THE ROOTS OF TRADITIONAL ISLAM IN MODERNIST MUSLIM WORKS: K.H. Aceng Zakaria and the Intellectual Tradition of Pesantren

One of characters of modernist Islam organization in Indonesia is the opposition to traditionalist Islam practices. Initially, the modernist Islam activist also learned in the traditional Islam culture before they turned around. This study focuses on the roots of the traditional Islam among the modernist Islam organization activists, Islamic Union (Persatuan Islam/PERSIS). The study object is the historical life of the PERSIS chairman, Aceng Zakaria and his magnum opus works, al-Muyassar fî ‘Ilm al-Naḥw and al-Hidâyah fî Masâ’il Fiqh Muta‘âriḍah. Through a socio-intellectual historical approach, the study shows that the Islamic intellectual tradition of the modernist activists is inseparable from the learning of traditional pesantren. Aceng Zakaria, as a PERSIS ulama, originally learned at the traditional pesantren in the mid-twentieth century. The roots of traditional Islamic science influences his intellectual career which was reflected in his works. Both books, Arabic grammar al-Muyassar and fiqh discourse al-Hidâyah demonstrate his connectivity to the intellectual of traditional pesantren. However, Aceng Zakaria, as a modernist and reformist ulama, also modified his explanation systematically and practically. This shows that the genealogy of intellectual tradition of pesantren has an important position in supporting the development of reformist Islamic ideas in Indonesia.

MOSQUES IN POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN: DISCOURSE INTERPRETATION AND REGULATORY PRACTICES

The authors have analyzed the dynamics of the growth of number of mosques built by religious associations in post-Soviet Kazakhstan and noted a transition from their unregulated and chaotic construction (proliferation) to their precise association with specific maddhabs, and their construction norms conceptualized by religious institutions represented by the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Kazakhstan (DUMK). The types of cultic facilities and the actors are discussed and ranked according to the type of their involvement and partnership. We should note that the participation of various actors adds weight to the status of mosques as important public facilities. The authors have paid particular attention to the religious communities’ revised registration realized under the Law of the RK on Religious Activities and Religious Associations of 2011, which optimized the religious space, consolidated the positions of traditional Islam and, hence, standardized the rules related to mosque construction. Keywords: mosque, public space, post-Soviet realities, re-Islamization, re-appropriation, “mosque diplomacy,” religious communities, traditional Islam, DUMK.

MÉTODOS DE REALIZACIÓN ESPIRITUAL EN EL SUFISMO

Resumen: A diferencia de otras formas de conocimiento que conforman las disciplinas del saber de la tradición islámica, el sufismo no se limita a la especulación teórica, sino que comprende una serie de métodos rigurosos de realización interior, en tanto que vía iniciática. El más conocido de estos métodos es el ḏikr, la repetición o invocación de los Nombres Divinos, práctica que puede ir acompañada de una diversidad de ejercicios contemplativos, que pueden incluir el control de la respiración, posturas corporales y la meditación por medio de visualizaciones. El objetivo de este artículo es explorar con cierto grado de minuciosidad los aspectos más relevantes de estas prácticas, y muy particularmente la noción de murāqaba o contemplación, considerada por algunas escuelas de sufismo como la forma más directa y eficaz de realizar el conocimiento de lo divino. Abstract: In contrast to the array of intellectual disciplines within traditional Islam, the Sufi path of knowledge is not limited to mere theoretical speculation. Rather, it entails a series of rigorous methods of inner realisation as part of its iniciatic teachings. Among these, the most effective and known methods is ḏikr, the invocation or remembrance of the Divine Names, a method of spiritual realisation that often goes hand in hand with various meditative practices that include breath control, specific body postures and visualizations. This article aims at exploring, with a certain degree of detail, the most relevant aspects pertaining to these practices, and in particular the notion of murāqaba – or contemplation – deemed by some school of Sufism as the most direct and effective way to reach the Divine. Abstract: In contrast to the array of intellectual disciplines within traditional Islam, the Sufi path of knowledge is not limited to mere theoretical speculation. Rather, it entails a series of rigorous methods of inner realisation as part of its iniciatic teachings. Among these, the most effective and known methods is ḏikr, the invocation or remembrance of the Divine Names, a method of spiritual realisation that often goes hand in hand with various meditative practices that include breath control, specific body postures and visualizations. This article aims at exploring, with a certain degree of detail, the most relevant aspects pertaining to these practices, and in particular the notion of murāqaba – or contemplation – deemed by some school of Sufism as the most direct and effective way to reach the Divine.

THE CONFLICT AND POST-CONFLICT ISLAMIZATION OF CHECHNYA AS SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHENOMENON

The article is aimed to reveal the influence of religious factor on the conflict and post-conflict societal and political spheres of the Chechen Republic. The study is based on the retrospective and discourse analysis of central and republican newspapers, interviews and speeches of political leaders, publications of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Chechen Republic, materials of opposition and hostile Internet resources. The study identifies several phases of the Islamization of Chechnya: 1) an attempt to create an Islamic state during the struggle for sovereignty; 2) the choice of Akhmad Kadyrov in favor of loyalty to the federal center and adherence to traditional Islam in defiance of the Wahhabi project; 3) Wahhabism, which had not taken root in Chechnya, went into the cyber underground, and its supporters joined the “Global Jihad”; 4) today’s penetration of traditional Islam into social (school, family, gender relations) and political (local and regional administration, international relations) life of the republic. The restoration of the role of Islam as an important social, moral and political regulator demonstrates the possibility of new gaps between secular society and the political system of modern Russia and Chechnya as a part of the country.

Peta Perkembangan Wacana Intelektual Islam Nusantara Abad VII-XXI: Sebuah Analisis Historis

Basically, the development of Islamic intellectual discourse in the archipelago is can’t be separated from the gradual wave of Islamization by preachers from the outside, either from their status as traders, immigrants, or others. At the beginning of the arrival of Islam in the 7th century, intellectual traditions still seemed to be blurred and reaped the point of progress from around the 13th to the 21st. This article uses the historical method of thought Kuntowijoyo in an effort to explore in-depth studies regarding the dynamics of the flow of Islamic intellectual discourse in the archipelago. From the historical data analysis process, the result shows that the map of the development of the Islamic intellectual discourse in the archipelago can be classified typologically based on the period and the background of the area covering it, including: 1) early Islamic intellectual discourse in the archipelago (Mystic Islam 7th – 17th century ), 2) Islamic intellectual discourse during colonialism (traditional Islam versus modern Islam in the 16th - 19th century), 3) Islamic intellectual discourse in the period of independence (political Islam to cultural Islam in the 19th - 20th century), and 4) discourse Islamic intellectuals in the reform era (Right Islam and Left Islam 20th – 21st centuries).

Resolving the conflict between traditional Islam and human rights: A comparative study of Mahmoud Mohammed Taha’s and Mohsen Kadivar’s views

In the recent decades, many Muslim intellectuals have devoted their intellectual efforts to reconstructing the jurisprudence through a new interpretation of Islam in order to solve the problem of human rights. While they have mostly tried to find a solution based on Ijtihad in derivation of Shari’a, Mahmoud Mohammad Taha and Mohsen Kadivar have asked for structural Ijtihad, presenting reversed and rational abrogation theories. In the current article, the researcher aims to focus on three main questions: Why do they believe that traditional jurisprudence and Ijtihad in derivatives are not able to solve the conflict between Islam and human rights? What are the most important governing principles in the corrective theory of each thinker, and how can their proposed theories lead to the reconciliation of Islam and human rights? And finally, what are the most fundamental principles and common features that lie in the theory of the two thinkers?

Prospects and Threats of Radicalization and Combating It. Heretical Thoughts. Based on the Work of Dr. Arne Seifert

This article focuses on the discussion with Dr. Seifert’s work “Civil Opposition to Religious Radicalism in Central Asia” (2020). The author, being supportive of many dr. Seifert’s theses, disagreed with his actual division of Islam into the so-called “good” traditional Islam (moderate, flexible, and compatible with the secular state) and the “bad” radical Islam, which denies secular values and therefore should be marginalised. Based on the results of her own field research, the author demonstrates, that modern Islamic fundamentalist communities are diverse in their goals and positioning, and their religious outlook does not unequivocally determine their political agenda. Fundamentalist Islam can also be the instrument not only of the negative, but also of the positive adaptation to the post-communist crisis. The author also stresses that the desire to suppress alternative outlook to safeguard the secular basics of society constitutes the internal threat to liberal and democratic values.

ETHNIC AND CONFESSIONAL IN ISLAM: IS “TRUE ISLAM” SO RELIGIOUSLY PURE?

Since the 1980s of the 20 century ideology, and then the practice of the so-called “Pure Islam” began, under external influence, to sneak actively to the territory of Russia. Its adherents entered into irreconcilable confrontation with the supporters of traditional Islam and it resulted in the emergence and development of religious and political extremism and terrorism under the guise of Moslem beliefs. In this regard, it seems relevant to find out whether the so-called “pure Islam,” free from the influence of ethnicity and traditional values really exists.

«TRADITIONAL ISLAM» IN THE DISCOURSE OF IMAMS OF THE REPUBLIC OF BASHKORTOSTAN

The issue of «traditional Islam» occupies an important place in the worldview of the Muslim Ummah in Russia. In this article, through survey questioning the Islamic ministers of religious organizations in the Republic of Bashkortostan, we consider the discursive practices of forming knowledge about Islam in a modern multireligious society. An analysis of the statements of representatives of the social and professional group of spiritual leaders of the republic demonstrates a lack of a common understanding regarding the concept of «traditional Islam», which has become one of the most important subjects of discussion in the Muslim community of Russia.