The Muslim world at present is passing through many social and political changes. One of the most interesting phases of the current change is the status of women in the light of the family laws of the Muslim countries. In view of the importance of this subject, the author has undertaken the investigation of the family laws relating to marriage and divorce in some Muslim countries.

At the close of the eighth century the third of the Umawi amirs ascended the throne of al-Andalus to be greeted immediately by a rebellion in one of his major towns. This set the stage for a reign which was filled with rebellion and unrest. The border Marches revolted as their governors sought to make themselves independent a mob of his subjects stormed his palace in Cordoba and almost succeeded in capturing it , he was jeered at when he walked through the streets of Cordoba to the mosque, and at one point he uncovered a plot involving some of the leading scholars in the country to depose him and replace him with his cousin. [...]

This dissertation attempts at a systematic study of the life, personality and thought of the second-third/eighth-ninth century Persian Sufi (Muslim Mystic) Abu Yazid al-Bistami. Having first described and evaluated the source material, it discusses his life, personality and mystical doctrines such as zuhd (asceticism), fana' (self-annihilation), tawhid (unification) and ma'rifah ("knowledge"). It also examines the question of possible Indian influence on him.

This is an analytical study of Islam in Ijebu Ode, an important traditional town in Western Nigeria. Despite the long presence of Islam, Christianity and traditional practices in this town, religion has been reduced to a secondary position in the social set-up of the people.

On Thursday, July 2 1926, Al-Shaykh 'Abd al-Hamid Ibn Badis published a newspaper "al-Muntaqid", in which he proclaimed the major line of reformist action in Algeria. That was the beginning of the Badisian odyssey which remained vital till the death of the Shaykh in April 1940. The Reformist Movement was born. It was presented to public opinion as a strictly religious nonpolitical movement, designed to fight the blameworthy innovations in Algerian Islam for which the marabouts were responsible (according to Ibn Badis). [...] / Jeudi, le 2 juillet 1925, Le Shaykh 'Abd Al-Hamid Ibn Badis fit paraitre un journal, al-Muntaqid, dans lequel il énonce les grandes lignes d'une action réformiste en Algérie. Ce fut le début de l'odyssée badisienne qui ne prendra fin qu'avec la mort du Shaykh (avril 1940). Le Mouvement Réformiste vit le jour. Il fut présenté à l'opinion publique comme un mouvement apolitique, "strictement religieux", visant à combattre les innovations blâmables introduites dans l'Islam algérien dont les marabouts étaient responsables (selon Ibn Badis). [...]

This thesis studies Shâtibi's (d.790/1388) frequently quoted yet little explored and often misunderstood concept of maslaha. The thesis argues that Shatibi' s doctrine, that the protection of the maslaha of men is the main objective of Islamic law, was a product of the grave need of his time to adapt Islamic legal theory to new social conditions. Certain theological and moral considerations had limited the validity of maslaha as a principle of legal reasoning. After an analysis of such considerations, Shatibi proposed maslaha as the most fundamental source of Islamic law. Shatibi was, however, reluctant to accept the logical conclusions of his argument and let his definition of ta'abbud be ambiguous.

This thesis is concerned with providing a perspective on the total heritage - oral, written as well as that observed in a continuing tradition of religious practice - among the Nizari Isma'ilis of the Sub-continent. It initially attempts to define the content and nature of this heritage (collectively termed 'Tradition') with special reference to the ginans preserved in manuscripts. The Tradition is studied with a view to analyzing the self-image therein of those who preached Nizari Isma'ilism, and also with the purpose of reconstructing a history of the da'wa as it spread and developed in the area. The second part focuses on certain specific themes, reflected in a few selected ginans, with a view to determining how certain basic Isma'ili concepts became metamorphosed in the ginans. Such a metamorphosis, it is argues, represents the process by which Nizari Isma'ilism was presented to the new adherents in the context of Indo-Muslim society.

Our purpose is two-fold: l) to elucidate and discuss Ibn Khâldün's attitudes towards theology. 2) to analyze and discuss Ibn Khaldun's style. Our analysis has been carried out against the background of Muhsin Mahdi's studies of Ibn Khâldün's work, especially Mahdi's thesis of the philosophic foundation of the Muqaddimah and Ibn Khaldun's "exoteric-esoteric" style. Our findings are as follows: 1) In Ibn Khaldün's opinion, theology should exist only for purposes of defence of the faith, and cannot legitimately incorporate philosophical ideas and methods. 2) Philosophy and revealed religion are equally valid, each in its own sphere. However, any attempt to mix the two approaches (as was done by the later Muslim theologians) is invalid. 3) The basic religious obligations of Islam are to be fulfilled in a personal commitment; philosophical reason is not involved here. 4) Ibn Khaldun expresses these ideas through a highly complicated "exoteric-esoteric" style.

Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905) is known throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds, and to Western scholars, as the greatest religious thinker and reformer of Islam in the nineteenth century. His efforts to reconcile the fundamental beliefs of Islam with the modern scientific thought of the West have been of the utmost importance in the Islamic revival of recent times. This fame has largely overshadowed 'Abduh’s achievements in other fields, which in degree, if not in kind, were no less important; especially his achievements in the field of journalism.

Nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon in human history. For, in the past man's loyalty had been due not to the nation-state or nationality, but to differing forms of social authority, political organization and ideological cohesion such as tribe or clan, the city state or the feudal lord, the dynastic state, the church or the religious group. During the Middle Ages there are hardly any traces of nationalism, either in the Islamic World or Christendom. In those times, the abject of popular loyalty was not nationality but religion. In Europe, "the object of popular loyalty which was superior to all others" was Christendom.