohibition, research on biological evolution has flourished, due in large part to the development of academic and professional networks. This book traces these networks through the history of various branches of biology, including botany, conservation research, ornithology and palaeontology. Typical of rentier societies, some of the scientific networks in this region consist of vertical patron-client relationships. For example, those in power who are interested in wildlife conservation have been known to offer patronage to biologists working on desert ecology. However, just as important are the horizontal links between scientists both within the Gulf region and beyond. Given the strengths and importance of these two forms of professional networks, Determann argues that we should look at the Arab world as an area interconnected with global science, and therefore fully integrated into the scientific and technological advances being pioneered worldwide."