The Point Loma Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society Homestead, a utopian experiment established near San Diego, California, in 1897, created a distinctly feminine version of the "perfect community" by drawing on aspects of Theosophy that emphasized values that during the 19th century were closely identified with women--selflessness, connectedness, morality, and purity of body and mind, while deemphasizing those generally associated with male character--intellectualism, rationality, individualism, and aggression. Bolstered by the almost limitless authority of the community's founder, Katherine Tingley, the women of Point Loma Colony embraced an ideology of woman's morally superior nature, and used that ideology to expand woman's "natural" sphere of influence. Point Loma's emphasis on selfless service to others required a material base that freed women from the demands of narrow, isolated family units by providing communal childcare and kitchens, economic security, and access to education regardless of gender. This limited feminine commonwealth created a space for improvisation in which brotherhood was equated with sisterhood, fictive family bonds replaced blood ties, and childless mothers took the place of real ones.

This study addresses the relationship between the veil and the constitution of what I have tenned the Muslim female subject in the field of visual and popular culture, with a special emphasis on film. My case-studies range from European historical texts to contemporary visual culture and social practices with reference to the Middle East. The study draws on postcolonial and feminist literature to explore the productions of the Muslim female subject within the discourses of (post)colonialism, nationalism and Islamic patriarchy. It examines the Muslim female subject in relation to the paradigms of veiling and unveiling in a cross-cultural yet context-specific differentiated analysis. The aim is to interrogate the mobility of the veil and the manner in which it can be evaded, substituted or transferred without transgressing the codes of Islamic female modesty. It identifies different manifestations of the veil's mobility, which I contend challenge Islamic hegemonic discourses whilst simultaneously transcending the colonialist paradigm of unveiling. The material I discuss ranges from (de-)colonial cinematic texts, Iranian cinema and advertising for Saudi Arabian Television. I look at canonical texts such as Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966) and Abbas Kiarostami's 10 (2002) in view of their significance in scholarship relating to the Muslim female subject within film studies. I also examine manifestations of the veil in the field of fashion and make extensive reference to paradigmatic representations of the Muslim female subject in contemporary art and curatorial projects.

This research assesses the use of scripture in tracts published in Swahili in East Africa. The use of tracts for the propagation of religion is introduced through the work of Tract Societies in Britain and the use of Christian tracts in overseas missions. Printing in Arabic and the propagation of Islam through tracts is surveyed. The historical use of tracts by Christians and Muslims in East Africa, and Swahili as a religious language, are examined. In 2000 and 2001, Christian and Muslim tracts in Swahili were purchased from particular locations in Kenya and Tanzania. Of these, sixteen tracts, eight by Christians and eight by Muslims, were selected. The tracts use passages from the Bible and/or the Qur’an mainly for outreach purposes. They are described and analysed and scriptures within them recorded. Eighteen Biblical and Qur’anic passages that appeared in more than one tract were chosen. These scriptures, together with the interpretations of them within the tracts, are translated, presented thematically, analysed and compared. The research found differences between Christian and Muslim use of the passages, noting that the approach of most tracts is polemical, thus raising concerns that they may increase misunderstandings between Christians and Muslims in East Africa.

This study investigates the existence of duality in the Bruneian educational system. It highlights the efforts that have been made towards achieving ideal Islamic patterns of education through the implementation of the Integrated Education system from January 2004 to December 2005. The study found that the former Integrated Education system approximates the Al-Attas model of thought in education. Fieldwork research was conducted using a questionnaire and structured interview instruments to gather data. The questionnaire involved 113 general primary schools teachers and 234 parents of students at the primary six level. It was found that several factors led to the failure of the Integrated Education system such as misunderstanding and incorrect perceptions regarding the aims and curriculum structure of the system, lack of infrastructure and facilities, culture and attitudes and insufficient acknowledgement of the implementation of the system. The data findings also prove that majority of the general primary school teachers in Brunei Darussalam lack adequate knowledge on the issue of dualist education. Although Brunei currently runs the dual type of education, it is suggested that the implementation of Islamic elements across the curriculum should be continued and the Islamic Revealed Knowledge should be a compulsory subject up to the upper secondary level to all Muslim students.

Conservative religious believers often make use of language that represents the perception that there are clear, fixed differences between their view of the world and the worldview of others, and that their view is unambiguously true and other views are not. This thesis explores the validity of that notion through an analysis of conservative religious language from a cognitive linguistic perspective. It first examines the research relating to what is involved in the process of categorising the environment around us and applies it to how that process can lead to and even encourage the perception of conservative religious believers that reality can be simplified into sets of fixed, binary categories. It then investigates whether there are clear, fixed differences between a 15,225 word collection of Evangelical Times Christian testimonials and a 29,067 word collection of islamfortoday.com Muslim testimonials in terms of their use of movement and proximity metaphors to express their way of believing. This thesis concludes with an analysis of the language of three pairs of conservative Muslims and Christians during a videoed discussion focusing on the differences in their experience as believers. In contrast to the first study`s focus on collections of texts, this analysis focuses on individual differences in their use of proximity and movement metaphors and empathetic language. The results of these studies suggest that, despite the fact that such believers perceive their views of the world as clear and fixed, the expression of their perceived experience of interacting with a divine agent can only be accurately described in terms of varying patterns of emphasis. In addition, not only is it sometimes quite difficult to mark out clear differences between different belief communities in terms of this type of language, it is also possible for individuals within the same communities to exhibit as much divergence as individuals from two different communities.

This study examines why some Muslim women in Syria are turning towards an Islamist faith practice and devoutness in the context of the Syrian da‘wa movement. Based on interviews and participant observation from 2006 – 2011 it demonstrates that the quest for the power to live authentic religious lives as devout Muslims lies at the heart of the phenomenon. It argues that the individual development as illustrated by the in-depth profiles of five women, is facilitated by the new access to religious education for women in mosques and private lessons through female preachers that was advocated by the male religious elite. In previous research the compliance of women with restrictive Islamist practices such as veiling has often been explained as empowering women through aiming at mobility and the participation in public space. This thesis argues that the extent to which the participants went in adapting their lives to the Islamist ideal cannot be sufficiently explained by this hypothesis. Rather, it points at their religious motivations to gain a meaningful, emotionally satisfying and correct religious practice in the hope of divine reward. In addition, this thesis analyses the ambiguity of the question of female empowerment as experienced by women in the social and political sense and as religious leaders on one hand and on the other the participants' own concept of empowerment as divine enablement to submission. Thus it contributes to a fuller understanding of devout Islamist women according to their values and self-perception, and offers insights into the unique Syrian context.

The life histories of Muslim teachers in Birmingham schools have been collected in this research. This interpretive research involved a systematic gathering and analysis of data using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Thirteen primary school teachers voluntarily participated for this to happen. This thesis is about Muslim teachers. It focuses on those Muslims who have, in principle, succeeded in education, and are deemed to be opinion-makers, models and leaders. It explores their conceptions, the meanings and significance which they attach to their decisions, their experiences, and events in their professional and personal lives. It concentrates on their views about the recruitment of teachers from underrepresented communities, and highlights the role of spirituality in their life. It reveals their understanding of what it means to be a Muslim teacher in contemporary Britain, and describes their aspirations and sentiments about the future. Much of the research on teachers’ lives, careers and work has been viewed predominantly from the perspective of class, gender and race. This research concludes that the experiences of teachers are not entirely affected by these configurations. Through the exploration of the life histories of Muslim teachers this thesis suggests that the significance of faith in the lives of teachers should be added to this genre.

This thesis seeks to better understand and evaluate the practice of Islamic finance. In order to do this, the thesis employs a practice-dependent, or constructivist, approach with the aim of identifying the principle or principles that inform, constrain and guide Islamic finance practices. The thesis proceeds by arguing that Islamic finance is a salient site of justice, with a clearly identifiable set of participants and shared set of aims. Having established this, the thesis goes on to demonstrate, through an analysis of the rules and operation of Islamic finance, that a distinct conception of justice can be identified as informing the practice. The central claim of the thesis is that the practice of Islamic finance is guided by a sufficiency-constrained luck egalitarian principle. This principle, it is argued, not only helps us to better understand Islamic finance, but can also help us to evaluate existing Islamic finance practices and, where they are found wanting, offer guidance on how best to reform those practices.

Prior to September 11, 2001, a calculated image problem related to America’s defence strategy in the Near East and its foreign policy of exceptionalism culminated in its unfavourable perception in the Muslim world. To counter this setback, leading think-tanks recommended that US public diplomacy must lead the way in order for America to reclaim its positive image. During the Bush administration, this guidance was applied through the expansion of public diplomacy measures such as the State Department’s “Brand America” campaign and the “Shared Values Initiative”. Whilst they were successful at applying secular approaches to engaging international Muslim audiences, both campaigns failed to reach the core of Islamic society. This study contends that to reach this core, the crucial requirement must be to apply direct communicative engagement with local networks in order to restore trusted relations. In defining a new way forward, this study breaks new ground by examining the origin of this problem for America from the angle of communication. By acknowledging the many setbacks caused by various public diplomacy measures, we examine the prospects for the State Department in applying the post-secular communication strategy, Interfaith Diplomacy, to enrich political communication between US diplomats and key religious players in the Muslim world. Findings reveal that communication training under an Obama administration is essential for improving US-Muslim world relations, and this requires the recruitment of a Religion Attaché Officer Corps within the United States Foreign Service. A new Religion Attaché, equipped with a background in broad religious affairs and communication training in Interfaith Diplomacy, is likely to make significant headway in counteracting the tension caused by the US-Muslim world communication problem.

This dissertation analyses the process of de-secularization of the Malaysian state. It identifies the political role of Islam as an important element in explaining how the Malaysian state sustains the language of special ethnic ‘rights’ to negate the ideal of common citizenship in Malaysia. The historical dominance and constant politicization of Islam reinvents the notion of special citizenship ‘rights’ for the majority Malay citizens, which has serious impacts upon equal opportunities and fundamental liberties of minority citizens. This process is further buttressed by legal apparatus that separates Syariah jurisdiction from civil courts, leading to unequal public access to justice and public deliberation in favour of reasons grounded in religious doctrine. Drawing on Rawlsian-informed critique of power, the thesis advances previous work on Malaysian democracy to critically assess the role of religion in politics that defends state-sanctioned differential citizenship rights. The condition of pluralism in Malaysia is an important case study for a robust understanding of the value of secularism as a principle of state practices. In doing so the thesis makes the normative claim that religion should not reside within the state where it can be politicized with the cost of justifying differential citizenship in a multi-cultural democratic society.