Abstract:This essay will examine the concept of taqwa as it is used in the Qur’an to illustrate how its application is fundamental in understanding its function in daily life decisions that may be applied in the 21st century. Although there are many translations for taqwa, I believe that the concept is best defined as God-consciousness. I provide daily-life examples to explore how the moral and ethical implications of this concept are relevant today in the four major spheres of life: personal, social, economic and political. The examples provided are based on experiences during my professional journey while serving either as an academic, chaplain, community leader or political activist. The analysis of of taqwa focuses on various Qur’anic verses that illustrate how to understand its application in the personal, social economic and political spheres of life. As I review each of these four spheres, I list verses in Qur’anic chapters that explain the impact that the concept of taqwa can have in daily life-decisions. The importance of maintaining awareness of God in all of these areas lies in the fact that God observes and holds everyone accountable for all of their actions and behaviors. God-consciousness allows us to subordinate our animal instincts to our rational faculty. It allows us to place the well-being of others on the same plane as our own. It saves us from being dazzled by wealth to the point that we forget that there are higher values to which wealth should serve as a means, but never replace it as an end. It is the only safeguard against the temptation to make gods of ourselves to impose our will on others. The challenge to religion in a secular era is to effectuate a link between belief and action. This article will begin by developing an understanding of the meaning of taqwa and then of its application to the four spheres of life in the 21st century: personal, social, economic, and political.
{"title":"The Moral and Ethical Role of Taqwa in the Personal, Social, Economic, and Political Spheres of Life in the 21st Century","authors":"Imad‐ad‐Dean Ahmad","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.09","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.09","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This essay will examine the concept of taqwa as it is used in the Qur’an to illustrate how its application is fundamental in understanding its function in daily life decisions that may be applied in the 21st century. Although there are many translations for taqwa, I believe that the concept is best defined as God-consciousness. I provide daily-life examples to explore how the moral and ethical implications of this concept are relevant today in the four major spheres of life: personal, social, economic and political. The examples provided are based on experiences during my professional journey while serving either as an academic, chaplain, community leader or political activist. The analysis of of taqwa focuses on various Qur’anic verses that illustrate how to understand its application in the personal, social economic and political spheres of life. As I review each of these four spheres, I list verses in Qur’anic chapters that explain the impact that the concept of taqwa can have in daily life-decisions. The importance of maintaining awareness of God in all of these areas lies in the fact that God observes and holds everyone accountable for all of their actions and behaviors. God-consciousness allows us to subordinate our animal instincts to our rational faculty. It allows us to place the well-being of others on the same plane as our own. It saves us from being dazzled by wealth to the point that we forget that there are higher values to which wealth should serve as a means, but never replace it as an end. It is the only safeguard against the temptation to make gods of ourselves to impose our will on others. The challenge to religion in a secular era is to effectuate a link between belief and action. This article will begin by developing an understanding of the meaning of taqwa and then of its application to the four spheres of life in the 21st century: personal, social, economic, and political.","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"523 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129684330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This article offers a comparative analysis of the transformation of the human self in Sufism and Mahāyāna Buddhism focusing particularly on the nature and role of religious practice in human transformation. It first outlines the Qur’ānic concept of innate human nature (fiṭra) and the Sufi practice of invocation of God (dhikr, lit. “remembrance”), and explores how the practice of dhikr is conceived as a process of uncovering a primordial awareness of God possessed by all human beings. This article then examines the concept of Buddha nature and practices of invocation of the Amida, aka Amitābha, Buddha (buddhānusmṛti/nembutsu) and zazen (sitting meditation). Specifically, it discusses how these practices are intended to facilitate the realization of Buddha nature, which is likewise considered to be latent in all sentient beings. Based on this doctrinal and ritual background, this article concludes with a comparative analysis of human nature and spiritual transformation through religious practice in Sufism and Mahāyāna Buddhism.
{"title":"The Transformation of the Human Self through Religious Practice in Sufism and Buddhism","authors":"Elif Emirahmetoğlu","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.03","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article offers a comparative analysis of the transformation of the human self in Sufism and Mahāyāna Buddhism focusing particularly on the nature and role of religious practice in human transformation. It first outlines the Qur’ānic concept of innate human nature (fiṭra) and the Sufi practice of invocation of God (dhikr, lit. “remembrance”), and explores how the practice of dhikr is conceived as a process of uncovering a primordial awareness of God possessed by all human beings. This article then examines the concept of Buddha nature and practices of invocation of the Amida, aka Amitābha, Buddha (buddhānusmṛti/nembutsu) and zazen (sitting meditation). Specifically, it discusses how these practices are intended to facilitate the realization of Buddha nature, which is likewise considered to be latent in all sentient beings. Based on this doctrinal and ritual background, this article concludes with a comparative analysis of human nature and spiritual transformation through religious practice in Sufism and Mahāyāna Buddhism.","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123257094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Curriculum Renewal for Islamic Education: Critical Perspectives on Teaching Islam in Primary and Secondary Schools (By Eds. Nadeem A. Memon, Mariam Alhashmi, and Mohamad Abdalla)","authors":"A. Ahmed","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.06","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"98 19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127421856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:One of the greatest Andalusian Sufis of the twelfth century CE, Abū Madyan Shu‘ayb bin al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī al-Andalusī (d. ca. 1198 CE) is often regarded as the epitome of the synthesis between Andalusian Moroccan spirituality and Eastern gnosticism (maʿrifa), which earned him the title of muʿallim al-muʿallimīn (the teacher of teachers) of the Maghrib. This article examines his conception of divine unity (tawḥīd) as expressed in one of his poems, a qaṣīda lāmīyya (ode rhyming in Lām), which is one of the most famous poems chanted across the Islamic world. In exploring the way that this poem articulates Abū Madyan’s understanding of divine unity (tawḥīd) and its relationship to the Sufi path, this article draws upon Abū Madyan’s other works, such as his collected aphorisms, al-Ḥikam al-Ghawthīyya (The Ghawthiyya Aphorisms), as well as the works of his later commentators, such as Aḥmad ibn ‘Ajība (d. 1809) and Aḥmad Ibn Muṣṭafā al-ʿAlawī (d. 1934 CE). This article demonstrates that throughout this poem Abū Madyan articulates a vision of divine unity that anticipates what would later be known as the doctrine of the Unity of Being (waḥdat al-wujūd), outlining a process of attaining spiritual union with God that takes annihilation of the self (fanā’ al-nafs) as its prerequisite. Annihilation of the self frees one from limited temporal qualities, which are replaced by divine attributes. At this point, the Sufi becomes annihilated from his own existence and becomes subsistent only by God, and it is at this point when spiritual union takes place. Recognizing the diversity of the created world as nothing but a reflection of the unity of the divine, Abū Madyan’s work anticipates the doctrine of the unity of being that emerged and developed in the centuries following his death. This article is composed of three sections. It begins by offering a biographical sketch of the life and legacy of Abū Madyan as a Sufi notable in twelfth-century North Africa, followed by an overview of Sufi literature on divine unity (tawḥīd) and the Sufi path, and analysis of the qaṣīda itself, by means of its intertextual connections to other Sufi literature.
{"title":"Divine Unity in a Qa??da L?m?yya (Ode Rhyming in L?m) of Ab? Madyan al-Ghawth","authors":"Omneya Ayad","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.04","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:One of the greatest Andalusian Sufis of the twelfth century CE, Abū Madyan Shu‘ayb bin al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī al-Andalusī (d. ca. 1198 CE) is often regarded as the epitome of the synthesis between Andalusian Moroccan spirituality and Eastern gnosticism (maʿrifa), which earned him the title of muʿallim al-muʿallimīn (the teacher of teachers) of the Maghrib. This article examines his conception of divine unity (tawḥīd) as expressed in one of his poems, a qaṣīda lāmīyya (ode rhyming in Lām), which is one of the most famous poems chanted across the Islamic world. In exploring the way that this poem articulates Abū Madyan’s understanding of divine unity (tawḥīd) and its relationship to the Sufi path, this article draws upon Abū Madyan’s other works, such as his collected aphorisms, al-Ḥikam al-Ghawthīyya (The Ghawthiyya Aphorisms), as well as the works of his later commentators, such as Aḥmad ibn ‘Ajība (d. 1809) and Aḥmad Ibn Muṣṭafā al-ʿAlawī (d. 1934 CE). This article demonstrates that throughout this poem Abū Madyan articulates a vision of divine unity that anticipates what would later be known as the doctrine of the Unity of Being (waḥdat al-wujūd), outlining a process of attaining spiritual union with God that takes annihilation of the self (fanā’ al-nafs) as its prerequisite. Annihilation of the self frees one from limited temporal qualities, which are replaced by divine attributes. At this point, the Sufi becomes annihilated from his own existence and becomes subsistent only by God, and it is at this point when spiritual union takes place. Recognizing the diversity of the created world as nothing but a reflection of the unity of the divine, Abū Madyan’s work anticipates the doctrine of the unity of being that emerged and developed in the centuries following his death. This article is composed of three sections. It begins by offering a biographical sketch of the life and legacy of Abū Madyan as a Sufi notable in twelfth-century North Africa, followed by an overview of Sufi literature on divine unity (tawḥīd) and the Sufi path, and analysis of the qaṣīda itself, by means of its intertextual connections to other Sufi literature.","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132718610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Islamicate Cosmopolitan Spirit (By Bruce B. Lawrence)","authors":"G. D. Newby","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.05","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132329985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Repose of the Spirits: A Sufi Commentary on the Divine Names (By A?mad Sam??n?, [Translator: William C. Chittick)]","authors":"J. Zaleski","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.07","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.07","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"151 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133569004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This study examines the thesis of the contemporary Moroccan philosopher Taha Abdurrahman (b. 1944) concerning the formation of a modernist Arab philosophy that explicitly contrasts with contemporary Western philosophy. Abdurrahman argues that such a philosophy can be the basis for a new Arab philosophical identity that preserves the intellectual autonomy of Arab peoples and resists what he characterizes as undesirable external influences. This article is composed of three sections. It begins by offering a systematic and descriptive presentation of this thesis from Taha Abdurrahman through a close reading of his 2002 book, The Arab Right to Philosophical Difference (al-Ḥaqq al-‘Arabī fī al-Ikhtilāf al-Falsafī). It then offers a critical and dialogical deconstruction of this thesis by placing it in interlocution with similar approaches to identity and the self that appear in Fethi al-Meskini’s (b. 1961) book, Identity and Freedom: Towards New Enlightenments (al-Huwīyya w’al-Ḥurīyya: Naḥwa Anwār Jadīda, 2011), and Aziz al-Azmeh’s (b. 1947) study of Islamic thought as a historical phenomenon, specifically in his book, The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity (2014). Following the discussion of these authors’ approaches to Arab intellectual culture and identity, this article concludes by assessing the validity and plausibility of Abdurrahman’s thesis in light of the works of the other two scholars.
摘要:本研究考察了当代摩洛哥哲学家塔哈·阿布杜拉赫曼(生于1944年)关于现代主义阿拉伯哲学形成与当代西方哲学形成鲜明对比的论文。Abdurrahman认为，这样一种哲学可以成为一种新的阿拉伯哲学认同的基础，这种认同可以保护阿拉伯人民的思想自主权，并抵制他所描述的不受欢迎的外部影响。本文由三部分组成。首先，通过仔细阅读塔哈·阿布杜拉赫曼2002年的著作《阿拉伯人的哲学差异权》(al-Ḥaqq al- ' arabi ' f ' al-Ikhtilāf al- falsafi)，对塔哈·阿布杜拉赫曼的这篇论文进行了系统和描述性的介绍。然后，通过将其与Fethi al-Meskini(1961年)的著作《身份与自由:走向新启蒙》(al- huw yya w 'al -Ḥurīyya: Naḥwa Anwār jad da, 2011年)和Aziz al-Azmeh(1947年)将伊斯兰思想作为一种历史现象进行研究，特别是在他的著作《古代晚期伊斯兰的出现》(2014年)中出现的类似身份和自我方法进行对话，对这一论点进行了批判性和对话式的解构。在讨论了这些作者对阿拉伯知识分子文化和身份认同的研究方法之后，本文最后结合其他两位学者的作品，评估了阿卜杜拉赫曼论文的有效性和合理性。
{"title":"Philosophy as a ‘Resisting Identity’?: Taha Abdurrahman, Fethi al-Meskini, and Aziz al-Azmeh in Dialogue on Modernist Arab Philosophy","authors":"Najib George Awad","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.02","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This study examines the thesis of the contemporary Moroccan philosopher Taha Abdurrahman (b. 1944) concerning the formation of a modernist Arab philosophy that explicitly contrasts with contemporary Western philosophy. Abdurrahman argues that such a philosophy can be the basis for a new Arab philosophical identity that preserves the intellectual autonomy of Arab peoples and resists what he characterizes as undesirable external influences. This article is composed of three sections. It begins by offering a systematic and descriptive presentation of this thesis from Taha Abdurrahman through a close reading of his 2002 book, The Arab Right to Philosophical Difference (al-Ḥaqq al-‘Arabī fī al-Ikhtilāf al-Falsafī). It then offers a critical and dialogical deconstruction of this thesis by placing it in interlocution with similar approaches to identity and the self that appear in Fethi al-Meskini’s (b. 1961) book, Identity and Freedom: Towards New Enlightenments (al-Huwīyya w’al-Ḥurīyya: Naḥwa Anwār Jadīda, 2011), and Aziz al-Azmeh’s (b. 1947) study of Islamic thought as a historical phenomenon, specifically in his book, The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity (2014). Following the discussion of these authors’ approaches to Arab intellectual culture and identity, this article concludes by assessing the validity and plausibility of Abdurrahman’s thesis in light of the works of the other two scholars.","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115296535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Hero (Movie Drama by Asghar Farhadi)","authors":"Babak Mazloumi","doi":"10.2979/jims.7.1.08","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.7.1.08","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133213331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Translator of Desires (By Muhyiddin Ibn ?Arabi, [Translator: Michael Sells])","authors":"R. Ansari","doi":"10.2979/jims.6.2.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.6.2.05","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116078275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This article explores the ways in which immigrant Muslim women from Singapore thoroughly embed themselves in and adapt themselves to their new home in twenty-first century Australia. It does so through an analysis of interviews conducted between October, 2019, and February, 2021, with Singaporean Muslim women living in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, Australia. This article argues that these women were able to integrate well into Australian society because they embody what this article terms as "adaptive boundaries." Adaptive boundaries refers to the ways in which such immigrants creatively adjust, negotiate, and reformulate their orientations toward their religious beliefs and cultural values, as well as expectations on family life and careers, in order to adapt to their new life in Australia. In doing so, these women successfully overcame many challenges they faced as gendered migrants. This study furthers the borders of scholarly enquiry on gendered migration and acculturation among immigrant Muslim communities in Western societies.
{"title":"Embodying Adaptive Boundaries: Singaporean Muslim Women Immigrants in Australia","authors":"Khairudin Aljunied","doi":"10.2979/jims.6.2.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.6.2.04","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article explores the ways in which immigrant Muslim women from Singapore thoroughly embed themselves in and adapt themselves to their new home in twenty-first century Australia. It does so through an analysis of interviews conducted between October, 2019, and February, 2021, with Singaporean Muslim women living in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, Australia. This article argues that these women were able to integrate well into Australian society because they embody what this article terms as \"adaptive boundaries.\" Adaptive boundaries refers to the ways in which such immigrants creatively adjust, negotiate, and reformulate their orientations toward their religious beliefs and cultural values, as well as expectations on family life and careers, in order to adapt to their new life in Australia. In doing so, these women successfully overcame many challenges they faced as gendered migrants. This study furthers the borders of scholarly enquiry on gendered migration and acculturation among immigrant Muslim communities in Western societies.","PeriodicalId":388440,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121814328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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