Zugl.: Halle (Saale), Univ., Diss., 2006 / Text teilw. dt., teilw. arab. - Teilw. in arab. Schr.

Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1989. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves 65-67.

This thesis is an analysis and interpretation of six chapters from al-Nabulusi's commentary. One of these is an account of his intentions for writing the commentary and the other five are commentaries on parts of the Fusus al-hikam. These chapters chosen from al-Nabulusi's commentary treat important subjects in the Fusus al-hikam which exemplify Ibn 'Arabi's thought particularly well. They are concerned with certain issues which were perceived to have a special importance in the Islamic religious tradition. One issue, for example, is that of Pharaoh's profession of faith which was a prominent subject of debate and discussion in Islamic literature. Ibn 'Arabi's position on this was severely criticised by many. The thesis argues that there are four ways in which to appreciate the commentary's intellectual and religious outlook: first, with respect to its approach to Ibn 'Arabi's ideas; second, with respect to its use of Qur'an and hadith in the specific context of developing an independence from Ibn 'Arabi's thought and in the general context of Qur'anic exegesis; third, in its use of language, narrative and metaphor, finally, in its legal approach towards the issue of Pharaoh's faith evincing arguments similar to those of Ibn 'Arabi, but not identical, and, like Ibn 'Arabi, adopting positions different from those of the wider Islamic religious tradition. The thesis demonstrates that the commentary's significance can be appreciated in two historical contexts: the anti-Ibn 'Arabi tendency manifest in late 17^th century Damascus; and the enduring tradition of polemics surrounding Ibn 'Arabi's thought.

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As is well-known, fasting is one of the 'Pillars of Islam'. It might therefore be expected that as such, it would already have been extensively investigated. But this is not the case, for, besides the many minor points of interest which still require elucidation, it is not an exaggeration to say that even the broadest facts about the beginnings and early development of the Islamic fast have not hitherto been conclusively established. Theoretically, the fast is based in the Quran, yet part of the relevant section in the Quran is consciously ignored by most Muslims, while many of their conceptions as regards the rest are at best ill-founded. It should be stressed from the outset that there is no intention here of implying any conscious perversion in this; the reasons underlying the Muslim view of the fast are expounded later.

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M.A. (Islamic Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

In order to understand Islamic legal theory it is important that we study it in the light of the practice which preceded its formation. By studying the relation between the later theory and the practice during the early period of. Islam we will be able to determine the influences on this. theory in its background and development. The present thesis is an attempt to answer a question about this relation between the legal theory and the-preceding practice in one branch of the legal theory. This branch is the Islamic legal theory of the administration of justice al-Qada. The question posed in the thesis is this: Did the theory of the administration in the second and third centuries A. H. express the natural historical development of the Islamic practice of this institution from the time of its introduction until the end of the Umayyad period (when Islamic institutions began to be analysed and discussed) or, on the other hand did Muslim scholars construct the theory in opposition to the actual practice, thereby avoiding any influence from that practice,

This study addresses the riddle of al-Baqara’s internal organization, utilizing new insights from literary theory and Biblical Studies to identify the sura’s structure and unifying themes. It also explores the possible added value in approaching al-Baqara as a whole compositional unit, as opposed to a conglomeration of isolated verse-groups. The dissertation begins with a historical overview of coherence-related approaches, commencing with the classical naẓm- and munāsaba-discourses as observed in the writings of Jāḥiẓ, Bāqillānī, Biqā῾ī and others, and extending to the modern period and the work of scholars such as Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī, ῾Abd al-Muta῾āl al-Ṣa῾īdī, and Matthias Zahniser. This overview is followed by a discussion of methodology, locating this study within the reader-oriented, synchronic, intertextual approaches, and showing methodological parallels with Biblical Studies. A new reading framework for the sura is developed, utilizing in part some of the theories of the Russian literary theorist and philosopher, Mikhail Bakhtin. The sura’s structure is identified by means of analyzing its distinctive repetitions, a known structuring device in oral texts. Incremental inclusios, alternations and chiasms delineate al-Baqara’s compositional subunits. The overall structure of the sura emerges as chiastic, following the pattern ABC/B’C’A’/C’’B’’A’’, where A is a section having the character of a test, B a section containing instructions and C a story portraying primeval origins. The repetitions are of increasing length, the general escalating character of the devices focusing attention on the last panel (C’’B’’A’’). In a first reading, the central theme is identified by means of the sura’s Leitwort, a leading keyword distinguished by its special location, high concentration and even distribution within the sura. Reading the sura for what it reveals about the deity, the Leitwort, ‘guidance’, indicates a common theme of ‘God as guide’. In a second reading, the sura is read for its pedagogical content and the central theme becomes ‘first lesson in the new religion’. The added value in approaching the sura as a whole, as a totality, is in seeing how each theme is progressively developed and elaborated by every one of the sura’s various panels and how these themes hold the sura together as a unit.

This study addresses the riddle of al-Baqara’s internal organization, utilizing new insights from literary theory and Biblical Studies to identify the sura’s structure and unifying themes. It also explores the possible added value in approaching al-Baqara as a whole compositional unit, as opposed to a conglomeration of isolated verse-groups. The dissertation begins with a historical overview of coherence-related approaches, commencing with the classical naẓm- and munāsaba-discourses as observed in the writings of Jāḥiẓ, Bāqillānī, Biqā῾ī and others, and extending to the modern period and the work of scholars such as Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī, ῾Abd al-Muta῾āl al-Ṣa῾īdī, and Matthias Zahniser. This overview is followed by a discussion of methodology, locating this study within the reader-oriented, synchronic, intertextual approaches, and showing methodological parallels with Biblical Studies. A new reading framework for the sura is developed, utilizing in part some of the theories of the Russian literary theorist and philosopher, Mikhail Bakhtin. The sura’s structure is identified by means of analyzing its distinctive repetitions, a known structuring device in oral texts. Incremental inclusios, alternations and chiasms delineate al-Baqara’s compositional subunits. The overall structure of the sura emerges as chiastic, following the pattern ABC/B’C’A’/C’’B’’A’’, where A is a section having the character of a test, B a section containing instructions and C a story portraying primeval origins. The repetitions are of increasing length, the general escalating character of the devices focusing attention on the last panel (C’’B’’A’’). In a first reading, the central theme is identified by means of the sura’s Leitwort, a leading keyword distinguished by its special location, high concentration and even distribution within the sura. Reading the sura for what it reveals about the deity, the Leitwort, ‘guidance’, indicates a common theme of ‘God as guide’. In a second reading, the sura is read for its pedagogical content and the central theme becomes ‘first lesson in the new religion’. The added value in approaching the sura as a whole, as a totality, is in seeing how each theme is progressively developed and elaborated by every one of the sura’s various panels and how these themes hold the sura together as a unit.