There is a perception, held not only by scholars in the field but by many Muslims as well, that Islamic law in Indonesia is strongly colored by "non-Islamic" local custom (adat). Historically, this notion has given rise to a number of movements which have sought to ensure that religious beliefs and practices be restored and brought into harmony with the primary sources of Islam, the Qur'an and Sunnah. One of these movements was led by Ahmad Hassan (1887-1958), acknowledged by many as a great scholar and a tireless advocate of the need for renewal (tajdid) and reform (islah). This study analyses the significance of Hassan's role in the movement for Islamic legal reform and examines in particular his legal theory (usul al-fiqh) and its application to problems of substantive law (fiqh). In terms of Indonesia (and perhaps other regions as well), this is a new approach; for few works on Islamic law in Indonesia concerned with either the Islamic judicial system or substantive law devote any significant attention to usul al-fiqh, which, in fact, provides the foundation for these institutions, not to mention other aspects of Islamic teaching as well. / As a reformer, Hassan was sometimes led to adopt bold, even extreme positions. He attacked his traditionalist opponents for placing too much faith in the doctrines of particular legal schools when seeking solutions to the problems faced by Muslims. Too often this led them to base their decisions on individual opinion, which placed them at a doble remove from the two primary sources. Instead Hassan advocated constant ijtihad, or at least ittiba', in the belief that the door had never been shut on direct analysis of scripture. In adopting this position, Hassan developed a sound, consistent and text-based approach to usul al-fiqh that was adopted after his death by his followers and students. Indeed, this approach has even had a substantial effect on his opponents, whose stance has changed subtly to reflect many of Hassan's concerns.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111). / This thesis is developed as a critical study of the representations of the Cairene house in the contexts of colonial and post-colonial times. Based on the observation that the introverted image of the house remains constant over the two eras, it explores the underlying cultural agendas with relation to the issue of gender segregation in the house. The two canonical representations of the house in their respective times; by Edward W. Lane in mid 19th century and by Hassan Fathy in mid and late 20th century, defined the Cairene house with constant thematic focus on its introverted character. This inwardness is inextricably related with the social practice of separation of genders in the Cairene society which was addressed in both representations in varying degrees. In colonial representation, the focus on the introverted character of the Cairene house became a venue for commenting on the social practice of subjugating woman in the Cairene society. Certain selected type of urban residences affirmed the colonial thesis of segregation of woman in the house. Thus the representation showed an overt emphasis on harem quarter and its associated architectural and spatial elements. The harem was highlighted to assert the difference between the social norms of the colonized and the colonizing cultures. The Middle Eastern society was thus categorically reduced to a segregative and inferior Other which in reciprocity defined the liberal and superior identity of the colonizing West. The post-colonial representation perpetuated the same introverted image of the Cairene house to establish an Arab identity. This identity is anti-western, which looked for its precedents in examples considered uncontaminated by the western Influence. Climatic and social rationalization established the same interiority as appropriate and contextual. In this reversal of connotation, segregation became privacy. The anti-colonial rhetoric of identity of the self is both a reaction to and a derivation from the colonial representation of the Other. The post-colonial search for identity paradoxically ends up in replicating the colonial image of the Cairene house. The post-colonial representation of the Cairene house exploits the traditional and segregated role of woman in the domestic space in establishing an anti-western identity. This speaks of an internal male-female power hierarchy, as Asish Nandy observes, " ... the internal colonialism in turn uses the fact of external threat to legitimize and perpetuate itself." Caught in the politics of identity, the representations of the Cairene house affirmed the secluded existence of woman in the society. / by Asiya Chowdhury. / M.S.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-154). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ67721.

This thesis studies in a comparative framework the impact of colonial experience on the religious and social thought of two modernists, Ahmad Kh an of India and Ahmad Hassan of Indonesia. At the religious level, both modernists were much concerned with the purification of Islam. They called upon the Muslims to return to the Qur' an and hadith, abandon taqlid and to undertake ijtihad. Ahmad Kh an, influenced by the natural sciences and rationalism of the West, was also inclined to interpret Islam in a naturalistic and rational manner. Ahmad Hassan, on the other hand, was very much preoccupied with the purification of Islam and the return to the Qur' an and hadith, and was little influenced by the Western impact through colonialism. At the social level, both modernists considered education to be the essential means to social betterment. But whereas Ahmad Kh an also believed in cooperation with the British, Ahmad Hassan was opposed to the Dutch. / This study concludes by showing that, given the Western colonial experience, Ahmad Kh an's socio-religious thought was rational, realistic, liberal and dynamic. While Ahmad Hassan too lived in a colonial society, his socio-religious thought was puritanical, defensive and ideological.

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This essay focuses on the reception of Yahya Hassan’s debut YAHYA HASSAN in Swedish media, mainly daily newspapers. Following the work of Magnus Nilsson it analyzes the “reading strategy of the politics of identity” in “immigrant literature” and outlines structural racism in the literary scene. By bringing attention to the critics’ use of this reading strategy, it is possible to unveil the “ethnic filter” through which literature by Swedish authors with a “non-Swedish identity” is being read in contemporary Swedish literary criticism. The concept of “immigrant literature” is discussed as a discourse, rather than as an empirical category. This essay aims to show how the Swedish critics read YAHYA HASSAN through the ethnic filter as a work of “immigrant literature”. The Swedish critics read the collection of poems as a political statement, and had difficulties defining Hassans work as poetry. Rather, it was read as an autobiographical novel in a working class tradition. There had been a long discussion in Swedish literary criticism about the autofictional genre, including a moral debate about the line between fact and fiction in autobiographical works. However, this was left almost unmentioned and Hassans poems were read as true and authentic depictions, something that the author himself contributed to in various ways. The essay also outlines the debate in Swedish media where critics discussed the author’s responsibility as an immigrant, a debate where many critics articulated a fear that the experiences depicted in Hassan’s poems could further inspire an already growing racist movement.