Inaug.-Diss.--Freie Universität, Berlin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-53).

No description available.

No description available.

In the wake of the abolition of the Caliphate in the Islamic world with the advent of the Mongols in the 13th century, Islamic scholarship paradoxically flourished, especially in the Shi'i milieu. This era marked a renaissance which has influenced the course of Shii thought ever since. Through its major thinkers, i.e. Ibn Sa'ada, 'Ali ibn Sulayman and Maytham, the school of Bahrain contributed vigorously to this renaissance by integrating philosophy and mysticism into Shi'ism. Yet, the writings of this school are barely known to modern scholarship and many are still in manuscript form. Drawing upon both published and unpublished sources, this study reveals the importance of this school by offering a descriptive and historical analysis of this intellectual contribution to philosophy, theology and mysticism. It also demonstrates that the school of Bahrain was the first Shii school to derive its rational infra-structure in a unique way from a diversity of sources ranging from the Mu'tazili and Ash'ari theology to the Ibn Sinian philosophy and Ibn al-'Arabis mysticism. Its originality thus lies in its synthetic methodology and its interpretation of Shii literature in light of speculative sciences.

This study is an attempt to reexamine prevailing views concerning the question of politioal power during the first three and a half decades of the fourth/tenth century Abbisid caliphate.

Development and social change have been the common challenge of both developed and developing nations. Various models are proposed by investigators of development and social change to meet these challenges. However, such models are inevitably associated with particular patterns of culture and values. It must therefore be recognized that development cannot be value-free and measured only in economic terms or based on European standards; rather development must be value-laden and correspond with a nation's history, culture and aspirations. At the same time, few development models have dealt with the dimension of culture and values. / Dissatisfied with Western models of development, Muslim thinkers have attempted to build an Islamic model which expresses Islamic values and aspirations. In this thesis I explore and design a model based on the writings of Ayatullah Sayyid Muh&dotbelow;ammad Baqir al-S&dotbelow;adr, whose thought seems particularly comprehensive and relevant to the modern world. My discussion begins with a synthesis and critique of a variety of Western models, both modern and post-modern, from an Islamic point of view. I then investigate and discuss Sadr's theory of culture and values development, focusing on the challenge of human inner conflict and his typology of human values formation. / Sadr's key concern is to shift the focus of development from a macro-social to the micro-individual level. An Islamic model of development, as Sadr sets out, is first and foremost one for human values development. For Sadr, culture and values development must precede any other kind of development for a Muslim society, where the practice of Islamic values is a way of life and a journey towards God. Values education then should be prophetic education which focuses on teaching people how to develop themselves and accordingly to reach God. Sadr also argues that economic development cannot be obtained without the establishment of social justice. The establishment of the latter should be based on culture and values development, which profoundly relates to the resolution of human inner values conflicts. / The project also evaluates different models in the light of the one proposed by Sadr, and discusses numerous challenges and dilemmas facing Islamic societies in the global environment and in the post-modern questioning of permanent values. Next, I will examine gender and development, an important issue not explicitly addressed by Sadr. In this chapter, I have indicated that sexual values development is of critical importance to the success of any development program, which in turn depends upon a sexuality education that teaches God-centered self-control. / I will close this dissertation with a chapter examining some of the educational challenges posed by culture and values development in Post-Revolutionary Iran.

This thesis is an attempt to analyze Fazlur Rahman's hermeneutical method: his theory of the divine revelation of the Qur'an and its application to the case of zakat (alms) and riba (usury) in particular. Rahman's theory is firmly in touch with reality and he proposes a well-argued system of Qur'anic methodology. Theoretically, he seeks to determine the general principles behind the Qur'anic legal texts, since the latter were contextualized by time and place while the former are universal and eternal. Practically, Rahman calls Muslims to an intellectual jihad in the effort to reformulate the Qur'anic legal injunctions on social matters in order to solve the problems of the present. Rahman sees the long-standing ad hoc solutions, such as those of the traditionalist Muslims, as unworkable due to their piecemeal treatment of the Qur'anic teachings. / The thesis then explores Rahman's proposal for hermeneutical philosophy particularly of Gadamer and Emilio Betti. It attempts to show that Rahman's use of the notion of 'effective history' to understand the 'mind' of the Prophet in formulating the Qur'anic laws leads him to subjectivism. For one thing, he judges the Prophet's mind from the present century when rationality and technology play a dominant role. Besides, laws in the Qur'an are explained in terms of their socio-economic background. Consequently, the thesis comes to the conclusion that Rahman's hermeneutics are lacking in theological considerations and the legal intentions of the Qur'an are secularized.

The thesis examines the origins and function of legal theory ( usul al-fiqh) within the context of the development of early Islamic law. I argue against the depiction of the development of law as a series of compromises between traditionalism and rationalism. Rather, by evading the demands of traditionalism, law evolved into a complex doctrinal entity rooted in the social structures of third-century Abbasid society. This revision of the development of law provides a context to evaluate early works of legal theory. Moreover, in context of my analysis of the development of law, I attempt to explain the emergence of legal theory as an independent discipline and its function within the greater structure of law.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1993.