De-Historicizing (Mainstream) Ottoman Historiography on Tanzimat and Tahdith: Jus Gentium and Pax Britannica ViolateOsmanli Sovereignty in Arabia

The (secular-humanist) philosophical theology governing (positivist) disciplines such as International Law and International Relations precludes a priori any communicative examination of how the exclusion of Arab-Ottoman jurisprudence is necessary for the ontological coherence of jurisprudent concepts such as society and sovereignty, together with teleological narratives constellating the “Age of Reason” such as modernity and civilization. The exercise of sovereignty by the British Crown—in 19th and 20th century Arabia—consisted of (positivist) legal doctrines comprising “scientific processes” denying Ottoman legal sovereignty, thereby proceeding to “order” societies situated in Dar al-Islam and “detach” Ottoman-Arab subjects from their Ummah. This “rational exercise” of power by the British Crown—mythologizing an unbridgeable epistemological gap between a Latin-European subject as civic and an objectified Ottoman-Arab as despotic—legalized (regulatory) measures referencing ethno/sect-centric paradigms which not only “deported” Ottoman-Arab ijtihad (Eng. legal reasoning and exegetic hermeneutics) from the realm of “international law”, but also rationalized geographic demarcations and demographic alterations across Ottoman-Arab vilayets. Both inter-related disciplines, therefore, affirm an “exclusionary self-image” when dealing with “foreign epistemologies” by transforming “cultural difference” into “legal difference”, thus suing that it is in the protection of jus gentium that “recognized sovereigns” exercise redeeming measures on “Turks”, “Moors”, or “Arabs”. It is precisely the knowledge lost ensuing from such irreflexive “positivist image” that this legal-historical research seeks to deconstruct by moving beyond a myopic analysis claiming Ottoman-Arab ‘Umran (Eng. civilization) as homme malade (i.e., sick man); or that the Caliphate attempted but failed to become reasonable during the 18th and 19th century because it adhered to Arab-Islamic philosophical theology. Therefore, this research commits to deconstructing “mainstream” Ottoman historiography claiming that tanzimat (Eng. reorganization) and tahdith (Eng. modernization) were simply “degenerative periods” affirming the temporal “backwardness” of Ottoman civilization and/or the innate incapacity of its epistemology in furnishing a (modern) civil society.

The Legal Principles of Bethlehem & Operation Timber Sycamore: The “Islamist Winter” Pre-Emptively Targets “Arab Life” by Hiring “Arab Barbarians”

The following legal-historical research is critical of “Islamist” narratives and their desacralized reverberations claiming that Arab-Muslim receptivity to terror is axiomatic to “cultural experiences” figuring subjects conforming to Arab-Islamic philosophical theology. The critique is founded on deconstructing—while adopting a Third World Approach to International Law (TWAIL)—the (im)moral consequences resulting from such rhetoric interpreting the Arab uprising of 2011 from the early days as certainly metamorphosing into an “Islamist Winter”. This secular-humanist hypostasis reminded critics that International Law and International Relations continues to assert that Latin-European philosophical theology furnishes the exclusive temporal coordinates required to attain “modernity” as telos of history and “civil society” as ethos of governance. In addition, the research highlights that such culturalist assertation—separating between law and morality—tolerates secular logic decriminalizing acts patently violating International Law since essentializing Arab-Muslims as temporally positioned “outside law” provides liberal-secular modernity ontological security. Put differently, “culture talk” affirms that since a secular-humanist imaginary of historical evolution stipulates that it is “inevitable” and “natural” that any “non-secular” Arab protests will unavoidably lead to lawlessness, it therefore becomes imperative to suspiciously approach the “Islamist” narrative of 2011 thus deconstructing the formulation of juridical doctrines (i.e., Bethlehem Legal Principles) decriminalizing acts arising from a principle of pre-emption “moralizing” demographic and geographic alterations (i.e., Operation Timber Sycamore) across Arabia. The research concludes that jus gentium continues to be characterized by a temporal inclusive exclusion with its redemptive ramifications—authorized by sovereign power—catalyzing “epistemic violence” resulting in en-masse exodus and slayed bodies across Arabia.

SEXUALITY AND MONOGAMY: UNEARTHING MELODRAMA FORMULA IN ALICE SEBOLD’S "THE LOVELY BONES"

Every popular literature has a particular formula for certain intrinsic elements such as favorite plots, stereotyped characters, and accepted ideas. Therefore, the genre is widely accepted by readers. It represents familiar shared images and meanings that assert an ongoing continuity of values. Therefore, this study aims: (1) to elucidate the kind of melodrama formula used that makes a novel popular and widely accepted, and dramatizes moral value shared by its readers, and (2) to make justification on the cultural behavior or universal pattern that may underline its popularity. The object of the study is The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Descriptive analysis is used to explore the data with the Concept of Formula by Cawelti that serves as the theory. Based on the data analysis, the conclusions draw as follows. First, conventions and inventions of the social melodrama genre are used to dramatize sexuality in which it’s identified through the theme. Second, this shared moral value turns from traditional religious into the secular humanist world. However, this change remains to defense a monogamous life and family-oriented relationship.

Humanism in Europe

This chapter addresses secular humanism in Europe and the way it is “lived” by and within its major institutions and organizations. It examines how national and international secular humanist bodies founded after World War II took up, cultivated, and transformed free-religious, free-thought, ethical, atheist, and rationalist roots from nineteenth century Europe and adjusted them to changing social, cultural, and political environments. Giving examples from some selected national contexts, the development of a nonreligious Humanism in Europe exemplifies what Wohlrab-Sahr and Burchardt call “Multiple Secularities”: different local or national trajectories produced a variety of cultures of secularity and, thus, different understandings of secular humanism. Apart from this cultural historization, the chapter reconstructs two transnational, ideal types of secular humanism, the social practice type, and the secularist pressure group type. These types share similar worldviews and values, but have to be distinguished in terms of organizational forms, practices, and especially policy.

Choosing ourselves, we choose all people ...

The article is devoted to the secular type of modern humanism, because it declares a person as the highest value, has a self-sufficient existence, independent from supernatural forces, and reflects the modern spiritual situation of the time. Secular humanism advocates the use of reason, justice, and equality. It proposes that only free using reason as a guide is the best capable of developing values that succeed in satisfying individual happiness and serving human interests. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the secular humanist world-view as well as show that it champions rationalism and irrationalism that have both positive and serious negative consequences in our society. The author proposes to replace the ethical relativism of secular humanism with a more rigid ideology – the ethical normativism.

Divine Violence: The Ethics and Aesthetics of the Goddess-woman in the Abused Goddess Ad Campaign

In the fall of 2013, an ad campaign from the Mumbai-based agency Taproot exploded in popularity on social media and was featured on a variety of news sites, particularly in India and the United States. The campaign, known as the Abused Goddess ads, depicted an iteration of the Goddess most accurately characterized as a Goddess-woman, a divine-human hybrid figure possessing both the divine power of shakti and the vulnerability of human women. Stylized in the “canonical” images of the Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Durga, the Goddess-women were shown as bruised victims of domestic violence. The Abused Goddess ads precipitated and codified the contemporary depictions of the Goddess-woman whose later iterations appear in the work of numerous digital artists. In particular, the ads exemplify an aesthetic that harnesses the power of shame and the mingling of gazes to further a secular-humanist ethic at the expense of devotional experience.

The Roles of Corporate Governance Towards Value-Oriented Islamic Finance Practices

This paper argues that while significant concerns have been invoked on the material aspects of Islamic finance such as financial growth and products sophistication, it is nevertheless observed that equal emphasizes have not been given on social objectives of Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) as part of its value-oriented frameworks. In the absence of extensive discourse on corporate governance and its roles on CSR, this paper attempts to highlight the importance of corporate governance in stimulating the social function of IFIs within the Islamic ethical dimension paradigm. This paper aims at expanding the normative objective function of IFIs by advocating corporate social responsibility (CSR) via strengthening the corporate governance framework. Unlike the western concept of corporate governance, which is based on the western business morality that derived from “secular humanist”, this paper suggests that corporate governance in IFIs is founded on the epistemological aspect of Tawhid, Shari’ah and ethics. This paper employs theoretical and case study research method to develop understanding and to advocate the notion of value oriented Islamic finance practices. The study utilizes descriptive, comparative and critical analysis approaches in extracting and analyzing the information.

The Roles of Corporate Governance Towards Value-Oriented Islamic Finance Practices

This paper argues that while significant concerns have been invoked on the material aspects of Islamic finance such as financial growth and products sophistication, it is nevertheless observed that equal emphasizes have not been given on social objectives of Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) as part of its value-oriented frameworks. In the absence of extensive discourse on corporate governance and its roles on CSR, this paper attempts to highlight the importance of corporate governance in stimulating the social function of IFIs within the Islamic ethical dimension paradigm. This paper aims at expanding the normative objective function of IFIs by advocating corporate social responsibility (CSR) via strengthening the corporate governance framework. Unlike the western concept of corporate governance, which is based on the western business morality that derived from “secular humanist”, this paper suggests that corporate governance in IFIs is founded on the epistemological aspect of Tawhid, Shari’ah and ethics. This paper employs theoretical and case study research method to develop understanding and to advocate the notion of value oriented Islamic finance practices. The study utilizes descriptive, comparative and critical analysis approaches in extracting and analyzing the information.

Creatures Bound for Glory: Biotechnological Enhancement and Visions of Human Flourishing

The human enhancement debate is fundamentally based on divergent ideals of human flourishing. Using the complementary, though often contrasting, foci of creaturehood and deification as fundamental to the good life, we examine these visions of human flourishing inherent in transhumanist, secular humanist and critical posthumanist positions on human enhancement. We argue that the theological anthropologies that respond to human enhancement and these other ideologies tend to emphasise either creaturehood or deification to the neglect or detriment of the other. We propose in response that understanding humans as creatures bound for glory integrates both dimensions of the human being into the one grand vision of flourishing God has for humanity.