A thesis researching to what extent the rituals to commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn still have political influence for Iran in the twenty-first century.
This thesis sheds light on the political motivations that lay at the basis of the dogmatic condemnations of Salafi Wahhabis of demonstrations against unjust Muslim rulers as engineered by Ash'aris....Show moreThis thesis sheds light on the political motivations that lay at the basis of the dogmatic condemnations of Salafi Wahhabis of demonstrations against unjust Muslim rulers as engineered by Ash'aris. It consults an enormous number of primary sources on which the selective justification of Salafi Wahhabis base these dogmatic condemnations of their Ash'ari components. As a result, the dogmatic condemnation by Salafi Wahhabis of Ash'aris as innovators due to the latter's justification of demonstrating against the unjust ruler is put in an international political context.Show less
Er lijkt iets te zijn veranderd in de Nederlandse samenleving met betrekking tot de houding tegenover islam en moslims door de gebeurtenissen in het Midden-Oosten in de zomer van 2014. Deze...Show moreEr lijkt iets te zijn veranderd in de Nederlandse samenleving met betrekking tot de houding tegenover islam en moslims door de gebeurtenissen in het Midden-Oosten in de zomer van 2014. Deze verandering lijkt meer verdeeldheid en negatieve beeldvorming tot gevolg te hebben. Het doel van dit onderzoek is om te ontdekken of dit idee klopt en wat de verandering inhoudt. Dit leidt dan ook tot de vraag: hebben de gebeurtenissen in het Midden-Oosten in de zomer van 2014 iets veranderd in de Nederlandse samenleving? Het antwoord op deze vraag wordt gegeven door middel van het concept islamofobie. Het onderzoek focust zich op vier kenmerkende aspecten van islamofobie: het idee dat islam een bedreiging is voor de nationale veiligheid; het idee dat (hoofddoek dragende) moslimvrouwen worden onderdrukt; moslimdiscriminatie en de reactie van de Nederlandse moslimgemeenschap op de houding tegenover moslims en islam in de Nederlandse samenleving. Bij deze vier aspecten wordt er gekeken naar de situatie voor en na de zomer van 2014 met behulp van berichtgevingen in de media en berichtgeving en beleid dat vanuit de Nederlandse overheid komt. Uit de vergelijking blijkt dat er voor de zomer van 2014 al sprake was van een negatieve beeldvorming met betrekking tot islam en moslims in Nederland die te danken is aan een bepaalde zorg of angst dat de islamitische waarden de Nederlandse waarden zullen overnemen. De verandering die heeft plaatsgevonden is dat de focus op radicalisering onder de Nederlandse moslims is toegenomen binnen de Nederlandse samenleving en overheid. Dit roept op zijn beurt nieuwe reacties en beeldvorming op in relatie met de behandelde islamofobische aspecten. Het betekent dat er een verschuiving heeft plaatsgevonden van de zorg of angst om de overname van de Nederlandse waarde door islamitische waarden, naar een combinatie tussen deze angst en de angst voor een fysieke (gewelddadige) overname van de Nederlandse samenleving door radicale moslims. Dit heeft op zijn beurt weer effect op de reactie die vanuit de moslimgemeenschap komt. Er is echter nog te weinig data beschikbaar om met zekerheid vast te kunnen stellen of de verschuiving langdurige gevolgen heeft voor de verhoudingen in de Nederlandse samenleving.Show less
Sâmiha Ayverdi represents a curious case of where the usual crude dichotomic categorisations that mark modern Turkey appear to loose validity. Having the outward appearance of a westernised ...Show moreSâmiha Ayverdi represents a curious case of where the usual crude dichotomic categorisations that mark modern Turkey appear to loose validity. Having the outward appearance of a westernised ‘republican woman’ as envisaged by the reformist Kemalist elite, Ayverdi managed to merge multiple, seemingly conflicting, personas in her person as a novelist, a public intellectual and the head of a Sufi brotherhood. This thesis seeks to evaluate Ayverdi’s memoirs in terms of their value of providing us with a counter-narrative on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of the republic and the numerous political crises that it faced throughout its existence. It is not a study of Ayverdi’s Sufi inspired religious views which have been discussed elsewhere. It is hoped this study will constitute a humble contribution to the academic discourse regarding the hybridity of Turkish intellectuals.Show less
The Alevi community is the biggest religious minority in Turkey today. Although the Turkish state is by definition secular and laicist, it considers Sunni Islam the state’s religion and the mosque...Show moreThe Alevi community is the biggest religious minority in Turkey today. Although the Turkish state is by definition secular and laicist, it considers Sunni Islam the state’s religion and the mosque as offical worship place for all groups who describe themselves "Islamic". The Alevi religious practices which are not performed in the mosque have been weakened as a result of social differentiation and migration during the 1950’s and 1960’s which firstly occurred in the cities and later on in the villages. The demands of Democratic Party (the beginning of Multiparty system - 1946) for a more central role of religion (Sunni Islam), especially after the coup in 1980 has resulted in the construction of more and more mosques in Alevi villages, clearly designed to assimilate the Alevis in Sunni Islam. As time passed by, the Alevis got more organized after 1990s, opposition to this project increased, and most Alevis did not attend the newly built mosques which resulted in a deterioration of the relationship with the state- appointed (Sunni) imam. Contrary to many other villagers, the state-appointed Imam in Koyunpinari has a very good relationship with the villagers, of whom some even attend his Friday prayers. He has spent 23 years in Koyunpinari and does not show any intention of leaving. In 2014 the first cem-house (House of Gathering where religious ceremonies take place that has not been performed in the past 60 years in Koyunpinari) was constructed in that village after the village association in Ankara and Istanbul managed to collect enough means. This paper investigates where this sudden urge in willing to have a cem-house came from while the mosque seems to be embraced. Also it traces the development of the relationship between the Alevi community and their adhering to certain religious dogma’s, and the mosque as the most visible manifestation of Sunni Islam.Show less
Dit onderzoek gaat over vrouwenbesnijdenis in Nederland. Het onderzoekt de islamitische status van vrouwenbesnijdenis en bekijkt wat de gevolgen hiervan zijn voor het Nederlands recht en beleid. Op...Show moreDit onderzoek gaat over vrouwenbesnijdenis in Nederland. Het onderzoekt de islamitische status van vrouwenbesnijdenis en bekijkt wat de gevolgen hiervan zijn voor het Nederlands recht en beleid. Op basis van de Koran en hadith en meningen en fatwa’s van islamitische geleerden kan geconcludeerd worden dat er geen eenduidige opinie over vrouwenbesnijdenis bestaat vanuit de islam. Het kan daarom soms als religieus gebruik gedefinieerd worden. Volgens het Nederlands recht in meisjesbesnijdenis strafbaar, omdat het een vorm van mutilatie is. Religie kan hierbij niet als rechtvaardigingsgrond optreden, omdat mutilatie de vrijheid van religie beperkt. Naar mijn mening zou het recht wat betreft enkele lichtere vormen van meisjesbesnijdenis versoepeld kunnen worden. Het beleid van de Nederlandse overheid in de periode 2003-2014 is geanalyseerd aan de hand van het model van Wilson. Op basis van deze analyse en de voorgaande hoofdstukken kan ik concluderen dat het doel van de overheid moet zijn: het veranderen van de interne dynamiek van de gemeenschappen waar vrouwenbesnijdenis voorkomt. De overheid moet zich meer richten op de cultuur en religie van deze gemeenschappen met behulp van organisaties. Tot slot zou een lichte, symbolische inprikking van de clitoris als ‘tussenstation’ kunnen functioneren in het proces van het laten verdwijnen van vrouwenbesnijdenis.Show less
This thesis discusses the relevance of Islam in creating communities for Central Asian migrants in Moscow. Drawing upon academic sources and Russian newspapers, the analysis of the role of Islam...Show moreThis thesis discusses the relevance of Islam in creating communities for Central Asian migrants in Moscow. Drawing upon academic sources and Russian newspapers, the analysis of the role of Islam for migrants has focused on places frequently attended by Central Asian people in Moscow. It emerges that migrants attending mosques consider Islam as the main source to negotiate their identity while abroad, as well as the common denominator that helps them in developing personal connections. Moreover, the role of Islam in ethnic cafés and bazaars is described, showing that activities, behaviors and relationships developed in these places are often influenced by Islamic rules and values. In addition, a possible evolution of the role of Islam for migrants has been proposed through a comparison of the Muscovite situation with Vienna and West Berlin in 1950s and 1960s. Based on these analyses, it can be concluded that Islam plays a crucial role for migrants in various dimensions. Indeed, Islam may be helpful to tolerate their precarious living conditions, to provide norms and values, and to form communities based on the common religious background.Show less
Master thesis | Theology and Religious Studies (Master)
open access
Subjective well-being as the object of science in positive psychology, connects the fields of science and morality (virtues) with each other. This development immediately raises the question of to...Show moreSubjective well-being as the object of science in positive psychology, connects the fields of science and morality (virtues) with each other. This development immediately raises the question of to what degree the Western conceptualization of happiness and related virtues introduced by positive psychology can be generalized and applied outside the western context. The concept of happiness in the Islamic tradition when no longer connected to any ontological, historical and cultural collective context can easily be transformed in meaning according to the contemporary socio-political and economic ideologies in a certain society. Therefore, in order to effectively benefit from the richness of Islamic religious wisdom, I think it is important to also have a perception of happiness within Islam’s own cultural, yet especially theological framework. This thesis attempts to examine, the underlying value system of humanistic, but mainly positive psychology related to happiness and presents an Islamic outlook on human potential and the associated objectives and values that the Quran regards as determinants of human happiness. The research question of this thesis reads: “What are the fundamental differences when the Western perspective on happiness in positive psychology is compared with the perspective on happiness from a Quranic understanding?”Show less
The present thesis aims at a better understanding of Islamophobia in Western Europe. For this purpose, it investigates how the issue is perceived from the Arabic and from the Western European...Show moreThe present thesis aims at a better understanding of Islamophobia in Western Europe. For this purpose, it investigates how the issue is perceived from the Arabic and from the Western European perspective, what both of these views have in common and where the differences between them. In the opening section, the results of a literature research are presented, which focuses on academic Arabic sources, articles on the Aljazeera website, and academic publications by West European authors. In this context, various aspects of the phenomenon such as the definition of the term, roots and causes, the role of media and of the political right, and its relation to the anti-Semitism are considered. As example of manifestation of Islamophobia the French head scarf ban is discussed. Comparing the Arabic and the Western European view on Islamophobia, one cannot detect specific differences concerning the definition of the term, albeit the latter appears contested and vague. In contrast, the identified reasons for Islamophobia and the role attributed to media and the political right are controversial and depend very much on the particular perspective involved. While the majority of the Western sources identifies the reason of Islamophobia as the perceived incompatibility of Islam with Western and European values, Arab authors mostly hold Western misunderstanding and lack of knowledge responsible for the phenomenon. They also attribute an essential role to media and the political right in its dissemination. While at least the majority of the Arab sources attribute a positive character to the headscarf, in Western Europe it is frequently understood as symbol of a radical Islam and gender discrimination, therefore justifying its ban. The comparison with anti-Semitism appears to be restricted to the Western European perspective, which is possibly due to the role this phenomenon has played in Europe's history.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
closed access
"Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest number of social media users. However, social media is mainly used in Indonesia (even by politicians) to spread defamation, rumors, and gossip....Show more"Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest number of social media users. However, social media is mainly used in Indonesia (even by politicians) to spread defamation, rumors, and gossip. This is inter alia confirmed by the many anonymous social media accounts only spreading defamation. Rumors and gossip, as well as technology such as mobile phones with cameras and social media, can be seen as means to bridge the gulf between the private practice and the public discourse. With the rise of technological developments available in Indonesia - such as phones with cameras, smartphones, Web 2.0 and thus social media - there appeared an increase of cases in which Indonesian politicians are discredited with their private (sexual) behavior. In this thesis of mine, I will elaborate on this trend of discrediting politicians with sex scandals via social media in Indonesia. What does this trend tell us about Indonesian society? What does it say about democracy, law, morality and Islam in Indonesia’s society? With an eye to answering these questions, with the first being my main question, I would first like to introduce and elaborate a bit upon a few topics that I will be using in my thesis when answering my main question, such as social media. Then I will continue with a chapter in which I will introduce a few case studies of sex scandals that happened in Indonesia. The subsequent chapters will be about topics concerning aspects of the Indonesian society: one chapter about democracy, one about law, and one about morality and Islam. Lastly, I will conclude and answer the main question in the conclusion."Show less
What is war to whom? The troops roaming on Java in the late seventeenth century were of all shapes and colours. Some came from Sulawesi, some from Madura; some were religious others acquisitive....Show moreWhat is war to whom? The troops roaming on Java in the late seventeenth century were of all shapes and colours. Some came from Sulawesi, some from Madura; some were religious others acquisitive. Usually they operated in small units known as war-bands led by a warlord. Despite the differences between these war-bands, many of them did gather and fight under a single banner. Often they hurdled behind overlords -sunans or sultans- who were in need for additional brawn; a competitive market of martial supply and demand resulted. The king with the most men usually won. Even the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was part of this market and relied on indigenous patrol. In 1677, the Company decided to support the Central Javanese realm called Mataram and thus landed in a diplomatic struggle for troops. This thesis wonders how VOC men reported on these warriors and what clues are given of a Javanese military labour market at odds with the European one. The Dutch commanders would soon find out drawing in allies was as important as winning battles; the extent to which they could enter the networks of warlords and rulers thereby determined much of their victory. This thesis tells how far they did in the two chaotic and bloody years of 1677 and 1678.Show less
In de scriptie wordt een antwoord geformuleerd op de vraag in welke mate de politieke veranderingen in Irak van 2003 tot en met 2013 invloed hebben gehad op het belang van Karbalāʾ voor sjiieten,...Show moreIn de scriptie wordt een antwoord geformuleerd op de vraag in welke mate de politieke veranderingen in Irak van 2003 tot en met 2013 invloed hebben gehad op het belang van Karbalāʾ voor sjiieten, waarbij wordt gekeken naar Karbalāʾ als politiek en religieus doel in Irak.Show less
In deze Bachelorscriptie is een uiteenzetting gegeven van de ethiek van de islam bezien vanuit de visie op de relatie tussen mens en natuur. Aan de hand van die uiteenzetting is de volgende vraag...Show moreIn deze Bachelorscriptie is een uiteenzetting gegeven van de ethiek van de islam bezien vanuit de visie op de relatie tussen mens en natuur. Aan de hand van die uiteenzetting is de volgende vraag beantwoord: In hoeverre is het mogelijk om te komen tot een islamitisiche ecologische ethiek?Show less
