This study investigates Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s and Tariq Ramadan’s conceptualizations of European Islam centering on three thematic issues: “European-Muslim” identity and the role of Muslims in Europe, reform in Islam pertaining to fiqh and Islamic ethics, and the question of incompatibility of Sharia with the European cultural system. It produces a detailed critique of the scholars’ positions, analyzes the ways in which their approaches overlap and differ from one another, evaluates the extent to which they take into account in their thinking the socio-political realities of Islam and Muslims in the West, and determines the feasibility of their propositions in the European context. The study argues that their approaches are inhibited by impractical suggestions, rhetorical ambiguities, and unexplained gaps that leave room for disagreement beyond the scope of intra-Muslim debate, but various other components within their thinking can be taken as building blocks that can be assembled into a more functional model that is devoid of the inconsistencies and problems identified in the thesis. It recommends that future research on Islam and Muslims in the West inquire further into said limitations and produce a well-argued critique that can contribute to the contemporary Muslim discourse on European Islam and reform.

This subject of this thesis is Nuzhat al-nazar fī tawdīh Nukhbat al-fikar, a manual written by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalānī (d. 852/1449), outlining the science of prophetic traditions (‘ilm al-hadīth). The thesis aims to fulfill two tasks. Firstly, an accurate and accessible translation of the Nuzhah will be presented in English. Secondly, this will be coupled with a detailed and critical commentary of Ibn Hajar’s work. This commentary will assess the worth of the Nuzhah in many ways; the writings of Ibn Hajar will be analysed to learn what it said about the climate of the ninth Islamic century, by comparing it with the works of Muslim scholars before and after Ibn Hajar. Additionally, where the works of modern, non-Muslim scholars such as Schacht and Juynboll are mentioned, it will be with the purpose to show the interaction with their Muslim counterparts. Themes such as the use of technical terms in the discipline, the importance of seniority and the pedagogical nature of the Nuzhah will also be discussed.

This study examines Western fatwā councils and all of the different aspects related to them. It looks at their modus operandi, the way they operate, choose, research and discuss topics, issue fatwas and then disseminate those fatwas. The study also undertakes field research to determine the way in which general Muslims as well as imāms and Muslim lecturers view the councils. At the same time, the research also portrays the views of some of the members of the councils with regards to the councils. The thesis focuses on a number of issues; firstly it defines ‘Fiqh for Muslim Minorities’ and strongly endorses it as a justified branch of Islamic law. Secondly, it highlights the historical roots to fatwā councils and how have they developed over time, thereby showing that scholars have throughout Muslim history gathered to discuss and debate religious issues. It takes an in-depth look at Western fatwā councils, discussing their formation and main aims and objectives. The research goes into detail regarding their modus operandi and the way they function. Another element of the study is to analyse the edicts of Western fatwā councils and see to what extent they agree with one another, other worldwide fatwā councils as well as classical opinions of jurists on the same or similar issues. The research also commissions social research whereby the views of the general Muslim public as well as imams and Muslim preachers are gauged. This study finds that there is a great need for fatwā councils, particularly in the West and that they play a very important role for Muslims in Western societies. The issues they discuss and the edicts they issue often deal with important and pertinent topics. Western fatwā Councils have made great strides since their inception. At the same time the study finds that Western fatwā Councils fall short in having raised sufficient awareness about them and their work. Councils also fall short in allowing easy access to their work, the dissemination of their work and in connecting with Western Muslims in their languages.

This thesis is an in-depth study into two of the UK charity iERA's da'wah narratives: the Qura'nic embryology 'miracle' and the Kalam Cosmological Argument. While the embryo verses have received scholarly attention, there is little to no research in the da'wah context for both narratives. Berger and Luckmann's social constructionism was applied to both, which were problematic. It was found that iERA constructed its exegesis of the embryo verses by expanding on classical meanings to show harmony with modern science. Additionally, it developed the Cosmological Argument by adapting it to Salafi Islamic beliefs. The construction processes were found to be influenced by an online dialectic between iERA and its Muslim and atheist detractors, causing it to abandon the scientific miracles and modify the Cosmological Argument. Signs point to a weakening of faith among young people, including Muslims, as they have unprecedented access to unfiltered online information on religion and science. By employing the narratives, iERA aims to legitimate the fundamentals of Islam to Muslims and to attract converts by presenting it as a rational and modern faith. While iERA's da'wah template is practical, its errors are relevant to the wider discussions on Qur'anic exegesis and modern challenges to the religion.

This thesis is an attempt to study terrorism from a Qur’anic perspective with special reference to selected classical and modern exegeses and how they are understood by modern scholars. The study is divided into an introduction, five main chapters and a conclusion. In the introduction, a brief background about the tafsar (exegesis) genres is provided with special focus on thematic exegesis as a type of exegesis that makes a central contribution to this study. The introduction also includes brief biographical sketches of the selected exegetes, an outline of the thesis methodology, a literature review, and a note on the research questions and the objectives of the thesis. Chapter One is devoted to presenting and evaluating various organizational definitions of terrorism from both Islamic and Western perspectives. Chapter Two discusses the difference between terrorism and arming for deterrence in the light of Qur’an 8: 60. Chapter Three investigates whether or not there is a relationship between jihad and terrorism. It focuses, by way of a case study, on how the actions of the perpetrators of the September 11th 2001 attacks should be judged according to the Qur’an. Chapter Four looks at how terrorist suicide attacks are different from martyrdom. It features another case study, on "martyrdom" or "suicide" operations in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Chapter Five attempts to identify a punishment for terrorism on the basis of the Qur’anic text. This study finds that terrorism is totally different from jih«d and martyrdom as they are treated in the Qur‘ān. It also finds that there is a huge difference between the peaceful, tolerant and inclusive teachings of the Qur’an and the violent, intolerant and exclusive practices of those Muslims whose approach to the Qur’an and its exegesis is marked by selectivity and lacks the essential tools of Islamic scholarship. These and other findings are highlighted in the thesis conclusion, along with other suggestions for future research in the field.

It is common knowledge that movements are based on ideologies that are considered to be the foundation of their methodologies and policies. Often, these ideologies are disseminated in letters, books or other publications that present them in the form of texts that are available to the public and become sources of information about these movements. The Jamā‘at Al-Tablīgh is one of the movements that plays an important role in the sphere of Islamic Da‘wah (mission). This movement adopts some techniques of Da‘wah; one of the most important among them being Targhīb, which expounds the merits and benefits of virtuous deeds. This research studies one of the most popular books of the movement, titled in Urdu Tablīghī Nisāb, which uses this sort of technique. It was written by the famous H adīth scholar and the general supervisor of the movement, Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyyā Kāndahlawī. The first publication of the book in Urdu was in (1374 H./1955 CE.). It has been translated into several different languages, and this reflects the importance of the book. The thesis falls into six chapters, including the introduction as chapter one and the conclusion as chapter six. Chapter two talks about the definition of weak Ahadīth and its different types, criteria used to determine weak Ahādīth, different trends among the scholars regarding weak Ahādīth, the consequences of using and publicizing weak and fabricated Ahādīth. Chapter three deals with the biography of the author of the Tablīghī Nisāb, while chapter four focuses on the book itself, by specifying the original name of it and looking at the different editions and translations, and compares the original Urdu with the Arabic and English versions. The chapter also discusses the methodology of the author in his book. Chapter five is a critical study of the Ahādīth of the Tablīghī Nisāb, whether found in the main text of the book or in the commentary to verify the Ahādīth in terms of their authenticity or weakness.

Despite the increased number of interreligiously married Muslim women, especially in Western countries, the phenomenon remains overlooked. This research aims to highlight interreligiously married Muslim women's untold stories and to examine their experiences of being part of an interfaith marriage. The research illustrates that Muslim women's interfaith marriages are seen as prohibited and unconventional by many Muslim scholars and communities, and they view this prohibition as a subject that is closed for discussion due to the traditional scholarly consensus supporting it. However, some contemporary Muslim scholars have started to discuss Muslim women's interfaith marriages and argue that the rule and consensus regarding these unions should be re-evaluated considering the ways in which society and gender roles in today's marriages are changing. Using qualitative interviews with intermarried Muslim women, this study examines the impact of the families on Muslim women's decision to marry a non-Muslim, how they deal with the religious differences in the family and the impact the interfaith union has upon their religiosity. The research reveals that 'love' is the main reason behind the Muslim women's decision of interfaith marriage. The findings also indicate that while interfaith marriage does not directly impact Muslim women's religiosity, community pressure and negative perceptions of their marriages have curtailed Muslim women and their children's relationship with the Muslim community.

The contemporary debate over the Ḥadīth of the prophet Muḥammad is taking a new and serious direction. After being a simple scholastic debate between those who questioned the authenticity and the authority of Ḥadīth and its status and the Ḥadīth supporters (classical Muslims or Traditional ones), it has moved towards rejecting Ḥadīth and considering it absolutely fabricated and faked stories. This thesis is a critical study of this debate seeking to identify the core issues involved and analytically discussing them. The first chapter deals with the background, objectives and significance of the research, literature review, research methodology and structure of the research. The second chapter demonstrates some writings of anti-Ḥadīth figures particularly in the Muslim scholarship. The third, fourth and fifth chapters respond to the main points of the anti-Ḥadīth views and refute them by discussing three main subjects: the humanity of the prophet, his role and the different forms of divine revelation. The sixth and final chapter includes concluding remarks and suggestions as to how to deal with such a serious debatable issue.

Sayyid Aḥmad Khān (1817-1898) was a prominent religious reformer and educationist in pre-partition India. One of his least understood works is Tabyīn al-kalām fī tafsīr al-taurāt wa ‘i-injīl ‘alā millat al-Islām (The Elucidation of the Word in Commentary of the Torah and Gospel According to the Religion of Islam), or as the author simply termed it: ‘The Mohomedan Commentary on the Holy Bible’ (1860-1865). In this dissertation I examine Tabyīn along with other principle works in the original Urdu to enquire: how did Sayyid Aḥmad conceptualize revelation in the Bible? I argue that he employed a systematic paradigm to categorize all prophetic revelation, the identification of which opens the way for a clearer understanding of our author’s attitude towards the Bible. In this light, Tabyīn emerges as a prototypical example intended to demonstrate that prophetic texts share greater consonance than dissonance if universal principles are applied to regulate interpretation. Sayyid Aḥmad’s view of the coherence of all revelation, natural and prophetic, allowed for a reverent but critical juxtaposition of the Bible with Islam’s primary textual sources as initiated in Tabyīn, and continued in his final exegetical work, Tafsīr al-Qur’ān.

This thesis studies the notion of aesthetics from a Qurʼānic perspective by adopting the methodology of thematic exegesis with special reference to modern exegeses. The aim of adopting this specific exegetical genre is to construct a ‘unified’ understanding of what may be considered the Qurʼānic view of the notion of aesthetics. This study finds that aesthetics in the Qurʼān is expressed using a number of terms, all of which have specific connotations. The study shows that the term ḥusn is the most significant term related to the notion of aesthetics. It also finds that aesthetics from a Qurʼānic perspective is an aspect of reality and it is deliberately incorporated into God’s creation. Knowledge of the Creator and other religious functions are the ultimate purposes of aesthetics from a Qur’ānic perspective. Perfection, pleasure and goodness are intrinsically linked to the Qurʼānic conception of aesthetics. Qurʼānic discourse refers to nature as the most rewarding source of aesthetic experience. Aesthetics from a Qurʼānic perspective is not merely related to physical domains; it is rather an ethical perspective. Qurʼānic teaching disseminates an understanding of aesthetics throughout all facets of ethical conduct. The concept of iḥsān has a crucial role in Qurʼānic discourse on the ethics of aesthetics. Aesthetics in the Qurʼānic conception is not always mentioned with positive implications; it also can have negative connotations.