Muslims as Actors

Muslims as Actors PDF Author: Jacques Waardenburg
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 311091395X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 493

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Book Description
This book deals with Islamic studies and with the question how the scholarly study of religion can contribute to the study of Islam. The author advocates studying Islamic phenomena as signs and symbols interpreted and applied in diverse ways in existing traditions. He stresses the role of Muslims as actors in the ongoing debate about the articulation of Islamic ways of life and construction of Islam as a religion. A careful study of this debate should steer clear of political, religious, and ideological interests. Research in this area by Muslims and non-Muslim scholars alike should address the question of what Muslims have made of their Islam in specific circumstances. Current political contexts have created an unhealthy climate for pursuing an “open” approach to Islam based on reading, observing, listening and reflecting. Yet, precisely nowadays we need to look anew at ways of Muslim thinking and acting that refer to Islam and to avoid certain schemes of interpreting Muslim realities that are no longer adequate for present-day Muslim life situations. Muslim recourses to Islam can be studied as human constructions of value and meaning, and relations between Muslims and others can be seen in terms of human interaction, without blame always falling on Islam as such.

Muslims as Actors

Muslims as Actors PDF Author: Jacques Waardenburg
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 311091395X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 493

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book deals with Islamic studies and with the question how the scholarly study of religion can contribute to the study of Islam. The author advocates studying Islamic phenomena as signs and symbols interpreted and applied in diverse ways in existing traditions. He stresses the role of Muslims as actors in the ongoing debate about the articulation of Islamic ways of life and construction of Islam as a religion. A careful study of this debate should steer clear of political, religious, and ideological interests. Research in this area by Muslims and non-Muslim scholars alike should address the question of what Muslims have made of their Islam in specific circumstances. Current political contexts have created an unhealthy climate for pursuing an “open” approach to Islam based on reading, observing, listening and reflecting. Yet, precisely nowadays we need to look anew at ways of Muslim thinking and acting that refer to Islam and to avoid certain schemes of interpreting Muslim realities that are no longer adequate for present-day Muslim life situations. Muslim recourses to Islam can be studied as human constructions of value and meaning, and relations between Muslims and others can be seen in terms of human interaction, without blame always falling on Islam as such.

Muslims as Actors

Muslims as Actors PDF Author: Jacques Waardenburg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Islam
Languages : en
Pages : 492

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book deals with Islamic studies and with the question how the scholarly study of religion can contribute to the study of Islam. The author advocates studying Islamic phenomena as signs and symbols interpreted and applied in diverse ways in existing traditions. He stresses the role of Muslims as actors in the ongoing debate about the articulation of Islamic ways of life and construction of Islam as a religion. A careful study of this debate should steer clear of political, religious, and ideological interests. Research in this area by Muslims and non-Muslim scholars alike should address the question of what Muslims have made of their Islam in specific circumstances. Current political contexts have created an unhealthy climate for pursuing an "open" approach to Islam based on reading, observing, listening and reflecting. Yet, precisely nowadays we need to look anew at ways of Muslim thinking and acting that refer to Islam and to avoid certain schemes of interpreting Muslim realities that are no longer adequate for present-day Muslim life situations. Muslim recourses to Islam can be studied as human constructions of value and meaning, and relations between Muslims and others can be seen in terms of human interaction, without blame always falling on Islam as such.

Transnational Islamic Actors and Indonesia's Foreign Policy

Transnational Islamic Actors and Indonesia's Foreign Policy PDF Author: Delphine Alles
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317655923
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
The past fifteen years have seen Indonesia move away from authoritarianism to a thriving yet imperfect democracy. During this time, the archipelago attracted international attention as the most-populated Muslim-majority country in the world. As religious issues and actors have been increasingly taken into account in the analysis and conduct of international relations, particularly since the 9/11 events, Indonesia’s leaders have adapted to this new context. Taking a socio-historical perspective, this book examines the growing role of transnational Islamic Non-State Actors (NSAs) in post-authoritarian Indonesia and how it has affected the making of Indonesia’s foreign policy since the country embarked on the democratization process in 1998. It returns to the origins of the relationship between Islamic organisations and the Indonesian institutions in order to explain the current interactions between transnational Islamic actors and the country’s official foreign policies. The book considers for the first time the interactions between the "parallel diplomacy" undertaken by Indonesia’s Islamic NSAs and the country’s official foreign policy narrative and actions. It explains the adaptation of the state’s responses, and investigates the outcomes of those responses on the country’s international identity. Combining field-collected data and a theoretical reflexion, it offers a distanced analysis which deepens theoretical approaches on transnational religious actors. Providing original research in Asian Studies, while filling an empirical gap in international relations theory, this book will be of interest to scholars of Indonesian Studies, Islamic Studies, International Relations and Asian Politics.

Islam and Colonialism

Islam and Colonialism PDF Author: Muhamad Ali
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474409210
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
This book offers a comparative and cross-cultural history of Islamic reform and European colonialism as both dependent and independent factors in shaping the multiple ways of becoming modern in Indonesia and Malaya during the first half of the twentieth century.

The Good Immigrant

The Good Immigrant PDF Author: Nikesh Shukla
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1783522968
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
First published in 2016, The Good Immigrant has since been hailed as a modern classic and credited with reshaping the discussion about race in contemporary Britain. It brings together a stellar cast of the country’s most exciting voices to reflect on why immigrants come to the UK, why they stay and what it means to be ‘other’ in a place that doesn’t seem to want you, doesn’t truly accept you – however many generations you’ve been here – but still needs you for its diversity monitoring forms. This 5th anniversary edition, featuring a new preface by editor Nikesh Shukla, shows that the pieces collected here are as poignant, challenging, angry, humorous, heartbreaking and important as ever.

Performing Religion

Performing Religion PDF Author: Ines Weinrich
Publisher: Ergon Verlag
ISBN: 9783956502354
Category : Islam
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Performing Religion" investigates the relationship between texts, actors, and contexts in the study of Islam. Research in Islamic Studies to date has taken texts primarily as a medium of information. This volume emphasizes the material quality of texts, both written and oral. It focuses on the sound and rhythm of their performance, on nonverbal elements, and practices of framing and embedding. "Performing Religion" also looks at the interpretation of religious practices not based on lengthy textual foundations but which nevertheless constitute an important part of believers' lives. The assembled case studies encompass contemporary as well as historic perspectives and include examples from Andalusia, Egypt, Italy, Greater Syria, Turkey, Central Asia, Yemen, Iran, and India. Part I explores objects, actions, and notions in the context of the acquisition of blessing ("baraka"). Part II asks how believers use, alter, and publically enact texts in ritual settings and what kinds of performance are inscribed into the text. Part III analyses the negotiation of meanings, aesthetics, and identity which occurs in new and often transcultural contexts. Rather than viewing texts as a repository of ideas, the present volume accentuates their ritual functions and the aesthetic experiences they provide.

What the Qur'an Meant

What the Qur'an Meant PDF Author: Garry Wills
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101981040
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
America’s leading religious scholar and public intellectual introduces lay readers to the Qur’an with a measured, powerful reading of the ancient text Garry Wills has spent a lifetime thinking and writing about Christianity. In What the Qur’an Meant, Wills invites readers to join him as he embarks on a timely and necessary reconsideration of the Qur’an, leading us through perplexing passages with insight and erudition. What does the Qur’an actually say about veiling women? Does it justify religious war? There was a time when ordinary Americans did not have to know much about Islam. That is no longer the case. We blundered into the longest war in our history without knowing basic facts about the Islamic civilization with which we were dealing. We are constantly fed false information about Islam—claims that it is essentially a religion of violence, that its sacred book is a handbook for terrorists. There is no way to assess these claims unless we have at least some knowledge of the Qur’an. In this book Wills, as a non-Muslim with an open mind, reads the Qur’an with sympathy but with rigor, trying to discover why other non-Muslims—such as Pope Francis—find it an inspiring book, worthy to guide people down through the centuries. There are many traditions that add to and distort and blunt the actual words of the text. What Wills does resembles the work of art restorers who clean away accumulated layers of dust to find the original meaning. He compares the Qur’an with other sacred books, the Old Testament and the New Testament, to show many parallels between them. There are also parallel difficulties of interpretation, which call for patient exploration—and which offer some thrills of discovery. What the Qur’an Meant is the opening of a conversation on one of the world’s most practiced religions.

How to Be a Muslim

How to Be a Muslim PDF Author: Haroon Moghul
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 0807020745
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
A searing portrait of Muslim life in the West, this “profound and intimate” memoir captures one man’s struggle to forge an American Muslim identity (Washington Post) Haroon Moghul was thrust into the spotlight after 9/11, becoming an undergraduate leader at New York University’s Islamic Center forced into appearances everywhere: on TV, before interfaith audiences, in print. Moghul was becoming a prominent voice for American Muslims even as he struggled with his relationship to Islam. In high school he was barely a believer and entirely convinced he was going to hell. He sometimes drank. He didn’t pray regularly. All he wanted was a girlfriend. But as he discovered, it wasn’t so easy to leave religion behind. To be true to himself, he needed to forge a unique American Muslim identity that reflected his beliefs and personality. How to Be a Muslim reveals a young man coping with the crushing pressure of a world that fears Muslims, struggling with his faith and searching for intellectual forebears, and suffering the onset of bipolar disorder. This is the story of the second-generation immigrant, of what it’s like to lose yourself between cultures and how to pick up the pieces.

Theatre and Islam

Theatre and Islam PDF Author: Marvin Carlson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350316253
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
This insightful and engaging new title in the Theatre & series explores the various connections between theatre and Islam. Drawing on both historical and recent examples to trace their relationship and offer a new perspective on a topical subject, this persuasive text argues against a long-standing assumption that Islam has worked in opposition to theatrical presentation. From the 13th century puppet plays of Ibn Daniyal to Islamic themes in 21st century productions, Theatre and Islam is chronologically wide-ranging and ambitious in its scope. Ambitious yet concise, this is the perfect introduction for undergraduate and postgraduate students of religious studies, Islamic studies, Middle Eastern studies and drama.

Performing Piety

Performing Piety PDF Author: Karin van Nieuwkerk
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292745869
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
In the 1980s, Egypt witnessed a growing revival of religiosity among large sectors of the population, including artists. Many pious stars retired from art, “repented” from “sinful” activities, and dedicated themselves to worship, preaching, and charity. Their public conversions were influential in spreading piety to the Egyptian upper class during the 1990s, which in turn enabled the development of pious markets for leisure and art, thus facilitating the return of artists as veiled actresses or religiously committed performers. Revisiting the story she began in “A Trade like Any Other”: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt, Karin van Nieuwkerk draws on extensive fieldwork among performers to offer a unique history of the religious revival in Egypt through the lens of the performing arts. She highlights the narratives of celebrities who retired in the 1980s and early 1990s, including their spiritual journeys and their influence on the “pietization” of their fans, among whom are the wealthy, relatively secular, strata of Egyptian society. Van Nieuwkerk then turns to the emergence of a polemic public sphere in which secularists and Islamists debated Islam, art, and gender in the 1990s. Finally, she analyzes the Islamist project of “art with a mission” and the development of Islamic aesthetics, questioning whether the outcome has been to Islamize popular art or rather to popularize Islam. The result is an intimate thirty-year history of two spheres that have tremendous importance for Egypt—art production and piety.