Al Muraja At

A series of letters discussing and debating basic Shīʿa and Sunnī beliefs between the late Shīʿa scholar Sayyid Sharaf al-Dīn, and the late Sunnī scholar and head of Al-Azhar university of that time, Shaykh Salīm al-Bishrī. The written form of the debates in book, has the advantage that the two parties had the opportunity to provide the best possible replies they could give. The book is written without any disrespect and under mutual fairness. This is one of the most important books that provides a well-argued account of Shīʿa beliefs, drawing upon reliable sources with a persuasive tone.

This book is one of the many Islamic publications distributed by Ahlulbayt Organization throughout the world in different languages with the aim of conveying the message of Islam to the people of the world. You may read this book carefully and should you be interested to have further study on such publications you can contact us through www.shia.es Naturally, if we find you to be a keen and energetic reader we shall give you a deserving response in sending you some other publications of this Organization.

This book is one of the many Islamic publications distributed by Mustafa Organization throughout the world in different languages with the aim of conveying the message of Islam to the people of the world. Mustafa Organization is a registered Organization that operates and is sustained through collaborative efforts of volunteers in many countries around the world, and it welcomes your involvement and support. Its objectives are numerous, yet its main goal is to spread the truth about the Islamic faith in general and the Shi`a School of Thought in particular due to the latter being misrepresented, misunderstood and its tenets often assaulted by many ignorant folks, Muslims and non-Muslims. Organization's purpose is to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge through a global medium, the Internet, to locations where such resources are not commonly or easily accessible or are resented, resisted and fought!

This new edited volume expands our understanding of the processes by which individuals and groups disengage from terrorism. While there has been a growing awareness of the need to understand and prevent processes of radicalization into terrorism, disengagement and deradicalization from terrorism have long been neglected areas in research on terrorism. This book uses empirical data to explore how and why individuals and groups disengage from terrorism, and what can be done to facilitate it. The work also presents a series of case studies of disengagement programmes, from Colombia, northern Europe, Italy, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, comparing and assessing their various strengths and weaknesses. In light of the lessons learned from these cases, this book describes and explains the potential for new developments in counter-terrorism. This book will be of great interest to all students of terrorism studies, war and conflict studies, international security and politics in general, as well as professionals in the field of counter-terrorism.

The famed reform debates at al-Azhar Madrasa in nineteenth-century Cairo, one of the most influential centres of religious study in Sunni Islam, were enormously influential for twentieth-century Islamic thought. Here Indira Gesink offers a revisionist history of these debates over curricular and administrative reforms, and challenges our understanding of the struggle between Islamic reform and conservatism. It has been assumed that famous Islamic modernists such as Muhammad 'Abduh instigated the reform movement and the ideas of modern religious life that emanated from al-Azhar and permeated Islamic society, a development that religious conservatives opposed. Gesink draws on obscure, but important, archival sources, legal manuals and ephemeral journals to tell the other side of the story, and to illustrate the important contributions of conservative scholars to the evolution of twentieth-century Sunni Islam. Conservative 'opponents of reform' engaged many of the same issues as reformers and actively pursued alternative visions of reform. In fact, texts of enacted reforms show greater attention to concerns of conservatives than to the original programmes of Muhammad 'Abduh, and conservatives led 'ulama committees that generated and implemented reforms. Had religious conservatives not contributed to the reforms of the early twentieth century, these reforms would have lacked the crucial cultural assonance that permitted them to become rooted in public life, in an environment of rising nationalist anti-British sentiment which saw 'Abduh as a willing agent of colonialists. The debates ultimately catalyzed public acceptance of secularism, Islamic modernism and radical Islamism. They also led to the practice of lay legal interpretation, the proliferation of competing interpretations within Sunni Islam and the rise of militant sects. By drawing on obscure archival sources and restoring conservative voices to the debate, 'Islamic Reform and Conservatism' presents a more nuanced picture of the al-Azhar debates and the forces that shaped Islamic religious life in the twentieth century than has become the norm. Its original scholarship and fresh analysis make this book indispensable for all those interested in the modern Middle East, religious history, Islamic studies, radical Islam and militancy, secularism, modernism and religious reform.

This book can best be described as a study in comparative religion: It compares Islam's main branches, the Sunni and the Shi`i (or Shi`ite). In so doing, it employs the medium of correspondence between two theologians, one from each branch. The objective behind its publication is to enlighten the reader regarding these differences and to underscore the fact that with all these differences taken into consideration, the Muslims remain as one umma, nation, which has to remain united especially in thelight of the momentous challenges facing it from within and without. The rise of extremism and fanaticism, which has been fueled and funded by Wahhabism, has resulted in the loss of many lives of Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Wahhabism has been feverishly propagating for one of these branches of the faith while constantly belittling and attacking the other. Islam calls for peaceful coexistence among all members of the human family regardless of their creeds and ways of worship, but this is not what is being advocated by the proponents of Wahhabism and Takfirism who actually are the ones behind the spread of the virus of global terrorism.

The Struggle of the Shi‘is in Indonesia is a pioneering work. It is the first comprehensive scholarly examination in English of the development of Shiism in Indonesia. It focuses primarily on the important period between 1979 and 2004 – a period of nearly a quarter of a century that saw the notable dissemination of Shi’i ideas and a considerable expansion of the number of Shi’i adherents in Indonesia. Since Islam in Indonesia is overwhelmingly Sunni, this development of Shiism in a predominantly Sunni context is a remarkable phenomenon that calls for careful, critical investigation. There is also an important examination of the principal ideas underlying the Madhab Ahl al-Bayt, the Imamate and Imam Madhi, Ja‘fari jurisprudence and ritual piety. Appropriately, in his discussion, Zulkifli provides a succinct outline of contrasts with Sunni ideas and practice. He also examines the publishing efforts that underpinned the dissemination of Shi’i ideas and the founding of IJABI (Ikatan Jamaah Ahlul Bait Indonesia) in July 2000 for the propagation of Ahl al-Bayt teachings. Given the Indonesian context, Zulkifli is also concerned with Sunni reactions to these Shi’i developments – a story that continues to unfold to the present. This book as a work of great value and significance for the continuing understanding of the richness and complexity of Indonesian Islam.

The eruption of violent sectarianism in Iraq following the US invasion in 2003 brought the question of Sunni-Shi'i relations in the country to the forefront of the international public agenda. It also strengthened the popular belief that contemporary Shi'ism is inherently sectarian. Yet several decades earlier, Ayatollah Khomeini had declared an Islamic revolution and downplayed its Shi'i origins and links. So what is the true orientation of Shi'i Islam in the contemporary era and how did modernisation alter its sectarian affiliation? This book contends that early Shi'i reformist thought set the foundations for a more universal-oriented Shi'ism. Prominent reformists in the first half of the twentieth century from the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf in Iraq and from the Shi'i centres in Southern Lebanon played a significant role in the renewal of Shi'ism and laid the groundwork for its reinvention in the modern era. Exploring this shift towards a more ecumenical perception of Islam, Elisheva Machlis here provides a fresh perspective on inter-sectarian relations in contemporary Iraq and illuminates the intellectual roots of the Islamic revolution, by examining networks of Shi'i scholars such as Mu?ammad ?usayn K?shif al-Ghi??' and Mu?sin al-Am?n al-'?mil?, operating within a more globalised Muslim world. Drawing on the experiences of early Shi'i reformists, such as 'Abd al-?usayn Sharaf al-D?n al-M?saw? in Lebanon and Mu?ammad Jaw?d Mughniyya in Damascus, this book gives new insight on the future of inter-Muslim relations at a time of growing inter-sectarian contention, from the Iran-Iraq war to the post-2003 Sunni-Shi'i conflict in Iraq and al-Qa'ida's anti-Shi'i message, taking into account questions of theology, historiography, jurisprudence and politics which all played a vital role in the transition to the contemporary era. The author here analyses the broad scholarly connections between Iran, Iraq and Lebanon in the twentieth century, while debating paramount questions of leadership, identity and group membership in the development of modern Shi'ism. Examining the relationship between intellectual thought and socio-political development in the region, this book provides a new perspective concerning the future of an increasingly globalised Muslim world and will prove essential reading for students and specialists.