Religion and the state in the Arab World: Introduction

Author(s):  
Adbelilah Belkeziz
Keyword(s):  
2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Ghani Imad

The problematic addressed in this article is the challenge initiated by the Arab revolutions to reform the Arab political system in such a way as to facilitate the incorporation of ‘democracy’ at the core of its structure. Given the profound repercussions, this issue has become the most serious matter facing the forces of change in the Arab world today; meanwhile, it forms the most prominent challenge and the most difficult test confronting Islamists. The Islamist phenomenon is not an alien implant that descended upon us from another planet beyond the social context or manifestations of history. Thus it cannot but be an expression of political, cultural, and social needs and crises. Over the years this phenomenon has presented, through its discourse, an ideological logic that falls within the context of ‘advocacy’; however, today Islamists find themselves in office, and in a new context that requires them to produce a new type of discourse that pertains to the context of a ‘state’. Political participation ‘tames’ ideology and pushes political actors to rationalize their discourse in the face of daily political realities and the necessity of achievement. The logic of advocacy differs from that of the state: in the case of advocacy, ideology represents an enriching asset, whereas in the case of the state, it constitutes a heavy burden. This is one reason why so much discourse exists within religious jurisprudence related to interest or necessity or balancing outcomes. This article forms an epilogue to the series of articles on religion and the state published in previous issues of this journal. It adopts the methodologies of ‘discourse analysis’ and ‘case studies’ in an attempt to examine the arguments presented by Islamists under pressure from the opposition. It analyses the experiences, and the constraints, that inhibit the production of a ‘model’, and monitors the development of the discourse, its structure, and transformations between advocacy, revolution and the state.


2019 ◽  
pp. 11-30
Author(s):  
Marina ◽  
David Ottaway

In early 2011, uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt sparked an unanticipated chain of events across the Arab world. The old Arab order unraveled with surprising speed as four well-established leaders were overthrown, and civil wars and sectarian strife consumed the region. For the first time in Arab history, Islamic parties rose to power in three countries while the state disintegrated in four others. This chapter traces the causes and course of the different uprisings and explains how and why, after four dictators had been quickly displaced, new deposition attempts were stopped in their tracks by wily monarchs and brute repression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-536
Author(s):  
Nabil Ouassini ◽  
Anwar Ouassini

Abstract In the protests that occurred throughout the Arab world, the criminal justice system has been the focal contention between citizens and the state. However, the notoriety of Arab regimes has compelled academics to devote their endeavours to political/religious violence, economic development/stagnation and the durability of undemocratic systems that has inhibited the production of criminological scholarship. The study of criminology in the Arab world is critical and necessitates special attention. The following article propounds the establishment of an Arab criminology sub-field that highlights strategies in research in the region, evaluates the current approaches, addresses the challenges and examines its implications on southern, international and comparative criminology.


2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine A. Clark

In 1989, Jordan suspended marshal law, lifted media restrictions, expanded freedoms of association, and reintroduced parliamentary elections. Although these steps ushered in a dramatic, albeit limited, political opening, by 1997, many of these measures had been reversed. Indeed, today throughout most of the Middle East, the incipient democratization processes of the 1990s are labeled as “stalled” at best. However, as Jillian Schwedler states, these structural openings and closings do not provide the whole story of these Throughout the region, Islamists, liberals, leftists, and conservatives frequently sit together in opposition blocs and coordinate activities against the state—activities on which they did not cooperate a decade earlier—while remaining bitter rivals in other areas. The Higher Committee for the Coordination of National Opposition Parties (HCCNOP) in Jordan, founded in the mid-1990s in response to normalization efforts by Jordan with Israel, is one such example. A committee of thirteen opposition parties, it includes the Communist and Baءthist parties and the Muslim Brotherhood's Islamic Action Front (IAF). The IAF is very proud of its participation in the HCCNOP and claims that it is a democratic model for the Arab world. It points to the fact that it coordinates deals and “shakes hands” with secularists as evidence of the Party's moderation. The IAF's participation in the HCCNOP raises a variety of questions regarding the relationship between cooperation and democratization. What is the significance of cross-ideological cooperation for political liberalization and democratization? What are the conditions and mechanisms of cooperation? Finally, to what extent do Islamists moderate as a result of cooperation?


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Hamdan al-ﺀAlkīm

This article is a broad and sober assessment of the state of the Arab world. The writer draws a grim picture about prospects for improvements. The Arabs have not benefited from the changes that have swept the world because of the high cost attached to them. Current conditions in the Arab world are the main obstacle facing Arab reformers. In grappling with a civilizational challenge in which Arabs apparently have no choice or role, they suffer from an identity and cultural alienation crisis which impairs their ability to deal with the changes needed.


Author(s):  
نعمان عبد الحميد (Nu'man Abdel Hamid Buqirah)

ملخص البحث:تتنزل هذه الدراسة التي تصف أهم الدراسات العربية التي حاولت شرح النظرية اللسانية الغربية، وعرضها، والتعريف بأهم مبادئها واستثمارها في دراسة النحو العربي في سياق تمثل الآخر منهجيا ومعرفيا، قصد بلورة اللحظة الراهنة في الثقافة اللسانية العربية المعاصرة. والدراسة تستأنف أيضاً السؤال المحوري الذي تنزع إليه هذه الندوة وهو إلى  أي مدى يمكن أن نعيد طرح الأسئلة اللغوية الحاسمة التي ينهض عليها الفكر اللساني من زاوية إسلامية  تنطلق من تصور القرآن الكريم والسنة النبوية، ولعل هذا المسعى البحثي على إيجازه يحاول رصد حركة التغير المنهجي في صياغة المنظومة اللسانية التي واكبت تطور البحث في شؤون اللغة في المشرق العربي ومغربه مما يمكن من مدّ جسور أخرى للحوار مع الآخر قصد المشاركة الفعالة في بلورة إطار علمي يخدم قضايا التنمية اللغوية. الكلمات المفتاحية: النشأة- المنهج- المعرفة- المتوكل-الفهري. Abstract:This study focuses  to describe the most important Arabic linguistic studies that were based on western perspective with regard to their principles and applicability on the study of Arabic grammar in the context of “the representation of the other” in its method. The paper aims to explain the state of the art of the discipline in the field of Arabic linguistics. It deals with an essential question: to what extend can we still apply the Islamic view of language based on the holy Koran and the prophetic tradition on the current discipline? It is hoped that this study will provide the accounts for the development of the change of methodology in presenting the study of language in the Arab world that would enable a continuous interaction with other cultures to actively engage them in the context of discussing the issues related to language development.Keywords: Development- method- al-Mutawakkil- al-Fahri. Abstrak:Kajian ini membincangkan satu ilmu yang penting dalam bidang bahasa Arab iaitu teori linguistik barat dan prinsip-prinsipnya seterusnya melihat sejauh mana ia dapat diaplikasikan ke dalam kajian Nahu bahasa  Arab dari segi pengetahuan dan metodologi dengan hasrat untuk mendedahkan linguistik Arab Moden kepada isu- isu semasa dan terkini. Kajian ini  juga cuba membahaskan persoalan utama yang dibangkitkan oleh golongan barat tentang sejauh mana kita boleh melontarkan persoalan- persoalan mengenai bahasa yang menggalakkan pemikiran kritis menurut persepsi islam yang bersandarkan Al-Quran dan sunnah. Di samping itu, usaha daripada kajian yang ringkas ini diharapkan dapat membentuk satu pergerakan yang bakal mengubah sistem dan kaedah kajian linguistik Arab supaya lebih sistematik dan mengikuti arus dunia penyelidikan yang terkini. Justeru ia dapat dijadikan jambatan kepada perbincangan dengan dunia luar dan  membina kerjasama yang lebih efektif dalam bidang penyelidikan khusus untuk pembangunan bahasa.Kata kunci: Penubuhan – Metodologi – Pengetahuan -  Al-Mutawakkil – Al-Fahri. 


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