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From the cleric-led Iranian revolution to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, many people have been surprised by what they see as the modern reemergence of an antimodern phenomenon. This book helps account for the increasingly visible public role of traditionally educated Muslim religious scholars (the `ulama) across contemporary Muslim societies. Muhammad Qasim Zaman describes the transformations the centuries-old culture and tradition of the `ulama have undergone in the modern era--transformations that underlie the new religious and political activism of these scholars. In doing so, it provides a new foundation for the comparative study of Islam, politics, and religious change in the contemporary world. While focusing primarily on Pakistan, Zaman takes a broad approach that considers the Taliban and the `ulama of Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and the southern Philippines. He shows how their religious and political discourses have evolved in often unexpected but mutually reinforcing ways to redefine and enlarge the roles the `ulama play in society. Their discourses are informed by a longstanding religious tradition, of which they see themselves as the custodians. But these discourses are equally shaped by--and contribute in significant ways to--contemporary debates in the Muslim public sphere. This book offers the first sustained comparative perspective on the `ulama and their increasingly crucial religious and political activism. It shows how issues of religious authority are debated in contemporary Islam, how Islamic law and tradition are continuously negotiated in a rapidly changing world, and how the `ulama both react to and shape larger Islamic social trends. Introducing previously unexamined facets of religious and political thought in modern Islam, it clarifies the complex processes of religious change unfolding in the contemporary Muslim world and goes a long way toward explaining their vast social and political ramifications.

This article is a study of Ḥaydar Āmulī’s (d. ca. 787/1385) analysis of the basmala in his commentary on Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (d. 638/1240) Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam. While Āmulī addresses this phrase, which he regards as the foremost verse in the entire Quran, in various sections of his work, his most comprehensive discussion focuses on the basmala with which Ibn al-ʿArabī initiates his Fuṣūṣ. Āmulī thoroughly analyzes the basmala and investigates its diacritical marks, numerical symbolism, lexical components, syntactic structures, and morphological dimensions within a lettrist framework. As will be argued, he transforms the basmala into a formula that captures the cosmic design and serves as a lettrist means of reflection to express physical, spiritual, and cosmological realities. Broadly, the article contributes to the evolving scholarly understanding of lettrism, the unique place of the basmala in Islamic thought, and the growing body of scholarship on Āmulī’s works.

Makan Tahun is a ritual practice performed by the Kadayan community in Sarawak to celebrate the new year. This ritual is performed at the end of the year in December by the Kadayan community, who practice Islam, Pangan, and Christianity. The concern is how a culture with a wide variety of religious beliefs finds a solution in traditions that have been passed down through generations and inherited before any religion existed. During the execution of this ritual, various items were utilized as symbols for transmission which has unknown meanings beyond the group of practitioners. Therefore, this study aims to find out the meaning from the perspective of ritual transmission and symbols utilized in the execution. Ethnographic methods were used in data collection at the study location in Sebuti District, Sarawak. The informants involved in this research are religious experts and ritual practitioners. In-depth interviews with practitioners of the Makan Tahun ritual were conducted in 2018. Data is gathered through the compilation of interview transcripts and the structuring of themes to ensure that each interview is analyzed and interpreted from the perspective of the ritual practitioner community. According to the ethnographic method used, the Makan Tahun is regarded as a ritual to express gratitude for the sustenance provided in the current year. This ritual is performed in the hopes that the giver will multiply the sustenance for the following year. The spirit of tolerance is demonstrated when the Makan Tahun ritual is executed with an element of syncretism, and the entire ritual is guided by people who have a high level of religious understanding and hold social status as religious leaders in the community.

Background. Pahlavani and Zurkhaneh rituals have existed in Iran since the Parthian Empire. This martial art continued in the Islamic period and flourished due to cultural and social settings. A study on the evolution of this art specifies its prospering during the Qajar period as the Zurkhaneh became a common site in the urban context. Pahlavani martial arts play a significant role in depicting heroic behaviors and valiant tutoring and highlight unique architectural features and place emphasis on various cultural venues embedded within signs and symbols. Problem and Aim. The aim of this study is to portray what moral and cultural principles are applied to the structure and arrangement of the Zurkhanehs of the Qajar period. It also attempts to study the cultural and moral position of the Zurkhaneh within Iranian society. Recognition of the symbols and signs of this Pahlavani martial art can therefore acquaint us with the evolutionary process of the foundation of such institutions, and their cultural role, by analyzing concepts such as modesty, virtue and Futuwwa in the structure of the Zurkhanehs of Iran during the Qajar era. Methods. The present study investigates the issue under study via a descriptive-analytic methodology based on library resources and field observations. Conclusion. The findings of the research show that concepts of modesty, virtue, and Futuwwa are perceived in the Qajar Zurkhanehs of Tehran specifically in the way of entering and in the positioning of the Morshed and heroes.

The Crescent and the Cross as religious symbols are beyond the mere signification of religious affiliations. They are symbols on which over two hundred years of wars were sustained and are indicative of the religious dichotomy between modern Christianity and Islam across the globe. However, the tangential relationship between the usage of the symbols and the Jihad or the Crusade reeks of memories of fierce competition and unhealed historical memories. The collective memory of the wars fought under the symbols has remained a moniker for conquests and forceful submission. The exclusive propensities of the experiences are evident in the interreligious relation of the adherents of both religions in Nigeria. This article attempts to answer the question of how the exclusive religious disposition underlining most instances of religious crises in the country may be addressed. This article uses deconstructive analysis to strip the symbols and their exclusive religious dispositions for an inclusive religious pluralism model. It argues for the need for a critical rethinking of the exclusive interreligious model operative in the country to facilitate social development and the peaceful co-existence of the adherents of both religions.

Purpose Islamic banks (IBs) place significant importance on their religious identity, prompting the utilization of impression management (IM) strategies to emphasize such identity. This paper aims to discuss the motivations behind using IM in the creation of religious identity by IBs, and to explore the use of religious symbols and language as a form of religious rhetoric. It is argued that to counteract the threats to their religious identity, IBs use IM techniques, predominantly through the inclusion of religious symbols and rhetoric. Design/methodology/approach An empirical exploratory study, using content analysis, was conducted on the annual reports of the largest IBs for the year 2022. The analyses involved a total of 39 banks based on a filtered list from The Banker’s Top Islamic Financial Institutions of 2022. A manual content analysis was undertaken to extract religious symbols, images and contents. Findings The findings reveal the use of IM techniques that emphasize the religious identity of these banks. Notably, IBs consistently reaffirm their commitment to Sharia compliance and disclose their contributions to Zakah. In addition, the analysis reveals the incorporation of Quranic verses, religious iconographic images and other religious rhetoric statements in the annual reports of many IBs. Research limitations/implications The analysis concludes that the assertion by IBs that their guiding principles are rooted in Islamic values are supported by the religious terminology and imagery embedded in their annual reports. Alongside mere religious symbolism, the terms and images are integral part of the corporate identity of the Islamic that not only sends persuasive signals to stakeholders but also help build an impression on the activities of the IBs. Originality/value IM has been a key objective and strategy of companies. This study aimed at exploring whether and how IBs used religious symbolism as an integral part of IM and corporate identity.

The incidents (in 2017) of changing the secular content of textbooks and removing a sculpture from the Supreme Court premises in Bangladesh raise a question among people who are sympathetic to secularism that Bangladesh is moving towards a theological state like Pakistan or becoming an Islamic country. They also refer to the remark that the current Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) made in 2014 that Bangladesh's state administration would run under the rule of the Medina Charter (an Islamic constitution based on the Holy Quran and Sunnah, which aims to establish peace and unity by creating universal rules), as an indication of the religious characteristic that would remain at the centre of the state political activities in Bangladesh. By examining the historical and social context of Bangladesh since 1971 and reviewing the relevant contents of four newspapers-the Daily Inqilab (Bengali), the Prothom Alo (Bengali), the Daily Naya Diganta (Bengali) and the Daily Star (English)-from 2014 to 2017, this article rejects the claim made by the people who are sympathetic to secularism. This article, however, argues that Islam was traditionally/historically integrated in Bangladeshi society and culture as a unique (syncretistic) tradition in which political parties were forced to apply religious symbols and language in the political environments to stay in the government's power. The article concludes by raising a question with the current integration of secular political party and Islamist force (Hefazat-e-Islam), being although there is a functional relationship remaining between secularism and Islam at the state level, is Bangladesh stepping into a \"no secularism\" era?

Background. Pahlavani and Zurkhaneh rituals have existed in Iran since the Parthian Empire. This martial art continued in the Islamic period and flourished due to cultural and social settings. A study on the evolution of this art specifies its prospering during the Qajar period as the Zurkhaneh became a common site in the urban context. Pahlavani martial arts play a significant role in depicting heroic behaviors and valiant tutoring and highlight unique architectural features and place emphasis on various cultural venues embedded within signs and symbols.Problem and Aim. The aim of this study is to portray what moral and cultural principles are applied to the structure and arrangement of the Zurkhanehs of the Qajar period. It also attempts to study the cultural and moral position of the Zurkhaneh within Iranian society. Recognition of the symbols and signs of this Pahlavani martial art can therefore acquaint us with the evolutionary process of the foundation of such institutions, and their cultural role, by analyzing concepts such as modesty, virtue and Futuwwa in the structure of the Zurkhanehs of Iran during the Qajar era. Methods. The present study investigates the issue under study via a descriptive-analytic methodology based on library resources and field observations.Conclusion. The findings of the research show that concepts of modesty, virtue, and Futuwwa are perceived in the Qajar Zurkhanehs of Tehran specifically in the way of entering and in the positioning of the Morshed and heroes.

European political parties, particularly radical right parties (RRPs), increasingly use religious symbols during elections. Despite the prevalence of these symbols, evidence on the association between religion and far-right vote share is mixed. We compare two leading arguments explaining the relationship between religion and RRPs. We hypothesize that the number of religious buildings, identifiable as Islamic or Catholic, will be associated with higher RRP support. We test this as a most likely crucial case using results from the French 2017 presidential election. Controlling for other demographic factors, more Catholic buildings in a commune are associated with a decrease in votes for the Front Nationale ( FN ). An increase in the number of mosques in non-urban communes is associated with increased support for FN . We argue these findings are evidence that RRPs use religious symbolism to draw on nativist or anti-Islamic support rather than traditional religious support.

The Ahar city not only has a large number of historical cemeteries but also the courtyard of the city’s museum has one of the richest Islamic-era gravestone collections. These gravestones date to the thirteenth-eighteenth centuries and have been collected from inside the city as well as from surrounding villages. The present study analyzes these gravestones based on a symbolic approach. In this paper, we will answer the question: What are the symbolic meanings of the decorations on the Ahar Museum gravestones? We conclude that various motifs appear, including inscriptions, geometric designs, and allegorical, military, and narrative scenes. These motifs directly relate to the beliefs of the people who created them.