Copyright (c) 2009 Macalester College All rights reserved. http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam Recent documents in Macalester Islam Journal en-us Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:04:32 PST 3600 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/9 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/9 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. Annie Gonzalez http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/8 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/8 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. Nicole Kligerman http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/7 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/7 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. Riyaz Gayasaddin http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/6 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/6 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. Margaret Pettygrove http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/5 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/5 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. Zoe Whaley http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/4 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/4 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. Samantha Robinson http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/2 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/2 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:51:22 PDT http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/1 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol2/iss3/1 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:50:06 PDT Ahmad A. Ahmad http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol1/iss2/6 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol1/iss2/6 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. Mashal Saif http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol1/iss2/5 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol1/iss2/5 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. Jake Sinderbrand