Controversies among ahl al-hadith and Hanafis had assumed serious proportions by the time of Wali Allah. Reconciliation of legal schools was a practical, rather than a merely theoretical problem. From the very beginning Wali Allah had ahl al-hadith proclivities and from that standpoint he bitterly denounced Hanafïs for deviating from sunnah. At this stage his basic aim was revival of pristine Shari'ah and reform of Hanafi legal doctrines by making them conform to sunnah. Later on, Wali Allah felt the futility of his intemperate opposition to Hanafi school and combined the aim of unifying the ummah with his original aim. He began to stress increasingly the validity of all schools. As for the hanafî school, he tried to reform its doctrines so as to make it harmonise with sunnah by introducing in it a selective process. Later he further widened the scope of his scheme to embrace all Sunni schools. The method he suggested was that of legal eclecticism and the underlying purpose was to reconcile and amalgamate the schools without destroying their entities.

This thesis discusses the shadow play in mediaeval Arabo-Islamic societies, and the most outstanding playwright in that genre, Ibn Daniyal (d.710/1310). Despite the lack of other extant plays, it is shown that the shadow play had a long and dynamic tradition in mediaeval Islam, as attested to by various written sources that refer to it through two 'frames' of perception: as allegory and as theatre. These two frames indicate that there is a close link between the intrinsic development of this theatrical genre and the coinage of allegorical expressions geared to the understanding of the cosmological order. The principal features of the shadow theatre are analyzed in the light of theatrical semiotics, focusing on Ibn Daniyal's trilogy Kitab Tayf al-khayal. It is argued that Ibn Daniyal's dramaturgy, emphasizing a collective social experience, relies strongly on the peculiarities of the genre in the process of foregrounding the playwright's ideological concerns. Ibn Daniyal's possible worlds, seeking to harmonize the contending ideologies of Mamluk society, are familiar yet saliently delimited, as the theatrical frame through which they are induced is consciously highlighted.

By examining first the life and works of Muhammad ibn Murtada al-Fayd al-Kashani (1007/1598-1091/1680), we hope this will serve as an introduction to some of his viewpoints. We will consider his theories of muraqabat al-nafs (self-supervision) and muhasabat al-nafs (self-accounting) as expounded in his book al-Mahajjah al-Bayda', which was written as a work to enhance Ihya' al-'Ulum by al-Ghazali, (450/1058-505/1111) from a Shi'ah perspective. We will also compare the views of al-Fayd and al-Ghazali as expressed in their respective books. / Self-supervision and self-accounting are two main terms of ethical terminology that enjoy a rich history in Islamic philosophy. Al-Fayd's views on the subject, as a philosopher and an ethicist of the School of Isfahan are studied in this work. The sources of al-Ghazali and al-Fayd are discussed, and differences between the approaches of al-Fayd and al-Ghazali are also covered.

There can be no doubt that literature or 'belles lettres' is a vehic1e of thought and culture, and that its authors are among the best keys to their age and its attitudes.

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Oregon University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-38). Also available via Internet as PDF file through Southern Oregon Digital Archives: http://soda.sou.edu. Search Bioregion Collection.

Thesis (M.F.)--Oregon State College, 1953. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-83). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.I.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-118). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (B.S.)-Oregon State College, 1940. / "A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Forestry, Oregon State College in partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Science, June 1940." - T.p. Typescript (carbon copy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-34).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1992. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-91). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Zugl.: Bochum, Univ., Diss., 2004