JournalTOCs

Mathal/Mashal : Journal of Islamic and Judaic Multidisciplinary Studies
Number of Followers: 5

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 2168-538X
Published by U of Iowa

[9 journals]

The Shapers of Memory: The Theatrics of Islamic Historiography
- Authors: Aaron M. Hagler
  Abstract: This paper employs and describes an experimental methodology of viewing medieval Arabic authors through the lens of stage actor performance theory. In particular, it argues that semi-canonical writings, such as al-Ṭabarī’s History of the Prophets and Kings, become the “script” that later authors, such as Ibn al-Athīr and Ibn Kathīr “perform” as actors. This methodology is novel, and argues that by examining the changes authors made to narratives presented in earlier Arabic texts, we can draw important conclusions about the authors’ opinions of the relative importance of narrative elements, the authors’ literary-narrative strategies for endowing memories with meaning, and establish each author's "super-objective" (his primary thematic or narrative concerns).
  PubDate: Thu, 17 May 2018 18:34:20 PDT
The Moroccan Jurist al-Khamlīshī: Can a Woman Become a
Legislator (Mujtahid)?
- Authors: Nayel A. Badareen 2564414
  Abstract: The idea of deducing legal rulings in Islamic law, or ijtihād, as well as the qualifications of the person who practices ijtihād, known as the mujtahid, has been a complex issue among Muslim ʿulamāʾ for centuries. Many Muslim ʿulamāʾ and Western scholars have maintained that the gate of ijtihād was closed. The title of mujtahid was therefore impossible to attain. The Moroccan intellectual al-Khamlīshī maintains that the strenuous conditions put forth by some of the Sunni jurists to qualify an individual to become a mujtahid actually contributed to the demise of ijtihād. These qualifications, according to al-Khamlīshī, were proven to be unachievable and stood as myriad obstacles in creating new generations to reform the old Islamic fiqh. This essay shows that, despite the extremely strenuous set of qualifications, through the writings of al-Khamlīshī, Moroccan women penetrated men’s domain in Islamic family law, breaking the long-standing monopoly men held therein.
  PubDate: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 11:15:39 PST
The Location of Memory: Diachronic and Synchronic Alibism and Hui
Identity.
- Authors: Ziad Bentahar
  Abstract: Among China’s various Muslim groups, the Hui stand out on the basis of their ethnicity, history and location, and are considered unlike the Turkic groups in Western territories. The Hui are not confined to a definite region but are present throughout China, and exist in continuous juxtaposition with other groups. For this reason, they determine their identity by simultaneous associations to an exogenous tradition that differentiates them from other Chinese groups, and to endogenous elements that situate them as inherently Chinese.This position of the Hui at the intersection of two presumably mutually-exclusive cultural spheres, namely Muslim and Chinese, results in mode of identity-formation, which I call alibism, and in which identity is founded on the basis of perpetual deferment to an alternative location.
  PubDate: Mon, 28 Mar 2016 18:15:33 PDT
Blogging, Nationhood, and the Egyptian Revolution: Rethinking
Bridgeblogging
- Authors: Katherine R. Sacco
  Abstract: The common interpretation of “bridgeblogs,” or blogs written in English by bloggers in countries where English is not the primary audience, understands them as primarily serving to explain the local political context for an international audience. This article aims to complicate the existing understanding of bridgeblogs through ethnographic research into five Egyptian bridgeblogs. Specifically, this paper considers bloggers’ engagement in discussions about nationhood in 2011, in the wake of the Egyptian uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak. This paper argues that by participating in conversations about the future and shape of the Egyptian nation, bridgebloggers are highly engaged in domestic political networks, are dedicated to political causes within the country, and write for both domestic and international audiences.
  PubDate: Mon, 28 Sep 2015 08:00:26 PDT
Neither Fulul nor Ikhwan:The Thought of Abdul Rahman Yusuf and the Rise of
an Alternative Current in Post-Morsi Egypt
- Authors: Bader Mousa Al-Saif
  Abstract: Since independence, the military and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) have exerted unmatched influence and control over Egypt. However, an “alternative current” is on the rise. In this paper, first, I survey the role played by the military and the MB. Second, I highlight one of the voices of this alternative current, Abdul Rahman Yusuf. The evolution of his thought in post-July 2013 coup era unveils the difficulties facing this alternative current in competing with the well-entrenched voices of both the military and the MB. Notwithstanding such challenges, I argue that suggesting the existence and eventual resilience and popularity of an alternative current that politically and intellectually defies both the military and the MB in Egypt is not a far-fetched aspiration should the leaders of this current articulate their ideas with clarity, embrace genuine reform, celebrate diversity and difference as prerequisites for constructive societal and political pluralism.
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2015 06:10:24 PDT
Emigration as a Political Stance? Moroccan Migrants' Narratives of
Dignity, Human Rights and Minority Identities in Transnational Context
- Authors: Anna Virkama
  Abstract: The protest movements known as the Arab Spring brought the frustration and disappointment of the North African citizens with their governments to the world's attention. Five years after the Arab Spring, the issues of human rights and individual freedom remain important issues in the democratic transition of the Arab societies. Since the countries in North Africa have also been important migrant sending countries for decades, the connection between mass emigration and human right issues forms an interesting research area. This empirical article aims to bring a new perspective to the debate by analysing the narratives dignity, human rights and minority identities of 80 Moroccan migrants living in France. The article first identifies four particularly vulnerable groups among the migrants: women, disabled people, homosexuals and ethnic minorities. It demonstrates how the migration project in case of many study and labour migrant was also motivated by issues related to personal freedom and dignity. Finally, the article discusses the emerging forms of political participation, identities and connections in transnational context and argues for more research on the role of diasporas in the socio-cultural transformations in the North African societies.
  PubDate: Thu, 23 Jul 2015 08:10:18 PDT
The Independent Press after the "Moroccan Spring"
- Authors: HAMZA TAYEBI
  Abstract: The wave of Arab Spring that started in Tunisia and Egypt arrived to Morocco in 2011 paving the way to unprecedented organized mass-protests all over the country. Among the demands raised by the 20 February Movement protesters was the demand for free and independent media outlets, especially the press. King Mohammed VI, the Commander of the Faithful and the highest authority in Morocco, promised in a televised speech on March 9th to introduce "radical" and "genuine" constitutional reforms that would democratize the country. In fact, King Mohammed VI has so far succeeded in calming down and co-opting the demonstrations, but journalists and political activists still get fined if they trespass the Hudud[1]. In my short article, I will briefly contextualize the Moroccan independent press and discuss its status after the "Moroccan Spring" with an attempt to show, through cases of imprisoned journalists, the contradictions associated with the liberalization of speech in Morocco. One of the main arguments of my article is that the democratization of the press could never be achieved as long as the public discourse that brings monarchical powers and actions into question is illegal.
  PubDate: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 09:20:19 PDT
The Shi’a Spring: Shi’a Resistance and the Arab Spring
Movement in the GCC States
- Authors: Molly Patterson
  Abstract: AbstractThis paper asks the question: Are the GCC Shi‘a engaged in their own “Shi‘a Spring movement”, and, if so, what does this mean for the future of Shi‘a communities in the Arabian Gulf? While the “Arab Spring” is a movement that is shared among an entire ethno-linguistic group, Shi‘a protesters belong to a group that have be both politically and religiously marginalized in the modern GCC states. Shi‘a protesters face discrimination not only from GCC political authorities, but from GCC citizens, some of whom are fellow Arabs. In addition, this paper examines both the overt and more subtle forms of discrimination imposed on the GCC Shi‘a community during the first phases of the Arab Spring movement (2011-2013).
  PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2015 11:35:22 PDT
Political Islamism in Tunisia: A History of Repression and a Complex Forum
for Potential Change
- Authors: Sarah R. Louden
  Abstract: This paper argues that the growth and legalization of Political Islamism in Tunisia will naturally hinder the contemporary influence of violent extremism, leading to partnership and inclusion within a Democratic government. The basis for this claim rests on the idea that the condemnation and repression of Political Islamism in Tunisia historically backfired and led to the further underground radicalization of Tunisians, along with scores of human rights abuses by authorities. Specifically, this essay will focus on the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, the Salafist party Ansar al-Sharia, and their complex relationship to each other as well as to domestic and regional politics at large. Furthermore, this essay will examine the wide continuum of Political Islamism at present, including the Tunisian government’s most recent agenda regarding its response to violent extremism, terrorism and acts of vigilante violence. This essay advocates for the Tunisian government to continue to allow the participation of Islamist groups within the political arena while maintaining security, transparency, and accountability for the state and its citizens.
  PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2015 11:35:20 PDT
From Rights To Representation: Challenging Citizenship From The Margins
Post 2011
- Authors: Gal Levy
  Abstract: This study asks whether we are the same citizens as we were before the civil awakening that spilled over from tyrannical Arab states to core cities of the global economy and beyond. To address this question it offers an historical account of the role of New Social Movements, civil society, and deliberative and radical democracy as the three epistemic frameworks that have shaped the figure of the rights-bearing citizen, and which have conceived the neoliberal citizen as a choice driven individual. Taking the neoliberal shift in Israel of the 1980s as its point of departure, it then places the 2011 Tents’ Protest in the broader context of acts of resistance to the entrenchment of neoliberalism. This is followed by a thorough exploration of two post-2011 Israeli activist groups in Jewish and Arab-Palestinian societies respectively, allowing voices and new conceptions of citizenship that had arisen from the margins of the 2011 protest to come to the fore. In the final analysis, this exploration traces how the shift away from the conception of the citizen as a rights-bearing individual challenges neoliberal governmentality. It thus enables us to configure the image of a post-neoliberal citizen, one whose political subjectivity is grounded not in the discourse of rights, but rather in a new discourse of representation.
  PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2015 11:35:19 PDT