Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Multidisciplinary Studies: Mathal
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An Overview of Life and Works of Jami & His Perception of Love
No full textoai:mathal:id:2720Abd al-Rahman Jami (817/1414- 898/1492) is regarded as the last grand classical poet of Persian literature and a great Sufi of his time. Towards the end of his life, he compiled his Divan in which one can trace his life pattern that he has divide into three main phases. These include: 1) the period of his childhood and early phases of education, which is reported in Fātiḥah al-Shabāb; 2) his mid-life phase as elaborated in Wāsiṭah al-‘Aqd; and, 3) the last stage of his life, discussed in Khātimah al-Ḥayāt. In the latter, Jami tends to evaluate his life span in search of elixir of salvation. This search led him to an elevated stage of self-realization where he questioned his previous actions and all that which he was praised for, i.e. a prolific writer, an imaginative poet, and a distinguished commentator of Sufi thought. This spiritual self-assessment eventually directed him to the path of ‘love’ – the transforming power that reveals the essential meaning of life, realization of the inner divine self, and that which could bring about union with God. This paper intends to trace Jami’s transformation of thought, character and worldview. It begins with a bibliographical account followed by an elaboration of the three phases of Jami’s life, his status as a poet, a melting pot of Sufism, and, finally his perception of true love and its transforming and purifying effect on the seeker of truth
Islamic Rule and Iranian Women in the Films of Hatef Alimardani
Full text linkThis article reconsiders some Western textual and visual (mis)representations of Muslim women as mentally imprisoned by Islamic rules and patriarchy through analyzing three prominent films by the Iranian screenwriter and director, Hatef Alimardani (b. 1976). It begins by a brief discussion of the portrayals of women in Islamic societies promulgated by Anglo-American media. Then, by examining For Pooneh’s Sake (Beh Khāter-e Pooneh, 2013), The Nameless Alley (Kucheh-ye Binām, 2015), and Ābā Jān (2017), box-office hits offering sociocultural critiques through realistic cinematic depictions of contemporary Iranian society, it demonstrates how Alimardani’s films dismantle stereotypical and essentialist portrayals of Muslim women by Western media and scholarly works, and thus, help us better understand the lived experience of women in Islamic countries
‘Poised on the Higher Horizon’: Seeing God in the Sahara
No full textThis article presents an Arabic transcription and complete English translation of an untitled text – labelled “Khalwa” in the manuscript catalogue - attributed to Sīdī al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī, a Saharan scholar and Sufi teacher of the late-eighteenth century. In the accompanying commentary, I demonstrate how this text draws together two passages in the Qur’ān: the ambiguous visionary encounters of 53:1-18 and Moses’s request to see God in 7:142-143 to argue that, unlike Moses, Muḥammad received a direct vision of God. I further argue that, for Sīdi al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī, the question of seeing God was linked to his concern over legitimate and illegitimate knowledge from the realm of the unseen (ʿālam al-ghayb). Intertextual references demonstrate that Sīdī al-Mukhtār understood the friends of God to occupy the same role in the spiritual hierarchy as Muḥammad and the prophets. Read in this context, “Khalwa” suggests that the friends of God might be able to follow Muḥammad’s example, see God with their own eyes, and thus master the sciences of the unseen
Time and Space in the Novels of Palestinian Writer Sahar Khalifa
No full textThis article seeks to examine the connections between time and space in the novels of the prominent Palestinian writer, Saḥar Khalīfa. In her writing, Khalīfa emphasizes the status of women in society. She describes Palestinian society, and links each of her works to the collective Palestinian struggle and the parallel female struggle. She draws inspiration from her personal identity, and contributes to the development of a cultural discussion and creation of a collective identity. Khalīfa’s works constitute a broad literary corpus, describing through time and space the events of Palestinian society in general and the status of Palestinian women in particular. These events constitute a chronological timeline that reflects processes of forming a Palestinian collective identity, and in a narrower circle it describes the changes that have taken place in Palestinian women’s lives, and the processes that contributed to shaping their identity in light of political-national changes. Thus, the connection created in Khalīfa’s novels between historical time and physical place is an inseparable part of the entire range of literary means that drive the plot and emphasize the role and status of Palestinian women in society
The Politics of Pity versus Piety: The Poetics and Politics Behind Different Feminist Accounts on the Muslim Woman
Full text linkThis article analyzes two books that utilize the construct of “The Muslim Woman” as a symbol for public consumption across a global and conceptual scale: Saba Mahmood’s book, 'Politics of Piety', and Malala Yousafzai’s and Christina Lamb’s 'I am Malala'. The motivation behind the analysis is to situate the texts within debates on essentialism within accounts of Muslim women. While essentialism and the critique of it in such discussions are not a novelty, the books demonstrate a physical manifestation of essentialism and a reductionist reaction toward this brand of essentialism. Through analysis of the content, poetics, and response toward the books, I argue that scholarship surround Muslim women are still mired in essentialism albeit efforts to avoid it due to a lack in direction as to how to resolve the issue. I suggest using a combination of power convolution and intersectionality of identities to capture the representation of Muslim women
New Bottles, Old Wine: The Contemporary Palestinian Political Division
No full textThis study examines the prolonged Palestinian division. Its essential focus is to explore the various stages that the Palestinian political system has gone through and track its development from the British mandate up to the ongoing division between Fatah and Hamas. It aims to uncover the roles of regional and foreign actors which have destabilized the Palestinian national movement. Moreover, it demonstrates the role of the United Kingdom and Israel in inciting the divide and conquer principle during the British mandate, as well as the way the Palestine Liberation Organisation managed to maintain national unity from the 1960s. Finally, this study examines the real and historical reasons behind the current division between Fatah and Hamas, as well as the external factors that contribute to the continuity of the division
Wisdom (Hikmah) as Perceived by Iranian Muslim Scholars: Reflections on Ibn Sina, Ghazali, and Suhrawardi
No full textThe evolution of the concept of spiritual/religious wisdom (ḥikamt) by the Iranian Muslim philosophers from the 10th to 12th century, may be studied under three main trends namely Mashā’i (Peripatetic), Kalām (theology), and Ishrāq (Illumination). Despite the correlation among these trends each of them grew independently. Among the three, the Hikmat-i Ishrāq (Illumination Wisdom) which is also known as Ḥikamt-i Dhawqi (Intuitive Wisdom) of Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi (1153-1191) found a special place as it tended to bring together the philosophical and theological aspects of wisdom. This survey would address the development of ḥikmat (wisdom) among Iranian philosophers (hukamā’). It will focus on three outstanding thinkers namely Ibn Sina (980-1037), Ghazali (1058-1111) and Suhrawardi. Ibn Sina represents the Islamized version of Aristotelian Peripatetic philosophy. Ghazali benefited from Ibn Sina’s writing but took a different direction, distancing himself from philosophy by giving more weight to theology. Suhrawardi adopted ‘light’ – a strong symbolic expression used in both pre-Islamic and Islamic sources – and gave ‘wisdom’ a different edge that involved intuition as a reliable source of receiving guidance. In the study of the theoretical and philosophical aspects of the Illumination Wisdom (Ḥikmat-i Ishrāq) one can find traces of the evolution of the concept of wisdom as perceived by Ibn Sina and Ghazali
Review: The Arab Spring: The Hope and Reality of the Uprisings
No full textMark L. Haas and David W. Lesch (eds.), The Arab Spring: The Hope and Reality of the Uprisings, 2nd ed. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2017). Pp. 338. $27.00 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-8133-4974-9.
Reviewed by Ahmed E. Souaiaia, joint appointment in Religious Studies, History, International Studies, and College of Law, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA; https://ahmed.souaiaia.com
The Shariah Scare Industry and the Clash of Temporalities
Full text linkIslamophobic alarms over shariah have resounded in the United States during the second decade of the twenty-first century. These alarms perpetuate the notion of a clash of civilizations, pitting Islam versus the West. Instead of discussing the clash of civilizations thesis, however, this article proposes that a clash of temporalities has been constructed by a “shariah scare industry.” Focusing on the Center for Security Policy and Nonie Darwish, this article discloses the shariah scare argument that Muslims and non-Muslims experience time in two contrasting manners, what I call frozen past time and ominous future time
The Shapers of Memory: The Theatrics of Islamic Historiography
Full text linkThis paper employs and describes an experimental methodology of viewing medieval Arabic authors through the lens of stage actor performance theory. In particular, it argues that semi-canonical writings, such as al-Ṭabarī’s History of the Prophets and Kings, become the “script” that later authors, such as Ibn al-Athīr and Ibn Kathīr “perform” as actors. This methodology is novel, and argues that by examining the changes authors made to narratives presented in earlier Arabic texts, we can draw important conclusions about the authors’ opinions of the relative importance of narrative elements, the authors’ literary-narrative strategies for endowing memories with meaning, and establish each author's "super-objective" (his primary thematic or narrative concerns)