Note: / As a result of its military campaigns for religious and political reform during the latter half ot the eighteenth century, the Su'udi principality at the al-Dir'iyah developed into a powerful state. It first brought the districts of central Arabia under its control and later annexed the region of al-Hasa. [...]

Jan KOCNA, Development of trade routes in Maka during the Hellenistic period and in the early Principate, master's thesis, FF UK, Prague 2019 This master's thesis aims to analyse the trade routes network of ancient Maka during the last three c. BC and first c. AD. In the course of this time frame the discussed region, covering the majority of land area of the contemporary United Arab Emirates and the northern Oman, enjoyed the benefits of a wide range of various cross-cultural and commercial contacts and constituted a key junction between India, Mesopotamia and Arabia proper. In a phased manner, the individual chapters will introduce each of the different elements contributing to the structure of the whole trade apparatus, and, on the basis of available (e. g. archaeological) data, attempt to designate the character of the position of specific Makan centers within the broader system of long-distance trade mechanisms. Both long-distance trade transformation processes emanating from the constant changes in Makan political vicinity and reorientation of originally mostly caravan driven trade to the maritime one will be brought into consideration. The observed phenomena will include variation in the arrangement of central import/export markets, or successive adjustments of the basic commodity groups and...

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In early 2001, as I began exploring the role of religion in conflict, I came across a declaration by a then little-known leader, Osama bin Laden, and his fellows. That declaration was of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders.1 Many analysts now see it as one of the founding documents of al Qaeda, the amorphous terrorist umbrella group. The purpose of the declaration was to issue a fatwa that, because United States troops were stationed in the holy Arabian peninsula and threatened Muslims, particularly in Iraq, it was every Muslim¿s duty ¿to kill the Americans and their allies ¿ civilians and military ¿ ... in any country in which it is possible to do it.¿ Of course, the first thing that struck me, as an American, was that here was a group that wished to kill me solely because of my birthplace. They did not seem to care that I might not support specific actions of my government, even if I supported that government generally. Nor was there any discussion of whether methods other than violence might be more useful in persuading my fellow citizens as to the justice of their cause. I wondered, as a student of peace studies, what I could do in the face of such seemingly implacable hatred. The second thing that struck me about the declaration was its language. I noticed, in particular, a certain flourish that one does not often find in political analysis. The image that ¿nations are attacking Muslims like people fighting over a plate of food¿ has always stayed in my mind because the simple image has such rhetorical power. I also noticed, in accordance with my research interests, the use of religious teachings as a justification for violence. Yet poetic rhetoric and religious dogma were not the only contents of that declaration. Bin Laden and his fellows made coherent political points. They cited as 1 bin Laden, Osama; al-Zawahiri, Ayman; Taha, Abu-Yasir Rifa¿i Ahmad; Hamzah, Mir; Rahman, Fazlul, 1998, ¿Nass Bayan al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Alamiyah li-Jihad al-Yahud wa-al-Salibiyin¿ (¿Declaraton of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders¿), al-Quds al-Arabi (UK) 9(2732), 23 Feb.: 3, <data.alquds.co.uk/Alquds/1998/02Feb/23%2520Feb% 2520Mon/QudsPage03.pdf>. Cornell University Library hosts an English translation and a photocopy of the original at <www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/wif.htm> and <./fatw2.htm>, respectively (all web addresses as at 27 Jan. 2005). examples of the harm caused by the United States: the post-Gulf War presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, ¿dictating to its rulers [and] humiliating its people;¿ the continued bombing of Iraq ¿even though all [Saudi] rulers are against their territories being used to that end;¿ and, finally, the way that these actions contributed to the security of Israel by weakening Arab nations. Thus, beneath its religious expression the declaration contained political points with which I could engage. Now, as I categorically oppose the use of violence, I unreservedly reject the conclusion of the fatwa. Moreover, I do not assume that a single statement is evidence of this group¿s true intent. It may very well be the case, as analysts more versed in their politics than I have argued, that al Qaeda¿s real goal is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. Its affiliation with Afghanistan¿s Taliban certainly supports this argument. In spite of these things, though, their use of political arguments meant they were trying to reach an audience that cared about such things. I could address that audience as well, and try to propose different courses of action that would address the same concerns. Thus, I could step outside of my original framework, in which I envisioned implacable hatred, and argue for nonviolent ways of addressing the issues. Yet the religious idiom of the declaration was also an important factor. Given that the declaration addressed Muslims as Muslims, by only trying to argue political points with them I might alienate people for whom the religious language meant a great deal. Already in my research I had come to the conclusion, drawing on R. Scott Appleby¿s The Ambivalence of the Sacred,2 that the people best placed to show the peaceful potential of a religion are believers in that religion. I am not, however, religious. Thus, this conclusion left me with no recourse in the face of the religious aspects of conflict. I began to wonder what role a nonreligious ¿ or, as I came to think of myself, a secular ¿ person could play in peacemaking when religion is an element of a conflict. Moreover, 2 Appleby, R. Scott, 2000, The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield). I saw that different seculars would have different reactions to bin Laden¿s arguments. Some would reject the message because of the religious medium. Some, like I first did, would perceive the sociopolitical elements but continue to ignore the religious language. Others, as I also briefly did, might consider the religious element but leave out the issue of their own secular nature. Yet no perspective provided a good model for what I, as a secular, might do. Thus, the goal of my thesis became to analyze the various models of secularity, find the most beneficial principles, and construct from these a model for secular best practice. That Osama bin Laden¿s words should catalyze this thesis brings me to two important points. First, this is not a thesis about Islam. If a disproportionate number of the examples that I use throughout the thesis focus on Islam, this should not indicate that Islam deserves special attention concerning conflict and violence. Rather, the focus here is always on secularity and secular responses to religion in situations of conflict. However, particularly after September 11th, the largely secular policy and scholarly establishments of Europe and North America have produced a great deal of material concerning Islam. Thus, while I sought out more diverse sources dealing with secularity, I often used the religion most commented on by secular sources as an exemplar. That leads to the second point, which is that this is not a thesis about terrorism. Given its scope and the place of religion in it, most obvious case study to use in this thesis is the ¿war on terror¿ ¿ which I call such for ease of use, as that is what the Western media generally call it, not because I think it is an adequate designation. I will cover this topic in the final chapter, but because the thesis is about peace and violence in conflict, and not about specific forms of violence, it will not figure elsewhere. Because this thesis is concerned with violence and, specifically, with the promotion of peace, it has an overt prescriptive element. This stems in large part from my Peace Studies background. Peace Studies entails a normative commitment to pursue peaceful situations through nonviolent means. Thus, at several points I actively enjoin readers to take or not take certain types of action because, by my analysis, that is the best way to promote peaceful relationships. More generally, by the title of this thesis, I ask readers to ¿rethink secular and sacred¿ ¿ both what these terms mean, and more importantly how they relate to one another. In particular, this goal leads me to avoid discussing the concept of tolerance. Tolerance is often held to be a virtue by those who seek to promote nonconfrontational religious interaction. However, as many other writers have pointed out, the word ¿tolerance¿ itself stems from physiological and biological studies, where it means the ability to withstand negative factors, such as poisons or drugs.3 Thus I find that its social meaning is essentially negative, denoting forbearance of what one finds repugnant. While in a very limited sense I feel that tolerance is necessary, it is only as a first step to actively engaging with what one might at first find off-putting. By itself, tolerance does not encourage one to rethink one¿s relationship with something, and thus a nonconfrontational situation is not necessarily a peaceful one. As I researched the thesis, although I was aware of academic work concerning tolerance, I found that none of it contributed to my goals. Thus, the thesis took shape in such a way that a treatment of tolerance was unnecessary. As a final note I would like to mention another topic that did not fit into this thesis, which I regard as something of a loss ¿ gender. During my research, I was also aware of work in this field, and, again, the structure of this thesis is such that it was not necessary to mention it explicitly. However, if there is one single issue that cuts across religious and secular groups, as well as the conflicts I analyze, it is the effect of gender roles and issues. Yet the very breadth of the topic put me in a bind ¿ either I could thoroughly treat it and produce a much different thesis, or I could cursorily treat it, perhaps in the chapter on theory and methodology. I chose to do neither, because the first option would have obscured the value that this thesis does have, and the second would have been a paltry treatment of such a weighty topic. However, the theoretical schools I use 3 See, for example, the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1st 1933), Simpson, J.A., and Weiner, E.S.C., co-eds., in. al. (Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1989), v. 18, pp. 199-200. in this thesis are amenable to a gendered interpretation. This is particularly the case with integral theory, the chief proponent of which, Ken Wilber, has addressed gender issues in a number of his primary works. One can easily discern what I define in this thesis as a strong-open analysis in his analysis of feminisms. He notes both the strength of the radical feminist perspective that champions female distinctiveness as well as the desire of liberal feminists to open social and political spheres traditionally closed to women, and seeks to bring them together.4 Thus, I am confident that this thesis can bolster future research that specifically addresses gender issues as they arise in conflicts with a religious element.

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Les trois monothéismes conçoivent un Dieu créateur et ordonnateur du monde, révélé dans l’histoire, garant de toute justice et de tout équilibre, et déterminant l’autorité et les systèmes d’autorités. La théologie a informé le droit et les lois, l’économie et l’éthique des personnes et des États. L’islam, loin d’être homogénéisé dans ses approches économiques, financières et réglementaires, révèle par le biais d’un exemple concret, par l’industrie des services financiers islamiques, les différentes facettes de ce qu’est l’autorité dans un contexte musulman, international et en pleine évolution. Prenant en compte la dynamique des questions sectaires, géographiques et interprétatives, la thèse analyse cette force déterminante que sont les « autorités » en finance islamique. Ces dernières semblent déterminer la finance islamique dans ses formes les plus tangibles, en structurant des produits financiers islamiques. L’analyse comporte d’abord une approche théorique, ensuite une étude comparée des facteurs qui déterminent les décisions prises lors de la structuration de produits financiers islamiques. Ces structures sont en effet fondées sur des contrats financiers conformes aux principes de la sharia. Leur approbation par des membres de conseils de la sharia est-elle déterminée par une autorité régionale, par des autorités internationales ou par des autorités de régulation ? Ces autorités sont-elles conventionnelles ou religieuses ? Afin de bien évaluer la problématique non seulement de l’autorité en tant que telle mais aussi de l’équilibre complexe entre les différentes autorités, nous développons une analyse comparée du système de structuration des produits financiers islamiques par les autorités concernées, en fonction des zones géographiques, au moyen d’un échantillon de 121 membres de conseils de la sharia couvrant l’approbation de produits financiers islamiques au sein de 243 institutions financières islamiques sur 35 pays. / The three monotheistic religions refer to a God who is the all-powerful creator of all that exists, revealed throughout history, guarantor of justice and fairness, who is the ultimate moral authority. Theology advises some of the laws, economics and ethics of individuals and of states. Islam is not homogeneous in its economic, financial and regulatory approaches. However, through the financial services industry, it reveals in a tangible manner various facets of authority across Muslim contexts. These include contexts that are international and highly dynamic. Taking into account the delicate balance between sectarian, geographic and interpretive facets, the thesis analyses the determining forces that we refer to as authorities in Islamic finance. These contribute to the Islamic finance industry in its most tangible form in the structuring of Islamic financial products. Analysis is carried out initially theoretically. It is followed by a comparative study of factors affecting decisions pertaining to the structuring of Islamic financial products. These structures are based on financial contracts that conform to the principles of the Sharia. Is approval by Sharia board members fashioned by a regional authority, by international authorities, or by regulatory authorities? Are these authorities conventional or religious? We address the question as it pertains to the dynamics between various types of authority. We develop a comparative analysis of the approach taken in structuring Islamic financial products, according to geographical areas related to a sample of 121 Sharia board members covering Islamic financial products for 243 Islamic financial institutions in 35 countries.