Macalester Islam Journal

A Task of Faith and Logic: Authenticating Revelation and Tradition

Annie Gonzalez — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:27:36 PDT

This paper examines ways in which Muslims authenticate revelation and tradition through the isnad chains attached to hadith and through the inimitability of the Qur’an. The study of isnad chains and the study of inimitability differ in obvious ways, but are both complex, highly developed fields in the study of Islam. The studies of these authentication methods have developed over time since at least the ninth century. Ultimately, although isnād chains have been studied from historical perspectives and inimitability from literary perspectives, these systems of validating revelation and tradition derive their power from Allah himself, through popular faith in the basic tenets of Islam.

Homosexuality in Islam: A Difficult Paradox

Nicole Kligerman — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:24:21 PDT

This paper addresses the complex intricacies of homosexuality in Islam by exploring Qur'anic notions of sexuality, theoretical perceptions of homosexuality in the Muslim world, the effect of Western influences on sexuality, and human rights abuses inflicted upon Muslim gays today.

“Keeping the Faith or Not Keeping the Faith? is the Question in a Western Secular Society

Riyaz Gayasaddin — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:21:02 PDT

Islam in the Western world has been one of the fastest and largest growing religions. However, many Muslims, including myself, have found it difficult to balance the lifestyles between following the path of Islam or straying away from the path. It was not easy for me to be a Muslim growing up in a small Midwest city during my childhood. Even though my parents taught me Islam well it was not the same without any Muslim my age except my sister and brother. After high school and moving to Macalester College, I thought I would be surrounded by a large Muslim community; but this was not the case. Since coming to college I have begun to question if I can keep my faith in a Western world. Tariq Ramadan, a Muslim scholar from Europe, believes that a Muslim can keep his faith in the Western world. On the contrary, there are many apostates, Muslims who deviated from Islam and never came back, believe Islam is not function with the Western lifestyle. This essay explores the torn feelings that many Muslims in the Western world feel daily with their faith in Islam and the Western lifestyle.

Conceptions of War in Islamic Legal Theory and Practice

Margaret Pettygrove — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:16:36 PDT

The term Jihad, meaning Muslim ‘holy war,’ is a powerful symbol in contemporary society, signifying not only radical violence but the clash of Islamic and Western societies. The demonization and reduction of Islam in popular American culture, particularly with respect to suicide bombings and Political Islam, suggests that Islam is an inherently violent or extremist religion. A brief reading of current studies of the Qur’anic stance on war and violence, however, suggests that the Qur’an supports pragmatism and conservatism regarding the use of force. The Qur’an legitimates the use of force when it is necessary to defend the Muslim community against non-believers, but provides a detailed framework for ethical conduct in war. Islamic legal justifications for war arose in societies in which war was a practical reality; the development of Islamic just war theories occurred as a mechanism for reconciling theory and practice.

Birth Control and Abortion in the Practice and Tradition of Islam

Zoe Whaley — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:13:20 PDT

This paper will explore the issues of birth control and abortion within the religion and tradition of Islam. This paper will draw upon the Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, the Encyclopedia of Islam, and the Qur’an itself. In the first part of the paper I will present the relevant information and expand on it by addressing disagreements that have arisen within Islam regarding these issues. Next, I will comment on the modern implications of the Islamic stance on birth control and abortion. Finally I will forward my assertion that Islamic practice and tradition on the subject of birth control and abortion is, in fact, extremely progressive in comparison to current law and practice in the United States.

Cyclical History: The Political Basis of Islam as a Centripetal and Centrifugal Force

Samantha Robinson — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:09:56 PDT

The political basis of the religion of Islam can be considered both a centripetal and centrifugal force. The intrinsic connection between religion and the concepts of unity, order, and authority, which had initially transformed the disordered, primitive, underdeveloped Arabian territory into an ordered, urbanized empire, later led to the division of the community over issues of succession and leadership. While some form of separation of the spiritual and political spheres was accomplished, secularization in the Western sense never was attempted in this age. Initially, politics was thought to be only a part of the “larger quest for religious salvation” (Lapidus 153), and government was perceived as the “fulfillment of cosmic and divine purposes” (188). However, greed and worldly pursuits corrupted this Islamic view of the relationship between politics and religion and led to the decline of the unified Muslim society and the return to the point of origin in the cycle of history.

The Evolution of Persian Thought regarding Art and Figural Representation in Secular and Religious Life after the Coming of Islam

Mashal Saif — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:59:25 PDT

This paper argues that, although Islam never succeeded in completely wiping out the use of figural representation in Persian arts, it did manage to have a significant effect on Persian artistic forms and their appreciation. The Islamic prohibition on figural representation resulted in a shift from artistic emphasis being placed almost solely on figural representation (as was the case in pre-Islamic Persia) to a greater emphasis being placed on abstract, geometrical vegetal and floral art.

The Problem of Ambiguity and Moral Luck for Qur’anic Absolutism

Jake Sinderbrand — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:50:59 PDT

This paper argues that the Qur’an succeeds in presenting a basic structure of morality, centered upon faith and charity, but it ultimately lacks the necessary specificity to form a clear picture of righteous conduct to which modern readers can reasonably aspire. More significantly, the dualism of action, belief, and consequence that gives the text its force and certainty does not seem compatible with the recognition that circumstance plays a role in determining what is good and what is bad action.

Apostasy and the Notion of Religious Freedom in Islam

Sherazad Hamit — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:34:46 PDT

This paper will argue that the Afghan Government’s sentencing to death of native Abdul Rahman as an apostate goes against Qur’anic decrees on apostasy and is therefore un-Islamic, given the context of the apostate in question.

Reifying Religion While Lost in Translation: Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan (d.1781) on the Hindus

SherAli Tareen — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:29:04 PDT

This paper examines the life and thought of one of the leading Muslim revivalist thinkers in 18th century India, Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan (1699-1781) in an effort to understand the relationship, if any, between the structures of knowledge that informed colonial conceptions of India’s religious topography and 18th century projects of intra-religious and cross-religious interpretation (such as that conducted by Jan-i Janan)? In addition, the project aims at informing the inquiry as to the extent to which the process of reification that led to the development of a unified notion of ‘Hinduism’ in the modern era already was underway in the works of 18th century figures such as Jan-i Janan?

In the Shadow of Man: Questioning the Absence of Muslim and Christian Women's voices in Medieval Polemic Writings

Kim Wortmann — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:21:08 PDT

The purpose of this paper is to show how the rigid social structures in which both Muslim and Christian women found themselves in the middle ages prevented them from influencing the Christian-Muslim polemics of the time. The absence of women’s voices has left modern scholars unsure of their sentiments regarding their encounters with one another and with one another’s culture. In order to get an accurate account of such cross-cultural perceptions as those which may have formed between Muslims and Christians, it is necessary to hear the arguments and observations from all sides, including women and others who may have been socially oppressed.

Polygyny in Islam

Rachel Jones — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 08:12:06 PDT

Polygyny is an institution that has been misinterpreted, misunderstood, and misused. These faults have been with both Islamic communities and with their Western critics. However, the actual practice of polygyny itself does not seem to be as much of an issue as does the way in which it is applied. In Western literature, polygyny is often depicted as a cruel and repressive custom that sacrifices women’s freedom for men’s pleasure. Ideas of harems and tyrannical husbands are evoked. Yet, the reality of polygynous households is a far cry from these fantasies. As anthropologist Lila Abu-Lughod explains, “polygyny is an institution oppressive to women in that it causes them pain,” yet the stressors that women face are not what an outside observer would automatically think of (19). Rather, they are heavily influenced by personality and individual relationships and circumstances. Indeed, it is impossible to summarize what the experience of a polygynous household is. Indeed, the motivation behind Muslim men’s decision to marry multiple women is not necessarily self-evident either. Many supporters invoke verses from the Quran as an endorsement of their position, but others focus more on the propagation of their family lineage. Still others point to economic and social factors that make polygyny a more beneficial option than monogamy. This is the case in modern African American Muslims. However, there is by no means a single opinion on the topic among Muslims. Many scholars, including modern feminists, look at the practice as archaic and misogynistic. By first examining the position of Islam on marriage in general, the positions of Muslim jurists and scholars will be contextualized. Their discussions and interpretations of the Quranic passage that mentions polygyny have influenced current law in Islamic countries. However, there appears to be a disconnect between rights that women are guaranteed in the Quran and rights that they are given in reality. Evidence for this disparity is found in the Egyptian Bedouin community of Awlad ‘Ali. Finally, modern scholars and the positions they hold will be discussed.

Shari‘a and Fiqh: Embodiments of the Theoretical and the Practical

Margaret Pettygrove — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 08:05:26 PDT

The relationship between law and morality is such that it is not easy to separate the two concepts. Generally in Islam, law and morality are one and the same, and speaking of them as distinct ideas is not really possible. It is largely a problem of language, in that English distinguishes between law and morality, whereas Arabic does not clearly do so. It is, nevertheless, possible to parse the Shari‘a into aspects that resemble morality and those that resemble law, as Bernard Weiss does in The Search for God’s Law. The Shari‘a is the “totality of ‘divine categorizations of human acts’” (Weiss 1). However, the Shari‘a does not provide clear enough rules to guide behavior, and so must be articulated by Muslim scholars into concrete laws. The result is that Shari‘a comes to represent a theoretical law that cannot alone provide the legal code for a community. Despite the difficulty of separating law and morality within Islam, it is possible to view the Shari‘a as constituting morality and not law.

Reason in Islamic Law

Emma Gallegos — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 08:02:50 PDT

Different words and concepts in cultures do not necessarily always translate perfectly or adequately to others. This truism provides a perfect starting point to attempt an understanding of classical Islamic law. In trying to understand the different concepts of reason, belief and knowledge in that realm, we have come to understand something that would vex many Americans given their own definitions of these concepts: that the law of Islam held to be divine by its practitioners puts an incredible amount of stress on its rational basis. In trying to understand a seeming paradox, we have discovered how closely interwoven rationality is with Islamic belief and how this affects the practical application of divine will to earthly law.

Conversion, Passing, and Covering: Christian Assimilation in Early Medieval Spain

Jackie Deluca — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 07:53:41 PDT

A historical examination of the interactions between Islam and the West during the early medieval period leads one to Spain. Muslim groups began invading southern Spain as early as the eighth century and by the ninth century they had established military and political control over many formerly Christian communities. The Christian individuals living in these newly conquered regions had options; they could accept Islam on any number of different levels or they could resist it completely, engaging in dangerous and often futile conflict with Muslim authority. For the sake of this paper I am solely concerned with the various ways in which Christians assimilated under Muslim rule. In the following pages I attempt to understand the behavior of ninth century Christians using a modern, if uncommon, sociological and legal theory. I approach this interaction of Islam and Christianity through a modern framework because recognizing different forms of assimilation allows one to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the psychological and social climate which may have existed during the Christian re-conquest of southern Spain in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

War between Islam and the West Then and Now

Hannah Popish — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 07:50:10 PDT

I’ve been intrigued by examining what it takes to make someone propose and enlist in a war. Often individuals seem to use ethics, morality, or religion to bond together and assert their own perspective in a world perceived as devoid of ethics, morality, or the right religion. Looking to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and his approach to ruling and warring with a religiously different minority and comparing this example with that of the ongoing contentious relationships between Islam and the West as played out by the war in Iraq, provides firm starting grounds for exploring the issues of war, just war, and the ways in which they are influenced by religion and politics. In each example, a key facet includes the necessity of otherizing in order to rationalize fighting. Citing Ibn Khaldun’s analysis of war, Christopher Coker notes that social cohesion, often against an outlier, is a requirement for going to war.1 This cohesion could easily be based on tribal groupings, politics or religious beliefs.

The Approaches of Christian Polemicists against Islam

Jessica Ferree — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 07:44:06 PDT

When studying the writings of early Christian authors, it is intriguing to explore the various arguments and accusations they made against the Islamic religion. Each writer relayed his unique understanding of this new religion and did his best to convey the message that he felt Christians should realize. Although each polemicist had his own approach to the issue, when reading multiple texts that reference the same subject it is difficult for me to identify the subtle differences buried among the many similarities. From the origins of Islam to apocalyptic predictions to miraculous conversion stories, the same ideas were continuously recycled from the 8th to the 14th century. The question that arises from this repetition is simply: why? Why did the authors choose to address certain issues more frequently than others? Why might this create problems for 21st century scholars? This paper will discuss these questions in order to better understand the different approaches put forth by early Christian authors.