In Indonesia, like elsewhere, Islam and Marxism have an historical relationship largely characterized by opposition. Notably, there was an historical moment during the late colonial and early independence eras when a tradition of Islamic communism…
While browsing through old journals we often encounter a name that repeats itself frequently enough to be noticed, yet buried away from the allure of the front page. Throughout many months and years, these semi-visible…
Since January 2016, I’ve been conducting ethnographic research on the progressive Muslim community globally, both face to face in six North American groups and in three online groups. Some of this work, which I report…
Mohammed A. Bamyeh, Lifeworlds of Islam: The Pragmatics of a Religion (Oxford University Press, 2019). ISBN: 9780190280567. 256 pages. Hardcover: $65.00. | Reviewed by Ehsan Sheikholharam When asked to define their religion, Muslims tend to…
In the era of the Coronavirus, it would be prudent to look at other times of pandemics and how they impacted society and daily living. The so-called “Black Death” was one of the worst plagues…
Ottoman Sufis were often criticized for engaging in bidʿa or innovative interpretations of Islamic texts by their orthodox opponents, such as the Qāḍīzādeh ʿulamā’. In their writings, members of the Qāḍīzādeh ʿulamā’ subjected Sufi treatises…
A Place for Marxism in Traditionalist Fiqh: Engaging the Indonesian Thinker Muhammad Al-Fayyadl
The Importance of Being a Hajji: Muhamed Krpo and the Wonders of Pilgrimage
Voicing Queer Adjustments in a Progressive Muslim Community
[Book Review] Lifeworlds of Islam: The Pragmatics of a Religion by Mohammed A. Bamyeh | Reviewed by Ehsan Sheikholharam
“It Was a Memorable Day” – How the Black Death United the Population of Medieval Damascus
Rūmī’s Book Seven of the Mathnawī: Intra-Sufi Debates in the Seventeenth Century Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Sufis were often criticized for engaging in bidʿa or innovative interpretations of Islamic texts by their orthodox opponents, such as the Qāḍīzādeh ʿulamā’. In their writings, members of the Qāḍīzādeh ʿulamā’ subjected Sufi treatises…
M.A. Muqtedar Khan. Islam and Good Governance: A Political Philosophy of Ihsan. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).pp.279. $29.99 paperback. DOI : 10.1057/978-1-137-54832-0 The outbreak of the Arab Spring clearly demonstrated a need to reformulate…
Aydogan Kars. Unsaying God: Negative Theology in Medieval Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). 343 pages. $99.00. Unsaying God presents the first book-length study of negative theological strategies in Islamic thought, with a focus…
How do you engage with an ancient art form that continues to be practiced today? What does it mean for a contemporary artist to make use of sacred mathematical tools and techniques that are more…
The name Khan is trending. One Khan – Imran Khan – is now the PM of Pakistan, another, Sadiq Khan, is the Mayor of London, and in the US, Khizer Khan, a five star dad,…
The microscopically delicate floral and yellow gold designs demanded I draw so close as to almost breathe on them. As with the other fourteen tazhib (“illumination”) works in Behnaz Karjoo’s 2020 exhibit Immanence, “The Solace…
Sapelo Square and Maydan have collaborated to publish “The Great Debate: Critical Race Theory and Muslims,” a series of essays that examine Critical Race Theory through the lens of Black Muslims and Black Muslim communities in…
Sapelo Square and Maydan have collaborated to publish “The Great Debate: Critical Race Theory and Muslims,” a series of essays that examine Critical Race Theory through the lens of Black Muslims and Black Muslim communities in…
In recent years, Islamic Studies scholars and scholars who study Muslims have begun to use critical race theory – which was introduced by legal scholars to explain how white supremacy persisted despite the end of…
Prologue During the Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad was the center of learning and scholarship in the Islamic world. Scholars from various religious backgrounds and academic disciplines flocked there to be part of a bustling society of…
