Sound of Sama: The Use of Poetical Imagery in South Asian Sufi Music

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-296
Author(s):  
Kashshaf Ghani

In the cultural space of the subcontinent Sufi rituals constitute an important area of research, stirring academic and non-academic inquisitiveness. And in this regard no aspect of Sufi ritualism has been more contentious than the practice of Sama (Sufi musical assemblies). Frowned upon by orders such as the Qadiris and Naqshbandis; regulated by the State in the name of Shariah (Islamic Law), Sama assemblies have been, for centuries, the defining spiritual exercise of many a leading Sufi silsila. But what constitutes the sama? How does the content(s) of such a ritual arouse spiritual sensibilities? Is there any definite structure for conducting such assemblies? These are some of the questions this paper will try to answer. While analyzing the ritual content of Sufi music the vast range of mystical poetry of both classical and south Asian Sufism needs to be taken into consideration. Indeed the music of sama is not normally conceived as apart from Sufi poetry that constitute the text. These texts create a poetic idiom, rich in image and metaphor together with a discernable degree of symbolic interpretation. What sort of an image, and of whom, do these texts portray? Who constitutes the central focus of these poetical imageries? Is there any dominant ideology working behind these textual interpretations? Such questions tend to arise, an answer to which will be sought in the course of my discussion.

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-88
Author(s):  
Mohd Faez Mohd Shah ◽  
Norhidayah Pauzi

In the discipline of Islamic law research, strong proofing and clear Istinbat method are key pillars in the construction of Islamic law based on the application of the science of usul al-fiqh and maqasid al-shari'ah. However, what happens at the state of Johor’s fatwa institution is the opposite. The fatwa research methods applied by the Fatwa Committee of Johor in resolving current fatwa issues is not based on the right and true discipline of Islamic law research. In fact, current inputs related to fatwa issues are not explicitly stated in the method of determining the law either in the form of reality or scientifically verified. Therefore, this paper will discuss the fatwa procedures undertaken by the Fatwa Committee of Johor based on the methods applied in resolving current issues. The research methodology adopted is library and interview methods. This study shows that fatwa management and production in the state of Johor is placed under the jurisdiction of the Mufti of Johor’s Department. The methods adopted by the Fatwa Committee of Johor covers two methods, namely: internal research methods including literature review through the application of original source and proofs based on syarak. Second: field research method that includes an external review or going to the location of study such as conducting observation, questionnaires and interviews including referrals to specialists of different fields. Maslahah and mafsdah consideration are also implemented by the Fatwa Committee in every fatwa decision based on the standard that meets the interests of maqasid al-shari'ah. Keywords: Metode, fatwa, istinbat, usul al-fiqh, maqasid al-shari’ah ABSTRAK Dalam disiplin penyelidikan hukum Islam, kekuatan pendalilan dan kaedah istinbat yang jelas merupakan tunggak utama dalam pembinaan hukum Islam berasaskan kepada aplikasi ilmu usul al-fiqh dan maqasid al-shari’ah. Namun begitu, apa yang berlaku di institusi fatwa negeri Johor adalah sebaliknya. Kaedah penyelidikan fatwa yang diaplikasi oleh Jawatankuasa Fatwa Negeri Johor dalam menyelesaikan isu fatwa semasa tidak berasaskan kepada disiplin penyelidikan hukum Islam yang tepat dan sebenar. Malahan input-input semasa yang berkaitan dengan isu fatwa juga tidak dinyatakan secara jelas dalam kaedah penentuan hukum sama ada dalam bentuk realiti yang berlaku atau pembuktian secara saintifik. Justeru, kertas kerja ini akan membincangkan prosedur fatwa Jawatankuasa Fatwa Negeri Johor berdasarkan metode-metode yang diaplikasi dalam menyelesaikan isu-isu yang bersifat semasa. Metodologi kajian yang digunakan dalam kajian ini adalah melalui metode perpustakaan dan metode lapangan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa pengurusan dan pengeluaran fatwa di negeri Johor hanya terletak di bawah bidang kuasa Jabatan Mufti Johor. Metode fatwa yang diamalkan oleh Jawatankuasa Fatwa Negeri Johor merangkumi dua metode iaitu pertama, kaedah penyelidikan dalaman yang merangkumi kajian kepustakaan menerusi pengaplikasian dari sumber asas dan dalil-dalil syarak. Kedua, kaedah penyelidikan lapangan yang meliputi kajian luaran atau turun ke lokasi kajian seperti observasi, soal selidik dan temubual dan rujukan kepada pakar dalam bidang yang berlainan. Pertimbangan maslahah dan mafsdah juga dimplementasikan oleh Jawatankuasa Fatwa dalam setiap keputusan fatwanya berasaskan standard yang menepati kepentingan maqasid al-shari’ah. Kata kunci: Metode, fatwa, istinbat, usul al-fiqh, maqasid al-shari’ah


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-328
Author(s):  
Fathul Aminudin Aziz

Fines are sanctions or punishments that are applied in the form of the obligation to pay a sum of money imposed on the denial of a number of agreements previously agreed upon. There is debate over the status of fines in Islamic law. Some argue that fines may not be used, and some argue that they may be used. In the context of fines for delays in payment of taxes, in fiqh law it can be analogous to ta'zir bi al-tamlīk (punishment for ownership). This can be justified if the tax obligations have met the requirements. Whereas according to Islamic teachings, fines can be categorized as acts in order to obey government orders as taught in the hadith, and in order to contribute to the realization of mutual benefit in the life of the state. As for the amount of the fine, the government cannot arbitrarily determine fines that are too large to burden the people. Penalties are applied as a message of reprimand and as a means to cover the lack of the state budget.


Author(s):  
Juriyana Megawati Hasibuan Dan Fatahuddin Aziz Siregar

Marriage is a sacred bond which is ideally only held once in a lifetime. Both Islamic law and positive law require an eternal happy marriage. To support this the Koran proclaims marriage as mitsaqan galiza. The marriage is then registered in the state administration. In line with this, the laws and regulations are formulated in such a way as to make divorce more difficult. However, when there are acceptable reasons and due to coercive conditions, divorce can be done through a judicial process. The divorce must then be registered by taking certain procedures. The court delivered the notice and sent a copy of the decision to the marriage registrar to file the divorce properly. The implementation of this divorce record was not effective. The separation of the Religious Courts Institution from the Ministry of Religion has become a factor that causes the registration task not to be carried out. The loss of the obligation to submit a copy of the decision on the judge's ruling caused the recording to be constrained. The unavailability of shipping costs also contributed to the failure to register divorce. Even though there is a threat to the Registrar who neglects to deliver a copy of the verdict, unclear sanctions make this ineffective. As a result of the lack of recording of divorce, the status of husband and wife becomes unclear and opens opportunities for abuse of that status.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Ahmad Muhammad Mustain Nasuha

This study aims the death penalty in Indonesia. We know where the death penalty is contrary or not in terms of the constitution and Islamic law, then we can conclude that if the legal implementation of the death penalty in Indonesia continue to be done or should be abolished. Based on research and the analysis conducted, conclude that Indonesia According to the Indonesian Constitution that the death penalty in Indonesia is constitutional. Constitutional Court Decision No. 2-3 / PUU-V / 2007 states that the imposition of the death penalty was constitutional. Any law governing capital punishment is not contrary to the Constitution of the State of Indonesia. However the legislation in Indonesia death penalty is still recognized in some legislation. There are three groups of rules, namely: Criminal Dead in the Criminal Code, Criminal die outside the Criminal Code, Criminal die in the Draft Bill. According to Islamic law that the death penalty could be applied to some criminal act or jinazah, either hudud qishahs, diyat or ta'zir among others to: Apostate, Rebel, Zina, Qadzaf (Allegations Zina), Steal (Corruption), Rob (Corruption), Murder.


Author(s):  
Stéphane A. Dudoignon

Since 2002, Sunni jihadi groups have been active in Iranian Baluchistan without managing to plunge the region into chaos. This book suggests that a reason for this, besides Tehran’s military responses, has been the quality of Khomeini and Khamenei’s relationship with a network of South-Asia-educated Sunni ulama (mawlawis) originating from the Sarbaz oasis area, in the south of Baluchistan. Educated in the religiously reformist, socially conservative South Asian Deoband School, which puts the madrasa at the centre of social life, the Sarbazi ulama had taken advantage, in Iranian territory, of the eclipse of Baluch tribal might under the Pahlavi monarchy (1925-79). They emerged then as a bulwark against Soviet influence and progressive ideologies, before rallying to Khomeini in 1979. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, they have been playing the role of a rampart against Salafi propaganda and Saudi intrigues. The book shows that, through their alliance with an Iranian Kurdish-born Muslim-Brother movement and through the promotion of a distinct ‘Sunni vote’, they have since the early 2000s contributed towards – and benefitted from – the defence by the Reformist presidents Khatami (1997-2005) and Ruhani (since 2013) of local democracy and of the minorities’ rights. They endeavoured to help, at the same time, preventing the propagation of jihadism and Sunni radicalisation to Iran – at least until the ISIS/Daesh-claimed attacks of June 2017, in Tehran, shed light on the limits of the Islamic Republic’s strategy of reliance on Deobandi ulama and Muslim-Brother preachers in the country’s Sunni-peopled peripheries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
The Editors ◽  
Dipesh Chakrabarty

Abstract Dipesh Chakrabarty is Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History and South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including The Crises of Civilization (2018) and Provincializing Europe (2000); and was one of the principal founders of the editorial collective of Subaltern Studies. In this discussion he ruminates upon the state of globality; its relationship to the planet Earth; the scope and possible duration of the Anthropocene; and some of globalization's consequences for humanity and human understanding. The interview was conducted by managing editor, Kenneth Weisbrode.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001458582110225
Author(s):  
Thomas E Peterson

A central question facing the reader of the Paradiso terrestre (Pg 28–33) concerns the selfhood of the protagonist, the character Dante. While the state of Dante’s soul was critical to the poem’s beginning in the dark wood, and remained implicit through the intervening cantos, it is only in the Paradiso terrestre that it becomes the poem’s central focus. This question is explored in cognitive and theological terms in a sequential reading of the six cantos that elucidates the learning process occurring in the character before and after his confession in Pg 31: in his encounter with Matelda, his sensory and perceptual experience of the procession, his dialogues with Beatrice, and his witnessing of her divine beauty as the analogia entis reflecting the beauty of God. The analysis acknowledges the changes in Dante’s style in this interval, which serves as a fulcrum of the entire Commedia, a spatio-temporal threshold in which the transition of one soul, from confession to redemption to instruction on the divine word, is linked to the destiny of humankind and the prospect of universal salvation. Throughout this process of becoming, the character’s cognitive limitations are exposed, not simply as flaws but as signs of his intrinsic humanity.


1989 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Detmold

Law is practical. Legal reasoning is practical reasoning. We could make nothing of a judge who having listened to counsel's arguments and reflected about the law governing his case thought that the state of knowledge that he had achieved was the natural termination of his enterprise and submitted his conclusions to the editors of Halsbury's Laws of England rather than performed the action of giving judgment. The parties would be outraged, and rightly. And if the judge continued to do such a thing he would be dismissed. Legal reasoning is practical in the sense that its natural conclusion is an action (in the judge's case the action of giving judgment) rather than a state of knowledge. This is taking “practical” in a strong sense. By this definition thought is practical whose natural conclusion is an action (or decision against action): its strongest contrast is with theoretical thought whose natural conclusion is knowledge. But it also contrasts with hypothetical thought about action (say, my thinking it would be good to play cricket again). I do not call this practical because it does not conclude in an action or decision against action (others do; for example John Finnis in Fundamentals of Ethics; my reasons for differing in this matter will emerge). A judge's practical reasoning towards the action of giving judgment has priority for our understanding of law over that vast range of practically idle things that lawyers do, from the construction of digests like Halsbury to casual reflection about the rule in Shelley's case (of course there is one sort of doing involved in both these, but not legal doing). It is important here to be clear about this priority. It is a priority of practicality, not a priority of judges or lawyers.


1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Tapia-Videla

In contrast to other countries in Latin America, Chile emerged from the chaotic postindependence period with a strong state apparatus. Fashioned by the leadership of Diego Portales and institutionalized in the Constitution of 1833, the Chilean state became (and remains) the central focus for national development. Portales was able to marry the existing social and economic order, which was sharply hierarchical, to the institutional structures of a corporate state. In doing so, he shaped political conflict throughout Chilean history into a series of struggles for inclusion in the coalition in control of the state apparatus at any given time. Problems of violence and instability can be seen as the the natural by-products of these multiple attempts to define and redefine both the legitimate scope and orientation of the state and the composition of the dominant groups exercising power.


2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit De

This article investigates the formation of a political consensus between conservative ulama, Muslim reformers, nationalist politicians and women's organisations, which led to the enactment of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act in 1939. The Act was a radical piece of social legislation that gave South Asian Muslim women greater rights for divorce than those enjoyed by other women in India and Britain. Instead of placing women's rights and Islamic law as opposed to each other, the legislation employed a heuristic that guaranteed women's rights by applying Islamic law, allowing Muslim politicians, ulama and women's groups to find common ground on an Islamic modernity. By interrogating the legislative process and the rhetorical positions employed to achieve this consensus, the paper hopes to map how the women's question was being negotiated anew in the space created in the legislatures. The legislative debate over family law redefined the boundaries of the public and the private, and forced nationalists to reconsider the ‘women's question’. The transformation of Islamic law through secular legislation also gave greater licence to the courts in their interpretation, and widened the schism between traditional practitioners of fiqh and modern lawyers.


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