Abstract This paper shows that similar to the Jewish and Christian traditions, where scholars wrote commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, Islamic scholars throughout the centuries since the rise of Islam in the first half of the 7th century have written commentaries, or tafsirs, on the Qur?an. It discusses how, ironically, many tafsirs contradict the content of the Qur"an but are extremely valuable because they reflect ideas and interpretations shared in prestigious centers and schools of Islamic learning. Eve's (Hawwa") depiction in the Qur?an, for example, is in stark contrast with her representation in tafsir. The paper shows how the Qur?an, therefore, portrays an egalitarian position between man and woman, whereas the majority of tafsirs reflect a more hierarchical view. It discusses how this phenomenon is still attested and debated in the late twentieth century, especially by female Muslim scholars educated in a variety of academic fields.
From the Paper "Al-Tabari and al-Razi both wrote Qur"anic commentaries that continue to hold great authority and influence in modern Islamic exegesis. It is important to note that both al-Tabari and al-Razi use many of the hadith materials"the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad"which may explain for the discrepancy between the Qur"an's depiction of Eve and that found in tafsir. Stowasser states, ?extraneous detail transmitted in Hadith form and frequently originating in the Bible and Bible-related sources not only fleshes out the story of Adam and Eve but drastically changes it, especially with regard to the woman's role.? As a result, Muslim interpretations of Eve's creation and the couple's exile from the Garden often depart from scriptural content."
Abstract This paper discusses the composition process and the final book of the Qur'an. It describes the history of the text and how it was catalogued and brought together. The paper then discusses the five pillars that are central to the ritual of the practice of Islam and discusses the understanding of these rituals according to the Qur'an and Islamic law.
From the Paper "All Muslims are brothers (Durant, 182). A critical part of the modern politicization of Islam is that the political movement seeks to impose on Islamic societies as a whole. This is a distinct development from traditional Islam, which is a religion, and one which has offer "reassuring, familiar, and functional" faith to millions for centuries (Fuller, 16-17). The distinctive emergence of a political Islam means that there are strong forces within Islam which reject the concept of an inclusive religion in which all Muslims are seen as brothers, and attempting to impose on all of Islam something of a nationalistic movement (Fuller, 17, 21; Schwartz, 17)."
Abstract This paper explains the story from the Qur'an, Surat Al-Kahf, about Moses (Musa or Alai) and Al-Khidr (the Verdant One or the Fertile One). The author points out that research states that Al-Khidr was Koranic Idris that appears in Sura 18/66 in terms of the cave. The paper relates that, during the point when Moses met Khidr at the rivers, there were five particular laws of teachings or hanifs or illuminati: laws of involuntionary and evolutionary cycles, of emanation and manifestation, of the heart-mind (galb), of science of light (hikmat al-ilraq) and of the spiritual communion with the hierarchical beings. The author states that popular tradition suggests that Al-Khidr, the Green One, lived during the time of the biblical prophet Abraham and that he still may be seen at sacred places. The paper concludes that the person named, the Verdent One, still plays the critical role in Islamic mysticism.
From the Paper "One day, Moses delivered a sermon that was so powerful that people were so overwhelmed. Everyone had his attention and vowed to follow his advice. A person asked Moses, since he is the messenger of Allah, is there anyone else that is so equivalent in his teachings. Moses replied no, thinking to himself that Allah gave him this wisdom to persuade and guide, which is an honor coming from the Torah. However, Moses thought to himself, there have to be another person with greater wisdom and further knowledge than me. Moses prayed to Allah to identify this person or give him a sign that would notify him of this person with greater wisdom and knowledge (min ladunni ilma) than Moses."
Abstract This paper explains that the tendency to view Islam as intrinsically constraining women owes a great deal to fundamentalist movements that rest on interpretations of the Qur'an that do not hold up to scrutiny. The author points out that these fundamentalist overlook the Islamic project of building the Ummah, which the Prophet meant for women and their status vis-a-vis men. The paper relates that the Qur'an states what men must do to support and protect women and to give them liberty. The author stresses that effort must be devoted to encouraging re-education of Muslim males to understand that their attitudes and practices expecting female subservience and confinement to the domestic sphere are not signs of Muslim adherence and respectability. The paper states that the same poles of mysticism versus fundamentalism in the treatment of women may be said for fundamentalist Christianity in Western countries.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Islam, Women and Environment
The Qur'an
Strengthening Men's Obligations
Concluding Remarks
From the Paper "Again and again, one sees efforts to clarify what the Qur'an does say concerning the sexes and women's status. Fundamentalist Muslim males do violate what was intended. For instance, Allah is said to hold women in the same position of men, rules working both for and against them, according to conduct. (2:228) Women are not to be passed from one household to another against their will, are not to be treated harshly and deserve kindness and equity. (4:19) Both men and women are to display their obedience to Allah, the righteous woman one who makes this adherence plain, as does the righteous man. (4:34) The Qur'an stresses how Allah created men and women to live in a complementary peace and tranquility. (30:21)"
Abstract This paper examines the Qur'an's description of creation and God's role in humanity. It looks at how from the story of creation we learn that God's relationship with mankind has many elements including labor, planning, possession, protection and provision. It evaluates how with so many different characteristics, it is difficult to develop one universal description of God's relations with mankind. It show how even though the Qur?an is not as explicit as the Old and New Testaments in their description of a shepherd god, it's description of God's relationship with us retains many of the features of a shepherd with his flock.
From the Paper "That God had an ultimate plan for Creation is made quite clear in the Qur"an. First, from the Qur"an we specifically learn that Creation was not some haphazard process in which God made decisions as he went along. Creation was a well-planned, deliberate act. Each thing created was done so with precision and to serve a very real purpose. Second, the Qur?an tells us that all things created by God are perfect and without fault suggesting that God had already planned a use for all things. Thus one needs only to look to nature to find signs of God's greatness and his benevolence. Third, we learn that God created the world and everything in it to aid mankind. He created stabilizers to hold the earth steady. The night exists that we might have rest and the day so that we may toil. Beasts of burden were created that we may eat, clothe ourselves and bear loads that we cannot bear alone. Fish and wild animals give us food and plants give us their fruit. Water sustains us and nourishes the earth causing it to bear fruit. All things reflect and are signs of God's glory and thus nourish our souls that we may be reminded of God always. Since Man was the last thing that God created, He must have created the rest of the world knowing that He would create mankind and what we would need to sustain us."
Abstract This paper provides an account of how Islam came into being and how it manifests itself in the lives of its adherents today. Contrasts are made with other belief systems with a focus on Christianity.
Outline
Muhammad's Calling
Revelation of the Qur"an
The Three Sources of Teaching and Guidance
Islamic Expansion
Muhammad's Death Leads to Division
The Five Pillars of Islam
The Teaching of Islam and Daily Conduct of Muslims
Soul, Resurrection, Paradise, and Hellfire
Monogamy or Polygamy"
Islam and Daily Life
Conflict With and Within Christendom
From the Paper "Muhammad's call to be a prophet took place when he was about 40 years of age. He had the custom of going alone to a nearby mountain cave, called Ghar Hira, for meditation, and he claimed that it was on one of these occasions that he received the call to be a prophet. Muslim tradition relates that while he was there, an angel, later identified as Gabriel, commanded him to recite in the name of Allah. Muhammad failed to respond, so the angel 'caught him forcefully and pressed him so hard that he could not bear it anymore.' Then the angel repeated the command. Again, Muhammad failed to react, so the angel 'choked him' again. This occurred three times before Muhammad started to recite what came to be viewed as the first of a series of revelations that constitute the Qur?an. Another tradition relates that divine inspiration was revealed to Muhammad like the ringing of a bell."
Abstract The paper relates that Muhammad was a monotheist who preached against the polytheism of the Meccan religion. This aroused the hostility of the merchant leaders of his native city who derived their wealth from pilgrimages to Mecca and its surrounding cities. The author points out that the early Muslim community and its Prophet Muhammad believed that the people of the early Muslim community could trace their contract with Allah (Jehovah) back to the Jewish Patriarch Abraham; however, the Muslims believed that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael instead of Isaac. The paper relates that it may not be an accident that the Qur'an has two distinct voices because, in Mecca, Muhammad was a rebel but in Medina he was head of state; the early Meccan verses, which were those recited while his new religion was being formed, are concern mainly religious dogma; while as, in the Medina verses, Allah took a surprisingly detailed interest in the day-to-day problems of Muhammad's community.
From the Paper "Few other religions sanction a man's beating a disobedient wife, as does the Qur'an. But other rules, such as his ban on a woman's being "inherited" as chattel by her late husband's eldest son, were decidedly progressive for the era and remained so relative to the West until the twentieth century. While Allah in his revelations to Muhammad limited to four the number of wives a man could take -- excluding God's Messenger, of course, who was permitted to marry for reasons of state and had at least nine wives (at least one of them a converted Jew) and a Christian concubine when he died -- he did not restrict the number of a man's concubines or slaves. (Slavery in Saudi Arabia was abolished de jure only in 1962). But Allah required that men treat their wives equally, that women retain their own wealth, and that they be permitted under certain conditions to ask a judge to order their husbands to divorce them (men could end marriages at will) -- all progressive measures compared to the practices of pre-Islmaic society, the jahiliyya."
Abstract This paper looks at the theological debate within Islam over the problem of the creation of the Qur'an. The writer discusses that this issue has sometimes been viewed as a conflict between reason and rationalism as represented by Mu'tazilite thought and traditional orthodoxy as represented by the Hanbalite school of thought. This essay examines the main points of disagreement.
From the Paper "The theological debate within Islam over the problem of the creation of the Qur'an has sometimes been represented as a conflict between reason and rationalism (as represented by Mu'tazilite thought) and traditional orthodoxy (as represented by the Hanbalite school of thought). While this generalization has some points of validity, it does not capture the full complexity of the debate over the creation of the Qur'an, nor the significant implications of this difference for how Muslims understand the existence of God and his role in their daily lives."
Abstract This paper discusses the roles that the cities of Mecca and Madinah play in Islamic history. It argues that the migration (hijra) from Mecca to Madinah is, after the revelation of the Qur'an itself, the critical event in early Islamic history. The paper suggests that the establishment of the Islamic community in Madinah proved critical to Muhammad's campaign for the acceptance of God's message in Arabia and was to be the foundation for the subsequent expansion of the Islamic community throughout the region in later years.
From the Paper "Of course, under the economic system of Muhammad's Madinah such tolerance came with an important price. The nonbelievers under this system were required to pay tribute to the state in the form of a poll tax (jizya) in exchange for their being protected by Muslims from external aggression and in lieu of their serving in the military service of the Islamic state. These non-believers in the state - termed "protected ones" (dhimmi) - thus played an important economic role although, it must be said, the poll tax was often lower than that which they paid to their previous rulers (Esposito 34)."
Abstract This paper examines both the Christian and Islamic conceptions of who Jesus is/was. It focuses on specific areas including Islam's view of Jesus - their admiration for him and significance of names attributed to him in the Qur'an. Furthermore, the paper delineates particular areas of contention between the two faiths with respect to Jesus including views on Jesus' miracles, his nature in relation to the Trinity and his divinity, and his death.
From the Paper "Three of the most frequently cited names for Jesus in the Qur'an are ones used for personal identification: Isa, Son of Mary and Messiah. The name Isa is an Arabic form of the word Jesus. Scholars attribute the Hebrew background of the word to mean "God Saves." In the New Testament, Mary is commanded by an Angel to name her baby boy, Jesus (Greek Yesous) because "he shall save his people from their signs" (Mt. 1:21). Yet, the Qur'an makes no reference "to this theological meaning and Muslims are generally not aware of it." The most frequently used name for Jesus is the Qur'an is that of Son of Mary which is quite contrasted to the New Testament where this title is only used once. Muslims scholars believe that the use of this name is because Jesus' unique origin born of Mary as a virgin. The Qur'an speaks quite admirably of Mary but never mentions Joseph. "
Abstract This paper examines the meaning of the title of Marshall G.S. Hodgson's work, "The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization". The author provides Hodgson's definition of Islam and discusses the social and cultural background of the Islamic religion. Moreover, he explains the effect modern civilization had on Islamic religion.
From the Paper ""Hodgson's discussion of the Islamic reaction to Modernization, at the close of his magisterial study, leaves the reader with a sense of depression at just how impossible it is to reconcile nationalist ideals and Western-derived thinking to the core "venture" of Islam. Although Muslims were able to create a cohesive and flourishing civilization in the pre-modern world, Islamdom was unprepared for the dynamism of Western expansion, based as it is on capitalist investment and mechanization. Moreover, the "disruption of tradition? which is so much a feature of modern life is, Hodgson argues, something the West is able to absorb much more easily than other cultures. "Yet, even in the West . . . the socially concerned are full of complaints about the fragmentation of life . . . and about personal loss of roots and alienation in the mass. [However], in Islamdom, the disruption of traditions is even more problematic" (III,419).
Hodgson's conclusions about "Islam in modernity" are melancholy ones, giving us the impression that the creative vision and faith at the core of Islamic belief are unsuited to the dry, pragmatic realities of contemporary life."
Abstract This essay explores how the doctrine of Islam faith reveals a history based not on tolerance and equality, but instead on tyranny and abuse. The author contends that the basic tenets of Moslem faith still incorporate fundamental contradictions and tensions between primary beliefs and the requirements of human rights.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Islam's Prescriptions & Treatment Concerning the Dhimmis
Conclusion
From the Paper ?The religious group known as the Muslims, who have followed the doctrine of Islam faith since the seventh century A.D., profess that the legal prescriptions of Islamic law concerning the dhimmis in both medieval and modern times attests to the fact that Islam is a remarkably tolerant religion and civilization (Abdelmoula 1). A closer examination of this practice and treatment, however, contradicts this profession, for it reveals a history based not on tolerance and equality, but instead on tyranny and abuse. This history, along with a continued persecution of non-Islamic people by modern Muslims, leads to the conclusion that the basic principles of the Moslem faith are in direct contradiction to modern concepts of tolerance and human rights, therefore negating the claim that tolerance underlies the framework of Islamic religion and civilization.?
Examines relationship between religious doctrine & social ethics based on standards for conduct (prayer, purity, honesty), rewards for virtuous & punishment for wicked.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 3 sources, 1999, $ 47.95
From the Paper "INTRODUCTION
A connection exists between religious doctrine and social ethics in the Holy Qur'an because one of the goals of Islam is the establishment of a holy, organized society. Ideally, this society would be based on eternal principles of righteousness and fair dealing, cleanliness and sobriety, honesty and helpfulness. The moral code in the Qur'an is an attempt to put these principles into concrete form, to create a complete system of religion that suits the times and circumstances, and the varying needs of the average individual. The laws governing human conduct in the Qur'an define both social and economic justice, and the pursuit of a good life in society.
The Qur'anic code of social ethics sets forth spiritual guidelines regarding lawful and unlawful actions, and rewards for.."
Examines rise & spread of Islam in Middle East in 1980s-1990s in terms of factionalism, impact on politics & higher educational institutions, role of [Qur'an], economics and gender relations.
6,075 words (approx. 24.3 pages), 44 sources, 1999, $ 135.95
Abstract This research explores the role of Islamic Fundamentalism in contemporary Islamic societies. An emphasis in this exploration is on the relationship between Islamic Fundamentalism and institutions of higher education.
From the Paper "LINKS BETWEEN ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM & HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Introduction
This research explores the role of Islamic Fundamentalism in contemporary Islamic societies. An emphasis in this exploration is on the relationship between Islamic Fundamentalism and institutions of higher education.
Islamic Fundamentalism
Islamic Fundamentalism is a movement whose aim is to return Islamic society and religion to essential and traditional Islamic values, as those values are understood, interpreted, and enunciated by the adherents of Islamic Fundamentalism (Sayeed 4). In the context of returning a society and a religion to the essential and traditional values as those values are understood.."
