The medicine chest: education in the light of Abdel Hakim Murad’s understanding of modernity

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 793-810
Author(s):  
Kirstine Sinclair

Abstract This contribution examines the relationship between understandings of modernity, Islam and educational ideals at Cambridge Muslim College (UK) and how such understandings contribute to the formation of meaningful selves amongst the students attending the college. The analysis takes as its point of departure the understanding of modernity of the founder of Cambridge Muslim College – Tim Winter aka Abdal Hakim Murad – as it is expressed in his publications, social media appearances and from conversations at the college. In a nutshell, modernity for Winter signifies a fragmentation of meaning and coherence and is associated with blind consumerism and superficiality. The aim of the college is to counter such fragmentation by providing coherence and meaning to its students. The college is presented – and perceived by students and graduates – as mediating between Islamic traditions and modern Muslim lives in the West and as living up to a responsibility of engaging in the development of both Muslim minorities and the wider society of which they are part. Thus, the educational ideal is not only pursued in traditional academic activities – it implies a certain lifestyle based on a particular understanding of Islam which is not as much about theological content as it is about how to instrumentalise the religion in everyday being and practice.

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caiphas B Soyapi

The studies of the relations between China and Zimbabwe, as with other studies of Chinese relations with African states, have focused largely on the socio-economic and political aspects thereof. There has not been a discussion on the socio-legal perspectives of the relationship. The point of departure is that any relations between China and Zimbabwe must be legally sustainable. The socio-economic consequences of the relations are identified and analysed from a legal perspective, which leads to the conclusion that the ‘look East’ policy adopted by the Zimbabwean government as a way to counter sanctions imposed by the West is an intermestic policy. Based on national and international laws or standards of conduct expected of states, the Zimbabwean government’s failure to protect industries, the environment, labour rights and the trade in armaments at critical moments indicates an abdication of its duties.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-129
Author(s):  
Rebecca Mace

In an era dominated by social media, reportedly more concerned with self-expression than self-reflection, the classical injunction to ‘Know Thyself’ has renewed purchase. Increased self-knowledge on the whole enables a student to become more self-determining by exercising a choice, a ‘freedom to be’ that is central to the human condition. Identity construction, development and formation are all considered important functions within education, and many teachers adopt a pedagogical approach that stimulates adolescents to connect what they are taught to who they are and want to be. However, much of this development of self-knowledge takes place in non-formal learning environments, be they co-curricular clubs or activities outside of school. It is my contention that social media offers as much in terms of exploring new identity positions as these more traditional locations for self-learning. Although many do not feel a need to articulate and share in order to believe they are present in the world there are an increasing number of those, who believe that to be is to be perceived through online expression. Rather than focusing upon the envy inducing ‘Perfect Me’ posts that are so often linked to the decline in adolescent mental health and wellbeing, this paper explores how mundane and banal posts on social media can be used to frame and reframe aspects of modern life which in turn promotes self-learning. By drawing attention to the average, everydayness of existence, the relationship between the seemingly ordinary and self-knowledge becomes more apparent. This paper considers the potential individuals have for coming to know themselves a little more deeply as they move through a process of self expression, to self curation, to self construal, to self construction. Rather than asking ‘What is it to be in the [online] world?’ it poses the slightly different question: ‘What is it to present being?’. It also considers the space between these two questions as offering potential for fostering the wider educational ideal, that of greater self-knowledge.


1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Strelau

This paper presents Pavlov's contribution to the development of biological-oriented personality theories. Taking a short description of Pavlov's typology of central nervous system (CNS) properties as a point of departure, it shows how, and to what extent, this typology influenced further research in the former Soviet Union as well as in the West. Of special significance for the development of biologically oriented personality dimensions was the conditioned reflex paradigm introduced by Pavlov for studying individual differences in dogs. This paradigm was used by Russian psychologists in research on types of nervous systems conducted in different animal species as well as for assessing temperament in children and adults. Also, personality psychologists in the West, such as Eysenck, Spence, and Gray, incorporated the CR paradigm into their theories. Among the basic properties of excitation and inhibition on which Pavlov's typology was based, strength of excitation and the basic indicator of this property, protective inhibition, gained the highest popularity in arousaloriented personality theories. Many studies have been conducted in which the Pavlovian constructs of CNS properties have been related to different personality dimensions. In current research the behavioral expressions of the Pavlovian constructs of strength of excitation, strength of inhibition, and mobility of nervous processes as measured by the Pavlovian Temperament Survey (PTS) have been related to over a dozen of personality dimensions, mostly referring to temperament.


2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-72
Author(s):  
Morteza Karimi-Nia

The status of tafsīr and Qur'anic studies in the Islamic Republic of Iran has changed significantly during recent decades. The essay provides an overview of the state of Qur'anic studies in Iran today, aiming to examine the extent of the impact of studies by Western scholars on Iranian academic circles during the last three decades and the relationship between them. As in most Islamic countries, the major bulk of academic activity in Iran in this field used to be undertaken by the traditional ʿulamāʾ; however, since the beginning of the twentieth century and the establishment of universities and other academic institutions in the Islamic world, there has been increasing diversity and development. After the Islamic Revolution, many gradual changes in the structure and approach of centres of religious learning and universities have occurred. Contemporary advancements in modern sciences and communications technologies have gradually brought the institutions engaged in the study of human sciences to confront the new context. As a result, the traditional Shīʿī centres of learning, which until 50 years ago devoted themselves exclusively to the study of Islamic law and jurisprudence, today pay attention to the teaching of foreign languages, Qur'anic sciences and exegesis, including Western studies about the Qur'an, to a certain extent, and recognise the importance of almost all of the human sciences of the West.


1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moh. Salman Hamdani

This paper aims to provide explanation about John Louis Esposito’s insights on therelationship between Islam and The West. The relationship is a fluctuative one, some tensionsand even open conflict may occur. Some events become the entry point to the relationship, forinstance, the crusades that is not only happened physically but also, through this war, the meetingbetween Islam and The West establishes inter cultural dialogue among them.John Louis Esposito’s views on the relationship between Islam and The West ispositioned in view of some Muslim intellectuals and orientalists to emphasize its originality. Theintellectual positions do not put it on pros or cons side in the context of the relationship betweenIslam and The West.Historically, the relationship between Islam and The West actually has a theologicallystrong bond that there is common ground and similarities between Islam and The West. Islamand The west are inherited with Jewish and Christian traditions. Islam like Christianity andJudaism are religions ‘of the sky’ that are allied in Abrahamic religions. Therefore, according toJohn L. Esposito, based on historical fact, there were a real strong bond between Islam and theWest and it started centuries ago .


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-236
Author(s):  
Martin Braxatoris ◽  
Michal Ondrejčík

Abstract The paper proposes a basis of theory with the aim of clarifying the casual nature of the relationship between the West Slavic and non-West Slavic Proto-Slavic base of the Slovak language. The paper links the absolute chronology of the Proto-Slavic language changes to historical and archaeological information about Slavs and Avars. The theory connects the ancient West Slavic core of the Proto-Slavic base of the Slovak language with Sclaveni, and non-West Slavic core with Antes, which are connected to the later population in the middle Danube region. It presumes emergence and further expansion of the Slavic koiné, originally based on the non-West Slavic dialects, with subsequent influence on language of the western Slavic tribes settled in the north edge of the Avar Khaganate. The paper also contains a periodization of particular language changes related to the situation in the Khaganate of that time.


1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-342
Author(s):  
G. C. Hufbauer ◽  
Nayyara Aziz ◽  
Asghar Ali

The senior author has elsewhere argued [8] that foreign exchange earned by the export of West Pakistan-manufactured goods has a high domestic cost. Much the same contention has been advanced by Hecox [7], Islam [9] and MacEwan [11]. In these papers the relationship between costs and earnings is usually based on fairly abstract assumptions. The purpose of this note is to reduce the calculations to a "plain man" level. Specifically, we try to calculate how many rupees of indigenous resources are expended to earn each extra rupee of foreign exchange which is received from exporting cotton textiles and leather goods rather than their primary ingredients, namely raw cotton and hides and skins i. Since this note was written, the Board of Economic Inquiry, Lahore, at the request of the West Pakistan Planning and Development Department, has undertaken a wider study applying the same general approach used here.


EMPIRISMA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Wahab Khalil

The Muslim minorities in the West who are currently dealing with a multitude of problem receives attention from Muslim scholars. Syaikh Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī is the first Muslim scholar who attempted to provide a solution to the problems, especially related to the implementation of religious teachings, as he outlined it in the framework of fiqh al-aqalliyāt. In principle, this is not something new in Islamic jurisprudence, because its legal sources are still the same. Nevertheless, this kind of fiqh is different in the sense that it does not merely talk about legal issues, but also the problems of theology and morals that the Muslim minorities in the West are currently dealing with in their relations with non-Muslims. Fiqh al-aqalliyyāt is also characterized by the use of the principle of al-taysīr as clearly prominent in the fatwās by Syaikh Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī, such as on the validity of both performing Friday prayer in the morning due to limited time for religious sermon (khuṭbah) and during ẓuhr time in some countries. This article will explore further this principle of al-taysīr in the Qaraḍāwī’s fiqh al-aqalliyyāt. Keywords: Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī, Fiqh al-Aqalliyāt, al-Taysīr


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 74-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Cooper

Without help from the west, the small East German opposition,such as it was, never would have achieved as much as it did. Themoney, moral support, media attention, and protection provided bywestern supporters may have made as much of a difference to theopposition as West German financial support made to the East Germanstate. Yet this help was often resented and rarely acknowledgedby eastern activists. Between 1988 and 1990, I worked withArche, an environmental network created in 1988 by East Germandissidents. During that time, the assistance provided by West Germans,émigré East Germans, and foreigners met with a level of distrustthat cannot entirely be blamed on secret police intrigue.Outsiders who tried to help faced a barrage of allegations and criticismof their work and motives. Dissidents who elected to remain inEast Germany distrusted those who emigrated, and vice versa,reflecting an unfortunate tendency, even among dissidents, to internalizeelements of East German propaganda. Yet neither the helpand support the East German opposition received from outside northe mentalities that stood in its way have been much discussed. Thisessay offers a description and analysis of the relationship betweenthe opposition and its outside supporters, based largely on one person’sfirst-hand experience.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document