ORGANIZED, ARMED GANGS TEAR APART A POLITICAL SYSTEM

The presidential and parliamentary elections were a political earthquake for the French political system. While the two big parties experienced massive losses of political support, the rise of new political formations took place. Emmanuel Macron is not only the youngest president of the V. Republic so far, he is also the first president not to be supported by either one of the two biggest parties. This article argues that the election results are an expression of a deep crisis of representation in France that is rooted in the economic transformations of the 1970s. The article analyses the political situation after the elections and tries to give an outlook on further political developments in France.

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The Employment of the Root d–f–c in the Qur'an

Journal of Qur anic Studies ◽

10.3366/jqs.2002.4.2.176 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 176-179

Author(s):

Ahmad Elkady

Keyword(s):

Political System ◽

Good Behaviour

Words employing the root d–f–c occur no more than twelve times in the Qur'an, yet with a variety and depth of meaning that illustrate the Qur'an's eloquence and inimitability: one aspect of this is the Qur'an's practice of using one word to convey both a thing and its opposite – in Sura 4 for instance d–f–c is used in the sense of giving and handing over; in Sura 52 and Sura 70 it occurs in the sense of withholding – and such diversity of meaning gave theologians scope for the development of their various doctrines and opinions. D–f–c occurs in the Qur'an in a range of meanings and it describes not only repelling by force but also rebuffing by dialogue and good behaviour and by confronting evil with good. It becomes clear in this article that jihād in Islam is not part of a Muslim's creed but part of a political system which sanctions its use in the protection and defence of the community against invasion and attack.

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Brabantia: decoding the main characters of Utopia

Moreana ◽

10.3366/more.2012.49.1-2.9 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 49 (Number 187- (1-2) ◽

pp. 151-182

Author(s):

Maarten M.K. Vermeir

Keyword(s):

Political Culture ◽

Early Modern ◽

Political System ◽

Desiderius Erasmus ◽

Parliamentary Democracy ◽

Early Modern Europe ◽

Thomas More ◽

Home Town ◽

Christian Humanism ◽

Political Thinker

In this study, we propose a new understanding, according to the principles of ‘humanistic interpretation’, of a fundamental layer of meaning in Utopia. In the work of Thomas More, major references can be found to the particular genesis and a crucial purpose of Utopia. Desiderius Erasmus arranged the acquaintance of Thomas More with Peter Giles, a key figure in the development of Erasmus as political thinker. More and Giles together in Antwerp (Giles’s home town), both jurists and humanists, would lay the foundation of Utopia. With this arranged contact, Erasmus handed over to More the knowledge of a particular political system - the earliest form of ‘parliamentary democracy’ in Early modern Europe - embedded in the political culture of the Duchy of Brabant and its constitution, named the ‘Joyous Entry’. We argue that Erasmus, through the indispensable politicalliterary skills of More in Utopia, intended to promote this political system as a new, political philosophy: applicable to all nations in the Respublica Christiana of Christian humanism. With reference to this genesis of Utopia in the text itself and its prefatory letters, we come to a clear recognition of Desiderius Erasmus in the figure of Raphael Hythlodaeus, the sailor who had discovered the ‘isle of Utopia’ and discoursed, as reported by More, about its ‘exemplary’ institutions.

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Predator Neoliberalism

Contemporary Arab Affairs ◽

10.1525/caa.2020.13.1.3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 3-22

Author(s):

Kamal Dib

Keyword(s):

Public Finance ◽

Monetary Policy ◽

Market Economy ◽

Liberal Democracy ◽

Political System ◽

Social Revolution ◽

Socioeconomic Change ◽

Second Republic ◽

Major Powers ◽

The Mediterranean

Lebanon, a multi-confessional state, is undergoing a deep socioeconomic change that could trigger a review of its constitutional arrangement. The tiny republic on the Mediterranean was born in 1920 as a liberal democracy with a market economy, where the Christians had the upper hand in politics and the economy. In 1975, Lebanon witnessed a major war that lasted for fifteen years, and a new political system emerged in 1989, dubbed the Ta’ef Accord. The new constitutional arrangement, also known as the “second republic,” transferred major powers to the Muslims. Under the new republic, illiberal policies were adopted in reconstruction, public finance, and monetary policy, coupled with unprecedented corruption at the highest levels. On 17 October 2019, the country exploded in a social revolution which could precipitate the death of the second republic or the demise of the country as another victim of predator neoliberalism.

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The Dynamics of Egypt’s “Semi-opposition,” 2004–11

Contemporary Arab Affairs ◽

10.1525/caa.2019.12.4.83 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 83-103

Author(s):

Mai Mogib Mosad

Keyword(s):

Public Sphere ◽

Political System ◽

Muslim Brotherhood ◽

The Public ◽

The Muslim Brotherhood ◽

The Public Sphere ◽

The Relationship

This paper maps the basic opposition groups that influenced the Egyptian political system in the last years of Hosni Mubarak’s rule. It approaches the nature of the relationship between the system and the opposition through use of the concept of “semi-opposition.” An examination and evaluation of the opposition groups shows the extent to which the regime—in order to appear that it was opening the public sphere to the opposition—had channels of communication with the Muslim Brotherhood. The paper also shows the system’s relations with other groups, such as “Kifaya” and “April 6”; it then explains the reasons behind the success of the Muslim Brotherhood at seizing power after the ousting of President Mubarak.

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The Beginnings of Islam in Afghanistan

10.1525/california/9780520294134.003.0002 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Arezou Azad

Keyword(s):

Paradigm Shift ◽

Political System ◽

Cultural Practices ◽

Eighth Century ◽

Religious Context ◽

Early Islam ◽

History Of ◽

Initial Conversion ◽

The Way

Covering the period from 709 to 871, this chapter traces the initial conversion of Afghanistan from Zoroastrianism and Buddhism to Islam. Highlighting the differential developments in four regions of Afghanistan, it discusses the very earliest history of Afghan Islam both as a religion and as a political system in the form of a caliphate. The chapter draws on under-utilized sources, such as fourth to eighth century Bactrian documents from Tukharistan and medieval Arabic and Persian histories of Balkh, Herat and Sistan. In so doing, it offers a paradigm shift in the way early Islam is understood by arguing that it did not arrive in Afghanistan as a finished product, but instead grew out of Afghanistan’s multi-religious context. Through fusions with Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, early Abrahamic traditions, and local cult practices, the Islam that resulted was less an Arab Islam that was imported wholesale than a patchwork of various cultural practices.

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Islamic and Jewish Religious Feminists Tackle Islamic and Jewish Oral Law: Maintenance and Rebellion of Wives

Comparative Islamic Studies ◽

10.1558/cis.31497 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 35-63

Author(s):

Ruth Roded

Keyword(s):

State Policy ◽

Political System ◽

Daily Life ◽

The State ◽

The Political ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Modern Times ◽

Parallel Case ◽

First Time

Beginning in the early 1970s, Jewish and Muslim feminists, tackled “oral law”—Mishna and Talmud, in Judaism, and the parallel Hadith and Fiqh in Islam, and several analogous methodologies were devised. A parallel case study of maintenance and rebellion of wives —mezonoteha, moredet al ba?ala; nafaqa al-mar?a and nush?z—in classical Jewish and Islamic oral law demonstrates similarities in content and discourse. Differences between the two, however, were found in the application of oral law to daily life, as reflected in “responsa”—piskei halacha and fatwas. In modern times, as the state became more involved in regulating maintenance and disobedience, and Jewish law was backed for the first time in history by a state, state policy and implementation were influenced by the political system and socioeconomic circumstances of the country. Despite their similar origin in oral law, maintenance and rebellion have divergent relevance to modern Jews and Muslims.

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