Současná muslimská teologie náboženství

Author(s): Jáchym Šenkyřík / Language(s): Czech Issue: 3/2020

This study presents contemporary Muslim discourse concerning plurality of religions. How does contemporary Muslim theology of religions deal with the diversity and difference of faiths and religious traditions in the world? This discourse is often based on ideas of the threefold typology of exclusivism–inclusivism–pluralism that was developed in the context of Christian theology of religions. After a presentation of the individual paradigms of the threefold typology, the study explores its usage in the context of Muslim theology of religions with its own specifics. Examples of different theological approaches of Muslim thinkers (Tim Winter, Muhammad Legenhausen, Reza Shah‑Kazemi, Abdulaziz Sachedina, Asghar Ali Engineer, etc.) towards Non‑Muslims are surveyed. There are also problems with the threefold typology, both methodological and in its usage in the context of Muslim theology of religions. The concluding chapter thus poses a question, if there can be a better way in Islamic theology for examining the attitude towards non-Muslims, shaking off the problems of the threefold typology and in all probability being more observant to the contemporary situation of the plurality of religions and to the specifics of Islamic theology.

Kuwaiti Shia as a Lever of Balance for the Ruling Family of Kuwait

Author(s): Morteza Agha-Mohammadi,Mohammad Masjed Jamei / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

Kuwait is an exceptional country among the sheikhdoms, and its Shia also has special status compared to the Shia of neighboring countries. The present study, based on the theory of “weak state” and using descriptive-analytical method, examines the unique position of Shia in the equations of the ruling family to maintain power. The main question of this research is what effect the presence of Shia in Kuwait has on the survival of the Al-Sabah family. Given this question, the research hypothesis is that Shia, especially after 1990, has played the role of a lever of balance, and if they had not been in Kuwait, Al-Sabah dynasty would most likely have faced a destructive crisis putting their survival at severe risk. The results of the study show that the rulers of Kuwait use the social classifications of the country, sometimes by approaching the Shia and sometimes by expressing hostility towards them to prevent their own decline. In this way, they have been able to overcome major crisis, although they lose the integrity of society. This study helps to understand the situation of the Shia in Kuwait and to adopt an appropriate approach towards the Kuwaiti government and its Shia.

Freedom of Religion or Belief: Bosnian Muslim Engagement with a Fundamental Human Right

Author(s): Nedim Begović / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The aim of this paper is to analyse how Bosnian Muslims, both as part of the global Muslim Ummah and an autochthonous European people, view the European or, more broadly, Western concept of the individual right to freedom of religion. While the paper does provide a historical review of their engagement with freedom of religion from the time of the Ottoman conquest and the spread of Islam among the population until the period of the socialist Yugoslavia in the 2nd half of the 20th century, the focus is on the period since the 1990s, during which Bosnian society has been undergoing transformation from a communist to a liberal open society, including the establishment of new standards for the religious sphere that reflect the values of the European liberal democratic tradition. In addition to analysing the normative legal framework of freedom of religion and the relationship between the state and the religious communities,due attention is given to how the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina has positioned itself under the new regime and the challenges involved in achieving the various individual and institutional aspects of religious freedom for Bosnian Muslims. The author argues that the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the bearer of religious authority for Bosnian Muslims, has exhibited a proactive approach in post-socialist restructuring of relations between the state and religion, deploying all the positive attributes of the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion, as embodied in the liberal-democratic tradition of Western Europe.

Pregled savremene arapske naučne literature o upotrebi israilijjata u tumačenju Kur’ana

Author(s): Kareem Rosshandler / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 2/2019

Kur’an, hebrejska Biblija i Novi Zavjet spominju dvadesetak zajedničkih poslanika. Kur’an se objema biblijskim zajednicama direktno obraća i na neki način prepričava pripovijesti o ovim poslanicima. U ranijim svetim tekstovima priče o ovim poslanicima su ispričane s mnogo više detalja nego u Kur’anu. Zato su prvi muslimani ponekad tražili od Jevreja i kršćana konvertita u islam da im objasne aluzivne i koncizne kur’anske navode. Iz ovog procesa nastao je korpus kazivanja koja se nazivaju israilijjatima. Iako duboko ukorijenjena u muslimanskoj tradiciji, praksa korištenja ovih kazivanja u egzegezi Kur’ana bila je predmet ozbiljnih rasprava učenjaka. U ovom eseju razmatra se desetak novijih arapskih radova kako bi se istražila savremena gledišta o upotrebi israilijjata u svrhu tumačenja Kur’ana.

The Renovationist Movement in Contemporary Russian Islam

Author(s): Renat Irikovich Bekkin / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

In recent years the Russian Islamic Internet has hosted broad discussion of publications and public speeches by religious figures calling themselves renovationists or modernists. The group’s representatives advocate revising the Sunnah and considering Islamic guidance not directly mentioned in the Qur’an optional. This is why they are referred to as ‘Qur’anites’ by their opponents. This paper analyses the renovationist phenomenon in modern Russian Islam. A specific feature of the movement is that its representatives’ ideology combines secularism regarding the provisions of Islam with clericalism regarding government and public institutions. The author questions whether Russian Islamic renovationists should be viewed as a single organisation. The renovationist movement’s potential may over time attract the attention of the political regime in modern Russia. The government uses the concept of ‘traditional Islam’ to detach loyal Muslims from those it sees as a threat. Once this construction is finally rejected, the renovationists’ religious and political views may serve as a foundation for a new ideology for Islam in Russia.

“Traditional Islam” in the discourse of religious associations, ethnic organisations and government structures in Bashkortostan

Author(s): Zilya Rashitovna Khabibullina / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

The well-known and widely used term “traditional Islam” first appeared during the Islamic revival in post-Soviet Russia. It refers to something that has become a very relevant issue in those regions of the country with a predominantly Muslim population. This article analyses the discourse on “traditional Islam” in the Republic of Bashkortostan, particularly in relation to the spiritual administrations, Muslim movements, and schools and ethnic organisations. It also looks at different interpretations of common religious practices, e.g. regional pilgrimages, and whether they are considered to belong to “traditional” or “non-traditional” Islam. Research confirms the existence of multiple interpretations of “traditional Islam” in society and a lack of unanimity over how to understand the term. Debates over “traditional” and “non-traditional” Islam and the search for ethnically relevant forms of religion thus remain factors in the generation of conflict and facilitate further fragmentation of the Muslim community in the Republic.

‘Traditional Islam’ in Crimean Tatar discourse and politics

Author(s): Elmira Muratova / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

This paper treats the analysis of the concept of ‘traditional Islam’ in Crimean Tatar discourse and politics. It shows how this discourse and politics were transformed under the influence of political change in Crimea in 2014. The concept of ‘traditional Islam’, which did not have a wide circulation in religious circles in post-Soviet Crimea, began to occupy an increasingly noticeable place in the rhetoric of official Islamic religious leaders, who have used it as a tool for eliminating competitors and monopolising influence in the Muslim public sphere. This concept has become closely linked to Russian official policy for combating extremism. This article uses the evolution of the concept in a particular region to illustrate the specifics of state-Islamic relations in the Russian Federation. It uses research data from interviews, focus-groups and the content-analysis of official statements by Islamic leaders.

O prirodi selefijskog mišljenja i djelovanja

Author(s): Bernard Haykel / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2018

O postislamizmu općenito

Author(s): Asef Bayat / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 2/2017

Reformatorske ideje Tarika Ramadana: od adaptacijske ka transformacijskoj reformi

Author(s): Enes Ljevaković / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2017

Ljudi s bedema: religijska reforma i breme zapadnomuslimanskog intelektualca

Author(s): Abdelwahab El-Affendi / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2015

Discussing Tradition: A Response to Two Tatarstani Colleagues

Author(s): Matteo Benussi / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

A recent publication (2019) by Leila Almazova and Azat Akhunov, part of a special issue of Context edited by Renat Bekkin, offers a sophisticated and timely assessment of the question of on “traditional Islam” (henceforth traditsionny islam) in the Republic of Tatarstan (Russian Federation). Based on an analysis of texts and statements produced by renowned Tatarstani ideologists, and including an extensive review of the recent English-language literature produced on this subject by scholars of different disciplinarian backgrounds, Almazova and Akhunov’s article is one of the most ambitious and comprehensive scholarly pieces written to date on this subject. I am honoured that one paper of mine is included in their review. Almazova and Akhunov however voice a number of critical observations about key aspects of my work. Despite my respect for Almazova and Akhunov’s experience and scholarship, I think that their review shows some epistemological misapprehensions. Furthermore, it mischaracterises aspects of my work in ways that warrant an ad-hoc response. In what follows, therefore, I would like to respond to the issues raised by my Tatarstani colleagues, while trying to advance some minor points of my own.

Hrajeme si na Boha?

Author(s): Veronika Sobotková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2021

Shi‘ite Islam posits that medical technologies such as cloning or genetic engineering are not a change in God’s creation and cannot be forbidden for this reason. The study presents the main religious­‑legal arguments for this opinion and the difference between the view of Shi‘ite theology and jurisprudence in the interpretation of the term “change in God’s creation”. Jurisprudence emphasizes the spiritual nature of change (deviation from monotheism) over physical change and supports it with other methodological principles. This definition excludes the analysed medical techniques, and therefore jurisprudence does not consider them a change in God’s creation. The conclusions are supplemented by specific legal arguments concerning the most discussed areas, i.e. cloning, genetic engineering, gender reassignment and cosmetic surgeries, and briefly compared with the Sunni position.

Kako progresivni, kozmopolitski i islam orijentiran na društvenu pravdu može pomoći u nadvladavanju sektaštva

Author(s): Adis Duderija / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 88/2021

Uzimajući u obzir činjenicu da je u posljednjih deset i više godina došlo do povećanja sektaštva, posebice na Bliskom Istoku, potpuno je razumljivo da se postavlja pitanje da li je ideja nadilaženja historijskih i religijskih podjela između sunita i ši’ita danas uopće moguća (čak iako osoba koja pita smatra da je takvo što veoma poželjno). Brojni događaji iz bliske prošlosti o sektaštvu ili religijski inspiriranom odnosno opravdavanom nasilju i permanentnoj represiji koju mnoge muslimanske zajednice doživljavaju od strane drugih muslimana (i unutar tih zajednica i preko sektaških podjela u mnogim dijelovima muslimanskog svijeta), što je prouzrokovalo gubitak velikog broja ljudskih života, opravdavaju skepticizam i nedostatak optimizma u ovim pitanjima.

Sedžda: vertikalni uspon od tla do rajskih vrtova

Author(s): Esad Duraković / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 89/90/2021

Islam is a religion that constantly insists on building positivity. It succeeds in this especially in the act of prostration as an exceptional expression of contrition with which man ascends to the grace of God. Symbolically, man in prostration falls with his forehead to the ground, “referring” to the religious fact that man was created from earthly dust, which symbolizes nothingness. However, in this act, as an expression of piety, man achieves a spiritual ascent which can be figuratively said to be a vertical ascent to God’s Grace and gardens of paradise full - again metaphorically - of rivers and green gardens that are in dynamic binary opposition to earthly dust. Positivity is complete. The creation of man from earthly dust can be understood, therefore, as a brilliant religious or theological argument, it can also be a powerful poetic inspiration, as well as an astonishing, optimally successful semiotic stylem. In creating positivity, it is perfectly congruent with the phrase in al-Fatihah: “Guide us to the Upraight Path.”

Kratki prikaz radova o hafizu Salihu Gaševiću i njegovim djelima na bosanskom, hrvatskom i srpskom jeziku

Author(s): Haris Dubravac / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 90/2022

In this article the author offers a short review of writings about Salih Gašević, his life and work. We included here only those works about him written in or translated into Bosnian, Croatian, or Serbian languages and they are presented in chronological order. Surely we cannot claim to have included all the relevant works in mentioned languages but most works are mentioned here in one place. Besides, we did not include here only the works that are entirely or in most part dedicated to Gašević but also those works that mention his name or his Mawlood even in just one paragraph. We have listed here forty-three works, one of which is a translation from the Turkish language. All the works mentioned here are published in the time period between the years 1912 to 2020. On the bases of the analysis of these texts, we may say that assessment of Gašević’s Mawlood has with years been more and more positive. It is significant to mention that Mawlood is referred to as a text written in Serbian language, sometimes in Croatian or Bosnian or “our” language.

Larry Laudan’ın Araştırma Geleneklerinin Yöntembilimi Görüşü Ekseninde Kelâm İlminin Bilimsel Yapısı

Author(s): Bilal Taşkın / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2022

Philosophy of science generally studies what scientific activity is, its correct methods, and the structures and principles of intellectual traditions. Since the enlightenment, non-experimental ways of acquiring knowledge have lost their influence in scientific circles. However, some philosophers of science have explained scientific progress through scientific structures formed by certain groups of scientists. Larry Laudan, who is an American philosopher of science, also contributed to approaches in this direction with his theory of research traditions, which is a scientific structure. According to theory, the main purpose and function of research traditions is problem solving. Research traditions hold to certain theories and principles in solving problems. These theories and principles, which enable the research traditions to be distinguished from each other, establish the ontological and methodological structures of the traditions. Therefore, the competence of a theory in solving problems indicates its success. The problem-solving adequacy of the traditions reveals their rational and progressive qualities. Laudan says that this model applies not only to empirical scientific traditions, but also to non-scientific intellectual traditions such as metaphysics and theology. Each tradition in kalām has its own theories and problem-solving principles. In terms of their general structure, kalām traditions largely overlap with Laudan’s theory. The aim of this study is to point out the importance of examining the problems and theories of kalām traditions with a problem-solving approach, and to contribute to studies to increase the effectiveness of kalām.

Mâtürîdî ve Nesefî’nin Sûr, Mîzan, Kevser Kavramlarına Dair Yorumlamalarının Karşılaştırılması

Author(s): Aydın Çamlıca / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2022

Abū l-Muʿīn al-Nasafī, who systematized the Māturīdī kalam school after Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī and was the second most apparent name of the school, generally adopted al-Māturīdī’s views and followed in the footsteps of him. Although al-Nasafī generally kept with the line of al-Māturīdī, we observed in our research that he sometimes made interpretations different from al-Māturīdī. Based on this determination, we chose the interpretation differences of al-Māturīdī and al-Nasafī about the afterlife circumstances as the subject of study. We believe that it is a significant issue to reveal the interpretation differences between two prominent names in the school, such as al-Māturīdī and al-Nasafī. In our study, we aimed to reveal the point of view of Māturīdī by determining the differences in the perspectives of these two scholars through sample concepts. In our research, while exercising the literal review and comparison method and comparison, we determined al-Māturīdī’s Ta'wīlāt al-Qur'ān and al-Nasafī’s Tabṣira and Baḥr al-Kalām works as the main references. We tried to capture the different perspectives by researching and comparing the concepts that we determined as the subject of research from the main references. At the end of our study, we determined that Nasafī interpreted some issues related to the afterlife differently from al-Māturīdī. Namely, al-Nasafī understood some concepts such as sūr, mīzān, and kawthar, which al-Māturīdī accepted as representative expression, in the real meaning and thought differently from him on this issue. Considering this interpretation difference, we are of the opinion that the reasons why al-Māturīdī’s different point of view did not reflect on the scholars after him should be emphasized.

ZEKAT NA MED – KOMPARATIVNI PRISTUP

Author(s): Hakija Kanurić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 14/2022

The analysis of Islamic legal issues using the comparative method of different madhhabs is suitable for our time when the public is faced with different opinions of Islamic jurists. This method enables legal issues to be thoroughly analyzed and viewed from different aspects, to consider conflicting evidence, to understand the causes of disagreement and to recognize the opinion supported by the strongest arguments. One of the issues on which Islamic jurists differ is zakah on honey, whether it is obligatory or not. This paper tries to explain the opinions of scholars on this issue, analyze the arguments on which they build their positions, facilitate the understanding of the causes of the divergence of Islamic jurists and point out the selected opinion on zakah on honey.