Muslim World Issues

Since 11 September 2001, the ‘Muslim world’ has become a novel religio-culturally defined civilisational frame of reference around which American foreign policy has been partly reoriented and reorganised. In parallel, the ‘Muslim world’, is increasingly becoming, at this historical juncture, a civilisational social fact in international politics by being progressively embedded in, and enacted onto the world by, American foreign policy discourses, institutions, practices, and processes of self-other recognition. This article theoretically understands and explains the causes and consequences of these changes through an engagement with the emerging post-essentialist civilisational analysis turn in International Relations (IR). In particular, the article furthers a constructivist civilisational politics approach that is theoretically, empirically, and methodologically oriented towards recovering and explaining how actors are interpreting, constructing, and reproducing – in this case through particular American foreign policy changes – an international society where intra- and intercivilisational relations ‘matter’.

Disgusted with ISIS, some Kurds turned away from Islam following the fall of Mosul in 2014. Many became atheists, while others sought comfort in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism, according to converts, was the “original” religion of the Kurds before they embraced Islam. In 2015, two Zoroastrian centers opened in Sulaimani, both of which are recognized by the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. Notably, neither has tried to recreate Zoroastrianism the way it is currently and has been historically practiced in Iran and South Asia. Instead, they have created their own versions of Zoroastrianism, which is nationalist, postmodern, and liberal. Kurdish Zoroastrians argue that the reason Kurds are “backward” is Islam. They seek to rectify the present situation through a Kurdish “authenticated” and “original” form of Zoroastrianism. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at these two centers, the present article examines this new religious movement in Sulaimani, an important city in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. It analyses the rise and distinctiveness of Kurdish Zoroastrianism looking at how Zoroastrian Kurds articulate their views on Islam, women’s rights, human rights, and Kurdish independence.

In the mid-90s, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and the Iranian Ayatollah Khamene’i both banned bloody forms of self-flagellation such as tatbir (cutting the forehead with a sword), calling them backward and un-Islamic. They argued that Shi‘a Muslims ought to imitate Husayn by actively fighting against oppressors rather than passively mourning Husayn’s martyrdom. This prohibition has not been unanimously applied in all Muslim
countries, including Syria, where such practices persisted until the Arab Spring (when virtually all Shi‘a Muslims left the shrine-town where these practices were performed). By closely reading the linguistic, conceptual, and juridical discourses that circulated in Syria in order to justify this position, the paper shows that the performers of tatbir conceived of these rituals in revolutionary, rather than reactionary, terms. By examining the performance and reception of flagellation processions in terms of differing modalities of affect, the paper opens up spaces for rethinking ‘revolution’ and ‘redemption’ in contemporary Twelver Shi‘ism.

Being located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting Middle East, Balkan and Caucasus along with its historical legacy of Ottoman Empire, Turkey plays an important role in the regional and global politics as well as determines its foreign policy accordingly. Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Erdogan with Islamic ideological background entering to Turkish politics in 2001, got victory in the elections of 2002, since then hitherto ruling the country. AKP government’s foreign policy followed ‘zero problem’ and ‘strategic depth’ principles with Turkish vicinity. Turkish-Syrian interactions had begun in the 8th century under Umayyad caliphate. The Turks gradually occupied higher ranks in Umayyad state and settled down at the territories today called-Syria. During Seljuk time, Turks captured Syria which replaced with Mamluks. The Ottomans regained sovereignty in Syria at the 16th century which continued till the end of First World War. Then, Turkish-Syrian relations developed as mandate shaped by France. Since then, some conflicting issues affecting Turkish-Syrian relations such as the Hatay (Sanjak) issue, water sharing issue. During Syria’s independence in 1936, Turkey demanded Hatay’s independence too, which denied by France. On the eve of Second World War in 1939, Hatay was ceded to Turkey. Since then, it became an issue of conflict. The water sharing has also been another issue of debate. Concerning security issues, both countries situated at opposite sites. Syria supported PKK, which Ankara regarded as terrorist group operating against Turkey. This hostile attitude gradually changed under AKP’s soft foreign policy towards Syria. Potential Kurdish state risk after Iraq war, common security perceptions after 9/11, compelled both the countries to adopt collective security measures. Assad’s visit to Turkey and Erdogan’s visit to Damascus in 2004 was a milestone for the prospect of Turkish-Syrian relations. Syria cancelled support to PKK and recognized Hatay as an integral part of Turkey. The economic relations also bloomed as the trade volume reached $1.844 billion in 2010. Regional and military cooperation agreements were signed. Bilateral relations entered into a new phase with the removal of visa requirements between the countries in 2009. All these positive developments were challenged with the mass protest against Assad regime with the emergence of Arab Spring. Turkey, from the beginning warned Assad to stop violence and undertake democratic reforms and tried to negotiate between Assad regime and the opposition. But Syria responded negatively rather blamed Turkey for interfering Syria’s internal affairs. Consequently, Turkey criticized Syria publicly and finally gave her support to the opposition and thus AKP government’s foreign policy towards Syria got a shift. Indeed, several geo-political-strategic-economic and regional-international perspectives and perceptions have driven Turkey to shift its policy towards Syria. This article is exclusively aimed at discovering the factors which prompted Turkey to shift its policy towards Syria during the crises caused by Arab Spring. It will also include the nature and historical developments of Turkish-Syrian relations with a view to understanding the driving factors behind shifting policy.

Bu çalışmada, öncelikle, İngiliz sömürge yönetiminin çekilmesi sürecinde Keşmir'in Hindistan'a bağlanmasına giden sürecin, hukuken 'sorunlu' olduğu ileri sürülmektedir. Bu çerçevede, nüfusun büyük çoğunluğunu Müslümanların oluşturduğu Keşmir halkının, farklı bağlamlarda farklı anlamlara gelen selfdeterminasyon hakkının, ayrılma hakkına cevaz veren üç bağlamı içinde de Hindistan'dan ayrılma hakkına sahip olduğu iddia edilmektedir. Birincisi, Keşmir, Hindistan tarafından 1947'de işgal altına alınmadan önce, çok uzun bir süre İngiliz sömürge yönetimi altında bulunmuştur. İkincisi, askerî işgal altındaki halklar self-determinasyon hakkı çerçevesinde ayrılma hakkına sahiptirler. Son olarak, Soğuk Savaş sonrasında zuhur eden 'son çare olarak ayrılma hakkı' çerçevesinde, bir 'halk' olma niteliğini haiz azınlıkların da mütemadiyen sınırları içinde yaşadığı devletin aşağılamasına maruz bırakılmaları, sistematik bir ayrımcılığın mağduru olmaları ve kendilerine yönelik olarak insanlığa karşı suçların işlenmesi hâlinde, ayrılma hakkına sahiptirler. Her üç bağlamın da Keşmir için uygulanabilir olması itibariyle, burada yaşayan halkın, uluslararası hukuk ile insan haklarının kesişim noktasında olan selfdeterminasyon hakkı çerçevesinde Hindistan'dan ayrılma hakkı vardır.

Mencari Film Madani: Sinema dan Dunia Islam merupakan kumpulan tulisan Ekky Imanjaya dengan tema khusus tentang seluk-beluk “film Islam”. Ekky Imanjaya sejak awal 2000-an berkarier sebagai wartawan dan kritikus film, lalu menekuni studi film hingga meraih gelar master di Universitat van Amsterdam (Belanda) dan doctoral di University of East Anglia (Norwich, Inggris). Kumpulan ini menjadi unik sekaligus penting dalam konteks tumbuhnya genre film religious di dalam perfilman kita dari masa ke masa. Ekky menawarkan perspektif yang berpijak dari pengalamannya aktif di dunia dakwah semasa mudanya.

Unduh e-book-nya: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FRtP6s_YfFVx1ExyQoFW18K1NDq5qLus

The report reveals the systematic and institutionalised nature of the persecution against the Rohingya and other Muslims in Myanmar, complete with backing by the military, Buddhist religious elites and the civilian government. Although global concern has fixated on the Rohingya community, the available evidence indicates that it is the Muslims in general who have been targeted.

This study focuses on the growth of transnational forces and increased global interdependence in the Post-Cold War period, posing serious challenges to conservative regimes in the Middle East – manifested by popular uprisings for economic and political change, beginning 2010 in Tunisia. Since then the Arab states of Middle East are in turmoil. The situation has become complex due to the presence of Al-Qaeda network and ISIS ('Islamic' State of Iraq and Syria) radicals in the Middle East and Mediterranean region. Such non state extremists groups are a collective threat to future Europe also. On the other hand various countries of the Middle East and gulf region, have been engaged in waging the proxy wars against each other in order to achieve their specific objectives. Geographically, historically and politically Turkey has been a bridge between Middle East and Europe. The underlying assumption of this study establishes Turkey's matured foreign policy not only as a model for struggling states of the Muslim World but holds keys to emerging threats to Europe. The study explores possibilities of Turkey to be central player not only for the resolution of regional issues but also as an active player at the global level.

No one would, probably, doubt that Muslim civilization is facing a serious crisis since the 18th century. It first resulted in political chaos and ultimately colonization of Muslim lands by Western powers. Later, Muslim civilization faced serious cultural and intellectual onslaught from the West which intensified and deepened the crisis. Though the period of Western colonization ostensibly came to an end in the middle of the 20th century, Muslim lands did not come out of the crisis. Despite some sincere efforts for Islamic revivalism, Muslim civilization has failed to respond to the modern crisis, particularly 9/11 incident has exposed the vulnerability of the Muslim world to Western political agenda, and its failure to respond effectively to Western civilizational challenges. The scholars are divided as to the cause of this crisis of the Muslim world and consequently, as to the measures to remedy the problem. Abdur Rehman Ibn Khaldun, a 13th century Muslim historian and intellectual, emerged at a time when the Muslim states in the Maghreb (North Africa) and Muslim Spain were passing through a phase of decline. His critical thoughts on the society (Al-Imran) and particularly his concept of social solidarity (Al-asabiyah), as propounded in his magnum opus, Maqaddimah (Prolegomena to History), can provide important insights into the present crisis of the Muslim Civilization. The present paper seeks to understand and explain this crisis with the help of the social analysis and critical ideas of Ibn Khaldun.

Universities and the scientific infrastructures in Muslim-majority countries need to undergo radical reforms if they want to avoid falling by the wayside in a world characterized by major scientific and technological innovations. This is the conclusion reached by Nidhal Guessoum and Athar Osama in their recent commentary Institutions: Revive universities of the Muslim world (1), published in the scientific journal Nature. The physics and astronomy professor Guessoum (American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) and Osama, who is the founder of the Muslim World Science Initiative, use the commentary to summarize the key findings of the report Science at Universities of the Muslim World (PDF) (2) (3), which was released in October 2015 by a task force of policymakers, academic vice-chancellors, deans, professors, and science communicators. This report is one of the most comprehensive analyses of the state of scientific education and research in the 57 countries with a Muslim-majority population, which are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Polish foreign policy towards the Muslim world. An attempt to define the problem

Nowadays, Polish foreign policy is facing an entirely new challenge. The authorities need to redefine the policy of the state towards the structurally complex Muslim world. As a result of Poland`s increasingly active presence on Muslim territories, including military and stabilizing missions, an essential need has appeared to establish basic rules and priorities of the policy. It is particularly important to take into consideration differences between the Muslim world as a whole and the Arabic world, which has apparently dominated Poland`s perception of Islam as a religious and political trend. The main principles of this policy for the following years ought to be:
– respecting the faith and tradition on which the Muslim world is founded as well as understanding its search for a way to modernity;
– supporting modernization (apart from efforts towards democratization) of Muslim societies and hoping that, given the chance to decide for themselves, those very societies will reject the most extreme formations;
– respecting democratic decisions of those societies (when fundamentalist formations are in power) even if they do not meet the expectations of the West;
– paying particular attention to the situation within Poland, especially to the infusion of radical Islam through the Internet;
– supporting the EU and the NATO in their policy of stabilization and security of Northern Africa and the Near East.