Sayyid Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani was a prominent pan-Islamist of the nineteenth century. His appeal of Muslim unity as a common front against the West and call for a regeneration of Islamic societies opened up the way for a new type of politics in Muslim lands and constituted a model for the Islamist discourse. This study examines his stay in Istanbul as a guest of the Ottoman Sultan, Abdulhamid II, between 1892-1897. The rule of Abdulhamid involved policies centered around the Caliphate. His enthronement coincided with the dramatic changes of the period 1876-1882. Under the external and domestic circumstances of the era Abdulhamid developed his own Islamism with pan-Islamic overtones. His ideology was primarily intended to ensure the integrity of the Empire. Its external aspect involved pan-Islamic appeals to Muslims outside the Empire as an intended weapon against Western powers. In this study, the stay of Afghani in Istanbul is analyzed with respect to the background of Hamidian (pan-)Islamism and Afghani

abstract: The American-led 'war on terror' affected how media outlets and some contemporary literature addressed and stereotyped Islam. One of the most common stereotypes regarded the status of women in society. The constant images of oppressed Afghani women generated a wave of negativity toward Islam. Afghani women were portrayed as passive characters during the Taliban rule awaiting liberation from the west. Defending their rights became one of the moral justifications for waging the 'war on terror' after the tragedy of 9/11. Gender politics in Afghanistan is closely tied to the regime in power. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the social and cultural transformation of society that followed also directly affected women and their identity as Muslims. Both the Soviet and the Taliban regimes envisioned a drastic transformation of women's participation in the public sphere. Each regime's gender politics oppressed Afghani women and sought to take away their agency. Some women welcomed the freedom under the Soviets, but others found the freedoms to be oppressive. The Taliban aimed to preserve men's authority over women. However, Afghani women never gave up the hope of freedom and equality. My main argument is to challenge the contemporary belief that Afghani women were passive characters in their history. This study introduces a fresh perspective on to women's role as change makers in the society. I argue that Afghani women maintained their autonomy and fought for their rights, before the rest of the world rushed to liberate them. They engaged in different forms of resistance from directly attacking the oppressors to keeping their resistance hidden. This thesis challenges the notion of Afghani women as victims in need of saving. On the contrary, they were the agents of change in their communities. On the basis of ethnographic interviews and three memoirs written by women who lived in Afghanistan during Soviet and Taliban rule. Their resistance against the oppressors is an affirmation of their courage and bravery. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Religious Studies 2017

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