Arab Christian Confederations and Muhammad’s Believers: On the Origins of Jihad

The meaning and elaboration of Jihad (just-sacred war) hold an important place in Islamic history and thought. On the far side of its spiritual meanings, the term has been historically and previously associated with the Arab Believers’ conquest of the 7th–8th centuries CE. However, the main idea of this contribution is to develop the “sacralization of war” as a relevant facet that was previously elaborated by the Arab Christian (pro-Byzantine) clans of the north of the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant and secondarily by the Arab confederation of Muhammad’s believers. From the beginning of Muhammad’s hijra (622), the interconnection between the Medinan clans that supported the Prophet with those settled in the northwest of the Hijaz is particularly interesting in relation to a couple of aspects: their trade collaboration and the impact of the belligerent attitude of the pro-Byzantine Arab Christian forces in the framing of the early concept of a Jihad. This analysis aimed to clarify the possibility that the early “sacralization of war” in proto-Islamic narrative had a Christian Arab origin related to a previous refinement in the Christian milieu.

The Jewish Verfassung, the Israeli nomos: the constitutional situation of the beginnings of the State of Israel in the context of Carl Schmitt's political and legal philosophy

The paper is an attempt to examine how Carl Schmitt's constitutional theory can be useful to analyse the Constitution of the State of Israel designed in the late 1940s – the impact of which Jacob Taubes once certified. The author analyses three projects created then by Leo Kohn through the prism of Schmitt's concept of Verfassung and Verfassungsgesetz. He also reads in the context of Schmitt's philosophy (from Constitutional Theory and The Nomos of the Earth) the constitutional situation of Israel as a country where, first, the Constitution has not been passed and the basic matter of its legal system is regulated by the Basic Laws; second, citizens of Arab origin are excluded from the national community; and third, the borders of the state remain fluid and change due to the constant partition of the land.

Differences between Students of Jewish and Arab Origin in Reasons for Deciding to Study

Academic studies play a central role in determining socioeconomic status in Western society. Nevertheless, most research had focused on factors of academic achievement and paid less attention to factors of actual registration for academic studies. Reasons for choosing to enrol in academic studies are particularly important for understanding majority and minority group differences in rates of registration for such studies and helping promote ethnic groups. The present research, conducted with undergraduate students in Israel, examined differences between students of Jewish and Arab origin in terms of their reasons for undertaking studies. First, qualitative interviews were held with 50 students from the two groups about their reasons for choosing to study. Based on thematic analysis of the interviews, a quantitative questionnaire was developed. It was administered to 367 students from the two groups. The data indicate several differences between the groups, but also reveal opposite directions of correlations in the two groups, corresponding with different family situations. Some possible explanations are suggested for the associations of the groups, family status, and reasons for studying, and the theoretical and methodological implications of these associations are discussed.

Misturando massihiyin aos limites do Estado laico

Este trabalho indaga sobre a aparente “mistura” de massihiyin (cristãos em árabe), tanto da igreja ortodoxa do patriarcado antioquina quanto dos ritos maronita e melquita (ou oriental) que pertencem à igreja católica romana. Argumenta-se que a “mistura” significa não a diluição mas a contenção e a conversibilidade da diferença. Por um lado, os maronitas, os melquitas e os ortodoxos de origem árabe adotaram o catolicismo de rito latino, protestantismo e em menor grau, espiritismo, umbanda e candomblé. Por outro lado, os brasileiros sem nenhuma ascendência árabe se converteram às denominações maronita, melquita e ortodoxa. A diferença cristã árabe é construída e contida no que o antropólogo Richard Wilk chamou de “estrutura da diferença comum”. O conteúdo cultural assume uma forma “mutuamente inteligível,” se variável, na chamada “mistura”. Em vez de ser um benefício ou direito outorgado do Estado laico, a construção minoritária desses e outros sujeitos revela a própria contradição ainda não-resolvida do laicismo. This work explores the apparent “mixture” of massihiyin (Christians in Arabic), both from the Orthodox Church of the Antiochian Patriarchate and from the Maronite and Melkite (or Eastern) rites that belong to the Roman Catholic Church. It is argued that “mixing” means not dilution but containment and convertibility of difference. On the one hand, Maronites, Melchites and Orthodox of Arab origin adopted the Catholicism of Latin rite, Protestantism and to a lesser extent, Spiritism, Umbanda and Candomblé. On the other hand, Brazilians with no Arab ancestry converted to the Maronite, Melkite and Orthodox denominations. Arab Christian difference is constructed and contained in what anthropologist Richard Wilk called "the structure of common difference". Cultural content takes on a “mutually intelligible” form, if variable, in the so-called “mixture”. Instead of being a benefit or right granted by the secular state, the minority construction of these and other subjects reveals the unresolved contradiction of secularism and the secular state.Este trabajo indaga sobre la aparente "mezcla" de massihiyin (cristianos en árabe), tanto de la Iglesia Ortodoxa del Patriarcado Antioqueño como de los ritos maronitas y melkitas (u orientales) que pertenecen a la Iglesia Católica Romana. Se argumenta que "mezclar" significa no dilución sino contención y convertibilidad de la diferencia. Por un lado, los maronitas, melquitas y ortodoxos de origen árabe adoptaron el catolicismo de rito latino, el protestantismo y, en menor medida, el espiritismo, el umbanda y el candomblé. Por otro lado, los brasileños sin ascendencia árabe se convirtieron a las denominaciones maronita, melquita y ortodoxa. La diferencia cristiana árabe está construida y contenida en lo que el antropólogo Richard Wilk llamó "la estructura de la diferencia común". El contenido cultural adquiere una forma "mutuamente inteligible", si es variable, en la llamada "mezcla". En lugar de ser un beneficio o un derecho otorgado al estado secular, la construcción minoritaria de estos y otros temas revela la contradicción muy no resuelta del secularismo.

Reflection on the theory of the Arab origin of the Yoruba people

The theory of the Arab origin of the Yoruba people is seemingly the oldest amongst other theories of their origins. This is because the original Yoruba oral tradition pertaining to their origin subscribes to the ‘East’ as the location of their origin. The East is believed to be Arabia or Mecca. There are many reasons why scholars from the 19th to the 21st centuries dissociated themselves from the Arab theory of the Yoruba origin, yet some scholars uphold the theory in high esteem. The religions of Christianity and Islam might have influenced the interpretation of the Arab theory of the Yoruba origin. This research elucidates the Arab theory of the Yoruba origin pointing at the historical circumstances that might have led to the acceptance and the non-acceptance of the theory by various people who are interested in the writing of the Yoruba history. The aim of the research was to highlight the discrepancies or the weaknesses of the theory to initiate further research on the subject.

Indications of lexical-semantic changes in the Arabisms of the Kingdom of Granada (1493-1612): the lexical competition between almádena and martillo

The objective of the present study is to analyze a couple of lexical items formed by an Arabism and a Romance voice (almádena and martillo) through a corpus of documents linked to the ancient Kingdom of Granada (i.e. the current provinces of Málaga, Almería and Granada) in the late 15th century to 17th century. That documentation includes different types of texts as the correspondence of Hernando de Zafra or texts linked to the building construction at that time. Due to the historical, political, social and religious peculiarities of the Kingdom of Granada there is a persistence of lexicon of Arab origin over the above two centuries with regard to other Spanish-speaking territories. However, Arabic loanwords in Spanish lexicon are subjected to specialization processes or semantic restrictions, as exemplified in the case of almádena. This voice lexically competed with the Romance voice martillo, but, finally, the first one suffered a process of semantic restriction and it is actually cornered in some dialectal areas.

Abo Tbileli. Arabic Perfumer – St. Protector of Tiflis

The article provides a semiotic analysis of the modern Georgian Orthodox icon depicting the Georgian Saint, the patron Saint of the city of Abo Tbileli. A Georgian Saint of Arab origin is depicted standing on the Metekh bridge against the background of the city itself. Every detail in the icon has a symbolic meaning and is subject to semiotic analysis. This applies to the Georgian cross in the hands of St. great Martyr, the Golden halo above his head, his robe (turban, chiton and himatiy), the landscape (river, mountains and gardens) and the city itself and its buildings (churches, towers, bridge), the sky above his head. The features of the iconographic style are considered. The main source is the hagiographic work of the medieval Georgian author Ioane Sabanisdze “Martyrdom of Abo”.

Nebuchadnezzar and its Relationship with Jews Comparative Study of the Three Divine Religions (Islam, Judaism and Christianity): نبوخذ نصر وعلاقته باليهود دراسة مقارنة بين الأديان السماوية الثلاث (الإسلام واليهودية والنصرانية)

Praise be to Allaah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. After this, the reason we chose this subject from the Islamic point of view is because this name is related to the time of the Israelites in Surat Al- Israa in the first and last promise as the general interpreters went to it. Hearing a lot, especially in our beloved homeland as an Iraqi of Arab origin of the sons of Sam Ibn Noah took Babylon as his capital, which is part of our dear country. This is what we proved from many ancient and modern sources after a discussion, some of which show that the lineage of Nebuchadnezzar is due to Ham 's son Noah, and that Ham is the father of the Persians. Our main findings are: Nebuchadnezzar is of Arab rather than Persian origin Nebuchadnezzar had been converted to Islam because he was influenced by the prophets of the Israelites. Nebuchadnezzar did not treat the Israelites in captivity badly, but provided them with places where they could earn a decent living despite their constant treachery, but wanted to be under constant surveillance. The importance of this subject lies in making a comparison in the mention of this king in the three monotheistic religions to know what is the origin of Nebuchadnezzar and how he ruled and why the captivity and what impact Nebuchadnezzar on the Jews and the influence of Jews and what was his religion and whether he changed it later to be influenced by the prophets of the children of Israel, and is it His promises in the Koran (the promise of the first and the Hereafter) in a neutral scientific manner. The comparative method was used in this study between the three monotheistic religions as well as the historical method which was based on taking from what the three heavenly books indicated a hint or statement, namely the Qur'an, the Torah and the Bible, as well as Hadith books, exegesis books, historical books and some modern books dealing with this subject.

Mapping Arab New York

This chapter provides an overview of the Arab communities and population of New York in the period between 2009 and 2012. Quantitatively, it analyses demographic statistics for all five boroughs to document the diversity and spread of people of Arab origin. Qualitatively, it documents the lived geography of the three most prominent Arab neighborhoods, Bay Ridge and Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, and Astoria, Queens. In addition, it explores the variety of community organizations and activist groups that work in Arab communities, and introduces the three key fieldsites for the book as a whole: the Arab American Association of New York, Adalah-NY: The New York Coalition for the Boycott of Israel, and Al-Awda NY: The Paletine Right to Return Coalition.

Arab-Origin Students’ Experiences of Learning Turkish: A Case Study

The purpose of this study is to consider the Turkish learning situations of the 16 Arab-origin students learning Turkish at TÖMER subordinate to a state university in the Aegean region from the perspectives of both students and the teachers who teach them Turkish and investigate their language learning experiences from many perspectives. In order to achieve this goal, a qualitative research method was used. Data were collected from the participating students and lecturers through semi-structured interviews. The method of content analysis was used in the data analysis. Based on the findings obtained in the data analysis, it was concluded that the students stated that; they learnt Turkish to study at a university and because they had to live in Turkey; they had the most difficulty in the writing skill; they found the Turkish lessons difficult due to the different language structure and alphabet. On the other hand, the participating lecturers stated that; the students had difficulties in writing; they used Turkish by having conversations with Turkish native speakers and at work; the mistakes they made the most were suffix and spelling mistakes, and in order to solve these problems, they got the students to play concept games, and had lessons in different places outside the classroom by getting the students to do a lot of practice.