Islamic Studies Review

Islamic Law, Collective Obligations and Pursuing a Just Global Order

Mohammad Fadel — 2024-12-31

This paper explores the intersections of Islamic law, collective obligations, and the pursuit of global justice in the context of capitalism-induced instability. The author argues that the contemporary global order is marked by a state of “abnormality” due to capitalism’s dynamic nature of “creative destruction,” rendering traditional Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) inadequate for addressing modern challenges. Instead, the concept of collective obligations (furūḍ kifāya) in Islamic law offers a promising framework for managing these crises. This paper examines the potential for Islamic legal principles to confront global issues such as inequality and poverty, emphasizing the necessity of reflexive, adaptive jurisprudence grounded in democratic governance and public good. By reimagining Islamic law to focus on collective welfare and institutional reform, Muslim-majority states could play a pivotal role in fostering a more just global order. The paper concludes by stressing the urgent need for political will and collaborative action, informed by Islamic values, to address the systemic inequalities perpetuated by the capitalist global order.

Overlooking the Oppression of Uyghur Muslims: Unfavorable Domestic Politics and the 'Deactivation' of Indonesia’s Islamic Diplomacy

Khaidir Hasram — 2024-12-31

This article seeks to examine whether Islam remains relevant in determining diplomatic initiatives in the current geopolitical environment. Thus, it presumes that Muslim states have Islamic tendencies in their foreign policy, but seeks to understand when and under what conditions such Islamic diplomacy is activated. In order to explore these questions, I will examine the case of the oppressed of Uyghur Muslims. Despite widespread coverage highlighting serious human rights violations targeting Uyghur Muslims, Muslim states have taken nuanced, cautious stances and in some cases remained silent. This is a slightly unexpected stance with regards to such a high-profile case of oppression of Muslims. Academic literature overemphasizes strong state partnerships, economic dependencies, and China’s significant role in international affairs as factors constraining Muslim states in activating Islamic diplomacy with regards to Uyghur Muslims. Utilizing the ‘two-level games’ framework and focusing on a single-country case study – Indonesia under Joko Widodo – this article argues that a combination of the geopolitical environment and unfavorable domestic politics have resulted in the deactivation of Islamic diplomacy on the Uyghur issue. The increasing consolidation of power during the second term of Widodo’s administration led to the decline of political Islam, referring to the declining role of formal and informal Islamic actors in domestic politics, which in turn, weakened Islamic groups’ demands for the activation of Islamic diplomacy on the Uyghur issue.

The Victims of Victims: Islamophobia in the South Korean Feminist Movement

Namira Risqi Putri Muquita — 2024-12-31

This research attempts to introduce a new perspective on the complex relationships in South Korea's patriarchal society that produces "victims of victims". The patriarchal culture in South Korea stems from Confucian values that have demeaned women by branding them immoral (hwanyang-nyeon/화냥년). In modern times, these Confucian values perpetuate misogyny and create a second-class identity for women in South Korean society. Thus, the feminism movement was born as a form of emancipation to fight the enduring injustice against women in South Korea. By using Jürgen Habermas' perspective on moral discourse and Spinner-Halev’s perspective on enduring injustice, this study aims to examine the formation of a victim mentality in South Korean women and its relationship with the label of 'patriarchy' pinned on Islam, which then contributes to intensified Islamophobia in South Korea. The construction of Islam as patriarchal and degrading to women is often expressed alongside acts of racism and xenophobia. This phenomenon constitutes a vicious cycle. Deep-seated trauma and hatred due to mistreatment and othering experiences over time has caused women in South Korea to internalize a victim identity. Ironically, this creates new victims through anti-Islamic campaigns in the feminist movement. By conducting a literature review, this research seeks to analyze the relationship between enduring injustice due to patriarchal culture, mental formation of victims and Islamophobia in the South Korean feminist movement.

Ta’wīl as Quranic Hermeneutics in the Philosophical Thought of Ibn ‘Arabī

Abdul Halim — 2024-12-31

Various methods for interpreting and understanding religious texts have long been developed in Islam. The development of this tradition is intricately linked to the need to interpret Islam's holy book, the Qur’an. It is widely understood that the verses of the Qur’an have various dimensions, namely the muhkâm (clear) and mutasyâbih (ambiguous), ‘âmm (general), khash (specific), qath’i (definitive), and dhanniy (presumptive). To address this, ta’wil was developed as method of textual interpretation. Ibn ‘Arabi represents a significant figure in the history of Islamic philosophical Sufism. He believed that for everything that appears literal, external, or exoteric (zhâhir), there is always a connection to something hidden, spiritual, internal, or esoteric (bâthin). For Ibn ‘Arabi, ta’wil is an esoteric spiritual interpretation that understands all material data and facts as symbols to transmute and “return” them to what is being symbolized. Every manifestation, every exoteric meaning (zhâhir), always has an esoteric meaning (bâthin). In other words, ta’wil is a process of interpretation that involves delving into the furthest depths of symbols to uncover the spiritual secrets of the text. The creative imagination of the interpreter plays a significant role in the process of ta’wil, serving as a mediator between the hidden divine essence and the manifestation of the pluralities of nature, akin to the world of ideas, culminating in the concept of symbols. Symbols are reflections of exemplars (mitsâl) of the sensory world depicted within the hierarchy of presence (hadhrâh), namely the presence of essence (hadhrah al-dzât), the Divine presence (hadhrah al-ulûhiyyah), the presence of various Divine actions or deeds (hadhrah al-af’âl, hadhrah rubûbiyyah), the presence of shadows and active imagination (hadhrah al-mitsâl wa al-khayyâl), and the sensory and visible presence (hadhrah al-hiss wa al-musyâhadah). In this context, the creative imagination of the interpreter, generated through the ascent to a higher meaning, is a new creation that recurs (khalq jadîd), a divine manifestation (theophany), with the heart as the Divine Presence within the interpreter. For this reason, ta’wil (as a method of text interpretation) necessitates extensive knowledge, comprehension, a willingness to engage with the text’s substance, adherence to legitimate and authoritative sources, and an interpreter’s inventiveness. Ta’wil, therefore, represents a blend of empirical, rational, and intuitive methods, emphasizing the spiritual perspective of reason to achieve the truth.

A Comparison of Jewish and Islamic Views on The Banishment of Hagar

Fithri Dzakiyyah Hafizah — 2024-12-31

Hagar is a fascinating figure in both Jewish and Islamic traditions. Her portrayal varies greatly across these two different faiths. In both Jewish and Islamic traditions, Hagar is sent away into the desert. However, this same story has different interpretations in Judaism and Islam and has diverse cultural impacts on today’s Jewish and Muslim societies. In Islam, Hagar is seen as a respected figure, the mother of Arabs. This contrasts with her negative portrayal in some Jewish interpretations. This paper examines historical sources of Hagar’s story in the Biblical narrative and the Islamic tradition, exploring how each scripture aligns and contrasts with the other through the pivotal event of Hagar’s banishment to the wilderness. Utilizing a qualitative methodology and comparative approach, this study undertakes a textual and content analysis of relevant literature. This paper argues that how Hagar’s banishment is recounted in Jewish and Islamic traditions significantly influences how her story is understood and interpreted today. These interpretations, shaped by their respective cultural and historical contexts, contribute to differing portrayals of Hagar’s role and social position within the family of Abraham in Jewish and Islamic communities.

Islam & Natural Philosophy: Principles of Daqīq Al-Kalām (Basil Altaie)

Hasan Al Asyari — 2024-12-31

Islam & Natural Philosophy: Principles of Daqīq Al-Kalām (Basil Altaie). Oldham: Beacon Books, 2023.

The discipline of kalām (Islamic rational theology) can be generally divided into two categories: jalīl al-kalām and daqīq al-kalām. The former mainly deals with theological questions whereas the latter deals with questions related to natural philosophy such as causality, free will, time, space, etc. The book under review deals with the latter: it provides an original attempt to revive and recontextualize daqīq al-kalām. Trained as a theoretical physicist in Mosul, Iraq, and Manchester, the United Kingdom, with some 30 years of exposure to the field of kalām, the Iraqi author offers an interesting interplay between classical Islamic theology and modern scientific discoveries.

Why Islamists Go Green. Politics, Religion and the Environment by Emmanuel Karagiannis

Hudriansyah Hudriansyah — 2024-12-31

Why Islamists Go Green. Politics, Religion and the Environment by Emmanuel Karagiannis. Edinburgh University Press, 2023.

Islamist groups have been examined from various perspectives, with most studies focused on these groups’ use of violence, which provides a misleading perspective of how Muslim societies evolve and how they interact with the rest of the world. As a result, there is a lack of focus on Islamist movements’ relationship with the environment. Emmanuel Karagiannis’s Why Islamists Go Green is the first well-researched work that reveals important trends in how Islamism interacts with the environment (p. xi). The author focuses on five Islamist groups – the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Hizbullah, Hamas, and Salafi-jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS – and the religious and political foundations for the formation of their green policies based on Islamic texts, rulings and principles (p. 10). The author’s argument convincingly sheds light on the basic principles and essence of Islamist environmentalism as it includes extensive literature and interviews with representatives of these movements and an analysis of online resources and initiatives from the various parties and groups (pp. 11-13).

The Sound of Salvation: Voice, Gender, and the Sufi Mediascape in China (Guangtian Ha)

Mariati Aprilia Harahap — 2024-12-31

The Sound of Salvation: Voice, Gender, and the Sufi Mediascape in China (Guangtian Ha). New York: Columbia University Press, 2022.

Guangtian Ha completed 'The Sound of Salvation: Voice, Gender, and the Sufi Mediascape in China’ while undertaking his Ph.D. dissertation for Columbia University. As an anthropologist who conducted ethnographic research, he was mired in uncompleted fieldwork. When writing this book in 2021, he remarked that the COVID-19 global pandemic was in its second year, leading to the deaths of over half a million people in the United States and an unknown number in China, where the total number of deaths has been kept secret by the government. Even before the pandemic, the role of Islamic seminaries in Ningxia had been substantially reduced due to political pressure. But when the pandemic hit the region, most religious locations, such as mosques and Sufi graves, were ordered to close their doors to outside visitors. Even though much of his fieldwork was already completed in 2018, he lamented that much had changed in the intervening years, and so noted that the book had been written with a deep sense of loss.