Islamic Studies – serie

Sadik Al-Azm (1934-2016) was one of the foremost Arab public intellectuals, who offered innovative, often controversial challenges to conventional narratives on Islam and the West, Secularism, Orientalism, and the Israel-Palestine issue. This fourth and final volume of his works in English includes his essays on:Faith and Reason in Islam: Strategies in the Education of Muslim CommunitiesSharia from a Secular Perspective Crossing Borders: Orientalism, lslamism and PostmodernismThe Concept of Civil Society in Relation to the 'Arab Spring'Statement by 99 Syrian Intellectuals ("Charta 99")Goethe Medal 2015 Acceptance Speech

This book is a fascinating exploration of how God speaks to humanity and how Muslims engage with Divine discourse. Produced by the International Foundation for Muslim Theology, this multi-disciplinary volume brings together Muslim scholars from diverse backgrounds to examine revelation, prophethood, and the role of angels as mediators of Divine self-disclosure.More than an abstract theological discussion, this book is the first in a planned series aimed at reinvigorating ‘God-talk’ among Muslims—both academics and laypeople—by grounding theological inquiry in the lived reality of faith. With a focus on Islam’s six principles of belief, the IFMT’s “God-talk project” addresses the challenges of secularization and the marginalization of theology in both academia and daily life. Divine Revelation and Communication marks a vital first step in reviving Muslim theology as a meaningful, dynamic discourse that speaks to the spiritual and existential concerns of modern believers.The International Foundation for Muslim Theology promotes excellence in the study and teaching of Muslim theology – both speculative and pastoral – by facilitating and shaping Muslim theological thought, conversation and community.

Prevailing assumptions posit that Islamic rituals are inextricably bound to corporeal enactments and spatial constraints. This study, however, critically interrogates such presuppositions, challenging the notion that ritual praxis necessitates physical embodiment. A common misconception is that the conceptualization of Islamic rituals divorced from spatiality and physicality is a contemporary phenomenon, catalysed by the exigencies of the Covid-19 pandemic or formulated by modern Muslim intellectuals. This research, however, dismantles this anachronistic view by tracing the origins of such conceptualizations to the 9th century, wherein early Muslim jurists theorized non-physical ritual practices such as the “Heart Prayer” and the “Ship Prayer.”Grounded in rigorous legal and philosophical analysis, this study offers a comprehensive reassessment of the historical evolution of ritual performance, illuminating its fluidity rather than its presumed immutability. The investigation extends beyond theoretical inquiry to examine the broader ramifications of cyber-Islamic rituals, interrogating their implications for religious authority, the construction of authenticity, and communal identity formation. Through empirically substantiated case studies of Sunni and Sufi communities in both Egypt and the United States, this work situates contemporary digital ritual practices within a historically and legally nuanced framework, thus making a substantive contribution to scholarly discourse on the transformation of Islamic rituality.

At the remote crossroads of Central Asia, the Tajiks of Tashkurgan navigate life as a small minority at the cultural and political margins of China. Legal Pluralism and the Tajik Experience of Xinjiang explores how this community sustains internal order and cultural identity under the pressures of a powerful, top-down state.Drawing on rich ethnographic fieldwork (2010–2011) and the author’s insights as a former state prosecutor in Xinjiang, the book examines how disputes are managed through a mix of formal law and informal mechanisms rooted in Tajik values and traditions. Central to this system is a “harmony ideology”, a cultural commitment to avoiding open conflict. While this fosters stability and autonomy, it also reproduces internal inequalities along lines of gender, age, and hierarchy.Through compelling case studies, the author highlights the complex interplay between state law, local norms, and the micropolitics of everyday life. It is a vivid study of identity, morality, and resilience at the geo-cultural margins of an authoritarian state.