Abstract This paper explains that understanding AlRumi's poetry largely depends on a willingness to accept the complexity of the philosophical and spiritual ideas that they express and the manner in which they challenge the very notion of the self.
From the Paper "Jalal El Din Al Rumi, a thirteenth century Moslem Sufi poet, is currently the most popularly read poet in the West. Norman M. Brown, the leader of the Community Unitarian Universalist Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, has an interesting theory regarding Al Rumi's popularity. As he argues, most people, whether conscious of it or not, have spiritual needs and desires. The rational outlook of twentieth century Western civilization suppresses these types of needs and desires, does not give them the opportunity to express or fulfill themselves and, as a result, many people become spiritually frustrated (Brown). The minority who are conscious of their spiritual frustration turn to various religions in search of some type of fulfillment. However, few, if any, of these religions provide such fulfillment. The exception to this, according to Norman M. Brown is Sufi "mystical" Islam which appears to address both human spiritual needs and emotions on one hand, and the human respect for rationality and intellect, on the other (Brown). As Brown argues, Sufi thought, combining between philosophy and spirituality, and concisely expressed in the poetry of Al Rumi, satisfy the inborn human spiritual and intellectual desires and, in this, lies the popularity of the Sufist poet in the West."
Abstract This begins by defining Sufism as the mystical sect of Islam. It then shows how love is an important aspect of mysticism and explains how Sufism uses love to strengthen one's relationship with God. The paper also looks at how the Sufi tradition combines its understanding of love to help the teacher-student relationship develop into the Sufi way.
From the Paper "The teacher uses unconventional methods to help the student on his path of love towards God. Musa Kasin said "Many teachers talk about teachings. The best teachers study their pupils as well. Most important, teachers should be studied" (137). This idea of studying teachers as well as students demonstrates the idea of mutual respect. The teacher learns from the students and the students learn from the teacher. Sheikh Muzaffer said, ?It is easy to be a sheikh and difficult to be a dervish.?"
Abstract This paper examines the ideology of al Qaeda terrorism. In particular, the paper attempts to understand why al Qaeda is particularly successful at attracting well-educated people in the Muslim world. The paper studies the appeal of radical Islamist terrorism, how it differs from terrorism of the 1970s and 1980s, and the emergence of the al-Qaeda movement. The paper then examines the theology of the al-Qaeda movement that glorifies death and the implications of radical religious based religious movements for the modern world. The paper concludes with an examination of the careers of the two top leaders of al-Qaeda: Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Tags: osama bin laden ayman al-zawahri, sayyid qutb al-qaeda alienation Terrorism
Abstract In this paper, the author argues that the rapid changes in society have allowed power to shift to "non-state" actors. The most notorious among them is the Al-Qaeda terror network. In this paper, the organization of Al-Qaeda is evaluated and its international connections are considered the reason for Al-Qaeda's continued operations. The author also examines Al-Qaeda's financing and the shared religious beliefs among its members. The September 11th attacks are also discussed.
Outline:
Research Questions
Introduction
Loose Network of People Connections
Case 1: Bombings in Istanbul
Solid Structured Organization
Finances
Case 2: September 11, 2001
Leads of the Al-Qaeda
The Al-Qaeda Today
Case 3: The Madrid Train Bombing
Conclusion
From the Paper "Al-Qaeda, the largest international terrorist network, is a distributed, roaming and non-territorial network. It functions as a hybrid peer-to-peer network through its combined use of advanced information technologies and traditional halawa exchanges, in which a central source triggers the actions that are carried out by individual nodes. It is organized in self-contained nodes that function autonomously and its responsibility and authority is devolved down to the lowest possible level. This networked structure of authority and accountability is most evident in al-Qaeda operations, as cells planned and carried out operations with considerable and independence."
Abstract This paper relates that terrorist activities can be examined as features of a general structural process, but it should be noted that al Qaeda's AGIL process is often distorted by factors not commonly faced by other organizations. The author explains that, in applying the AGIL process to the terrorist organization known as al Qaeda, factors such as adaptation, goal attainment, integration and latency are evident. The paper points out that these factors operate in al Qaeda to a more limited degree than they do in more traditional and mainstream organizations.
From the Paper "In applying the AGIL process to the terrorist organization known as al Qaeda, it is evident that factors such as adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency continue to al Qaeda, but to a more limited degree than they do in more traditional and mainstream organizations. Terrorist activities can be examined as features of a general structural process, but it should be noted that al Qaeda's AGIL process is often distorted by factors not commonly faced by other organizations. For example, many of al Qaeda's functions are in conflict more often and are "on" or "off" more frequently and unexpectedly because of the global war on terror, which compels al Qaeda leaders, strategists, financiers, and cell members to be reactive much more often than they can be proactive."
Abstract This paper describes al Qaeda. The author points out al Qaeda's current goals as a terrorist organization. The paper examines the difficulties involved in locating operatives and in gathering information because members form small groups called cells.
From the Paper "According to Benjamin Wittes writing in "Atlantic Monthly", al-Qaeda is not a traditional uniformed military force. In fact it's not a geographically distinct military force at all. Rather, the organization is composed of cells scattered worldwide whose members seek to blend into the societies they wish to destroy. The organization's very nature makes distinguishing between combatants and noncombatants extremely difficult. When captured al-Qaeda, operatives often deny their affiliation. However, it is known that al-Qaeda has a specific set of goals. Furthermore there seems to be no ... '
Tags:Al Qaeda, terrorists, September 11, Madrid, suicide bomber, terrorism
Abstract This paper examines the marketing problems facing the Al Ahram Beverages Company, a manufacturer and distributor of beer in Egypt. The paper looks at the unique cultural challenges of marketing such a product within a Muslim country.
From the Paper "Al Ahram Beverages Company (AABC) is in a period of transition. It has gone from a publicly-held enterprise to a privately-owned company in Egypt, as part of a reform movement that included the privatization of many..."
Tags:Al Ahram Beverages company, case study, Egypt, competition, 4 Ps, marketing, product, price, place promotion, social change, liberalization, government owned monopoly
This paper studies Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "The Poet" which details the life and role of a poet in society and compares it to Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself".
Abstract This paper studies the life and works and accomplishments of Ralph Waldo Emerson. It studies his essay "The Poet" and describes his idealistic vision of the life of a poet. It also describes the 19th-century artistic and philosophical movement called transcendentalism that he founded. Throughout this paper, the author compares Emerson's ideals to Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself". It also examines Ralph Waldo Emerson's strong influence and effect on American society.
From the Paper "Ralph Waldo Emerson's idealized and mesmerizing description of the role and life of the poet in his essay "The Poet" describes not only the particular calling and obligation of those who choose to follow the poetic muses but also ? because of Emerson's own influence on the writings of Americans who followed him ? proved to be a strongly proscriptive piece of advice for other poets and writers in the decades after Emerson helped to found the 19th-century artistic and philosophical movement called Transcendentalism. The Transcendentalists defined themselves by their belief in a highly idealistic and fundamentally coherent system of belief in the essential unity of all things on earth ? the connection of each thing to its neighbor ? as well as a belief in the absolute importance of personal experience and insight (as opposed to knowledge and beliefs gained through formal logic and formal education) and the essential goodness of humanity."
Abstract This essay discusses how Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Mother and Poet" blurs the binarism of the domestic custodian and the public crusader. The very title itself blurs the boundaries between the two roles, because both of them intersect along certain lines. Each role needs the other to be effective. Isolated, each role becomes rooted in failure and tragedy.
Abstract A paper about American poets during the period 1951-1960. It traces the style and mood reflected in the fifties and states the poetic preferences of the audience of the time. Basically it focuses on the poets of the era and their styles compared to others of the Beat generation.
Abstract This paper compares Chaucer and the Pearl poet in terms of religious expression and secular elements, showing that the two reflect some of the same themes and concerns about society. It looks at how Chaucer is more openly critical of the way the clergy of his time behaves, while the Pearl poet is more concerned with teaching moral lessons and showing the value of religious belief.
From the Paper "Critics regard Geoffrey Chaucer as a secular poet, while the Pearl poet is seen primarily as a religious one reflecting the view of Christianity. In fact, though, the two poets are much closer together than this might suggest and address many of the same issues, same types of stories, and same concerns from differing points of view. If critics find Chaucer more secular, that may be because his vision reflects more of the reality of the world around him, so that he shows people with all their passions and faults, while the Pearl poet tends more toward idealized visions of moral attitudes and concepts of honor."
Abstract This is a critical analysis of the film "Dead Poets' Society". It is based on the generative thesis, from Pauline Kael: "Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate the great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them." Combining this sentiment with the analysis of the film in terms of Aristotelian drama, the essay concludes that said film is too conflict-driven to be great art, contains too much pathos to be great trash, and is thus merely trash by dint of its constant unoriginality. Specific examples from the film are cited.
This paper discuses Jelaluddin Rumi, one of the most well-known of Persian poets, who is largely credited with infusing Sufism with its highly intimate relationship with aesthetic traditions.
Abstract This paper explains that classically trained Jelaluddin Rumi, who was born in 1207 in the region that is now part of Afghanistan, lived most of his life in Turkey and the surrounding area. The author points out that Rumi created the Mevlevi Order of Dervishes or commonly called the Whirling Dervishes of Sufism. The paper relates that the Whirling Dervishes are most recognized for their unique dance movements, oblique body posturing, acute mental focus and their musical facility, which is said to combine to bring them closer in union to God. The author states that Rumi's poetry is regarded as the cultural epicenter of all thought, literature, dance and music in the world of Islamic aesthetics. The paper reports that the traditional approach to studying the impact of Rumi's poetry on Sufi music has been to examine the text from a critical theoretic perspective.
From the Paper "The natural academic tendency, regardless of academic specialty, is to examine the concepts contained within the lines of verse; to question 'what is the tree of wisdom' and to ask what or how one identifies one's internal "fairy." These are important metaphysical questions that can and should be asked of the text through critical analysis. However, therein rests the academic pitfall that most researchers and even casual observers typically get trapped in: the interpretation of the text which is made even more complex in translation."
Abstract The paper discusses the biography of Ibn Al-Rumi, his formal education and achievements. The paper discusses his poetry which was of a high standard, his study of mysticism and philosophies and notes further that he will always be revered for his standardization of Islamic thoughts.
From the Paper "In this scenario, Ibn al-Rumi, obviously a firm believer in man's evolution drew from a variety of subjects and derived his numerous examples from every-day life. In so doing, Ibn al-Rumi went about factoring these examples upon the unique bond connecting God/Allah to man in one aspect, as well as the related factor comprised of the spiritual quality existing in man's evolvement and interim of coexistence with his fellowman in his mortal passage to the final destination of the beyond."
The essay summarizes the first three chapters in William Chittick's text, "The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination", and goes on to analyze the text and themes of the doctrine of divine names and Finding/Being.
Abstract This essay represents an exposition of the first three chapters of Chittick's text called "The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination", including: the first chapter, "Overview" of Ibn al-'Arabi's life and work; the second chapter, "Theology", with a particular reference to its explication of Ibn al-'Arabi's doctrine of Names; and the third chapter, "Ontology", with a focus on Ibn al-'Arabi's concepts of Being and Finding and the relationship between these important ideas.
Outline:
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Overview - The Divine Presence
Chapter 2 - Theology - The Names of God
Chapter 3 - Ontology
Conclusion
From the Paper "The first of these sections is entitled "Finding God" which not only provides Chittick with an opening for Ibn al-'Arabi's work that would be interesting and accessible to the lay reader, but also allows Chittick to introduce critical concepts such as relationship between Finding and Being, and their implications for our learning of God. "Finding" in this sense is a rendering of the Arabic word wujud, which in other contexts may be understood as "existence" or "being". Chittick also uses this chapter to highlight differences between concepts as they are understood in the West and their significance in Ibn al-'Arabi's teachings. For example, he note that Ibn al-'Arabi's 'main concern is not with the mental concept of being but with the experience of God's Being, the tasting (dhawq) of Being, that "finding" which is at one and the same time to perceive and to be that which truly is'."
