Philipp Bruckmayr | University of Vienna (original) (raw)
Papers by Philipp Bruckmayr
Journal of Islamic Philosophy, 2023
Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī (d. 747/1346) was the last major Māturīdī theologian of Trans... more Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī (d. 747/1346) was the last major Māturīdī theologian of Transoxania. As he left no work of rational theology (kalām) proper, one of the chief sources of his theological thought is his book on legal theory, al-Tawḍīḥ f ī ḥall ghawāmiḍ al-Tanqīḥ. Because the work served as a prominent reference for both legal theory and rational theology, an extensive commentary tradition on it emerged as it was transmitted from Transoxania to South Asia, Anatolia, and the Arab world. A distinctive subfield of this commentary tradition consisted of glosses devoted exclusively to one specific section of al-Tawḍīḥ. Revolving around the nature of good and evil, and intimately linked to the question of human free will, this part of Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa's text came to be treated as a separate work, commonly referred to as al-Muqaddimāt al-arbaʿ ("The four prolegomena"). Due to its role as a highly sophisticated refutation of late Ashʿarī doctrine on human volition, al-Muqaddimāt al-arbaʿ eventually developed into a prime source for later Māturīdī scholars in their discussion of human volition and related topics.
Māturīdī Theology: A Bilingual Reader , 2022
ʿUbaydullāh ibn Masʿūd Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī al-Bukhārī (d. 747/1346) was the forem... more ʿUbaydullāh ibn Masʿūd Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī al-Bukhārī (d. 747/1346) was the foremost Māturīdī theologian of his time and, arguably, the school’s last major representative from its native region, Transoxania. Interestingly, however, he authored no kalām work proper. Instead, his own highly original contributions to Māturīdī thought are hidden in his encyclopedia of the sciences, Taʿdīl al-ʿulūm, as well as in his major work on legal theory, al-Tawḍīḥ, which is a commentary on his al-Tanqīḥ fī uṣūl al-fiqh. The section below is a prime example of the convergence of specific questions of kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh in Ḥanafī-Māturīdī works on legal theory. Devoted to the question of the nature of good and evil, and its implications for legal theory, the following extract is of particular relevance because it represents the first sophisticated Māturīdī engagement with the paradigm-shifting contributions of the Ashʿarī luminary Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) to the sciences of kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh.
Islamic Law and Society, 2024
Between the 1870s and 1902, the Jakarta-based Sayyid ʽUthmān b. ʽAbd Allāh al-ʽAlawī wrote two ep... more Between the 1870s and 1902, the Jakarta-based Sayyid ʽUthmān b. ʽAbd Allāh al-ʽAlawī wrote two epistles on the correct establishment of the qibla. Questions on the qibla and, controversially, on correcting the faulty direction of prayer in several mosques in Southeast Asia, surfaced in the late 18th century and reappeared periodically until well into the 20th century. Seeking to change the established qibla of a mosque represented
not only a strong claim to religious authority, but also a direct assault on the legitimacy of local religious leaders. Thus, Sayyid ʽUthmān’s epistles were aimed not only at cementing his scholarly status, but also at intervening in the social cleavages of the time. This contribution will analyze the author’s two treatises on the qibla and situate them within their scholarly and social context.
Routledge Handbook of Islam in Southeast Asia , 2022
This chapter sketches the history of Islam in present-day Vietnam and Cambodia from the earliest ... more This chapter sketches the history of Islam in present-day Vietnam and Cambodia from the earliest references to Arab-Persian trade with Cham and Khmer kingdoms in the ninth century to the present. It discusses the Islamization of important parts of Cham society until the late 16th century and temporary Muslim dominance in Champa and Cambodia in the 17th century. In the following it provides an overview of Cham and Malay Muslim communities in the region until the beginning of their colonial encounter with the French in the mid-nineteenth century. By that time, the Muslim center of gravity in Indochina had already shifted from present-day southern coastal Vietnam to Cambodia and the Mekong delta. The remainder of the chapter charts the history of the local Muslim communities in the colonial and post-colonial eras by highlighting their political roles as well major developments in the religious sphere and the salience of intra-Muslim diversity in the region. The chapter closes with an overview of the current demographics of Islam in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Muslim Subjectivities in Global Modernity. Islamic Traditions and the Construction of Modern Muslim Identities , 2020
Despite the fact, that rap music is often associated with lifestyles perceived as antithetical to... more Despite the fact, that rap music is often associated with lifestyles perceived as antithetical to Islamic norms, Islam has always played an important role in the American rap scene. The distinctly modern discourse of Islam as the original religion of African Americans, as articulated by a succession of Islamic movements in the USA, has provided a highly influential tool for the construction of a black identity in clear contradistinction to white mainstream society and its projections of blackness. It is argued that the modern Muslim subjectivities it has engendered, including among the seemingly unlikely group of consciously Muslim rap artists, are best understood through the lens of narrative identity formation. After sketching the genesis of Black Islam in its various manifestations, this contribution scrutinizes the organic relationship between hip-hop culture and Islam since the emergence of the former. Subsequently, it analyzes modes of narrative identity construction in the formation of modern Muslim selfhoods among American rappers, as reflected in biographical accounts in interviews and rap lyrics. Thereby it traces the emergence of the notion of the Muslim as the epitome of blackness, and identifies several central narratives shared by most orientations within Black Islam and by its exponents within the rap scene. Furthermore, it highlights the often apparently very smooth transition to Islam or from one expression of Black Islam to another, as mirrored in the biographies of numerous rappers, as reflective of modern individualized forms of religious identity resting on processes of bricolage, which derive their coherence from narrativization.
Die Welt des Islams, May 29, 2020
Co-authored with Philipp Bruckmayr (University of Vienna). This is a conceptual introduction ... more Co-authored with Philipp Bruckmayr (University of Vienna).
This is a conceptual introduction to a special themed issue of Die Welt des Islams on Salafī Islam and Salafism outside the Arab World, with separate case studies on Azerbaijan, Cambodia, the Pashtun Borderland and Indonesia. In this introduction, the two guest-editors of this issue provide an up-to-date overview of the research on "Salafī Islam/Salafism", with a focus on the attempts to conceptualize and systematize the phenomena under investigation. A revised conceptual framework is proposed that is aimed at advancing the heuristics in this particular field of study.
Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, 2019
Predominantly Buddhist Cambodia is home to a distinctive Islamic manuscript tradition , introduce... more Predominantly Buddhist Cambodia is home to a distinctive Islamic manuscript tradition , introduced into the country by Cham settlers from Champa in present-dayVietnam, and further developed in the Khmer kingdom. Commonly written in Cham script (akhar srak) or in a combination of the latter and Arabic, it has largely fallen into
disuse among the majority of Cambodian Muslims since the mid-19th century, as the community increasingly turned towards Islamic scholarship and printed books in jawi (i.e. Arabic-script-based) Malay. Among the side effects of this development was the adoption of jawi also for the Cham language, which has, however, only been employed
in a modest number of manuscripts. A minority of akhar srak users and discontents of growing Malay religious and cultural influence, based mainly in central and northwestern Cambodia, have, however, kept the local Islamic manuscript tradition alive. Recognized by the Cambodian state as a distinct Islamic religious community in 1998, this group now known as the Islamic Community of Imam San, has made the physical
preservation of, and engagement with, their manuscripts a central pillar of identity and community formation. The present article provides insight into the changing fates of the Islamic manuscript tradition in Cambodia as well as an overview of content, distribution and usage of Islamic manuscripts in the country.
Journal of Global South Studies, 2017
The Cambodian state is unique in Southeast Asia, due to its official recognition of two distinct ... more The Cambodian state is unique in Southeast Asia, due to its official recognition of two distinct Islamic religious communities, whose separate existence is entirely unrelated to the Sunni-Shia divide characterizing Muslim sectarian relations in many countries of the Middle East. Whereas the great majority of Cambodian Muslims, which primarily consist of ethnic Chams, is represented by the Mufti of Cambodia, a second officially recognized Islamic community has been placed under the authority of the Oknha Khnour, as leader of the so-called Islamic Community of Imam San (Kan Imam San), since 1998. The Kan Imam San regard themselves as practicing a distinctively Cambodian Cham form of Islam, and account for roughly 10 percent of the country's Muslim population. The present contribution will shed light on the genesis of the community by elucidating its distinguishing features, defining practices, cultural icons, self-perception, self-representation and selective approaches to history as well as the internal and external mechanisms behind its formation. Specific attention will be paid to the way in which the Kan Imam San relies on vernacular manuscript culture and local traditions of saint and ancestor worship to make its case for cultural and religious authenticity in the face of an overall espousal of Malay and other models of Islamic religiosity and scholarship by the majority of Cambodian Muslims since the mid-nineteeth century.
This contribution discusses two striking twenty-first-century cases of the global spread of Shiʿi... more This contribution discusses two striking twenty-first-century cases of the global spread of Shiʿism beyond the Middle East, with a particular focus on accompanying processes of localization. On the arid Guajira Peninsula shared by Colombia and Venezuela, Teodoro Darnott, a self-declared liberator of an indigenous people, has framed Shiʿism as a revolutionary ideology that helps justify the Wayúu people’s struggle for self-determination. In Cambodia, however, Shiʿism has recently entered a Muslim community in this predominantly Buddhist country on somewhat different terms. Here, its localization involved a re-emphasis on ancient traditions of the local Cham people that trace the spread of Islam among them to Imam ʿAli. It is precisely the vastly different contexts of the two cases that highlight that the localization of Shiʿism has, in these cases at least, paradoxically gone hand in hand with cultural revival and a quest for the preservation of local culture.
in Ahmet Kartal (ed.), Uluğ Bir Çinar İmâm Mâturîdî Uluslararası Sempozyum Tebliğler Kitabı (Ista... more in Ahmet Kartal (ed.), Uluğ Bir Çinar İmâm Mâturîdî Uluslararası Sempozyum Tebliğler Kitabı (Istanbul: Ofis Yayın Matbaacılık, 2014), pp. 115-131.
This paper will offer an assessment of Fethullah Gülen’s relationship with the rich Islamic lite... more This paper will offer an assessment of Fethullah Gülen’s relationship with
the rich Islamic literary tradition by way of analysis of direct and indirect references to both classical
and modern Muslim scholars in his works. Major questions to be addressed are the following:
Who are the authors cited or referred to by Gülen in his works? To what end does he appear to take
recourse to directly citing or alluding to a specific precursor in Islamic tradition? Are these allusions
aimed at reconciling distinctively modern approaches with tradition? Can the writers in question
be regarded as household names of traditional Islamic scholarship or education in Turkey? Subject
to analysis here are Gülen’s major works on Islam in general, which are also widely distributed in
the West in English and German translations. This therefore excludes Gülen’s trilogy on Sufism,
in which the necessity and purpose of citing and referring to specific Sufi masters and writers are
more obvious. Such a survey as this not only gives an indication of the breadth and depth of Gülen’s
own scholarship, but also of his own position within the Islamic literary tradition and his attitudes
towards Islam’s diverse intellectual history. Although probably best known for his Sufi leanings,
which are often regarded as the foundation of Gülen’s remarkably tolerant message, he is by no
means content with solely referring to figures pertaining to Islamic mysticism. Indeed scholars of
hadith figure prominently in his work, and Qur’an commentators, philosophers and even Muslim
historians similarly appear in Gülen’s writings. Even though he normally refers to other writers
in positive terms, his allusions are not always affirmative, and especially issues on which Gülen
explicitly voices his disagreement, or persons who are assessed by him in negative ways, warrant
attention.
Until recently Syro-Lebanese immigration to Colombia has been primarily associated with the contr... more Until recently Syro-Lebanese immigration to Colombia has been primarily associated with the contribution of mostly Christian Arab migrants to economic development along the Caribbean coast. Yet, a recent new wave of Syro-Lebanese settlement in the country has propelled the inland border town of Maicao on the Guajira peninsula with its intense trade with neighboring Venezuela to become the new Colombian center of Syro-Lebanese and Muslim presence. The present study will trace the rise to prominence of Maicao and its Syro-Lebanese community, which effectively came to dominate the city’s economy in the 1990s and is specifically characterized by the high visibility of its Muslim element. Related to this latter aspect are accusations from the media and political discourse of terrorist linkages, which seemed all but confirmed when a shadow group by the name of Hezbollah Venezuela made its appearance on the other side of the border. As both the Colombian as well as Venezuelan parts of the Guajira, are also home to substantial populations of indigenous Wayúu people, the present study takes a special interest in Wayúu-Arab relations. Indeed, it is in the particular relationship between these two communities that the successful integration of the local Syro-Lebanese into a peculiar border society with its own consciousness, and their partaking in its development and evolution is most clearly visible.
This chapter will focus on issues of syncretism, orthodoxy, and religious as well as cultural cha... more This chapter will focus on issues of syncretism, orthodoxy, and religious as well as cultural change, among disparate Cham communities of Vietnam and Cambodia against the background of two major developments engaging the two communities. Firstly, the challenge posed by reformed Muslim religious practice to a long established cultural fabric resting on a formalized system of interaction of Brahmanist and Muslim Chams in Vietnam, and, secondly, the recent emergence of two distinct and equally officially recognized Islamic religious communities among the exclusively Muslim Chams of Cambodia.
This study provides a long term perspective on Syro-Lebanese migration to the southern (Circum-) ... more This study provides a long term perspective on Syro-Lebanese migration to the southern (Circum-) Caribbean. Starting in the late 19 th century this still continuing migratory process has witnessed major waves of arrivals in the area from its inception until the 1930s and then again since the beginning of the Lebanon war. Characteristically, these two periods are also representing a shift from a mainly Christian to a predominantly Muslim phenomenon now subject to the forces of globalization. With respect to current European immigration and integration debates, the latter provides us with a glimpse on Muslim immigrant affairs outside of the exclusive club usually meant by the term "the West" and taken to be the sole recipient of such migratory movements. Focusing mainly on the Colombian experience of Syro-Lebanese migrants, the modes of adapting to local culture and environment of both waves, as well as those of an intermediary wave directed mostly at Venezuela, shall be compared and evaluated in search for differences, continuities and similarities.
Historical Aspects of Printing and Publishing in Languages of the Middle East, 2013
Journal of Islamic Philosophy, 2023
Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī (d. 747/1346) was the last major Māturīdī theologian of Trans... more Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī (d. 747/1346) was the last major Māturīdī theologian of Transoxania. As he left no work of rational theology (kalām) proper, one of the chief sources of his theological thought is his book on legal theory, al-Tawḍīḥ f ī ḥall ghawāmiḍ al-Tanqīḥ. Because the work served as a prominent reference for both legal theory and rational theology, an extensive commentary tradition on it emerged as it was transmitted from Transoxania to South Asia, Anatolia, and the Arab world. A distinctive subfield of this commentary tradition consisted of glosses devoted exclusively to one specific section of al-Tawḍīḥ. Revolving around the nature of good and evil, and intimately linked to the question of human free will, this part of Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa's text came to be treated as a separate work, commonly referred to as al-Muqaddimāt al-arbaʿ ("The four prolegomena"). Due to its role as a highly sophisticated refutation of late Ashʿarī doctrine on human volition, al-Muqaddimāt al-arbaʿ eventually developed into a prime source for later Māturīdī scholars in their discussion of human volition and related topics.
Māturīdī Theology: A Bilingual Reader , 2022
ʿUbaydullāh ibn Masʿūd Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī al-Bukhārī (d. 747/1346) was the forem... more ʿUbaydullāh ibn Masʿūd Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa al-Thānī al-Maḥbūbī al-Bukhārī (d. 747/1346) was the foremost Māturīdī theologian of his time and, arguably, the school’s last major representative from its native region, Transoxania. Interestingly, however, he authored no kalām work proper. Instead, his own highly original contributions to Māturīdī thought are hidden in his encyclopedia of the sciences, Taʿdīl al-ʿulūm, as well as in his major work on legal theory, al-Tawḍīḥ, which is a commentary on his al-Tanqīḥ fī uṣūl al-fiqh. The section below is a prime example of the convergence of specific questions of kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh in Ḥanafī-Māturīdī works on legal theory. Devoted to the question of the nature of good and evil, and its implications for legal theory, the following extract is of particular relevance because it represents the first sophisticated Māturīdī engagement with the paradigm-shifting contributions of the Ashʿarī luminary Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) to the sciences of kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh.
Islamic Law and Society, 2024
Between the 1870s and 1902, the Jakarta-based Sayyid ʽUthmān b. ʽAbd Allāh al-ʽAlawī wrote two ep... more Between the 1870s and 1902, the Jakarta-based Sayyid ʽUthmān b. ʽAbd Allāh al-ʽAlawī wrote two epistles on the correct establishment of the qibla. Questions on the qibla and, controversially, on correcting the faulty direction of prayer in several mosques in Southeast Asia, surfaced in the late 18th century and reappeared periodically until well into the 20th century. Seeking to change the established qibla of a mosque represented
not only a strong claim to religious authority, but also a direct assault on the legitimacy of local religious leaders. Thus, Sayyid ʽUthmān’s epistles were aimed not only at cementing his scholarly status, but also at intervening in the social cleavages of the time. This contribution will analyze the author’s two treatises on the qibla and situate them within their scholarly and social context.
Routledge Handbook of Islam in Southeast Asia , 2022
This chapter sketches the history of Islam in present-day Vietnam and Cambodia from the earliest ... more This chapter sketches the history of Islam in present-day Vietnam and Cambodia from the earliest references to Arab-Persian trade with Cham and Khmer kingdoms in the ninth century to the present. It discusses the Islamization of important parts of Cham society until the late 16th century and temporary Muslim dominance in Champa and Cambodia in the 17th century. In the following it provides an overview of Cham and Malay Muslim communities in the region until the beginning of their colonial encounter with the French in the mid-nineteenth century. By that time, the Muslim center of gravity in Indochina had already shifted from present-day southern coastal Vietnam to Cambodia and the Mekong delta. The remainder of the chapter charts the history of the local Muslim communities in the colonial and post-colonial eras by highlighting their political roles as well major developments in the religious sphere and the salience of intra-Muslim diversity in the region. The chapter closes with an overview of the current demographics of Islam in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Muslim Subjectivities in Global Modernity. Islamic Traditions and the Construction of Modern Muslim Identities , 2020
Despite the fact, that rap music is often associated with lifestyles perceived as antithetical to... more Despite the fact, that rap music is often associated with lifestyles perceived as antithetical to Islamic norms, Islam has always played an important role in the American rap scene. The distinctly modern discourse of Islam as the original religion of African Americans, as articulated by a succession of Islamic movements in the USA, has provided a highly influential tool for the construction of a black identity in clear contradistinction to white mainstream society and its projections of blackness. It is argued that the modern Muslim subjectivities it has engendered, including among the seemingly unlikely group of consciously Muslim rap artists, are best understood through the lens of narrative identity formation. After sketching the genesis of Black Islam in its various manifestations, this contribution scrutinizes the organic relationship between hip-hop culture and Islam since the emergence of the former. Subsequently, it analyzes modes of narrative identity construction in the formation of modern Muslim selfhoods among American rappers, as reflected in biographical accounts in interviews and rap lyrics. Thereby it traces the emergence of the notion of the Muslim as the epitome of blackness, and identifies several central narratives shared by most orientations within Black Islam and by its exponents within the rap scene. Furthermore, it highlights the often apparently very smooth transition to Islam or from one expression of Black Islam to another, as mirrored in the biographies of numerous rappers, as reflective of modern individualized forms of religious identity resting on processes of bricolage, which derive their coherence from narrativization.
Die Welt des Islams, May 29, 2020
Co-authored with Philipp Bruckmayr (University of Vienna). This is a conceptual introduction ... more Co-authored with Philipp Bruckmayr (University of Vienna).
This is a conceptual introduction to a special themed issue of Die Welt des Islams on Salafī Islam and Salafism outside the Arab World, with separate case studies on Azerbaijan, Cambodia, the Pashtun Borderland and Indonesia. In this introduction, the two guest-editors of this issue provide an up-to-date overview of the research on "Salafī Islam/Salafism", with a focus on the attempts to conceptualize and systematize the phenomena under investigation. A revised conceptual framework is proposed that is aimed at advancing the heuristics in this particular field of study.
Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, 2019
Predominantly Buddhist Cambodia is home to a distinctive Islamic manuscript tradition , introduce... more Predominantly Buddhist Cambodia is home to a distinctive Islamic manuscript tradition , introduced into the country by Cham settlers from Champa in present-dayVietnam, and further developed in the Khmer kingdom. Commonly written in Cham script (akhar srak) or in a combination of the latter and Arabic, it has largely fallen into
disuse among the majority of Cambodian Muslims since the mid-19th century, as the community increasingly turned towards Islamic scholarship and printed books in jawi (i.e. Arabic-script-based) Malay. Among the side effects of this development was the adoption of jawi also for the Cham language, which has, however, only been employed
in a modest number of manuscripts. A minority of akhar srak users and discontents of growing Malay religious and cultural influence, based mainly in central and northwestern Cambodia, have, however, kept the local Islamic manuscript tradition alive. Recognized by the Cambodian state as a distinct Islamic religious community in 1998, this group now known as the Islamic Community of Imam San, has made the physical
preservation of, and engagement with, their manuscripts a central pillar of identity and community formation. The present article provides insight into the changing fates of the Islamic manuscript tradition in Cambodia as well as an overview of content, distribution and usage of Islamic manuscripts in the country.
Journal of Global South Studies, 2017
The Cambodian state is unique in Southeast Asia, due to its official recognition of two distinct ... more The Cambodian state is unique in Southeast Asia, due to its official recognition of two distinct Islamic religious communities, whose separate existence is entirely unrelated to the Sunni-Shia divide characterizing Muslim sectarian relations in many countries of the Middle East. Whereas the great majority of Cambodian Muslims, which primarily consist of ethnic Chams, is represented by the Mufti of Cambodia, a second officially recognized Islamic community has been placed under the authority of the Oknha Khnour, as leader of the so-called Islamic Community of Imam San (Kan Imam San), since 1998. The Kan Imam San regard themselves as practicing a distinctively Cambodian Cham form of Islam, and account for roughly 10 percent of the country's Muslim population. The present contribution will shed light on the genesis of the community by elucidating its distinguishing features, defining practices, cultural icons, self-perception, self-representation and selective approaches to history as well as the internal and external mechanisms behind its formation. Specific attention will be paid to the way in which the Kan Imam San relies on vernacular manuscript culture and local traditions of saint and ancestor worship to make its case for cultural and religious authenticity in the face of an overall espousal of Malay and other models of Islamic religiosity and scholarship by the majority of Cambodian Muslims since the mid-nineteeth century.
This contribution discusses two striking twenty-first-century cases of the global spread of Shiʿi... more This contribution discusses two striking twenty-first-century cases of the global spread of Shiʿism beyond the Middle East, with a particular focus on accompanying processes of localization. On the arid Guajira Peninsula shared by Colombia and Venezuela, Teodoro Darnott, a self-declared liberator of an indigenous people, has framed Shiʿism as a revolutionary ideology that helps justify the Wayúu people’s struggle for self-determination. In Cambodia, however, Shiʿism has recently entered a Muslim community in this predominantly Buddhist country on somewhat different terms. Here, its localization involved a re-emphasis on ancient traditions of the local Cham people that trace the spread of Islam among them to Imam ʿAli. It is precisely the vastly different contexts of the two cases that highlight that the localization of Shiʿism has, in these cases at least, paradoxically gone hand in hand with cultural revival and a quest for the preservation of local culture.
in Ahmet Kartal (ed.), Uluğ Bir Çinar İmâm Mâturîdî Uluslararası Sempozyum Tebliğler Kitabı (Ista... more in Ahmet Kartal (ed.), Uluğ Bir Çinar İmâm Mâturîdî Uluslararası Sempozyum Tebliğler Kitabı (Istanbul: Ofis Yayın Matbaacılık, 2014), pp. 115-131.
This paper will offer an assessment of Fethullah Gülen’s relationship with the rich Islamic lite... more This paper will offer an assessment of Fethullah Gülen’s relationship with
the rich Islamic literary tradition by way of analysis of direct and indirect references to both classical
and modern Muslim scholars in his works. Major questions to be addressed are the following:
Who are the authors cited or referred to by Gülen in his works? To what end does he appear to take
recourse to directly citing or alluding to a specific precursor in Islamic tradition? Are these allusions
aimed at reconciling distinctively modern approaches with tradition? Can the writers in question
be regarded as household names of traditional Islamic scholarship or education in Turkey? Subject
to analysis here are Gülen’s major works on Islam in general, which are also widely distributed in
the West in English and German translations. This therefore excludes Gülen’s trilogy on Sufism,
in which the necessity and purpose of citing and referring to specific Sufi masters and writers are
more obvious. Such a survey as this not only gives an indication of the breadth and depth of Gülen’s
own scholarship, but also of his own position within the Islamic literary tradition and his attitudes
towards Islam’s diverse intellectual history. Although probably best known for his Sufi leanings,
which are often regarded as the foundation of Gülen’s remarkably tolerant message, he is by no
means content with solely referring to figures pertaining to Islamic mysticism. Indeed scholars of
hadith figure prominently in his work, and Qur’an commentators, philosophers and even Muslim
historians similarly appear in Gülen’s writings. Even though he normally refers to other writers
in positive terms, his allusions are not always affirmative, and especially issues on which Gülen
explicitly voices his disagreement, or persons who are assessed by him in negative ways, warrant
attention.
Until recently Syro-Lebanese immigration to Colombia has been primarily associated with the contr... more Until recently Syro-Lebanese immigration to Colombia has been primarily associated with the contribution of mostly Christian Arab migrants to economic development along the Caribbean coast. Yet, a recent new wave of Syro-Lebanese settlement in the country has propelled the inland border town of Maicao on the Guajira peninsula with its intense trade with neighboring Venezuela to become the new Colombian center of Syro-Lebanese and Muslim presence. The present study will trace the rise to prominence of Maicao and its Syro-Lebanese community, which effectively came to dominate the city’s economy in the 1990s and is specifically characterized by the high visibility of its Muslim element. Related to this latter aspect are accusations from the media and political discourse of terrorist linkages, which seemed all but confirmed when a shadow group by the name of Hezbollah Venezuela made its appearance on the other side of the border. As both the Colombian as well as Venezuelan parts of the Guajira, are also home to substantial populations of indigenous Wayúu people, the present study takes a special interest in Wayúu-Arab relations. Indeed, it is in the particular relationship between these two communities that the successful integration of the local Syro-Lebanese into a peculiar border society with its own consciousness, and their partaking in its development and evolution is most clearly visible.
This chapter will focus on issues of syncretism, orthodoxy, and religious as well as cultural cha... more This chapter will focus on issues of syncretism, orthodoxy, and religious as well as cultural change, among disparate Cham communities of Vietnam and Cambodia against the background of two major developments engaging the two communities. Firstly, the challenge posed by reformed Muslim religious practice to a long established cultural fabric resting on a formalized system of interaction of Brahmanist and Muslim Chams in Vietnam, and, secondly, the recent emergence of two distinct and equally officially recognized Islamic religious communities among the exclusively Muslim Chams of Cambodia.
This study provides a long term perspective on Syro-Lebanese migration to the southern (Circum-) ... more This study provides a long term perspective on Syro-Lebanese migration to the southern (Circum-) Caribbean. Starting in the late 19 th century this still continuing migratory process has witnessed major waves of arrivals in the area from its inception until the 1930s and then again since the beginning of the Lebanon war. Characteristically, these two periods are also representing a shift from a mainly Christian to a predominantly Muslim phenomenon now subject to the forces of globalization. With respect to current European immigration and integration debates, the latter provides us with a glimpse on Muslim immigrant affairs outside of the exclusive club usually meant by the term "the West" and taken to be the sole recipient of such migratory movements. Focusing mainly on the Colombian experience of Syro-Lebanese migrants, the modes of adapting to local culture and environment of both waves, as well as those of an intermediary wave directed mostly at Venezuela, shall be compared and evaluated in search for differences, continuities and similarities.
Historical Aspects of Printing and Publishing in Languages of the Middle East, 2013
American Journal of Islam and Society
Conferences focusing on the thought of Fethullah Gülen, especially the activitiesof the faith-bas... more Conferences focusing on the thought of Fethullah Gülen, especially the activitiesof the faith-based movement inspired by it, can nowadays be consideredcommon events. Indeed, by now the organization of such academic conferencescan rightfully be regarded as yet another regular field of activity of themovement, besides its major and relentless endeavors in interreligious dialogue,secular education, welfare, and the media. Whereas the major eventsof the last two years took place in Europe and the United States (London andRotterdam, 2007; Washington DC, 2008; and Potsdam, 2009), the AustralianCatholic University, the Australian Intercultural Society, and Monash Universityput Australia back on the map with this conference. Convened during 15-16 July 2009 at the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, it was alsomeant to celebrate last year’s establishment of the university’s FethullahGülen Chair for Islamic Studies, held by Prof. Ismail Albayrak ...
American Journal of Islam and Society
Although Southeast Asian Muslims are overwhelmingly Sunni, alleged historicalShi‘i influences hav... more Although Southeast Asian Muslims are overwhelmingly Sunni, alleged historicalShi‘i influences have been a recurring feature in academic debates onthe region’s Islamization, the content of local traditional literatures, and certaincontemporary manifestations of religiosity. Moreover, the emergence of localShi‘i communities from the 1950s onward has been frequently noted but rarelystudied. This collection of path-breaking research seeks to help fill this gap inthe literature.Unfortunately, the book’s catchy title may initially obscure its outstandingtheoretical and thematic depth, for most of the chapters are about Alidpiety and devotion to the Prophet’s household as found in different Sunnitraditions. By highlighting the pervasiveness of the latter in other regionsof the Muslim world, the editors’ introduction represents a major reconsiderationof such commonly found earlier notions as “Shi‘itic elements,”“crypto-Shi‘ism,” and “de-Shi‘itization.” Many of the papers show that itwould b...
American Journal of Islam and Society
The title at hand is a valuable and timely edited volume that sheds light onthe economic, politic... more The title at hand is a valuable and timely edited volume that sheds light onthe economic, political, literary, social, cultural, religious, and historical connectionsbetween Brazil and the Middle East. Whereas the Middle East in thisrespect primarily means the area historically referred to as bilād al-shām (i.e.,Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel), the book also tackles the historicallinkages among Brazil, Muslim Andalusia, and West Africa. Structurally,the volume is divided into three parts, which are preceded by anintroduction by the editor.Part 1, “South-South Relations, Security Politics, Diplomatic History,”includes five papers, the first four of which are more or less straightforwardtreatments of political history/science. Paul Amar sketches the dynamic strategicchanges in policy toward the region and hegemonic American power duringthe early presidency of Dilma Rousseff (2010-13) in the face of majorchanges in the Middle East that rendered her continuation of the “h...
American Journal of Islam and Society
The volume at hand brings together recent advances in and new avenues forthe study of both Ithna ... more The volume at hand brings together recent advances in and new avenues forthe study of both Ithna ‘Ashari and Isma‘ili Shi‘ism in South Asia. As FrancisRobinson notes in his introduction, the region’s roughly 60 million Shi‘aswere grossly neglected in scholarship until the mid-1980s. Since then, andparticularly from the turn of the twenty-first century onward, the situation haschanged significantly. Indeed, some of the most interesting and promising recentstudies of various historical and contemporary aspects of Shi‘ism in generalhave focused on those very communities. Justin Jones, one of the spearheadsof this development, has acted as co-editor of this important collectionof eight thematically highly diverse essays.After Robinson’s overview of the field’s existing literature and the volume’scontents, Sajjad Rizvi tackles a major desideratum in the study of IndianShi‘i scholarly history by closely examining the life and works of Sayyid DildarAli Nasirabadi (d. 1820). A major scholar...
American Journal of Islam and Society
Scholars of Islam in Southeast Asia and the history of the Malay-Indonesianworld have long been a... more Scholars of Islam in Southeast Asia and the history of the Malay-Indonesianworld have long been aware of periods of intense contacts between the OttomanEmpire and the region. Most widely known in this context are the politicalexchanges between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Ottoman Empire ofthe sixteenth century in the face of Portuguese maritime domination in SoutheastAsia. Regional calls for Ottoman aid against the expanding Europeanpowers by Muslim rulers were voiced in the nineteenth century. Despite thislapse in documented political contacts, however, connections between the tworegions were also sustained and developed further throughout the interveningcenturies on a variety of levels, most prominently in the economic, religious,and intellectual spheres.Despite the pioneering work of scholars such as Anthony Reid since the1960s, these connections, including inter alia the holy cities and Yemen’sHadhramaut region, both important centers of Islamic learning for SoutheastAsian Musl...
American Journal of Islam and Society
Organized jointly by the Australian Intercultural Society, the AustralianCatholic University, and... more Organized jointly by the Australian Intercultural Society, the AustralianCatholic University, and Monash University together with the Gülen conferencea few days earlier, this conference was devoted to a particularly important and pressing topic: the anti-Islam discourse slowly becoming a standardfeature of western political competition and media coverage. As the topic issimilarly a rather polarizing one, an event of high scholarly quality could notbe taken for granted. However, this is just what organizers, speakers, andaudience managed to achieve during this event, held during 18-19 July 2009at Monash University in Melbourne. The phenomena subsumed under theterm Islamophobia, their expressions, preconditions, and multiple roots andfacets were discussed through different approaches in theoretical, descriptive,and analytical terms ...
