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The topic of this paper is how CNN and BBC, two of the largest media companies in the world, presented Islam in the Palestinian civil war during the years 2006-2007. Articles that CNN and BBC published on the Palestinian civil war have been analyzed in order to answer this question. The purpose is to see if Islam is portrayed in an Islamophobic way by CNN and BBC and if it is possible to find discursive tracks from Clash of Civilizations-theory in the analyzed articles. The findings indicate that there are elements of Islamophobia and discursive tracks of Clash of Civilizations when it comes to presenting islam during the Palestinian civil war. Another conclusion is also that CNN and BBC presented islam in different ways during the civil war.

As Muslims and Christians have encountered each other over the centuries, the nature of the person of Jesus along with His mission and death have regularly been the subject of intense discussion. This is because these global religions teach different Christologies and because Jesus is an important figure to the adherents of both faiths. It is the death of Jesus that is the subject of this thesis. The question that this thesis seeks to answer is: Does the Qur’an deny the crucifixion of Jesus? Part I provides a background on the Jesus of Islam. Part II documents the majority opinion about the crucifixion that is exemplified through the tafsīr of al-Ṭabarī. Part III analyses about twenty minority opinions expressed by medieval Muslim scholars.

published_or_final_version / Political Science / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The Ta'rikh al-Rusu1 wa 'l-HulUk of Abu Ja 'far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (ca. 228-310 A.H.) has, since its recovery • in the last century, been considered the most important primary source for the study of the first three centuries of Islam. However, due to the author's technique of reporting his information, scholars have generally regarded al-tabari as a compiler and chronicler, using the Ta' rikh only to verify factual information, 'complaining of its disorganization and tediousness, and dismissing any notion that the author could have expressed opinions or attitudes of his own. It is the contention of this thesis that al-T• abari did indicate his attitudes towards past events and that his contemporary readers cou1d easily have perceived his opinions and his perspective of early Islamic history. By analyzing five sections from the Ta'rikh, each representing one of the major time spans included in the work, and by paying particular attention to al-~abari's use of isnads (chains of narrators) and his organization and juxtaposition of akbbar (narrations), we will attempt to determine his attitudes towards these events and his sources, and his thoughts on the development of the Islamic umma from its conception to his own time. A comparison of al-Tabari1s treatment of these incidents with the accounts' • of three other contemporary historians will help to expose the differences between them and allow us to understand why the Ta'rikh remains the outstanding primary source for the first three centuries of Islam.

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This study is the outcome of research carried out during my involvement with the Afghan resistance movement within Afghanistan and in Pakistan from 1983 to 1990. During this period I was associated with resistance groups in various parts of Afghanistan, particularly Kunar province. The enormous human sacrifice among the Afghan people finally forced the Soviets to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan. The anti-Communist resistance operated largely under the leadership of the ulama as well as the members of the intelligentsia. The decade-long struggle against the regime in Kabul and against the Soviets, has resulted in a tremendous socio-economic and political transformation in addition to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and the dislocation of millions of Afghans. Most of the former traditional leaders have lost or are losing power. They have been replaced by the ulama or young field commanders from relatively modest backgrounds. This study examines the emergence of the ulama as the new leaders in Nuristani society. Traditionally the ulama have played a very active role in national politics and have mobilized the masses in the name of Islam against the invaders. However, in the present crisis the ulama have been even more prominent than usual in the forefront of national and international politics. This study attempts to identify the socio-economic and political factors that were instrumental for the shift of the leadership pattern from the traditional elite to the ulama and commanders. Will the ulama be able to provide a viable socio-economic and political agenda? Will they be capable of sustaining ideological and financial support from other Islamic countries? These are the main questions found by the ulama and the commanders. The answers are not likely to emerge in the immediate future. Whatever happens the ulama and commanders will continue to remain a socio-political force in the future.

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Although 'The Revival of Islam and Muslims' has not been studied, discussed and researched in the past as a specific subject of Islamic Sciences or as a part of Islamic curricula in seminaries and educational institutions, at present it has become a hot cake for intellectual and academic discourse among Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike. In this context the present study investigates, examines and critically analyses the ideology of Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri regarding Islamic Revivalism. This study examines the areas of Muslim Thought which have been subjected to severe ailments and distortions, during the decline period of the Muslim Ummah, leading them to inactivity and stagnancy. I also attempt to suggest various remedial measures to overcome the prevailing conditions, using the ideology of revivalism by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri critically compared with other ideologies of Maududi and al-Banna. Furthermore, I will analyse the ideology of Dr Al-Qadri for the reconstruction of the political, economic, juristic, religious and spiritual thought of Islam in the contemporary context. As Qur'anic Philosophy of Revivalism is a new concept in academia, there is vast scope for investigation of this field to discover new horizons in this particular subject ofIslamic sciences bringing forth some new aspects of research regarding the revival of Islam and Muslims. The present study will enhance the knowledge, background, rationale, significance as well as the necessity of the revival of Islam and its religious, spiritual, academic, legal, juristic, economic and political values and also create awareness for the reformation of the prevailing declining and decaying conditions of Muslim societies around the globe. Consequently, this thesis will enable one to realise and appreciate the significance of revivalism in the contemporary context. In the main, my methodology focuses on library research in relation to the works of Dr Al-Qadri as well as other revivalists in contemporary Muslim Thought. Thus, I will rely heavily on the Islamic core sources approach to Tafsir, Hadith scholarship and Islamic law (Fiqh) in terms of textual analysis.

This thesis is concerned with the strategic plan of the Prophet Muhammad for Islamicjerusalem and the preparations that led to the first Muslim <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem, which took place after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.  The relationship of the Prophet Muhammad with Islamicjerusalem has been generally limited to the study of the virtues of that region according to the <i>ahadith</i> (traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad.  This thesis concentrates on the actual role of the Prophet Muhammad in paving the way for the Muslims to take over that region after his death.  However, the thesis deals with the Prophet Muhammad, according to the Muslim sources, as a Prophet, and therefore, the relationship of the divinely revelation with these preparations and this plan is not neglected, especially that Prophethood was the main character of the Prophet Muhammad that has been neglected in studying his acts and movements in this context. The stages of the strategic plan for the <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem can be divided into three stages: first, the divinely preparation and mobilisation of the Prophet Muhammad and the Muslims for the <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem, which was through Qur'anic concentration on the importance of Islamicjerusalem, and manifest this relationship through praying towards Islamicjerusalem.  Second, the turning point that led the Prophet Muhammad to realise the centrality of Islamicjerusalem, and this was through the Night Journey.  Third, the practical steps taken by the Prophet Muhammad, supported by divine revelation, toward paving the way for the Muslims to initiate the campaigns that led to the <i>Fath</i> of Islamicjerusalem after his death, and this manifested in studying the Prophet Muhammad’s military movements on the route of Islamicjerusalem, in addition to key documents granted or sent by the Prophet Muhammad to numerous parties in or around Islamicjerusalem.