122,367 research outputs found
Joshua Davis: Author of Spare Parts
No full textCitation: K-State First (2016). Joshua Davis: Author of Spare Parts [Flier]. Manhattan, Kansas: K-State First.Flyer advertising Joshua Davis's author talk at Kansas State University
Islam and the New Political Landscape: Faith Communities, Political Participation and Social Change
No full textIn this paper we consider the forms of democratic participation that revolve around issues of religious faith and Islam. The context of such work is one in which a concern with the levels of participation in the political institutions of Western Europe and North America feature prominently in both journalistic and academic debate. The paper speaks to debates that are concerned with the efficacy of specific forms of participation. In doing so we argue that we need to think carefully about the forms of social action that constitute participation in the democratic process. We also need to think precisely about definitions of the political with which people engage. If we take the political as a domain in which the ethical settlement of society is contestable the sorts of mobilisation around faith communities that this paper describes are clearly a form of political participation. Yet the paper argues that the reasons many become involved in these forms of social organisation in contemporary East London is precisely because they are seen as less complicit with mainstream political institutions of the British state
Steven Johnson Author Talk Poster
No full textK-State Book NetworkA poster advertising an author talk by Steven Johnson at Kansas State University on September 3, 2014. Steven Johnson's book "The Ghost Map" was the 2014-2015 common book
Islam and Muslim Identities in Four Contemporary British Novels
No full textThe aim of the dissertation is to explore how Islam is depicted and Muslim identities are constructed in four representative works of contemporary British fiction: Hanif Kureishi’s The Black Album, Monica Ali’s Brick Lane, Fadia Faqir’s My Name is Salma, and Leila Aboulela’s Minaret. Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses is also discussed in terms of its crucial role in fostering what some Muslims might consider polemical and stereotypical positions in writing about Islam. The term ‘Islamic postcolonialism’ provides the theoretical underpinning to the thesis. Islamic postcolonialism is a theoretical perspective that combines two components which have up until now existed in a state of tension. As a secular theory, postcolonialism has notably failed to account for Muslim priorities; it has, for instance, had severe problems critiquing the anti-Islam polemics of The Satanic Verses, as is evidenced by Edward Said’s support for Rushdie, in spite of his criticism of the stereotypical representation of Islam and Muslims in the West. Islamic postcolonialism applies the anti-colonial resistant methodology of postcolonialism from a Muslim perspective, exploring the continuance of colonial discourse in part of the contemporary western writing about Islam and Muslims.
Applying Islamic postcolonialism to the novels in question, the thesis tests the following questions: 1. How are Islam and Muslims depicted in the novels discussed? 2. Is the depiction of Islam similar to, and if so in what ways, its depiction in the literature of the colonial period? 3. Is there a connection between the writer’s personal
2
religious commitment and the image of Islam and Muslims he/she inscribes in the novel? The four novels are then classified according to three categories: Hanif Kureishi’s The Black Album and Monica Ali’s Brick Lane depict Islam and Muslims stereotypically, from a partially colonial perspective. Secondly, Fadia Faqir’s My Name is Salma adopts a mixed colonial and postcolonial depiction of Islam and Muslims. While it depicts the centrality of Islam in a Muslim society (Hima, Jordan) stereotypically, the novel appears more sympathetic in imaging Islam in England under the conditions of the personal and the marginal. Thirdly, Leila Aboulela’s novel Minaret is the one text that complies with an Islamic postcolonial perspective. The failure of secularism and re-emergence of Islam in the Arab world is, Waïl Hassan contends, the background to the achievement of Aboulela’s fiction. Her image of Islam and Muslims is unique in British fiction as it provides a new depiction of these categories from the standpoint of a more authentic Muslim voice. Minaret, it is argued, is an Islamic postcolonial novel both because it celebrates Islam, and because Najwa adopts Islam as her first identity in metropolitan London, which once represented the colonial centre from which her native Sudan was colonised
Bradford's Muslim communities and the reproduction and representation of Islam
No full textThis thesis studies the creation of Bradford's Muslim communities, in particular the impact of migration on Islamic identity. To this end it begins by mapping the contours of Islamic expression in South Asia, especially the development of distinct maslak, discrete schools
of Islamic thought and practice. These were, in part, a response to the imposition of British imperialism in India. The settlers from South Asia also came from a variety of areas, with their own histories, regional languages and cultures. The ethos and character of Islam, which is shared by different sects, is studied unselfconsciously at work in the establishment of Muslim communities in Bradford, generating separate residential zones and a network of
businesses and institutions, religious and cultural, developed to service their specific needs. The leadership, resources and ethos which the different maslak could draw on, and the institutions they created to reproduce the Islamic tradition in the city are explored and the extent to which these connect with the new cultural and
linguistic world of young British Muslims. Attention is then focused on the education, status, functions and influence of the 'ulama, critical carriers of the Islamic tradition in this new context. The role of the Bradford Council for Mosques is examined both as a bearer
of the Islamic impulse to unity, transcending the regional,
linguistic and sectarian differences, and as an emerging authority, locally and nationally. The study concludes by exploring the challenges facing Muslims - youth, gender, intellectual tradition, and da'wa, invitation to Islam - as British expressions of Islam struggle to birth
Pengaruh Fenomena Korean Wave (K-Pop dan K-Drama) Terhadap Perilaku Konsumtif Penggemarnya Perspektif Islam
No full textNowadays, many young people like K-Pop and K-Drama, two types of South Korean culture that are included in the type of Korean wave. Motivating songs, good vocals and dance choreography, interesting and unique storylines, and talents of singers and actors are a few reasons why K-Pop and K-Drama are loved by many people. Idols also often release merchandise that is their trademark so that fans can buy them. This is what can make fans grow excessive consumptive behavior which is not recommended in Islam. The method used for this research is descriptive quantitative with the aim of research to discuss the consumptive behavior of K-Pop and K-Drama fans due to the Korean wave phenomenon. The results showed that most of the respondents admitted that their behavior which often buying their idol’s merchandise was included in consumptive behavior
Conversion of African Americans to Islam : a sociological analysis of the Nation of Islam and associated groups
No full text'Conversion of African Americans to Islam: A Sociological Analysis of the Nation of
Islam Associated groups' is an empirical study of the religious experience of people
who had/have distinctive features in terms of race, ethnicity and historical experience.
The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how African Americans' (AAs) conversion
experience in general, and the Nation of Islam associated groups' conversion in
particular, differ from the studies of recruitment and conversion in the sociology of
religion and New Religion Movements (NRMs). More specifically, their recruitment
and conversion experiences to Islam diverge from those who converted to mainstream
Islam. The study investigates how AAs' historical experience, soci-economic
difficulties and the racism they encountered shaped and influenced their religious
understanding.
Research methods involved participant observations, a survey questionnaire, interviews,
conversations, personal communications and correspondence. To collect ethnographic
data eleven months field research was conducted mainly in the Chicago area and on two
short visits to Detroit, and three years continued communications with Muslim officials
and academics in the area. During the field research and afterwards through personal
communication 181 survey questionnaire responses were received, and 23 Muslim
officials, academics and ordinary Muslims were interviewed through semi-structured,
unstructured interviews, conversation and correspondence.
The thesis begins with a brief history of Islam and Muslims in general and the African
American Muslims (AAMs) in particular. More emphasis is given on the historical
development of the Nation of Islam (NOl). Then in Chapter III, discussions of schisms
in the history of the NOT are examined from sociological perspectives of social and
religious movements. In Chapter IV I aimed to formulate my own perspective to
analyse and study the conversion experiences of AAMs to Islam. I used a multivariate
approach, considering selectively widely held conversion and recruitment theories in the
sociology of the religion. I consider in Chapter V the predisposing conditions for AAMs
that influence their decision-making to join in the NOT, for example, political and
nationalistic sentiments and socio-economic deprivations. In Chapter VI I have applied
different terms to describe their religious experiences, such as conversion, alteration and
reversion. I have analysed further their encounters with the NOT, the methods of
recruitment they used and their major motives for joining the NOT and converting to
Tslam. In the concluding chapters (Chapter VII VTTT) I describe the different responses
of AAMS to Islam following the death of Elijah Muhammad. It is found out that the
Islamic appeal has polarised. While Farakhan's NOT appeared to continue the tradition
and style of the old NOI with the emphasis on nationalistic and socio-economic factors,
Tmam W. D. Mohammed's community turned more to the religious and spiritual aspects
of Tslam. These different approaches led to a polarisation of the appeal of Tslam to
AAMS.
This thesis contributes to knowledge in four key areas; the sociology of religion and
religious movements, the sociology of social and nationalistic movements, religious and
Islamic studies
The Concept of Land Ownership in Islam and Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan
No full textLand ownership—in its ethico-legal and historical manifestations, reflects the importance of being a politico-economic institution. In the process of its development, it includes various heterogeneous elements of different systems of ownership. With the growth of the Ummah, the principles of laws of ownership represent and embody the relations, rights and duties to form the general law of obligations at the state as well as individual level. This is the case of economic and legal theory, regarding the ownership of land with implicative infrastructure to build social welfare institutions of Islam. It is generally and basically have been ordained that according to the teachings of Islam, Real ownership belongs to Allah Almighty. Man being the vicegerent holds property in trust for which he is accountable to him in accordance with the clearly laid down economic philosophy of Islam. Ownership of man is a concept alien to Islam as it belongs to Allah Almighty only.
Understanding the stages of conversion to Islam : the voices of British converts
No full textThis thesis analyses data provided by face to face interviews with a sample of British converts to Islam to find out how and why they came to convert, and what
were the repercussions of their conversions. The work is placed in the context of the predominantly post-Christian British society in which they had spent the greater part of their lives and the existence of a sizeable community of British Muslims.
Influential studies of the psychology and sociology of religious conversion are reviewed and applied to the data. These tend to leave a series of loose ends and fail to pin down the causes or reasons for the conversions. The encounter and reaction with a proselytising group, a key finding in many previous studies, is found to be lacking in the evidence of the current sample of converts. A need is
found to broaden the analytic approach. A holistic academic framework is found that both enables the researcher to analyse the conversions as a process through time and allows for further fields of study to be incorporated in the analysis. Thus the stage model for analysing the conversion process proposed by Lewis Rambo (1993) is employed, with a minor modification. Rambo's stage model permits the researcher to include in the study the insights into the human predicament offered by classical Islam. Literature based on and including the Qur'an and sunnah is
reviewed. This provides a way of linking together some of the factors previous researchers have considered significant in the conversion process.
The degree of interaction with Muslims prior to conversion varied enormously. In all cases there had been some contact but it is not found possible to state that such
contact was necessary for the conversions to take place. The Islamic concept of hidayah is proposed as a unifying concept that can account for the disparate factors and apparently random coincidences identified as having been factors in the conversion processes. The Islamic concepts of tawheed and fitrah also contribute to a unifying view of the conversion phenomena. It is found that the
common factor in the 'interaction' and 'commitment' stages of conversion is not immersion in a group of people, but interaction with a book, the Qur'an. This proves to be the pivotal element in all the conversions in this study.
The post-conversion experiences of the converts as they became members of the Muslim ummah are found to be broadly similar in that they had been unprepared for the differences between their view of Islam, based mainly on the original texts, and that of the mainly South Asian Muslim community which included a history of cultural accretions. The success of their socialisation with the South Asian Muslim community varied a little from person to person, language and culture being the main stumbling blocks, but major differences were found that related to
the gender and ethnicity of the converts. Their relationships within the non-Muslim community continued with some modifications. Little evidence is found
that social problems, linguistic and cultural barriers, or what the future might hold, had, or would, deflect the converts from their faith. This may be because
they all came to Islam through the Qur'an. It is therefore suggested that research into the psychological effect the Qur'an has on its readers would shed further light on the phenomenon of conversion to Islam
Political Instrumentalisation of Islam, Persistent Autocracies, and Obscurantist Deadlock
No full textThe empirical literature has established a strong link between the fact of being a Muslim-dominated country and indicators of political performance and democracy. This suggests the possible existence of a relation between religion, Islam in this instance, and societal characteristics. Bernard Lewis and others have actually argued the case for such a relation, pointing to aspects of the Islamic religion and culture that make the advent of democracy especially difficult. These arguments fall into the general idea of the Clash of civilisations put forward by Samuel Huntington. In this paper, we discuss this sort of argument and show that there is a systematic misconception about the true nature of the relationship between Islam and politics: far from being merged into the religious realm, politics tends to dominate religion. Because of the particular characteristics of Is-lam, namely, the lack of a centralised religious authority structure and the great variability of interpretations of the Islamic law, there is a risk of an obscurantist deadlock in the form of a vicious process whereby both the ruler and his political opponents try to outbid each other by using the religious idiom. This risk looms particularly large in crisis situations accentuated by international factors.
- …
