Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2008. / Title from web page (viewed on Mar. 2, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 2006. / Supervisor: Ellen Lewin. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-273).

Universiẗat, Diss., 2000--Bonn.

No description available.

The aim of this study is to examine if the Muslim diversity is present and what type of views (open and closed) there are in three textbooks in religion for grades 4 - 6. This type of study is important because other studies show that there has been a negative picture of Islam in textbooks (Härenstam 1993; Otterbeck 2006). One of the problems that they found in their studies was that Islam and Muslims where portrayed as a homegeneous group. In order for me to come to a conclusion about this matter I had two questions: How is Islam portrayed in three textbooks in religion for grades 4 -6 with diversity as a focus? What type of views about Islam can you find in three textbooks in religion for grades 4 - 6? (open and closed views of islam). To answer these questions I used two methods, one method is inspired by Otterbeck (2006) and the other one is inspired by Runnymedes Trust (Larsson 2006, s14). The qualitive content analysis showed that the Muslim diversity was present in the textbooks. Some more than others. But all three textbooks showed that there are different types of Muslims. When it comes to the close and open views of Islam, the textbooks contained of both. When compared to previous studies the result showed that the close view of Islam has improved but it still occurs.

The past three decades have seen increasing interest in the integration of Muslims as the most visible ethno-religious minority group in Britain. Previous research reported that Muslims in northern parts of England, for instance, had developed separate rather than integrated lives (Cantle 2001: 9). Though more recent surveys have reported an emerging change in such trends (Simpson 2012), Muslims in the Scottish context established a more mixed and integrated way of living with the majority from the outset, (Hussain and Miller 2006: 19) which was associated partly with the smaller population of Muslims in Scotland (Penrose and Howard 2008: 95). This qualitative research looks at the different identity negotiation and integration strategies of Muslims, and introduces the idea of ‘Halal integration’ which entails fitting into society while maintaining religious identity. This refers to the life of many Scottish Muslims, Halal Scots, who integrated into many aspects of Scottish society whilst maintaining their religious identity and practices. One example of such integration was the construction of hybrid or multiple social identities that constitute both Scottish and Muslim identity (Saeed et. al. 1999: 836; Hussain and Miller 2006: 150; Hopkins 2008: 121). Other examples were adopting alternative ways of socialising such as meeting at cafés, running family and social events in non-alcoholic environments, and taking part in voluntary and charitable work. This study, thus, explains important barriers and pathways to Muslims’ integration in Scotland. The research involved 43 semi-structured interviews with Muslims who were differentiated by generation and gender. Most existing studies of Muslims in Scotland have focused on major urban areas such as Edinburgh and Glasgow (Hopkins 2004; Hussain and Miller 2006; Virdee et. al. 2006; Kyriakides et. al. 2009). My study will therefore extend such research by comparing the experiences of Muslims across Scottish major cities and small towns. It will thus deepen our understanding of Muslims in Scotland. This thesis suggests that even though religion played an important role in their integration and identity negotiation, other factors such as nationality, ethnicity, racism and Islamophobia also played a significant part. It also suggests an emerging shift in the second generation Muslims’ economic, educational and social integration into Scottish society.

Against the backdrop that multiculturalism has failed in Western Europe, this thesis argues that minority rights standards should be applied to Western European Muslims. Western European States have consistently excluded Muslims from minority rights protection under international law on the basis that they constitute 'new minorities'. However, this thesis asserts that the justifications given by States for the exclusion of Western European Muslims from minority rights protection no longer hold true and have the potential to undermine the object and purpose of the minority rights regime – security and justice. Furthermore, by considering the content of both generally applicable human rights standards and minority rights standards in the light of the situation and specific claims made by Muslim minorities in Western Europe, in relation to the preservation of their identity, this thesis proves that there is an added-value to minority rights protection for these communities. Minority rights standards and multiculturalist policies adopt a similar approach to the accommodation of societal diversity. Thus, given the exclusion of Western European Muslims from the additional protection offered by minority rights standards, this thesis submits that multiculturalist approaches to the accommodation of European Muslims have not failed; insufficient measures have been adopted to ensure their success. If a multiculturalist approach to the accommodation of diversity is to be pursued in Western Europe, States must allow Muslim minorities to benefit from the protection available under minority rights standards.

Existing literature suggests evidence that American citizens have implicit and explicit biases against Muslims that influence or allow biased policies. In general, many of these biases stem from media framing, ethnic discrimination, and religious stereotypes. Some of these stereotypes associate Muslims with terrorism and violence, and public opinion research has concluded that Americans do not believe Muslims uphold American values. Thus, after 9/11, security policies against Muslims have resurfaced the question of suppressing individual liberties for the general welfare of all. My paper analyzes public opinion towards security legislation that discriminates against Muslims and examines how willing Americans are to support policies that infringe on civil liberties. My research poses three main questions: 1) Are opinions on national security influenced by the framing; 2) Does bias and ethnic-profiling make minorities more prone to support protection of civil liberties and 3) Are discriminatory policies against Muslims politicized by party affiliates? Using a survey, I found that framing the chosen policies to emphasize liberty or security had little influence on responses. Furthermore, I argue that, while literature suggests that minority groups tend lean pro-liberty relative to the White demographic, this concept is not substantial across all races when considering current Muslim-profiling policies. Finally, we find some evidence that ideology and ethnocentrism have become closely related factors after the 2016 Presidential Campaign, and that negative feelings of Muslims and national security policy have become more polarized than in the past.

This thesis offers an interpretation of the Qatar-based Egyptian Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi's contribution to "tajdid al-fiqh," the "renewal" of the Islamic fiqh tradition. In the wake of the transformations wrought on the fiqh tradition during the colonial period, it is the "modern project" (to borrow Talal Asad's term) for tajdid al-fiqh instigated by Muhammad 'Abduh and Rashid Rida that this thesis uses to enter the discussion. Al-Qaradawi lays claim to their legacy, and this thesis is particularly concerned with the engagement between himself and his interlocutors in the unusual context of Qatar. These "translocal" networks facilitate al-Qaradawi's involvement in debates in other contexts in the region, particularly in Egypt and the wider Arabian Peninsula. Each of this thesis's thematic chapters will make a different case for understanding al-Qaradawi's borrowing, reconstructing, reviving or transforming certain concepts and ideas. In so doing it will show that al-Qaradawi, as representative of the contemporary ʿulamaʾ as a whole, is not part of a scholar-class that have been either marginalized or entirely co-optated by the state. Instead, they are a group of scholars that have utilized new media technologies and other supportive networks to continually promote themselves in the Arab public sphere, as they sought to adapt their tradition to the Middle East region's new context, debates and conditions.

The purpose of this thesis stemmed from the notion that the events of 9/11 would have a profound effect on how representations of Muslims on screen would need to be altered to match the political climate, and to project the trauma that the American public had experienced. However, in the course of the study it has emerged that changes to the old-style stereotypical representations might have been influenced by factors other than politics. By comparing and dissecting the content of films that displayed Islamic characteristics from a pre-9/11 standpoint, I have been able to assess the degree to which visual and narrative changes have been implemented. I open with an introduction that establishes the framework and theories related to the emergence, maintenance and reformulation of stereotypes. I review the process of representing various ‘outsider’ groups in American cinema before attempting to trace against this the gradual shift in Islamic characteristics found in the movies of the pre- and post-9/11 periods. The analysis includes definitions of the settings, locale, landscape and space as displayed on the theatrical screen. I discover that Muslim spaces which simply provided a setting for the action in the past are now acknowledged in terms of their interaction with their inhabitants. In much the same way that landscapes have been adapted from past cinematic depictions of the pre-9/11 period, male and female characters are found to be constructed through a new perspective, allowing them to look more ‘human’ compared to their monolithic antecedents. The study also examines the rise of formidable American female characters and their victimization of the Muslim male ‘Other’. The current investigation is not limited to the depiction of adults only. The Muslim child/adolescent has become a recent device through which American filmmakers are exercising their creativity. Themes of childhood loyalty, disloyalty and redemption are explored in the case of Muslim youngsters, while the Muslim American youth is presented as the ‘hybrid Other’ desperately in search of his or her complex identity. Although there still exist examples of utilizing the overseas Muslim minor as a product of religious fanaticism, 9/11 initiated a new form of looking at a child. Artistic devices that have found their way into the commercial crop of U.S. movies include inner and external focalization, thus encouraging audiences’ empathy for the child who had until recently been treated as an image on the screen rather than a character in the narrative. The findings indicate that during the decade under consideration American cinema has not drawn as sharp a cultural line between the ‘Orient’ and the ‘Occident’ as it used to. Comparative work of this kind, with its focus on past and present cinematic depictions of the Muslim world, is beneficial, for it shows that there is eagerness in the U.S. to explore and reflect more on the characteristics of the Muslim ‘Other’ – an eagerness which will prove in the long run to be in the interests of both the East and the West.