In the aftermath of recent major events in the Muslim world, the Sunni Muslim jurists, hereafter referred to as the “ʿulamā’,” turn to the classic Muslim tradition in search of answers to questions arising from these events. After the Arab Spring and the 2013 military coup in Egypt and the ensuing revolt of the youth, influential ʿulamā’ deferred to authoritative rulings which declare that the “Ḥākim al-Mutaghallib” (the Usurper Leader) is to be obeyed. However, those ʿulamā’ ignore the difference between the early context in which these rulings emerged and developed and the context in which the modern state employs them today. The ‘ulamā’ treat these rulings as regularized, binding decrees that must be followed by all Muslims – neglecting the fact that they have always been uncertain, controversial rulings. Thus, this paper attempts to compare the two contexts, the classical and the modern state context, to illustrate the problems encountered in the recalling of these rulings. Moreover, it traces the circumstances in which the rulings emerged and how they were legitimized and regularized over the course of Muslim history. This paper attempts to demonstrate that these classical rulings are not immutable and applicable in all times and in all places, as they were developed in response to particular events and in a relatively narrow context. Rather, the rulings should be revisited and reevaluated for applicability in the current time and context. / Religion

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As a teacher-researcher, I have endeavoured to evaluate and reflect on the teaching of Islamic Studies at Form V level. This Action Research investigated the effectiveness of using Remedial Strategies as instructional methods to increase class participation in Islamic Studies classes at Form V level, in a Private Secondary School, The Islamic Cultural College, Port-Louis; in a State Secondary School, Port-Louis State Secondary School, Colline Monneron, Port-Louis; and in a Profit-Making Institution, The Doha Academy, Eau-Coulee, Curepipe. Data was collected mainly from questionnaires sent to the students and analyzed. The study also covers the findings and analysis from the questionnaires and some recommendations to improve classroom practices to promote students’ participation in Islamic Studies classes have been proposed. Overall, this research aims at contributing to an enhanced learning experience for the students of Islamic Studies and for me as a teacher-practitioner. The Remedial Strategies imply a shift of onus from the teacher to the student. This transfer is what is envisaged most by all contemporary thinkers in education because this is what guarantees concrete and productive learning in the classroom. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. A. (Islamic Studies)

The goal of this thesis was to analysis the Islamic State’s apocalyptic nature by studying both classic Islamic eschatology and the Islamic State’s online magazine Dabiq. In order to conduct this research, I separated my thesis into two separate angles of approach. The first angle (chapters one & two) exclusively looked at Islamic eschatology, classic apocalyptic texts, shifts in how literature was written over time, and on examples of modern messianic revolutions occurring. In this way, I attempted to emphasize how extra-Qur’anic texts have played a large part in providing details for what Islamic eschatology entails. I also looked at modern examples of messianic movements, including in Mecca and Sudan. I concluded by analyzing the shift modern apocalyptic literature underwent beginning in the late 20th century. This highlighted how apocalyptic literature stated focusing on the actions of Western forces—much like the Islamic State has done today. The second angle of approach derived from the final chapters. I looked at the foundation and development of the Islamic State beginning in the early 21st century with Al-Qaeda in Iraq. I proceeded to emphasize how messianic speculation influenced the actions and strategies of Islamic State in Iraq and later ISIS. The final chapter, the crux of my thesis, was an analysis of the Islamic State’s written primary source, Dabiq. I researched all thirteen issues of the magazine for evidence of apocalyptic nature existing.I highlighted how Dabiq is filled with apocalyptic references and classic apocalyptic hadiths. The objective of this thesis was to provide a multifaceted analysis of the Islamic State. It attempted to approach the Islamic State from two different angles to show why apocalyptic thought first arises, how it has led to revolution, and how the Islamic State mirrors those cases. With the Islamic State, a wide variety of interpretations have formed on what it wants and what it is fighting for. Whereas religious motivation has often been dismissed, I used this thesis to emphasize that both religious and apocalyptic motivation have been one of many influences behind the formation and development of the Islamic State.

Popular interpretations and academic scholarship tends to emphasize the relationship between jihad, military action, and communal violence. These reinforce a sense that violence is inherent to Islam. Investigations into the contexts where jihad has been deployed highlight how its use is often a call for unity believed to be necessary for political goals. Therefore, in order to deconstruct this belief, this thesis tackles instead the relationship between textual interpretations and historical actions, and how these varied across specific moments in time. The case studies examined range from the initial evolution of a theory of jihad in the late antique world, to the Crusades in the 11th and 12th centuries, to early modern dynamics of the Ottomans and Safavids, and finally to modern state-making projects in the Arabian Peninsula These examples seek to create a comprehensive picture of the intricacies rooted in jihad and the narrative that can be associated with a religion that is most often misunderstood. The effort to shed some light on the multiple facets of jihad is hinged upon how these case studies differ from one another, thus forcing the reader to question how they previously understood the modern day phenomenon of jihad. While the conversation will reiterate various themes and concepts as discussed in previous scholarship, it should push the boundaries on how jihad has been framed as a modern day extremist ideology.

The growing halal food sector in America has garnered attention recently in a number of ways regarding changing consumer demands, production yield, and certification standards. Muslim consumers choosing halal food products today combine more objective knowledge about halal food products - learned from jurists, imams, the Qur’an, ḥadīth, and family traditions - with more subjective knowledge about what they want from their food. The resultant mix of objective and subjective information about halal food production standards creates a unique milieu termed, in this thesis, the contemporary consumption context. The small variances between what different Muslim consumers want out of their halal food – particularly in terms of ethical and humane animal treatment – introduce tiny iterations to the timeless religious ritual that halal food consumption and ẓabīḥa, or ritual, slaughter entail. / text

This thesis examines U.S. immigrant and refugee policy and policy discourse to understand the formation of Muslims as particular sites of risk as immigrants in the War on Terror. Theorists of international relations theorize securitization as a process in which state actors begin to use the language of security in considering the regulation and governance of a certain policy issue area. I argue that the securitization of various figures who are Muslim or are linked to Muslim-majority countries in post-9/11 immigrant and refugee policy and political discourse contributes to political conditions under which Islam is understood as the only trusted identifier that marks the potential terrorist.Chapters II and III of this thesis explore two case studies of the securitization of figures who are Muslim or presumed to be Muslim: the conversation in 2002 and 2003 about the risk presented by international studies from Muslim-majority students; and that of Syrian refugees as would-be terrorists in 2015 and 2016. In the final chapter, I turn to that which I suggest is a realization of the logic that treats all Muslims as risk, the Trump executive orders heavily restricting immigration from Muslim-majority countries, and document the judicial contestations that follow.

<p>This dissertation examines the construction of gendered legal subjects in the influential legal works of the eleventh century Ḥanafī jurist, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Sarakhsī (d. 483 A.H./1090 C.E.). In particular, I explore how gendered subjects are imagined in legal matters pertaining to sexual desire. Through a close reading of several legal cases, I argue that gendered subjects in his legal work al-Mabsūṭ are constructed through an ontological framework that conceptualizes men as active and desiring and women as passive and desirable. This binary construal of gendered nature serves as a hermeneutical given in al-Sarakhsī’s legal argumentation and is produced through a phallocentric epistemology. Al-Sarakhsī’s discussions of desire and sexuality are mediated through the experience of the male body. While the dissertation endeavors to show the centrality of the active/passive binary in al-Sarakhsī’s legal reasoning, it also highlights the dissonances and fissures in the text’s construction of gendered subjects of desire. By tracing the intricacies of al-Sarakhsī’s legal reasoning, I note moments in which the text makes contradictory claims about gender and desire, as well as moments in which al-Sarakhsī must contend with realities that seemingly run up against his ontological framework. These moments in the text draw our attention to al-Sarakhsī’s active attempt at maintaining the coherence of the gendered ontology. I thus argue that the gendered ontology in al-Sarakhsī’s text is a legal fiction that both reflects his assumptions about gendered nature but is also constructed to rationalize legal precedence.</p> / Dissertation

A brief review of the history of western interest in the Qur'an from Keaton's 1143 C.E. translation to the present and a comparison between the western and traditional views on the Qur'-am's textual history serves to place the western theories on the collection and transmission of the Qur'an in their historical and intellectual context. The theories of Richard Bell, John Burton, Leone Caetani, Paul Casanova, Arthur Jeffery Alphonse Mingana, Theodor Ntildeke, John Wansbrough and W. Montgomery Watt are given primary consideration; Nabia Abbot, Hartwig Hirschfeld, D.S. Margolicuth, William Muir and Ajmal Khan receive secondary consideration. The traditional history of the Qur'anic text serves as the outline for the thesis. Theories suggesting that the Qur'an could not have been written down during the life of the Prophet are considered against extant physical evidence in inscriptions and papyrii of early Arabic writing. The questions surrounding the 'personal" or "metropolitan- collections are treated next, followed by two chapters on 'Uthman's recension and the Hajjaj collection. The two most recent studies, Wansbrough's and Burton's, reach opposing conclusions and their theories are considered against the work which preceded them. The thesis concludes that the morass of conflicting and differing conclusions regarding the history of the Qur'anic text may be the result of subjective analysis and selective use of evidence rather than intrinsic mystery of the subject matter.

The sweeping changes in the Middle East, so-called the “Arab Spring”, necessitate revisiting constitutionalism in the region. This task entails a fresh look at the idea of rule of law and constitutionalism amongst the people of the Middle East. One of the widely misconceived and yet understudied constitutional movements in the Middle East belongs to Iran. A new perspective on the trajectory of constitutionalism in Iran would better equip us to comprehend rule of law in the Middle East. From the 1905 Constitutional movement to the 1979 Revolution, Iran has undergone major changes. Each transformation created a rupture with the preceding order fostering a fresh look at rule of law in Iran. The current studies have mainly concentrated on the political and social aspects of these groundbreaking events. The legal aspect of each of event has remained largely unnoticed and under-researched. It is important to fill the gap by focusing on the role of constitutions, despite its shortcomings, and international commitments of states using Iran as an example. The objective is to bring to the fore the role constitutionalism plays in incentivizing states to enter into international commitments and to comply with their international commitments. More than before, the mutual relationship between constitutionalism and international relations is intertwined because of two main developments: a. for better or worse, international relations have become increasingly judicialized, meaning all aspects of inter-state interactions are now subject to some normative regimes; b. more than ever, states feel the need to structure their domestic and inter-state relationship by resorting to a normative structure which is best materialized in constitutions. Using Iran as an example, this dissertation aims to fulfill the following: First, it is critical to understand whether a state is a constitutional state and whether its domestic power relations are subject to any checks and balances (broadly speaking). By reviewing Iran’s recent history through this lens, the dissertation shows that Iranian’s legal culture presents (a version of) constitutionalism. Second, it is critical to understand whether constitutionalism leads to any differences in the international behavior of such a state. Based on its constitutionalism, Iran’s international behavior has been premised on legalistic and juridical grounds.