During the last one year, while working on this thesis, I have been asked several times as to how Islam or Islamic fundamentalism makes a communication thesis. The answer is simple: my concern is not Islam as a religion or fundamentalism as a religious or political movement but the way Islam is defined and fundamentalism presented. In the age of communication reality is not just what we see or sense but what we are shown and made to perceive. It would be no exaggeration to suggest that today our dependence on the communication networks is such that even for something that happens in front of us we need interpretations to fully comprehend it. Thus reality without interpretations, in most cases, has come to carry little meaning. Our perception of reality today is not based on our individual experiences only. It is, in fact, the sum total of the reality plus interpretations by the 'public arenas' such as education institutions, mass media, the civil service, parliament, the courts, industry, the research and scientific community, political parties etc. (Cracknell, 1993: 4). This study deals with the interpretations of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism by the Muslim as well as western public arenas. Throughout this thesis I use the word 'Islam' not as a religion but as a symbol of political power and cultural identity. Because, I believe that Islam as a faith is a personal and spiritual matter that for majority of the Muslims, like the believers of any religion, need not be compared with any other religion unless to prove it superior. But as a symbol of political power and cultural identity Islam does need interpretations and has been interpreted in many different ways. What triggered my interest in yet another interpretation was that what I had seen in Pakistan and what I felt the West thought of Muslim societies had no logical connection. For instance, there is a widespread belief in the West that Muslim societies are deeply religious and Islam guides every aspect of the Muslims' life. The reality that I have seen and experienced in Pakistan society, which is ninety-six per cent Muslim, is that few, very few indeed, Muslims may be willing to die or kill for Islam, but will not live according to Islam. The people of Pakistan, in their day-to-day life, are as secular as the people of any other part of the world. They have all human virtues and vices that human beings are capable of anywhere in the world. But still there is no denying the fact that Pakistan, or for that matter any underdeveloped society, is different from the industrialised West. How and why are they different is what I have investigated in this thesis. I have no hesitation in admitting that except for the discrepancy in the reality that I had seen in Pakistan and its perception that I noticed in the West, I had no clear idea about the subject. But I have always believed, as Sartre has said somewhere, that the honourable thing about reading is to let yourself be influenced. I claim to have started this thesis with an open mind, but I do not claim to be an objective writer, unless objectivity is seen as nothing but to be honest to one's self as well as others. All of us live with our subjectivity that is influenced by our individual and collective objective conditions. Most of us are content to live with what we have learnt during our formative phase in life. Some of us are not. I belong to the latter tribe. Through the years I have unlearnt many a thing about religion, culture and human beings that I had learnt from my family, school and society, to accommodate more ideas, opinions and concepts, not less. That process still continues. One thing that I have learnt in life, and which I shall cherish forever, is that human beings must not be frozen in their cultural, religious and social categories; they must not be seen as good and bad without an understanding of their environment.

Magister Artium - MA / This study examines the foundations of the various methods of identifying legal cause (masālik al-ʿillah). It studies its various theories, spanning the classical and premodern period and investigates its application in contemporary times. The investigation analyses the theories of masālik al-ʿillah while placing the legal cause (ʿillah) contextually within the convention of analogical reasoning (qiyās). The findings of this investigation are then used to study practical applications of identifying legal cause, in a selection of three case constructions of qiyas, under the topic of suicide attacks.

Parler du corps féminin dans l'œuvre de Assia Djebar, tout en dépassant le clivage chair/âme ou corps/personnalité, signifie l'inscrire dans une vision unitaire, dans une durée et un espace élargis et totalisants. Ce corps est constamment en relation avec le milieu qui l'influence, ce qui conduit à un éclatement de son unité. Nous avons voulu insister sur sa continuité, sa résistance et même la survie de l'identité, malgré les facteurs ou les contextes qui l'ont mis à mal. Avant de conférer l'unité perdue au corps féminin, nous avons essayé de définir les termes clé de corps et de personnalité grâce aux sciences humaines, tout en tenant compte de leur spécificité liée à l'identité arabo-musulmane, aux particularités berbères et à l'influence française. Ce point de départ multiple nous a permis de ne pas tomber dans les catégorisations classiques, strictement sociales, de la femme algérienne. En voulant mettre en lumière l'unité fondamentale de cet être féminin, nous nous sommes intéressée tout d'abord à son aspect physique, le premier qui s'offre à notre vue et qui nous permet une description. Mais celui-ci dépasse les apparences car, prise en charge par le langage et l'imaginaire, il conduit à la manifestation de la dimension réflexive. Le personnage féminin djebarien passe du stade «avoir un corps» à celui d'«être un corps» doté de plusieurs dimensions, physique, psychique, intellectuelle, langagière et imaginaire (I). Mais cette image corporelle unie et heureuse est confrontée à des époques moins favorables qui sont apparues à cause de l'éloignement de la doctrine islamique initiale, telle qu'elle est présentée dans Loin de Médine, de la valorisation de certains concepts comme l'honneur, la pudeur, la honte. Confronté à l'autorité masculine qui s'exerce sur la femme algérienne dans tous les moments de la vie, et qui se traduit par l'enfermement, l'humiliation, l'assignation à certains rôles très bien définis (comme celui de mère et d'épouse), les ordres, les coups, les insultes, etc., ce corps féminin développe une «micropsychologie» (M. Maffesoli) qui se transmet de génération en génération et qui offre des réponses toutes faites à des situations diverses. Tous les gestes en sont imprégnés, mais cela n'empêche pas le réveil et le surgissement des traces cachées de la personnalité féminine dans des contextes très particuliers. Ces traces mettront en lumière la ruse, le défi et même la haine de la femme lancés à l'homme, désigné déjà dans l'imaginaire féminin algérien par le terme de «e'dou» (ennemi). Ces sentiments révèlent donc la résistance du corps féminin, faite à la fois d'une révolte muette, de cris ravalés, de murmures, d'une écoute attentive, d'un besoin de partager et de se soutenir (II). Nous avons donc devant nos yeux un corps morcelé, qui a oublié ses qualités à cause de l'intériorisation des prisons symboliques. Mais grâce à la solidarité féminine, à la valorisation de la maison vue comme espace cocon et des relations entre femmes, au retour à la langue première, les traces de liberté et de plénitude du passé éloigné sont réactualisées par les gestes et les paroles de certaines femmes libres. Celles-ci ouvrent la voie de la libération du corps féminin algérien qui réapprendra à regarder, à marcher dehors, à raconter ses souvenirs, à parler de lui et à apprécier la présence de l'homme aimé (III). L'analyse des parties corporelles visibles, de la posture féminine, des gestes dans lesquels la tradition s'est inscrite, des réactions qui dévoilent à la fois la dimension corporelle et psychique, des termes utilisés par Djebar pour parler de ses personnages féminins, nous a permis de dévoiler un corps féminin doté d'un cœur, de souvenirs, de sentiments, une personnalité et des rôles qui sortent du cadre imposé par la société. Ce corps féminin, capable de faire des gestes qui l'inscrivent dans la durée et dans l'espace reconquis, acquiert une parole performative qui le recrée et lui donne la possibilité de s'accomplir. / As suggested in the works of Assia Djebar about the body of the woman excluding the cleavage of the flesh and soul and of the body and personality means a vision of a united body encompasses a broad duration and space. This body is constantly connected to the environment that influences it. This has broken its unity up. The thesis puts the emphasis on its continuity, resistance and even the survival of its identity, despite the factors or contexts that have harmed it. Before giving back to the female body its lost unity, we identified the key terms of body and personality through the humanities, while taking into account the specifics of these terms related to the Arab-Muslim identity, to the Berber characteristics and to the French influence. With this starting point, we do not fall into the conventional and strictly social categorizations of the Algerian woman. In order to highlight the fundamental unity of the feminine being, we started with its physical dimension. This is the first aspect that we view and that we can describe. But it goes beyond the appearances since, supported by the language and the imagination, it drives a reflexive dimension. The Djebarien female character transitions from the stage "have a body" to the stage of "being a body" with several dimensions: physical, psychological, intellectual, linguistic and imaginary (I). But that image of unity and harmony is faced with less favorable pictures that appeared because Islam moved away from its original doctrine as presented in the book “Far from Medina”, and the valuation of certain concepts such as honor, modesty and shame. Faced with the male authority that is exercised on the Algerian female body in every moment of life, and which results in confinement, humiliation, arrest to some very well-defined roles (such as mother and wife), orders, beatings, insults, etc.., the female body develops a “micro psychology” (M. Maffesoli) that is transmitted from generation to generation and provides built-in answers to various situations. All actions are impregnated with these, but that doesn't stop preventing the emergence of hidden traces of the female personality in very specific contexts. These traces highlight the cunning, the challenge and even the hatred of women to men, designated in the Algerian female imaginary by the term "e'dou" (enemy). These feelings reveal the strength of the female body made of a silent revolt expressed or debased by shouts, murmurs, attentive listening, a need to share and support each other.(II) So we have in front of our eyes a fragmented body, which has forgotten its qualities due to the internalization of these symbolic prisons. But thanks to the female solidarity, the appreciation of the house as a place to cocoon, the relationships between women, and the return to the first language, the traces of the distant past are renewed by the actions and words of some free women. These pave the way for the release of the Algerian female body that will learn again to watch, to walk outside, to reminisce, to talk about itself and to appreciate the presence of the beloved man. (III) The analysis of body parts visible in our corpus, the feminine posture, the gestures in which the tradition is recorded, the reactions that reveal both the physical and psychic dimension, the terms used by Djebar to talk about his feminine characters, allowed us to reveal a female body with a heart, memories, feelings, personalities and roles that are outside the framework imposed by the society. The female body able to make gestures, which falls within the time and space reclaimed, acquires a performative speech which, in turn, recreates and provides it with the opportunity to perform, while maintaining contact with the origins and the "living word". So we see a body and an identity shifting, constantly trying to form and to write.

Diploma thesis "Islamic civilization: A comparison of representative interpretations" presents theoretical and historical approach to comparative study of Islamic society by interpretation and comparison of principal scholars in which the author lays emphasis on basic social patterns of this society in long-term and dynamic development as well as on its role within modernization transformations. The main goal is to contribute by selective reflexion to understanding of the long-term historical experiences, its peculiar world views and institutional patterns as well as the ways it participates in history of the world. For this purpose the author employs interpretations and comparisons of the selected authors with particular focus on conception of Muslim society in the writings of Ernest Gellner. The first part is engaged in definition of Islamic civilization concept as one of the largest socio-cultural complexes in Eurasian macro-region. The second part focuses on political traditions and transformations as well as to some extent on economic structure of Islamic civilization. The last part pursues Islamic society as prospective alternative modernity in comparison to diverse conceptions of Islam interpretations proposed by other social science scholars.

Né à Constantine en 1905 É.C., décédé à Alger en 1973 É.C., Malek Bennabi ce penseur algérien et réformateur musulman peu connu, s’est attaché durant sa vie, à étudier et analyser les problèmes liés à la civilisation du Monde arabo-musulman. Ingénieur sorti de l’Ecole Polytechnique de Paris, Malek Bennabi a jumelé deux cultures différentes : la culture islamique et la culture occidentale.C'est pour cette raison que ses analyses sont ornées d'expertise et d'expérience, d'innovation et d'émancipation. Sa réflexion est pleine d'animation, il a plus d'une vingtaine d'ouvrages, traitant des thèmes variés : la civilisation, le dialogue civilisationnel, la culture, l'idéologie, les problèmes de société, l’orientalisme, la démocratie, le système colonial ainsi que de sujets relatifs au phénomène coranique. À travers ses écrits, il s’attache à étudier et à analyser les raisons de la stagnation de la Société arabo-musulmane et les conditions d’une nouvelle renaissance. Malek Bennabi, s’attèle à tenter d’éveiller les consciences pour une renaissance de cette société. Ayant vécu l’expérience coloniale et post – coloniale dans son pays, Malek Bennabi demeurera tourmenté par les obstacles de développement. Pour lui l’accession à l’indépendance et la construction d’un État moderne n’auront pas suffi à arracher la société au sous-développement économique, social et culturel. En effectuant une relecture du patrimoine islamique, tout comme l’ont fait deux penseurs décédés récemment : Al Djâbiri et Mohamed Arkoun. Malek Bennabi cherchait à offrir une énergie sociale capable à arracher les sociétés arabo-musulmanes de leur sous-développement et décadence. C’est sous cet angle, que nous allons, dans ce mémoire, mener notre réflexion en l’articulant autour de la problématique centrale qui traverse la pensée de Malek Bennabi, à savoir celle du renouveau de la société islamique marquée par une grande diversité. Nous allons tenter de répondre à plusieurs questions, dont la principale est la suivante : est-ce que Malek Bennabi a présenté, à travers ses idées, de la nouveauté pour changer la réalité arabo-musulmane? / Malek Bennabi (1905 – 1973) was a Muslim philosopher, and reformer from Algeria. He was born in Constantine. Bennabi was particularily interested in understanding the civilization of the Arab-Muslim world. As an engineer who graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, he combined both Franco-Western and North-African Islamic cultures. His publications received a number of awards and prizes primarily due to his unique combination of expertise, experience, innovation, and emancipation. He wrote numerous articles and books on a variety of issues such as civilizations, culture, ideology, societies, Orientalism, democracy, and the phenomenon of the Qur'an. His writings focused mainly on the causes of contemporary Arabo-Muslim social problems as well as the conditions for a new renaissance or rebirth. The colonial and post-colonial contexts of Bennabi affected his thought. He did not consider an independent and modern state as sufficient conditions for reaching economic development or socio-cultural advancement. Similar to other thinkers, like the late Al Djâbiri Mohamed Arkoun, Malek Bennabi pursued to the logic that only through empowering Arab societies can there be prevention of their underdevelopment and decadence. This thesis focuses precisely on this point: the rebirth of the diverse Islamic society. It seeks to answer the following question: “What innovative thinking did Bennabi contribute to improve the lives of Arab-Muslims?”