Archive for October, 2018

Reforming the Faith: Indonesia’s battle for the soul of Islam

Nahdlatul Ulama, with 94 million members the world’s largest Sunni Muslim movement, is bent on reforming Islam. In a 40-page document, argued in terms of Islamic law and jurisprudence and scheduled for publication in the coming days, Nahdlatul Ulama’s powerful young adults wing, Gerakan Pemuda Ansor, spells out a framework for what it sees as a humanitarian interpretation of Islam that is tolerant and pluralistic in nature.

Statement on the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting

The Shia Muslim Council strongly condemns the terrorist attack upon worshippers in the midst of Sabbath service at the Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday Oct 27 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Our hearts go out to the families of the worshipers who were mercilessly killed as well as those were injured.

Statement on the tragedy in Pittsburg

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1.Mughal Occidentalism: Artistic Encounters between Europe and Asia at the Courts of India, 1580-1630, Mika Natif

For more information, see:

https://brill.com/abstract/title/38485

 

 

 

2. Call for papers for a special edition: Fashion/Religion Interfaces

The complex interconnections between religious beliefs and fashion in clothing have been increasingly recognised by researchers, journalists and fashion producers. At the same time, fashion has begun to be a force that can shape religious communities and create debates, often of a controversial nature, within and between faiths. This special issue will explore these matters, focusing on sartorial fashion/religion interfaces in their diverse and multiple forms across the world today.

Fashion scholarship has long claimed that no-one exists fully outside of fashion systems. Yet many religious believers, especially those with more conservative mindsets, think that they are not influenced by secular and commercial fashion trends. So, who is right? At the same time, some religiously-oriented individuals may embrace fashion fully, while others might seek to balance fashionability with religious precepts and forms of conduct. Which sorts of balancing and mediating are occurring across the world today, among different religious groups in diverse locations? Which social and cultural forces and contexts shape these balancing acts? What are the differences between religiously-oriented dress practices in ‘home’ countries and in diasporic contexts? How are these matters bound up with globalization processes?

Most scholarly attention on fashion/religion interfaces has been on women’s dress practices, but what about men? In what ways do dynamics to do with sexualities, ethnicities, classes, disabilities, and other social factors impact on religiously-aware dress choices?

While the major scholarly and political focus has recently been on the relations between Islam and fashion, especially in terms of veiling, people with other religious affiliations must also make choices regarding fashion and dress issues. Papers focusing on any religion and belief system, and on any geographical (and/or virtual) location, are welcomed for this special edition. Articles comparing different religious and/or sectarian groups are also invited.

Contributions are sought from diverse disciplinary and inter-disciplinary backgrounds across the social sciences and humanities. Papers which report novel empirical findings, and innovate in theoretical and methodological terms, are particularly encouraged.

 

Special issue website with submission instructions: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/fashion

 

Submission deadline: 1 April 2019

 

 

 

 

3. CfP: The 6^thInternational Islam & Liberty Conference on “Building an Islamic Case for Open Markets” in Islamabad, Pakistan on 14-15 November, 2018. The details of the conference are as follows:

Venue:International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), Pakistan
Date: 14 – 15 November 2018
Time: 8.00 am – 5.00 pm
Fees: PKR 100/ only
*Registration is compulsory. Places are limited. Do register now!!!

There are 20 speakers from various countries such as United Arab Emirates, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Finland, Malaysia, Lebanon, Algeria, Iran, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Indonesia, Bangladesh as well as Pakistan.

 

See: http://islamandlibertynetwork.org/blog/2018/06/01/building-an-islamic-case-for-open-markets/

 

 

 

4. A Photographic Tour of the Persian Gulf and Iraq, 1906

https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2018/10/a-photographic-tour-of-the-persian-gulf-and-iraq-1906.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+asian-and-african+%28Asia+and+Africa%29

 

 

 

5. Visiting Instructor of Arabic

Washington and Lee University

Deadline: 19 November 2018

The Department of German and Arabic at Washington and Lee University invites applications for a one-year visiting instructor of Arabic, beginning 1 July 2019. This position carries a 2-3 teaching load over two, 12-week terms (Fall 2019 and Winter 2020). Duties include teaching all levels of Arabic (first-, second-, and third-year), as well as advanced Arabic language courses that focus on media, conversation and composition, or topics in Arab literature, culture, and film. In addition to teaching responsibilities, the successful candidate will be expected to assist in developing WLUArabic and to contribute to the dynamic, interdisciplinary program in Middle East and South Asia (MESA) Studies.

Qualifications: Candidates must have completed at least an M.A. in Arabic Language (TAFL or a related field (e.g., second language acquisition, comparative literature, Middle Eastern Studies)). Preferred qualifications include ABD status or a Ph.D. Qualified applicants will have comprehensive mastery and fluency in Modern Standard Arabic and a dialect. The competitive applicant will have demonstrated experience in Arabic language pedagogy using the integrated approach in a North American or liberal arts context.

Review of applications will begin 19 November 2018. Interviews will be conducted through Skype in December. The position will remain open until filled. To apply, applicants should submit the following documents to Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/57066

 

• Cover letter
• C.V.
• Graduate transcript(s)
• Teaching portfolio (to include sample syllabi and teaching evaluations, if available)
• Three confidential letters of recommendations

 

Questions may be addressed to Professor Anthony Edwards, at EdwardsA@wlu.edu.

 

 

 

6. Elizabeth A. Lambourn, Abraham’s Luggage. A Social Life of Things in the Medieval Indian Ocean World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018). ISBN 9781107173880 

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abrahams-luggage/8F3D72E6FF9FA6B47C016A9B9799FD0F

 

From a single merchant’s list of baggage begins a history that explores the dynamic world of medieval Indian Ocean exchanges. This fresh and innovative perspective on Jewish merchant activity shows how this list was a component of broader trade connections that developed between the Islamic Mediterranean and South Asia in the Middle Ages. Drawing on a close reading of this unique twelfth-century document, found in the Cairo Genizah and written in India by North African merchant Abraham Ben Yiju, Lambourn focuses on the domestic material culture and foods that structured the daily life of such India traders, on land and at sea. This is an exploration of the motivations and difficulties of maintaining homes away from home, and the compromises that inevitably ensued. Abraham’s Luggagedemonstrates the potential for writing challenging new histories in the accidental survival of apparently ordinary ephemera.

 

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. A list of luggage from the Indian Ocean world
   2. From Ifriqiya to Malibarat – introducing Abraham Ben Yiju
   Part I. A Mediterranean Society in Malibarat:
   3. Making homes and friends: on shopping and suhba
   4. Making a meal of it: on food cultures
   5. A Jewish home: on ritual foods
   Part II. A Mediterranean Society at Sea:
   6. The ‘simple’ bare necessities: on water and rice
   7. ‘Things for the cabin’: inhabiting the ocean
   8. The balanced body: on vinegar and other sour foods
   9. From Malibarat to Misr and beyond – afterlives
   Appendix: Abraham’s list of luggage.

 

 

 

7. Conference: “National Pluralism in the Middle East: Towards a Common ‘Civilizational Framework'”, Qatar University in Doha, 26 March 2019

 

This conference will shed light on “nationalism” in terms of its interaction with other nationalities and ethnic groups in the Middle East, analyze the political and ideological attempts to exploit national pluralism, and the prospect of reconciling between the Arabs, Turks, Persians and Kurds. The Ibn Khaldon Center provides travel and accommodation costs for researchers with approved research.

 

Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2018. Information: IbnKhaldon@qu.edu.qa

 

 

 

8. Biennial Conference of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean (SMM): “Movement and Mobility in the Medieval Mediterranean (6th – 15th Centuries)”, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, 8-11 July 2019

 

How and to what extent did multiple agents, phenomena and factors interact to shape and intertwine the multidimensional spheres of the Mediterranean? We welcome papers from all disciplines that study movement and mobility from different perspectives in and across the medieval Mediterranean and its extensions, both physical and imagined.

 

Deadline for abstracts: 31 December 2018. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-movement-and-mobility-in-the-medieval-mediterranean-6th-15th-centuries-barcelona-8-11-july?e=82aeb6c61d

 

 

9. Biennial Conference of the International Qur’anic Studies Association: “Reading the Qur’an in the Context of Empire”, University of New England, Tangier, 25-26 July 2019

 

The conference will unveil new research on the Qur’an, and create a platform for connecting other religions to Qur’anic studies. Further attention will be paid to the important contribution of North African scholars to the emergence and flourishing of methods in the study of Qur’an, tafsir and translation.

 

Deadline for abstracts: 30 January 2018. Information: https://iqsaweb.wordpress.com/international-meeting-2019/

 

 

 

10. Articles on Special Issue “Women, Gender and Politics in Muslim Societies: A New Historiography?” for Journal “Genre & Histoire”

We want to explore the heterogeneity of women’s stories in the Muslim world from the end of the First World War to the present day, in order to deconstruct the social and symbolic meanings associated with this cate-gory.

Deadline for proposals: 15 November 2018. Information: https://journals.openedition.org/genrehistoire/3610

 

 

 

11. Articles on Special Issue “Islamic Foundations of Social Policy and Welfare” for “International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy”

The focus of this special issue will be on issues surrounding social welfare concepts from a Muslim per-spective, addressing the status and role of Islamic teachings in social policy.

Deadline for submissions: 30 November 2018. Information: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/call_for_papers.htm?id=8013

 

 

 

12. Articles on Special Issue “Religion and Violence in Africa” for Journal “Religions”

We seek studies that examine the relationship between religion and violence throughout Africa and welcome articles that explore the impact of extra-continental actors on religion’s role in either alleviating or exacerbat-ing violence in African societies. Also of interest is the relative absence of violence between and within vari-ous religious communities in Africa, as well as violence related to sorcery and witchcraft and religion’s nego-tiation thereof.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 July 2019. Information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Religion_Violence_Africa

 

 

 

 

13. Posts:

 

 

Adjunct Faculty Position in Comparative Politics of the Middle East, American University in Cairo

Position is starting Fall 2019. It is on a five-year fixed-term contract. Responsibilities will also include admin-istering the Joint MA program in Comparative and Middle East Politics and Society (CMEPS) between AUC and the Institute of Political Science at the University of Tubingen in Germany.

Deadline for application: 30 November 2018. Information: https://aucegypt.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=100472

 

 

(Senior) Research Fellow for Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore

The successful applicants participate in current cluster projects and are encouraged to lead a project. Both appointments last two years and require a PhD from a reputable university.

Deadline for applications: 30 November 2018. Information: https://mei.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/MEI-2019-Job-Advertisement-SRFRF.pdf

 

 

Research Associates / Assistant for Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore

Associates require a BS/BA or MSc/MA degree in business or economics. The position provides an oppor-tunity to develop subject expertise in finance, energy and policy analysis, and regional expertise in the Mid-dle East and Asia. The Assistant supports the work of the Director. We seek a candidate who is curious, analytical, organized.

Deadline for applications: 15 November 2018. Information: https://mei.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MEI-2019-Job-Advertisement-Research-Associates-and-Assistants.pdf

 

 

Professor in Sephardi Studies, Harvard University

This specialization is defined broadly to encompass not only Iberian Jewry, pre- and post-Expulsion, but also Jews in the Islamic world more generally as well as in the Ottoman Empire and in Western Europe in the medieval, early modern, and modern periods. The appointment is expected to begin on or after July 1, 2020. Fluency in Hebrew and a Doctorate or equivalent terminal degree in Jewish studies or related disci-pline is required.

Review of applications start: 15 November 2018. Information: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=57657

 

 

Assistant Professor in Social Theory of Islam, University of Alabama

Though the specialized focus or specific region/national setting is open, the position will enhance the De-partment’s international reputation in the critical study of religion while a portion of the person’s service time will go toward helping to establish an interdisciplinary Center for Middle East Studies. A Ph.D. is required but ABD applicants who are about to defend and complete their degree will be entertained.

Review of applications start: 15 November 2018. Information: https://facultyjobs.ua.edu/postings/44043

 

 

ADHRB and NGOs Send Letter to UN High Commissioner on Conditions in Bahrain’s Isa Town Prison for Women

18 October 2018 – Today, Americans for Human Rights & Democracy in Bahrain (ADHRB) in cooperation with the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), CIVICUS, European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR), Front Line Defenders, Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), Index on Censorship, and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) sent a letter to Michele Bachelet, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, and UN experts calling on them to condemn the appalling conditions faced by female human rights defenders in Bahrain’s Isa Town Prison for Women.

Click here for ADHRB Newsletter 273, including story on Ahmed Abdulla AlAjaimi.

A Christian Shīʿī, and Other Curious Confreres: Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr of Córdoba on Getting Along with Unbelievers

How did medieval Muslims think that they, as Muslims, ought to conduct their social interactions with non-Muslims? Modern scholars have usually sought answers to this normative question in Islamic legal sources. Yet premodern Muslim authorities also treated it in genres other than those that are usually considered part of “Islamic law”.

1.W.M. Watt Annual Lecture 2018

University of Edinburgh

 

Dr Linda Komaroff , Curator of Islamic Art and Department Head, Art of the Middle East, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Wed 28 November 2018

17:30 – 20:30 GMT

Dining with the Sultan: Reflections on the Fine Art of Feasting at the Islamic Courts

 

Further information and tickets at:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wm-watt-annual-lecture-2018-dr-linda-komaroff-tickets-51513354831

 

 

 

2. Three Assistant / Associate Professors in Comparative Study of Modern Arab Politics and Society, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The faculty members will conduct research and teach courses in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa. Preference will be given to applicants with area expertise who conduct research using Middle East languages, particularly Arabic. The faculty member will be part of an interdisciplinary group affiliated with the Arab Politics and Society cluster hiring initiative.

Information: https://facstaff.provost.wisc.edu/cluster-hiring-initiative/

 

 

 

3. Assistant Professor in Middle East Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies, University of Wis-consin-Madison

Ph.D. in a social science or humanities discipline with a specialization in Middle East Studies and/or North African Studies and Gender/Women’s Studies is required by the start of the appointment in August 2019.

Position is open until filled. Information: http://jobs.hr.wisc.edu/cw/en-us/job/498609/professor-in-gender-and-womens-studies-cluster-hire

 

 

 

4. Assistant / Associate Professor in Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Preference will be given to applicants with area expertise who conduct research using Middle East languages, particularly Arabic. Ph.D. in Political Science with specialization in Middle East Studies and/or North African Studies is required by the start of the appointment at August 20, 2019.

Position is open until filled. Information: http://jobs.hr.wisc.edu/cw/en-us/job/498355/professor-in-political-sci-ence-cluster-hire

 

 

 

5. Assistant Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The successful candidate will teach courses in the contemporary history of the Arab world as well as intro-ductory courses on the modern Middle East, and perform department, university and community services as appropriate for faculty rank. Responsibilities include conducting research and teaching at all levels as well as service at the professional and university level. Anticipated begin date is August 19, 2019.

Deadline for applications: 1 November 2018. Information:

https://www.ohr.wisc.edu/weblisting/External/PVLSummaryPrint.aspx?pvl_num=94576

 

 

 

6. Assistant Professor of History, Pennsylvania State University

The History program at the Abington College applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position to begin fall 2019. We welcome applications from historians with a specialization in the Global South, any period. Candidates with a focus on the Islamic World or Latin American/Caribbean History are especially encouraged to apply. Candidates must have completed the Ph.D. in History, or expect to do so by the time of appointment.

Position open until filled. Information: https://psu.jobs/job/83308

 

 

 

7. Assistant / Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, University of Florida

The Department of Religion invites applications for a full-time, nine-month, tenure track position for the Izzat Hasan Sheikh Faculty Fellowship, beginning August 16, 2019. Applicants should have a doctoral degree in Islamic studies, religious studies, or a closely related discipline by the time of appointment.

Deadline for applications: 15 November 2018. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/56497

 

 

 

8. Lecturer in Hebrew Language, Columbia University

The Department of Middle Eastern South Asian and African Studies announces an opening beginning July 1, 2019. We are seeking a professional language teacher with a serious commitment to teaching languages for academic purposes. Preference will be given to applicants who have a PhD in Hebrew literature, linguistics or related field, but those with a Master’s degree and considerable language teaching experience are also encouraged to apply.

Review of applications start: 3 November 2018. Information: https://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/1528

 

 

 

9. Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University

The position will be responsible for producing original, substantive, policy-relevant research to bring together diverse viewpoints addressing the issues of women, human rights and displaced people in the Middle East. PhD in a field related to the study of the Middle East, gender issues, or human rights issues such as political science, policy studies, gender studies or sociology.

Review of applications start: 15 November 2018. Information: https://jobs.rice.edu/postings/16664

 

 

 

10. Articles on “Reframing Islam in Southeast Asia” for Special Issue of Journal “Religions”

The history of Islam in Southeast Asia has been traditionally narrated as one derivative of the Middle Eastern experience and, oftentimes, as a reality that largely belongs to the majority areas of the Indo-Malay sphere. This Special Issue intends to challenge these narratives.

Deadline for manuscripts: 15 August 2019. Information: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/spe-cial_issues/ReframingIslamSA

 

 

11. CALL FOR PAPERS | SYMPOSIA IRANICA

FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON IRANIAN STUDIES

 

Hosted by the University of Cambridge at St John’s College, Cambridge, UK, 9-10 April 2019

 

***Deadline: 30 December 2018***

 

We welcome proposals that engage with any aspect of Iranian studies within the arts, humanities and social sciences. These include but are not limited to prehistory through to the ancient and post-antique, modern, and contemporary histories; historiography; art and architecture history; anthropology; archaeology; cultural heritage; film and cinema; music and musicology; new media and communication studies; the performing arts; poetry and literature; languages and linguistics; Diaspora and migration studies; diplomatic studies, international relations and political science; social and political theory; law and legal studies; economics, philately and numismatics; sociology; philosophy; religions and theology.

 

Comparative themes and interdisciplinary approaches are also very welcome.

 

SUBMISSIONS

Proposals are open to early career scholars at postgraduate and post-doctoral levels from any disciplinary background within the arts, humanities and social sciences:

 

1. Postgraduate students (MA, MPhil, MSt, etc. who are currently enrolled or who graduate/d in 2019 or 2018);
2. PhD students and PhD candidates at any stage of their degree; and
3. post-docs who graduated within the last three years (2018, 2017, 2016, 2015).

 

Persons falling into any of these categories are eligible to submit a proposal for an individual paper or pre-arranged panel. Submission is conducted electronically through the website. For any questions, please email us at office@symposia-iranica.com.

 

The language of the conference is English. All submissions undergo double-blind peer review.

 

ABOUT US

Symposia Iranica is Iranian studies’ leading forum for early career scholars. A dedicated, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed platform open to emerging scholars working on any aspect of Iranian or Persian Studies within the arts, humanities, and social sciences, our three previous conferences were hosted by the University of St Andrews at St Mary’s College in 2013 and the University of Cambridge at Downing College in 2015 and Pembroke College in 2017.

 

The full call for papers is on our website: symposia-iranica.com

Updates will be posted to our Facebook page: facebook.com/SymposiaIranica

A virtual preview of our programme is at: symposia-iranica.com/preview

Highlights from all three conferences to-date: symposia-iranica.com/past

 

SPONSORS

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Shahnama Centre for Persian Studies; Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; St John’s College, Cambridge; Trinity College, Cambridge; British Institute of Persian Studies; Iran Heritage Foundation; Soudavar Memorial Foundation; Ancient India and Iran Trust; Pembroke College, Cambridge; Brill Publishers; I.B. Tauris Publishers; Edinburgh University Press; and the German Oriental Studies Trust.

 

Custom as a Legal Principle of Legislation for Shi’i Law

Cet article soutient que le principe de lacune ( lacuna) dans le droit shi’ite peut donner aux juristes la possibilité de dépasser les paramètres traditionnels de la shari’a. Ce principe autorise les juristes à aller au-delà de la loi islamique dans la mesure où ils seraient confrontés à un problème légal qui n’aurait pas été textuellement interdit par les sources écrites.

Bahraini Court Revokes 6 Bahraini Nationals of their Citizenship and Sentences 5 to Life

15 October 2018 – The Fourth High Criminal Court handed prison sentences to seven Bahraini nationals and revoked the citizenship of six over terrorism charges related to the bombing of an oil pipeline in the area of Buri on 10 November 2017, the Public Prosecution announced today.

For BIRD Issue 209, click here.

The launch event of ‘Imam Hussain Day’ in Scotland

The Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society, with the support of Interfaith Scotland and the United Nations House Scotland, launched Imam Hussain Day in Scotland on 12th October 2018. This will be an annual day in the national calendar to remember and celebrate the life, achievements, and influential teachings of Imam Hussain; a role model to over 1 Billion Muslims worldwide.