In any scientific endeavour, or considered as such, methodology and epistemology are paramount, not to mention ontology: what is the nature of the reality that we are studying? What is the nature of the knowledge that is being produced and its rationality? What are the methods applied to the field of study? However, when it to comes to "Islam", the "Middle East", or the "Orient", the starting points are assumptions and truisms, particularly in "scientific" fields such as Political Science or International Relations, especially when the subject is the relation between politics and religion. In the last few decades, Islam has become a central point of reference for a wide range of political activities, arguments and opposition movements. The term "political Islam", or "Islamism", has been adopted by many scholars in order to identify this seemingly unprecedented irruption of Islamic religion into the secular domain of politics and thus to distinguish these practices from the forms of personal piety, belief, and ritual conventionally subsumed in Western scholarship under the unmarked category "Islam". There have been tremendous, innumerable websites, voluminous publications and many projects on "Islamism(s)" and "Post-Islamism(s)", the idea that political Islam had failed. However, when reality did not confirm that prediction, a new term was coined: "neo-Islamism". This paper aims to explore the thesis that, as in other fields, these labels are nothing more than an attempt by Area Studies within Western academia to mould reality according to preconceived ideas and according to policy-oriented circles and funded by governmental organizations, and that, when dealing with "Islam" and "politics", we are urgently in need of a different epistemology. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Analysing the book The Proposed Political, Legal, and Social Reforms in the Ottoman Empire and Other Mohammadan States (1883) and undertaking a historical contextualization, this paper problematizes the epistemis and epistemological framework underlying the articulation of Chiragh 'Ali's discourse, focusing on how he viewed the Qur'an and Shari'a according to the intellectual debates in the 19th century. Often refuting, in his writings, missionary and Orientalist criticisms of Islam as being hostile to reason and incapable of reform, Chiragh 'Ali rather argued that the Islamic legal system and schools were human institutions capable of modification. While defending that the Qur'an taught religious doctrine and rules for morality, Chiragh 'Ali held the opinion that it did not support a detailed code of immutable civil law or dictate a specific political system, drawing on an examination of the traditional sources of the Islamic law and methods to overcome the rigidity of traditional theologians. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Analysing the book The Proposed Political, Legal, and Social Reforms in the Ottoman Empire and Other Mohammadan States (1883) and undertaking a historical contextualization, this paper problematizes the epistemis and epistemological framework underlying the articulation of Chiragh 'Ali's discourse, focusing on how he viewed the Qur'an and Shari'a according to the intellectual debates in the 19th century. Often refuting, in his writings, missionary and Orientalist criticisms of Islam as being hostile to reason and incapable of reform, Chiragh 'Ali rather argued that the Islamic legal system and schools were human institutions capable of modification. While defending that the Qur'an taught religious doctrine and rules for morality, Chiragh 'Ali held the opinion that it did not support a detailed code of immutable civil law or dictate a specific political system, drawing on an examination of the traditional sources of the Islamic law and methods to overcome the rigidity of traditional theologians.
After the Indian Mutiny of 1857‑1858, also known as the Sepoy Revolt or Uprising, and the end of the Mughal Dynasty, India became under the direct rule of the British Government, and there were a considerable number of Muslim political intellectuals who sought to reform and revitalize Islam in India and as a whole. The responses were various and the debates would surpass geographical boundaries, anticipating questions which are relevant even nowadays, like gender relations, new forms of religious institutionalization and the role of religion in politics. The aim of this paper is to analyze the thought of Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817‑1898) and the educational impacts of his Muhammadan Anglo‑Oriental College, also known as the Aligarh Movement. ; Após o Motim de 1857‑1858, também conhecido como a Revolta ou Rebelião dos Cipaios, e o fim da Dinastia Mogol, a Índia passou a estar sob o controlo directo do governo britânico, e houve um número considerável de intelectuais políticos muçulmanos que procuraram reformar e revitalizar o Islão na Índia e como um todo. As respostas foram várias e os debates ultrapassariam fronteiras geográficas e antecipariam questões que são revelantes ainda hoje em dia, como as relações de género, novas formas de institucionalização religiosa ou o papel da religião na política. O objectivo deste artigo é o de analisar o pensamento de Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817‑1898) e os impactos educacionais do seu Muhammadan Anglo‑Oriental College, também conhecido como o Movimento de Aligarh.
After the Indian Mutiny of 1857‑1858,also known as the Sepoy Revolt or Uprising, and the end of the MughalDynasty, India became under the direct rule of the British Government, and there were a considerable number ofMuslim political intellectuals who sought to reform and revitalize Islam in India and as a whole. The responses werevarious and the debates would surpass geographical boundaries, anticipating questions which are relevant evennowadays, like gender relations, new forms of religious institutionalization and the role of religion in politics. Theaim of this paper is to analyze the thought of Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817‑1898)and the educational impacts of hisMuhammadan Anglo‑OrientalCollege, also known as the Aligarh Movement. ; Após o Motim de 1857‑1858,também conhecido como a Revolta ou Rebelião dos Cipaios, e o fim daDinastia Mogol, a Índia passou a estar sob o controlo directo do governo britânico, e houve um número considerávelde intelectuais políticos muçulmanos que procuraram reformar e revitalizar o Islão na Índia e como um todo. Asrespostas foram várias e os debates ultrapassariam fronteiras geográficas e antecipariam questões que são revelantesainda hoje em dia, como as relações de género, novas formas de institucionalização religiosa ou o papel da religiãona política. O objectivo deste artigo é o de analisar o pensamento de Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817‑1898)e os impactos educacionais do seu Muhammadan Anglo‑OrientalCollege, também conhecido como o Movimento de Aligarh.
This edited volume conceives of International Relations (IR) not as a unilateral project, but more as an intellectual platform. Its contributors explore Islamic contributions to this field, addressing the theories and practices of the Islamic civilization and of Muslim societies with regards to international affairs and to the discipline of IR. (Publisher's description)