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My dissertation examines the transformation of Islamic legal discourse and the impact of that discourse on Muslim society. More particularly, it analyzes fatwas (religious legal edicts) over the course of Muslim history so as to determine how this legal mechanism was instrumental in the making and remaking of Islamic law and society. Historically speaking, substantive aspects of Islamic law developed out of the material of fatwas. In the very early stages of Islamic history there were no codified laws to guide people in their religious and social concerns, but the manner in which Muslims received guidance with regards to their religious practice was that they posed their concerns to early proto-jurists in the form of religio-legal questions, which these jurists addressed in the form of fatwas. Out of the critical mass of these fatwas, Islamic legal manuals began to be compiled and a definitive corpus of Islamic law came into being. Essentially, my investigation looks at the development and continuing evolution of Islamic law through lens of a particular legal practice: issuance of fatwas. By examining fatwas in different periods of Islamic history from the beginning until today, I chart the transformations that take place in Islamic legal tradition(s) as a result of the encounter with changing socio-historical conditions. More particularly, my analysis draws attention to the way in which legal practices amongst jurists created discursive shifts to established norms within Islamic legal discourse on how these discursive shifts contributed to the evolution of Islamic law. Moreover, by analyzing fatwas issued from Muslim jurists from various regions and periods, I identify how fatwas were essential catalysts for historical change, which gives us a better appreciation of the interrelationship between law and society. This historical foundation provides a basis for a diachronic assessment of the transformations that take place in Islamic legal tradition as a result of the encounter with colonialism. In latter part of my investigation, I examine how the practice and rationalization of fatwa has changed due to the ramifications of colonialism on the Muslim world. In this era, the established practices and doctrines of Islamic law were critiqued through the lens of modern Western ideas. This spawned modern Muslim movements that sought to reform Islamic law and redefine its relationship to the state and society. After historically establishing the ideas which were advocated by reformers, my goal is to assess whether those calls for reform have actually affected the practice Islamic law at the substantive and procedural levels. I do this by subjecting fatwas issued in the postcolonial period to critical analysis, so as to determine whether the procedures or rationale of fatwas have changed in a fundamental way. The larger themes that I address in my latter analysis is whether this modern trend amongst some Muslim thinkers and jurists towards contextually oriented legal concepts represents a lasting shift away from the traditional textually oriented legal methodology to produce a new type of discourse that is revolutionizing Islamic law or is it a passing phenomenon that will not make a lasting impact on how Islamic law is derived in the future. Fatwas are the key starting points in addressing these question because they represent the most elemental dimensions of Islamic law and the new legal developments within it. So, they offer vistas on how Muslim religious and legal practice will undergo a transformation in the future. / Religion

This project seeks to explain the aggressive turn in Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy after 2011, most drastically exemplified through its 2015 military intervention into Yemen. It does so through a two-case historical comparison between the Saudi interventions in Yemen in 1962 and 2015. Additionally, it compares the nature of internal regime survival strategies within the kingdom during these two distinct time periods of regional revolutionary upheaval: the Nasserist period of the late 1950s to 1960s and the time during and after the Arab uprisings in 2011. It makes the argument that, despite comparable internal and external threats in each time period, Saudi foreign policy is more openly aggressive in the contemporary period as a function of the regime’s ontologically weakened ideological legitimation. Whereas the Nasserist period offered an ontologically distinct threat in the form of a rival state ideology (secular Arab nationalism) that could be strategically co-opted and repressed by the Saudi regime, the Arab uprisings embodied a broader threat. This has included movements that have combined variations of both Islamism and liberal constitutionalism to challenge authoritarianism in the region. It has ultimately been threatening in part because of an ontological similarity to the regime’s own historic use of Islamic legitimacy. Thus, unlike the mediated Saudi approach to the Nasserist threat, the Saudi regime today has opportunistically engaged in an exaggerated aggression abroad as well as more deliberate, open displays of domestic repression at home. / Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Joy M. Kozar / Today, home economics in Saudi Arabia, in particular, apparel and textiles programs (AT) typically emphasize two major areas: apparel design and textile science. However, AT programs in Saudi Arabia need to evolve to help students take advantage of new job opportunities in the apparel retail sector. Establishing an apparel merchandising track in AT programs in Saudi Arabia will provide women with better preparation to succeed in the industry. Until recently, most female graduates of home economics programs in Saudi Arabia were prepared for teaching positions. The purpose of this study was to develop an apparel merchandising program for the AT discipline in Saudi Arabia. Qualitative data were collected in three phases to examine the focal points of choosing the new curricula: (a) the nature of the subject matter, (b) the nature of society, and (c) the nature of individuals. In Phase 1, the content of the top apparel merchandising programs in the US was examined to explore the nature of the subject matter. In Phase 2, the perceptions of industry professionals in Saudi Arabia were explored by interviewing 21 human resource managers and apparel store managers. Finally, the AT students’ needs to succeed in the apparel industry were examined by interviewing 17 female students. The data were analyzed by utilizing the word-based technique as well as comparing and contrasting responses to each question. The findings for all three phases were combined and compared to identify the knowledge and skills that need to be added to the new apparel merchandising track for AT discipline in Saudi Arabia. Results of the study indicated that all three phases reported the importance of considering hard skills, or content and process knowledge, and soft skills, or professional attitude and skills, in preparing AT student for the apparel retail industry. AT major knowledge, business knowledge, mathematics, as well as professional skills (e.g., communication, commitment, teamwork, English language, lifelong learning, and experience) are found to be essential for the success of Saudi women in the apparel retail industry. For AT educators in Saudi Arabia, this knowledge and skills have to be addressed in the apparel merchandising program.

Although ERP systems have been depicted as a solution in many organizations, there are many negative reports on ERP success, benefits, and effect on user’s performance. Previous research noted that there is a lack of knowledge and awareness of ERP systems and their overall value to ERP organizations. ERP systems have been widely studied during the past decade, yet they often fail to deliver the intended benefits originally expected. One notable reason for their failures is the lack of understanding in users’ requirements. This dissertation study was designed to understand the relative importance of system quality (SQ), IQ (IQ), service quality (SVQ), and their influence on ERP users. The dependent variable individual impact (II) was used to represent the ERP success at the individual level of analysis. The research by Petter, DeLone, and McLean (2008) established the basis for this research. In addition, this study examined the moderating effect of users’ characteristics variables (age, gender, experience, and position) on the II variable. The study further compared the results of this research with Petter et al.’s (2008) research to test whether the overall findings of this research differ from their research. A web-based survey was used to collect data for this study. A number of ERP users from private and public sectors in the Middle East participated in this survey. The survey screening process provided 218 usable responses for further analysis. Using SPSS 23, the researcher determined the validity and reliability of the items. The result of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) via principal component analysis (PCA) loaded SQ items on four components, IQ on three components, SVQ on one component, and II on one component. Following the EFA results, the researcher investigated the items’ reliability, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Hypothetical relationships were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on the partial least squares (PLS) technique. The moderating effect was examined using the multigroup analysis (MGA) method. This dissertation study contributed to the body of knowledge by highlighting the importance of SQ, IQ, and SVQ in impacting ERP users’ learnability, awareness/recall, decision effectiveness, and individual productivity in an ERP environment. The results of this research can be used by ERP vendors to deliver an integrated and customized ERP system to organizations based on region. This research bridged the gap in the literature on the need to conduct more ERP research in the Middle East. Understanding the relative importance of information systems (IS) success factors brings the attention of ERP organizations and vendors to focus their efforts on the leading issues perceived by end users. Assessing the level of IS impact from multiple users may help organizations to offer all types of training to develop better attitudes toward ERP systems. Organizations can also build a rigorous approach to assess the impacts of IS on ERP users’ performance and productivity. As a result, this could help in improving productivity, learnability, awareness, and decision effectiveness of the end users.

This thesis seeks to explore the ways in which gender and identity are imagined in times of war especially in the cases of women who participate in armed struggle within the Middle East. I focus particularly on how US and UK media's framing of these women's lives and experiences distort the ways in which we understand conflict within the contemporary Middle East. Through the case studies of female militants or supports of militancy in Palestine and the Islamic State I seek to highlight women's stories and lived realities in an attempt to understand what drives them to use particular model's of agency.

Lebanon has historically been at the center of Middle Eastern conflict. Religious diversity and weak institutions have resulted in the country’s continual exploitation by powerful foreign states. At first, a historical overview of Lebanon demonstrates how certain events over the past 200 years have shaped the country. Based on recurring political and economic misfortunes, sectarian tensions within Lebanon have flared since the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. This thesis argues that in order to stabilize the country and prevent the meddling of foreign powers, a focus must be placed on establishing a national identity, strengthening the country’s political institutions, and creating an accountable economic system.