Islam

Islamobuddhica: What If Buddhism Is a Scriptural Religion? “The Scriptures of Shakyamuni” in the Arabic Compendium of Chronicles of Rashīd al-Dīn

Europe and the Muslims: Debating the Foundations of State Policy

This article discusses theoretical issues behind the current shift in the policy of European states towards Islamic communities. The shift is driven by the idea that the values of political Islam are incompatible with Western values; that the main driver behind radicalization is ideology and that even non‑violent Islamists gradually prepare the Muslim youth to embracing violence. Based on current academic discussions as well as the results of the author’s own research, the author concludes that the opponents of these ideas have serious counter‑ arguments.

Devatāsūtra in the Arabic Compendium of Chronicles of Rashīd al-Dīn

In the Compendium of Chronicles ( Jāmi‘ al-tawārīkh) of a famous medieval scholar, physician, and influential vizier at the Ilkhanid court Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadhānī (1249/50–1318) that was compiled on the basis of the works of the court historian Abū-l-Qāsim Qāshānī (died after 1323/4), one finds a History of India (Tārīkh al-Hind wa’lSind), which contains a lengthy section about the Buddha and Buddhism. Among the Arabic sources on Buddhism, this work is considered to be the most important.

Discourse about the Russian Muslims in the Materials of the Special Meetings of 1905–1914

This article provides a short overview of the so called five “Special meetings” organized by various imperial ministries on the issues of faith tolerance and above all on the situation of Muslims in Russia, from 1905 to 1914. For each of these meetings, the authors give the names of the major protagonists within the imperial elite: officials, Church leaders, Orientalists/ethnographers, and then a short sketch of topics discussed.

Ziauddin Sardar: A Critical Mode of Rational Ethics by a Muslim Polymath

The article presents an overview of the ethical discourse of the con‑ temporary English‑speaking Muslim intellectual Ziauddin Sardar. While Sardar grew up in the UK in the family of immigrants from Pakistan and received his education in Europe, he continues to consider himself not only European and British, but also Pakistani and Mus‑ lim. His interests vary in a wide spectrum of topics and include Islam in the contemporary world, philosophy of science, «Islamic science,» sociology, education, etc.

Perception of Islam in the Russian Society: Comparative Dimension

Unlike in Western Europe, there is no demand for exclusion of Muslims from the Russian “political market.” There are two reasons for this: the “autochthonous” nature of Islam in Russia and the specific features of the current political system. Due to these two factors, parties with an openly Islamophobic agenda are unlikely to emerge, and public articulation of negative attitudes toward Islam and Muslims is hampered. At the same time, Russia is experiencing tensions similar to those in Western European societies.

Religious Studies and Teaching Religion to Children in Tatarstan. The Case of Islam

This article deals with children’s instruction on Islam in the Republic of Tatarstan. Research is based on fieldwork in seven rural districts and six cities carried out in June—July 2017, as well as on the analysis of teaching programmes, textbooks and mass media publications. The study shows that the main factor of a particular model of religious education in Tatarstan is its multi-ethnic and multi-religious composition.

Islam and Partial Modernization: “There Was No Liberation from Medieval Elements”

If his interview Taufik Ibrahim argues that the main problem for Muslims is that the traditional, medieval understanding of religion has not yet been overcome. This traditional understanding is connected with the loss of the initial creative impulse of early Islam, with the so-called closure of the gate of ijtihad. Both the fundamentalists and the reformist typically reference the early Islamic period. But the question is, why do they do so?

Round-table: "What Is Happening in the Islamic World? An Attempt at a Conceptualization"

The roundtable addressed the question of research methodologies for those trends now observable in the Islamic world, as well as conceptual approaches for understanding current developments there. Such frameworks as Islamic reformation, a neo-modern age, and the search for a political Islamic identity were proposed. Participants did not agree about the relationship between Islamic fundamentalism and modernity. Some of them considered fundamentalism as potentially a modernist movement, and others saw it only as antimodernist and archaic.

Islamic Law in the Situation of Rivalry of Different Legal Systems: The Case of the North Caucasus

The goal of this article is to provide a general overview of current research concerning the use of religious norms as an instrument of social regulation in the North Caucasus. The use of Islamic legal norms is an example of legal pluralism, i.e., parallel coexistence of different legal systems or their separate legal norms. The author gives a detailed analysis of two aspects of the use of religious norms to resolve conflicts in the eastern part of the North Caucasus.

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