Intellectual Discourse (Journal)
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Islamizing the “Feminine, feminist and Female” voices in three Malaysian Short Stories by Anglophone Women Writers
No full textThere has been a great concern among Muslim teachers of English on the need to study English literary texts from the Islamic perspectives. But how does one Islamize literary texts written in English by non-Muslims? Will this not be another hegemony of one ideology over the other? There also are concerns among Muslim scholars about the position of Western literary criticisms among which is feminism, which is seen as a Western import, out to corrupt the Muslim world. What is clear here is the existence of distrust of one cultural force against the other. This paper aims to explore the impact of creative encounters between Islamic criticism and feminism. The Islamic reading of English literary texts (Malaysian Anglophone women's writing) serves as a model to deconstruct meanings in the texts to suit local sensibility and sensitivity. It is also to dispel the popular belief that Islam will clash with any ideology, and civilisation. This paper illustrates how meeting of Islam and Western feminism brings a deeper understanding of human experiences and the nature of being of mankind
Visible Women in East Coast Malay Society: On the Reproduction of Gender in Ceremonial, School and Market. By Ingrid Rudie
Get PDFA contextual analysis of party system formation in Nigeria, 1960-2011
Get PDFThis article investigates the parties and party systems in Nigeria since independence. The article argues that the country has witnessed four different types of party systems corresponding to the four democratisation attempts that saw the emergence of constitutional governments since 1960. Special focus is awarded to the transformations of the four party systems and developments in their various institutional designs including regulating the number of parties that participate in the electoral politics of the country. In trying to achieve its objective, the article adopts chronological and thematic approaches. Chronologically, the paper investigates these party systems in successive order beginning with the First Republic when the elements of party politics were first adopted in Nigeria. Thematically, the article focuses on those issues that influenced the formation and transformation of the party systems from the First Republic in 1960 to the present Fourth Republic
A critical discourse analysis of Mahathir Mohamad’s speeches on the “war on terror”
Get PDFThis article is a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the discursive strategies employed by Mahathir Mohamed, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, in 10 of his speeches that express resistance and challenge to the former U.S. President, George W. Bush’s military ideology of “war on terror” post September 11, 2001. The study is guided by CDA’s focus on power relations and power struggle that are manifested in language. On speaking against terrorism, Mahathir’s dislike for the Bush administration’s handling of the issue is viewed as a platform to further his own ideology. The analysis reveals how Mahathir’s arguments fall within the human rights rhetoric that calls on general norms, freedom, human rights, and justice, supported with biases towards the plight of Muslims and the Middle East. Mahathir’s resistance to Bush reveals repetitive use of national rhetoric, self-glorification, comparison moves, and references to shared history and shared presuppositions, and his criticisms towards the “others” fall within the ideological construction of a positive self-presentation of himself as Prime Minister of Malaysia and a Muslim leader to be emulated
Islamic Literature between Theory and Practice
Get PDFIf literature is the expression in words of human ideas, emotions and beliefs, and if it reflects culture and collective attitudes, is it justifiable to speak of literature belonging to an ideology in the same way as we speak of literature belonging to a nation, a country or a linguistic group? The question that poses itself is whether we can treat literary works that are the product of certain ideological or philosophical influences as more or less distinct cultural entities. It stands to reason that, having so much in common, literary works emanating from a certain collective ideological frame of mind can be grouped together in spite of national, linguistic, cultural, and stylistic differences. So, it would appear that we are perfectly safe in speaking of Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, or even evolutionary, socialist, Marxist, Freudian, or existentialist literature in much the same way as we speak of Arabic, English, American, French, or Malay literature. However, it is to be conceded that, as in the case of literatures of linguistic or national groups, what is meant by each individual term needs to be more defined. Islamic literature is the concern of this paper, and an attempt at a working definition of it will be made later. It is to be noted, moreover, that literary schools belonging to specific ideologies reflect - sometimes consciously/directly and other times unconsciously/indirectly – the ideals, values and attitudes of their respective mother ideologies and communities in works of art like poetry, drama, and the novel..
The Kurdish Issue in Iraq: Tragedy and Hope
No full textThe peoples of the Middle East shared a common history, religion, and political status for several millenniums. During that period, several types of bonds held them together. However, in the last two centuries these bonds have weakened due to the adoption of political principles and governing systems which are far from Islamic teachings. As a result, new problems have arisen, among them being the issue of ethnic minorities. Kurds are a victim of the new situation. They have been trying unsuccessfully for a century to achieve the same rights as other peoples in the Middle East. Their attempts and counter-actions by the states of this region are historically analyzed in this paper. Various approaches to resolve this issue are discussed along with the reasons for their failure
Iqbal Commentary of Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ
No full textIn the concluding part of Rumuz-i Bikhudi, Iqbal offers a commentary (tafsir) on the 112 sūrah of the Qur’ān. While not a Qur’ānic commentary in the conventional sense of the term, Iqbal's discussion of the individual verses of the sūrah seeks to bring out the practical and social implications of the Islamic message of the oneness of God (tawḥīd): Divine unity should teach Muslims the lesson of social cohesion; God's being the Refuge should lead them to put their trust in God and reject fatalism; that God neither begets nor is begotten should make them repudiate lineage as the basis of unity; and God's uniqueness should encourage them to become matchless among the world's nations. Tawḥīd, in other words, ought to become the controlling principle in the actual life of Muslims. Hortatory in character, Iqbal's tafsir of the Qur’ānic sūrah is integrally related to the general philosophy of life and society that Iqbal presents in his works
The Role of NGOs in Promoting Christianty: the case of Bangladesh
No full textWestern Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) are operating in all parts of the world. Many are doing great work in alleviating poverty and helping with development efforts. Unfortunately, some have hidden agendas. Presently Bangladesh has the NGO density of 3.5 foreign NGOs per square mile. Most of the foreign NGOs, under the banner of "development partner", are working to alleviate poverty and to promote education and progress. Their direct and indirect involvements in evangelization, however, have brought about an increase in tensions and social problems in Bangladesh