Ce mémoire traite du droit de l’adoption dans une perspective comparative entre régimes arabo-musulman, français et québécois. Dans un premier temps est abordée la place de l’enfant dans l’Islam : de sa conception au sein de la famille musulmane à l’ensemble de ses droits selon le droit religieux. Ce tour d’horizon permet d’aborder l’épineux problème de l’interdiction de l’adoption par le Coran et les alternatives qui ont été développées pour y remédier, plus particulièrement la kafala. La kafala sera expliquée et située dans l’ordre public international, puis examinée au regard de quatre législations arabes : le Maroc, la Tunisie, l’Algérie et le Liban. Dans un deuxième temps, la question sera examinée d’un point de vue occidental. Il y sera analysé la possibilité et les difficultés entourant l’application des règles musulmanes de statut personnel en France et au Québec. Finalement sera abordé l’accueil que ces deux sociétés ont réservé à la kafala dans leur système respectif. / This thesis examines adoption law in comparative perspectives between Arab-Muslim, French and Quebec legal systems. First is reviewed the position of children within Islamic law: from a child’s legal status within the traditional Muslim family, to its aggregate statutory rights within Shari’a law. This overview subsequently allows for a discourse on the ban to adopt in the Qu’ran, and the alternatives developed around this thorny issue, notably the idea of “guardianship” or “kafala”. Specifically, the Kafala is reviewed with regards to international public policy and vis-à-vis four different legislative contexts: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Lebanon. Secondly, the issue is then judged from a Western perspective; discussing hitherto the problems surrounding the application of Muslim law on personal statutory rights in France, and on personal statutory rights in Quebec. Finally, this thesis considers how the latter two societies have welcomed the concept of Kafala within their respective legal systems.

The primary focus of this dissertation is to establish the extent to which ta§awwuf, commonly referred to as Islamic Spirituality, impacted on Cape Muslim culture. The study spans the time period between the arrival of the first significant political exiles at the Cape in 1667 to the founding of the Muslim Judicial Council in 1945. To this end a short historical review of ta§awwuf as it unfolded since its inception in the Muslim world is given in order to provide the necessary background against which any study of ta§awwuf at the Cape must be measured. This, in the authorÕs opinion, has not been attempted before in local studies in any systematic way. To further augment this study, a review of the nature and character of ta§awwuf as it emerged in the geographical areas from whence the political exiles and slaves were brought to the Cape is also engaged. As part of the conclusion to this dissertation an ÒafterwordÓ is provided that briefly sketches the post-1945 theological milieu that increasingly witnessed the emergence of new anti-ta§awwuf pressures within the Muslim community. / Religious Studies and Arabic / MA (Arabic)

Generally, traditional "marriages" according to Islamic custom are void in South African law because they are potentially polygynous and do not comply with the formalities prescribed by the Marriage Act 25 of 1961 . A valid concern for those who oppose polygyny is that it may enforce and promote gender inequality in that it is practised in patriarchal Muslim societies. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996 contains numerous provisions aimed at combating gender inequalities, and these could be used to justify the policy of non-recognition. On the other hand, the Constitution has ushered in an era of tolerance and empathy; and the equality and religion clauses could be used to ensure that polygynous marriages are no longer ignored. This study will examine the tensions between Muslim personal law and clauses in the Constitution which have led to calls for the reformation and codification of Muslim personal law. / Private Law / LL. M.

This thesis looks at the development of Protestant and Evangelical encounter with Muslims from the earliest days of the Modern missions movement. Special attention is given to the dynamic equivalence model (DEM), which resulted in a new method for interpreting the Qur’an called the Christian Qur’anic hermeneutic (CQH). I begin with the early Protestant ministers among Muslims, such as Martyn and Muir. Pfander’s (1910) book, The balance of truth, embodies the view that the Qur’an teaches an irrevocable status of inspiration for the Old and New Testaments. The early and mid-twentieth century saw a movement away from usage of the Qur’an during Evangelical encounter with Muslims. Direct model advocates bypass the Qur’an and other religious questions for an immediate presentation of the gospel. The 1970s saw the development of the DEM, which produced significant changes in how Evangelicals encountered Muslims. Pioneers like Nida, Tabor, and Kraft implemented dynamic equivalence as a model in Evangelical ministry. Concurrently, Accad and Cragg laid groundwork for the CQH. The DEM creates obscurity in anthropology by promoting an evaluation of cultural forms as essentially neutral. This is extended to religious forms, even the Qur’an. Such a simple, asocial value for symbols is not sufficient to account for all of human life. Cultural forms, especially those intrinsically religious, are parts of a complex system. Meaning cannot be transferred or equivocated with integrity from one context to another without a corresponding re-evaluation of the entire system. Theological difficulties are also produced by the DEM and the CQH, and include the assigning a quasi-inspirational status to the Qur’an and a denial of unique inspirational status to the Christian Scriptures. If the gospel is communicated through the Qur’an, then it is difficult to deny some level of God-given status to it. Further, the Christian Scriptures are not unique as inspired literature. My proposal for how to use the Qur’an responsibly looks to Bavinck’s elenctics and is presented as Qur’anic pre-evangelism. Rather than communicating Biblical meaning through the Qur’an, Evangelicals can focus on areas of the Qur’an that coincide with a lack of assurance felt by Muslims in anthropology. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

This dissertation presents in the form of two distinct chapters conceptually related in nature. The first chapter integrates literature from various fields such as indigenous, womanist, and feminist lenses to propose nine principles when working with Muslim women. The purpose of the second chapter is to examine Muslim women’s experiences in therapy at university counseling centers. The study explores women’s experiences from a social determinants of health perspective and a narrative inquiry method—namely, how intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, and policy factors inform women’s experiences. Qualitative analysis from interviews with six women suggests Muslim women navigate multiple systems which inform their beliefs about health and their experiences in therapy.

This practice-based research addresses the challenges that face the animation practitioner in the Arab region. In engaging with this topic it highlights the contrast with international animation producers, and also seeks to analyse how Arab animation cinema is represented and understood in the West. It introduces Arab animation history, and the animation industry as it currently exists in the Middle East. I suggest the reasons why there have been so few animated shorts and feature-length films successfully produced in the Arab world, in spite of their being a rich literary and cultural heritage. This study reveals a number of cultural, religious, political and economic issues related to Arab animation cinema, both in relation to its history and in regard to its place domestically and internationally. This research explores how YouTube and other social media became the main platform for Arab animation artists to distribute their political works during and since the 'Arab Spring' in the Middle East. The immediate consequence of this is an explosion in the exposure of Arab animation artists and their work to the world, in comparison to the very limited opportunities and freedoms of the past. Moreover, this study seeks to open up a conversation about the possibility of showing animated films that include Arabic content to Western audiences. This is complex in the sense that the place and presence of Arab animated stories are affected by how the representation is perceived within its production context and conditions of exhibition. My research will result in original knowledge, to be made available to Arab filmmakers, the Arab film industry and international academics addressing and championing animation, by engaging with conceptual questions, creating a critical practice methodology, and applying research-led practice methods.

Denna uppsats presenterar fyra obeslöjade svensk-muslimska kvinnors uppfattning och erfarenheter rörande slöjan, valet att inte bära slöja och samhällets syn på slöjan. Grundad på dessa kvinnors berättelser syftar uppsatsen till att undersöka vad det är som ligger bakom valet att inte bära slöja. Kvalitativ semistrukturerad intervju har används som metod för insamlingen av det empiriska materialet, och empiristyrd tematisk metod för analysen av det. De teoretiska begrepp som empirin vidare diskuterats utifrån är identitet, klassificering, symboler, normer och social kontroll. Informanterna i denna studie förklarar att de aldrig har känt sig tvingade till att bära slöja. De tycker inte att de behöver bära slöja för att kunna identifiera sig som muslimska kvinnor. Islam ligger inte i slöjan, utan i ens relationen till Gud. Vidare visar resultatet att de informanter som kommer från länder kategoriserade som muslimska länder har påverkats mer av det svenska sekulära samhället och dess normer än de som inte kommer från länder kategoriserade som muslimska länder. Hos alla informanter finns det ändå en rädsla för samhällets bemötande och potentiella hinder som får dem att stå fast vid beslutet att inte bära slöja. / This essay presents four not-/unveiled Swedish Muslim women's perceptions and experiences regarding the headscarf, the choice not to wear a headscarf, and the dominant understanding of the headscarf in Swedish society. Drawing on narratives of these women, this study aims to examine what it is that lies behind the choice not to wear the veil. Qualitative semi-structured interview was used as method for the collection of empirical data, and empirically guided thematic approach to the analysis of it. Moreover, set out from theoretical concepts of identity, classification, symbols, norms and social control, the obtained data is discussed. The participants in this study explains that they have never felt forced to wear the veil. They are of the opinion that one does not have to wear a headscarf in order to identify oneself as Muslim women. Islam, or ones level of religiosity, is not connected with a headscarf, rather, ones relationship as a Muslim is between that person and God. Moreover, the result indicates that the informants born in countries categorized as Muslim countries have been more affected by the Swedish secular society and its norms than those born in countries not categorized as Muslim countries. Nevertheless, they all fear potential rejection, negative sanctions and aggressions of society, causing them to stand by the decision not to wear a veil.

Poor quality of information and forecasting create a number of problems for manufacturing companies, such as poor planning of products and insufficient service levels, which leads to increased inventory and stock holding or stockouts and increased total costs. Cussons (UK) Limited is experiencing precisely these problems. Apart from these problems normally associated with forecasting demand for fast moving consumer goods there is an additional problem of reconciling the Western calendar with the Muslim calendar, and a recognition of the effects that Muslim religious holidays, as opposed to Christian religious holidays, have on demand. Muslim religious holidays rotate backwards with regard to the Western calendar, but in fact they occur at known dates and therefore the effect they have on demand for products can be taken into consideration when attempting to forecast demand. An additional problem that influences Cussons' sales in the market is the seasonal pattern of demand. Due to this, there is an increase in demand for Cussons' products during summer months. From the analysis of both data sets it was identified that the warehouse movement data is less variable and more reliable for business forecasting than order data. In this thesis, these forecasting problems are examined as a case study, focusing on these particular problems. To overcome these problems and to improve business forecasting of Cussons' products in the Middle East market, a forecasting strategy has been suggested which will enable Cusson's to reduce the inventories throughout the supply chain and to improve their customer's service.

Technological, political and economical developments have fostered the spread of transnational media since the latter part of the 20th century. Despite that, most studies of media effects are still nationally bound. This dissertation discusses some of the effects that both national and transnational news media can have on people’s thoughts and feelings. It explores the particular effect of consensus building as a consequence of second level agenda-setting. The main focus of this dissertation is how national and transnational news media can bring different demographic groups closer in their perceptions of major topics in the news. This dissertation analyzes consensus building effects through the European Union’s reaction to the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States. It analyzes how the use of national and transnational media brought EU demographic groups in closer agreement regarding the attributes of the terrorism issue and of the Muslim and Arab communities, as they related to the events of 9-11 and its aftermaths for the EU community. This study is based on a secondary data analysis of a survey conducted in the close aftermath of 9-11. It is an extensive replication of Shaw and Martin’s (1992) consensus model based on a cross-national analysis of 15 European Union nations and their patterns of national and transnational news media use among four demographic groups in relation to the substantive and affective dimensions of attribute agendas regarding the aftermath of 9-11. This study found evidence that national media bring the segments of society to closer agreement regarding the attributes of terrorism and the attributes of the Muslim and Arab communities. This was especially true for those indicating they used national television. Transnational media also have some potential for similar effects, though less than for national media. Borders still matter but it will be interesting in the future to see if the increasing availability of transnational media translates into increased influence as well. / text

Scholarship has tended to focus exclusively on connections of Qawwali, a north Indian devotional practice and musical genre, to religious practice. A focus on the religious degree of the occasion inadequately represents the participant’s active experience and has hindered the discussion of Qawwali in modern practice. Through the examples of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music and an insightful BBC radio article on gender inequality this thesis explores the fluid musical exchanges of information with other styles of Qawwali performances, and the unchanging nature of an oral tradition that maintains sociopolitical hierarchies and gender relations in Sufi shrine culture. Perceptions of history within shrine culture blend together with social and theological developments, long-standing interactions with society outside of the shrine environment, and an exclusion of the female body in rituals. To better address Qawwali performances and their meanings, I foreground the perspectives of shrine social actors and how their thoughts reflect their community, its music, and gendered spaces. / text