Putting a Rope on Tradition
“Traditional Islam is not the replication of the positions of the ancients; it is to seek what they sought”.[1] Introduction During my doctoral research, an ethnography of a Dār al-‘Ulūm (madrasa) in Britain, the notion…
Traditional Ulama, Salafism, and Religious Authority
Why do two people read the same text and arrive at different conclusions? What does it mean to follow scripture? What roles and limitations do scholars face when interpreting a text? What happens when scholarly…
The UAE-sponsored “Islams”: Mapping the Terrain
Though we conceptualize the political and the religious as distinct, in practice, they remain very intertwined, especially in many Muslim-majority countries. Understanding one is crucial in understanding the other. In the case of Muslim-majority countries,…
The Ulema and the Price of Conviction
To much outrage, Hamza Yusuf, the prominent and controversial scholar, has recently decided to join US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s new human rights commission to examine what is ‘inalienable’ about human rights. Even if…
Jerusalem: The Moral Qibla
After an illustrious career in public service in Jordan, a Mauritanian ʾālim by the name of Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti requested that King Hussein grant him the post of Ambassador of Jordan to Saudi Arabia, so…
A Mauritanian Fatwa against the French-Led Military Intervention in Mali
In January 2013, France launched Operation Serval, a military intervention designed to restore the territorial integrity of Mali. The operation was meant to dislodge a coalition of jihadist groups that had ruled northern Mali for…
Sectarianism in Saudi Arabia: The Challenges and Opportunities of Wasatiyya and Wataniyya
The centrality of religion in Saudi Arabia pervades both society and the state as a source of political legitimacy and a guide to public and private life. It is also a source of identity and…