This dissertation engages a cultural discussion on time concepts that took place between Arab thinkers and creative writers in the aftermath of the June War of 1967 against Israel and the onset of a period of Arab cultural self-critique. It focuses on a set of intellectual projects and examines their propositions on Islamic notions of time and their place in the modernity of Arab thought. Intellectuals such as the Syrian poet Adonis (b. 1930), the Moroccan philosopher Mohammed ʿAbed al-Jabri (1935-2000), and the Lebanese psychologist Mustapha Hijazi (b. 1937) critiqued the alleged Arab “event-based” and “discontinuous” perception of time which lacks the notion of the temporal as a homogenous impersonal medium. Focusing on the example of Sufism, they argued that time in the Islamic worldview is a heterogenous mix of sacred and profane events in an ontology deprived of change. My dissertation debates these findings in two ways. I first draw on the French philosopher Henri Bergson’s concept of “duration” to problematize these thinkers’ discursive ideal of homogenous time which imposes on the heterogeneity of lived temporality the attributes of space and, as such, produces a mechanistic vision of the world. I then focus on the discourse of Ibn ʿArabi (d. 637/1240) and Mulla Sudra (d. 1049/1640) to demonstrate that Sufism advances a view of time as a flux of change internal to the life of the soul and leading to moral self-perfection. Finally, my dissertation focuses on alternative Arabic engagements with Sufi writings on time through the works of the Moroccan ethicist ʿAbdurrahman Taha (b.1944), the Iraqi Marxist Hadi al-ʿAlawi (1933-1998), and the Egyptian novelist Gamal al-Ghitani (1945-2015). I argue that these thinkers and writers draw on the heterogeneity of time in Sufism to critique the semantic neutrality and abstraction of modern time which depends on capitalism as a life form.

The Internet is the most common communication and research tool worldwide. Perusal of the World Wide Web quickly reveals the variety of information available. Internet adoption can be considered the late 20th century's most important event. In academic environments today, Internet use among faculty members has been widely expanded, with professors now integrating Internet technology into classroom activities. Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University (IMSU) is a pioneering public university in Saudi Arabia. Until recently, some faculty members at IMSU were unable to access the Internet through the university. It is important to study the effects of this delay on faculty members regarding research and academic activities. This study identified the statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics of Internet adopters and non-adopters among faculty members at IMSU, examined whether faculty members' perceptions of the Internet affected adoption, determined if the university administration's decisions impacted faulty members' decisions to adopt the Internet, identified factors motivating faculty members to adopt the Internet, identified obstacles influencing faculty members' decisions to use the Internet, and determined whether innovation characteristics as perceived by faculty members predicted Internet adoption. Using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory, the influence of eight attributes were examined regarding Internet adoption among IMSU faculty members. Multiple regression and chi-square techniques were conducted to analyze the data and answer research questions. Statistically significant differences were identified among Internet adopters and non-adopters regarding gender, age, academic rank, discipline, and English proficiency. The data revealed 54.7% of IMSU faulty members used the Internet for research and academic activities twice a month or less, indicating a low Internet adoption rate. Statistically significant differences were noted among adopters and non-adopters relative to income level and English proficiency. Multiple regression analysis showed that all attributes of innovation individually predicted Internet adoption. The combination of all attributes indicated the model could predict Internet adoption among faculty.

This is a comparative study of the two earliest known comprehensive technical manuals treating Hadith criticism.

This study is an attempt to bring to light an important Ottoman Turkish work of theosophy entitled Ïtâl]ü'I-l:fikem (Elucidation of Wisdoms), written by Ismall An~aravT (d. 1631) as a commentary on the treatise Hayakil al-Nür (The Temples of Ught) by Shihàb al-Din Suhrawardl (d. 1191). The study consists of three main parts. The first part provides a detailed account of the life and works of the author, An~aravT, with an emphasis on his scholarship in the context of the Ottoman learned class. The second part, which is the main body of this research, presents a chapter by chapter analysis of the significant issues discussed in An~aravl's commentary, in comparison with the commentary of JalaJ al-Dln Oawwani (d. 1502), by whom he seems to be influenced. This section is an investigation of An~aravT's reformulation of Ishrâqi wisdom within the framework of his orthodox mystical views. In the last part, on the basis of ail available manuscripts, which are collated, a reliable text for edition is established. / Cette étude est faite dans le but de faire connaître un travail important de théosophie, intitulé Îzahu-l-hikem(Élucidations des Sagesses) écrit par Isma'il Ankaravi (m. 1631) en turc ottoman comme commentaire du traité intutilé Hayakil al-Nûr (Les Temples de Lumière), écrit par Shi hab al- Dm SuhrawardT (m. 1191). Cette étude consiste en trois parties. La première partie traite en détail de la vie et des livres de l'auteur Ankaravi, en insistant surtout sur sa personnalité intellectuelle dans le contexte de la classe des intellectuels Ottomans. La deuxième partie est la partie la plus importante de cette recherche, elle présente, chapitre par chapitre, une analyse des sujets significatifs discutés dans le commentaire d'An~aravi d'une façon comparée avec celui de Jalal al-DTn Dawwanl (m. 1502), par qui il semble avoir été influencé. De plus, cette section est un approfondissement de la compréhension d'An~aravT, dans le cadre de sa vision mystique et orthodoxe, de la sagesse ishraqie. Dans la dernière partie, tous les manuscrits accessibles sont collationnés en vue d'une édition critique.

The identification and examination of cultural information strategies and censorship patterns used to propagate the controversial issue of the caricatures in two separate cultural contexts was the aim of this dissertation. It explored discourse used for the coverage of this topic by one newspaper in a restrictive information context and two newspapers in a liberal information context. Message propagation in a restrictive information environment was analyzed using the English daily Kuwait Times from the Middle East; the liberal information environment of the US was analyzed using two major dailies, the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. The study also concurrently identifies and elaborates on the themes and frames through which discourse was presented exposing the cultural ideologies and premises they represent. The topic was approached with an interdisciplinary position with the support and applicability testing of Chatman's insider-outsider theory within information science and Noelle-Neumann's spiral of silence theory and Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model based in the area of mass communication. The study has also presented a new model of information censorship - circle of information censorship, emphasizing conceptual issues that influence the selection and censorship of information.

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