Risālat al-Duktūrāh -- Jāmiʻat al-Azhar. / Cover title: Sons of Israel (Banou-Israel) as mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah, by Moh. Sayed Tantawi. Bibliography: v. 2, p. [481]-485.

The Muslim tradition tells us that when Muslims migrated to Medina and their number increased, they felt the need for an efficient means to convoke the community for the daily prayers. Jews and Christians both had well-established summoning rituals involving different instruments, that Muslims considered adopting. They eventually developed a distinct, simple ritual consisting of a small set of chanted formulæ, which became known as the adhān, the Islamic call to prayer. This is the narrative thread that we find in all major Sunnī collections of aḥādīth - reported sayings of Muḥammad and his companions - which recount the introduction of the adhān. The present work postulates that this thread or 'proto-narrative' was used by several narrators, transmitters, and collectors until the third/ninth century who modified it and added new elements in order to settle political and religious controversies of their times. This proto-narrative is outlined in the main chapter (chap. 3), which highlights how it was modified and why, using close textual analysis of both Sunnī and Shī'ī texts with data-dense graphs of relations, locations, and times produced via network visualisation tools. Five major Sunnī legal treaties from the second/eighth century onwards were also scrutinised (chap. 4) to better understand the general context in which the aḥādīth about the introduction of the adhān were being circulated and confirm the results obtained through the textual analysis. The conclusions reveal specific mechanisms used in the formation and transmission of aḥādīth. In the case of the adhān, aḥādīth represent half of a 'conversation' between people, students, or rulers on one side, asking questions about the origins and the right form of the call to prayer, and on the other side, scholars or jurists who answer with adapted narratives. Only the latter was preserved, yet the present thesis shows that it is often possible to reconstruct, to a certain extent, the former part of this 'conversation'.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1993.

Thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 663-678) and indexes.

M.A. (Semitic Languages and Cultures) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

No description available.

Science and Islam. Interest in this subject by mainly Muslim contemporary writers, is evident from the amount of literature seeking to link scientific phenomena to Islam. While the trend to relate scientific facts to Quran, Hadith and related Islamic texts is confirmed by the amount of literature cited, whether or not there has been such an approach by scientists in the history of Muslim civilisation is the question this thesis seeks to answer. Historical contribution to science by scientists within the domain of Muslim civilisation is well recognised. Although the vital role played by Muslim civilisation in the transmission of ancient science, especially that of the Greek, to mediaeval Europe is generally acknowledged, the exact role of Islam as a religion in this scientific development is not clear. This thesis explores an aspect of the history of Muslim civilisation which may contribute to elucidate the role of Islam in Muslim science.

This thesis is an analysis and interpretation of six chapters from al-Nabulusi's commentary. One of these is an account of his intentions for writing the commentary and the other five are commentaries on parts of the Fusus al-hikam. These chapters chosen from al-Nabulusi's commentary treat important subjects in the Fusus al-hikam which exemplify Ibn 'Arabi's thought particularly well. They are concerned with certain issues which were perceived to have a special importance in the Islamic religious tradition. One issue, for example, is that of Pharaoh's profession of faith which was a prominent subject of debate and discussion in Islamic literature. Ibn 'Arabi's position on this was severely criticised by many. The thesis argues that there are four ways in which to appreciate the commentary's intellectual and religious outlook: first, with respect to its approach to Ibn 'Arabi's ideas; second, with respect to its use of Qur'an and hadith in the specific context of developing an independence from Ibn 'Arabi's thought and in the general context of Qur'anic exegesis; third, in its use of language, narrative and metaphor, finally, in its legal approach towards the issue of Pharaoh's faith evincing arguments similar to those of Ibn 'Arabi, but not identical, and, like Ibn 'Arabi, adopting positions different from those of the wider Islamic religious tradition. The thesis demonstrates that the commentary's significance can be appreciated in two historical contexts: the anti-Ibn 'Arabi tendency manifest in late 17^th century Damascus; and the enduring tradition of polemics surrounding Ibn 'Arabi's thought.

No description available.

Contemporary north-west Bangladesh is the scene of a religious contest between the self-described 'Hanafis‘, who include various expressions of Islamic faith and practice, and Salafi reformist groups known as Ahl-i-Hadith. Occasionally labelled 'Wahhabis‘ due to their affinity with the doctrine from Arabia, the Ahl-i-Hadith actively seek to purify local Islam of all practices which they consider to be bidaʿ. Local Hanafi Muslims, who form a majority, are resistant to these efforts at total religious reform. This thesis investigates the contemporary discourse taking place between these two communities in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and between these groups and their authoritative Islamic texts. The case study used to focus on inter-group debates is the contested issue of whether or not to perform rituals meant to assist the dead during al-barzakh – the conscious waiting period in the grave believed to last from death until the day of resurrection. Especially during a soul‘s first forty days in al-barzakh, the Hanafi community observes rituals intended to reduce the torment of the grave and send soʾab, or merit, to the account of the deceased. Participant observation at numerous milad, chollisha and khotom ceremonies for the dead, as well as interviews with local ʿulamaʾ and other informants highlight the progress of Ahl-i-Hadith reform efforts, but also the way in which Hanafi leaders defend and interpret their 'unorthodox‘ practices using authoritative Sunni hadith and Qurʾanic passages. Additional Islamic texts which are locally influential are examined. Special voice is given to "what Muslims say" in an attempt to let the words and actions of those involved in the debates direct the research agenda as they interpret and defend their respective positions. This thesis provides other researchers with a field-based account of contemporary Islamic belief and practice in Bangladesh – an understudied Islamic context containing over 150 million people. Dozens of quotations from ʿulamaʾ are reproduced in the original Bengali and in English. Additionally, this study complicates Islamic fundamentalist and Western scholarly conceptions of 'popular Islam‘ and 'syncretism‘ by showing that Hanafi ʿulamaʾ in Rajshahi explain their (contested) beliefs and activities in Islamic terms, using universally recognised Sunni sources of authority, especially the hadith literature.