Academic literature on the topic 'Arabian Peninsula - Religion'

Each society has a unique cuisine and taste which has been developed over time. Furthermore, each region and climate offer different options, health and life perception varies in each society. In the Arabian Peninsula where The Prophet Muhammad lived, cuisine was shaped according to the region, climate and life perception according to conditions of the era. Indeed, The Prophet Muhammad was a human being lived in Arabian region. He was in close relation with his own society’s cuisine in terms of personal taste before he conveyed the Islamic religion. Islam as a religion has contributed to daily life of people in terms of different point of views beside perception about world blessings. In this text, variety of foods consumed in Arabian Peninsula, distribution of these according to types and variety of dishes, pots and pans that were used during The Prophet Muhammad era was mentioned. This study aimed to enlighten whether religion has an influence on cuisine and Islamic religion suggests a life devoid of food and drink.

Each society has a unique cuisine and taste which has been developed over time. Furthermore, each region and climate offer different options, health and life perception varies in each society. In the Arabian Peninsula where The Prophet Muhammad lived, cuisine was shaped according to the region, climate and life perception according to conditions of the era. Indeed, The Prophet Muhammad was a human being lived in Arabian region. He was in close relation with his own society’s cuisine in terms of personal taste before he conveyed the Islamic religion. Islam as a religion has contributed to daily life of people in terms of different point of views beside perception about world blessings. In this text, variety of foods consumed in Arabian Peninsula, distribution of these according to types and variety of dishes, pots and pans that were used during The Prophet Muhammad era was mentioned. This study aimed to enlighten whether religion has an influence on cuisine and Islamic religion suggests a life devoid of food and drink.

The pre-Islamic history of the Arabian Peninsula and the history of Islam show what different communities have united and continue to unite religion, and it is in history that we find the factors that divide the Arab people and the Islamic world. The complexity of these relationships stretches from the past, and modern realities only add problems and questions.

Beginning in the seventh century, the expansion of Islam brought with it an outpouring of peoples from the Arabian Peninsula. While the composition of these Islamic armies became more diverse as the religion spread through the Near East and across North Africa to Western Europe, there were clearly elements of both the urban Arabian population, of which the Prophet was a member, and the rural Bedouins, whose migrations from their original homeland continued sporadically for several centuries. This slowed during the period of Turkish hegemony, but it left a scattering of enclaves identifying themselves as ethnic Arabs throughout the Islamic world.

The study of the Arabian Peninsula in terms of religion that preceded the emergence of Islam from the important studies that concern the history of the Arabs because of the relevance of the events that contributed in one way or another in the crystallization of the Arab social system later and formed one of the elements of the historical development of the Arabs. Their religious life is generally characterized by paganism, although it is a pagan of a special kind. It recognizes the existence of God, yet idols take a means to approach him. Paganism emerged alongside the pagan religious streams that played an active and important role in influencing the Arab mindset and preparing it to accept its historical role in embracing the last great divine messages. The research dealt with these monotheistic religious currents that were represented in Judaism, Christianity and Tafsia and discussed their existence and their impact on the Arab mentality in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam and was based on a number of mothers of primary sources and important references.

Hamka's political thoughts and behavior are based on his view of the interrelationship between religion and the state. Hamka has no objection to the statement that 'Islam is a religion and the state states, the correct formulation is Islam is a religion. his belief above that the ideals of monotheism cannot be implemented if it is not accompanied by strength. And Muslims should be proud, because since the beginning of its establishment, this Islamic religion has not only been an example of how to carry out the prayers it teaches, but also how to establish a state and maintain politics, and this has been blatantly demonstrated, Hamka wrote. It was explained that Muhammad SAW was present in the Arabian Peninsula with the teachings of monotheism and had united the tribes there so that later they would become a strong country and a respected nation

The pagan religion was the most widespread religion in the region of the Arabian Peninsula before Islam. It was a religion that is based on the worship of a certain idol or monument, which they considered as their gods. The purpose of their worship was to obtain the approval of these gods and avoid their anger and resentment, and to obtain success in their socio-economic, religious and political lives. Therefore, these deities were revered. Before Islam, Arabs reached the limit of reverence for their gods to offer vows and offerings, and they reached the point of offering human, animal and material offerings. At the same time, these idols were exposed to abuse and underestimation by some people. The study shows how Arabs reverence their idols as well as underestimate them, and how do they reach to this duality in dealing with deities .

In this paper we analyse Max Weber's view on Islam as a religion of warriors who lived at the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, and also, we analyse this interpretation in the context of Edward Said’s (orientalistic) theoretical approach. The first part of the paper presents various aspects of the analysis of Islam by Max Weber, which must be taken into the context of comparative theology, that is, in the light of considering the characteristics of Islam against the background of other world religions. In the second part of the work, we will analyse the concept of Said’s orientalism. We will construct the framework of moderate orientalism, which, according to the author of this paper, is an important conceptual adjustment that can contribute to a better understanding and analysis of various oriental discourses, including Weber discourse. Taking into account that we are talking about the most influential classics sociologists, especially in the case of the sociology of religion, it is very important to critically analyse his understanding of Islam so that we can determine which of his conclusions are significant for the sociology of religion and the sociology of Islam today, and which of his hypotheses can we attribute to some kind of reductionism or orientalism.

In this paper we analyse Max Weber's view on Islam as a religion of warriors who lived at the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, and also, we analyse this interpretation in the context of Edward Said’s (orientalistic) theoretical approach. The first part of the paper presents various aspects of the analysis of Islam by Max Weber, which must be taken into the context of comparative theology, that is, in the light of considering the characteristics of Islam against the background of other world religions. In the second part of the work, we will analyse the concept of Said’s orientalism. We will construct the framework of moderate orientalism, which, according to the author of this paper, is an important conceptual adjustment that can contribute to a better understanding and analysis of various oriental discourses, including Weber discourse. Taking into account that we are talking about the most influential classics sociologists, especially in the case of the sociology of religion, it is very important to critically analyse his understanding of Islam so that we can determine which of his conclusions are significant for the sociology of religion and the sociology of Islam today, and which of his hypotheses can we attribute to some kind of reductionism or orientalism.

Les recherches archéologiques sur la péninsule arabique en général, et sur al-‘Ula en particulier, se concentrent premièrement sur les inscriptions éparpillées dans toute la région, et deuxièmement sur la céramique. L’architecture, en général, n’est pas tenue en compte par les archéologues dans la péninsule arabique, et les recherches sur l’architecture religieuse, surtout dans le premier millénaire av. J.-C., sont presque rares. De ce point vient l’importance de cette étude sur le site de Dédain en essayant de jeter la lumière sur l’architecture et afin qu’elle soit l’une des références qui porte sur l’architecture religieuse dans la péninsule arabique. Cette thèse, basée sur les fouilles réalisées par le Département d’Archéologie de l’Université du Roi Saoud à Riyad, contient quatre chapitres. Le premier est une introduction générale géographique et historique d’al-‘Ula. Il parle également des visites et des études antérieures au site. Le deuxième chapitre est une étude descriptive détaillée de l’architecture du site de Dédain. En ce qui concerne le troisième chapitre, il s’agit d’une étude analytique approfondie de tous les composants de l’architecture de ce site. Quant au dernier chapitre, c’est une étude comparative de toutes les parties de l’architecture de Dédain avec d’autres sites archéologiques
The archaeological researches on the Arabian Peninsula in general and on the site of al-‘Ula in particular, focus in the first place on the inscriptions scattered all over the region, and in the second place on pottery. The architecture in general is not taken in account by archaeologists in the Arabian Peninsula; and researches on religious architecture, especially in the first millennium BC., are most rare. From this comes the importance of this study on the site of Dedan trying to shed light on the architecture and in order to be one of the references that are concerned with the religious architecture in the Arabian Peninsula. This thesis, based on the excavations carried out by the Department of archaeology of the King Saud University in Riyadh, consists of four chapters. The first one is a general geographical and historical introduction to the site of al-‘Ula. It also speaks about previous visits and studies at the site. The second chapter is a detailed descriptive study of the architecture of the site of Dedan. As for the third chapter, there is a comprehensive analytical study of all elements of the architecture of the site. As for the last chapter, it is a comparative study of all parts of the architecture of Dedan with other archaeological sites

In early 2001, as I began exploring the role of religion in conflict, I came across a declaration by a then little-known leader, Osama bin Laden, and his fellows. That declaration was of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. Many analysts now see it as one of the founding documents of al Qaeda, the amorphous terrorist umbrella group. The purpose of the declaration was to issue a fatwa that, because United States troops were stationed in the holy Arabian peninsula and threatened Muslims, particularly in Iraq, it was every Muslim's duty 'to kill the Americans and their allies - civilians and military - ... in any country in which it is possible to do it'. Of course, the first thing that struck me, as an American, was that here was a group that wished to kill me solely because of my birthplace. They did not seem to care that I might not support specific actions of my government, even if I supported that government generally. Nor was there any discussion of whether methods other than violence might be more useful in persuading my fellow citizens as to the justice of their cause. I wondered, as a student of peace studies, what I could do in the face of such seemingly implacable hatred. The second thing that struck me about the declaration was its language. I noticed, in particular, a certain flourish that one does not often find in political analysis. The image that 'nations are attacking Muslims like people fighting over a plate of food' has always stayed in my mind because the simple image has such rhetorical power. I also noticed, in accordance with my research interests, the use of religious teachings as a justification for violence. Yet poetic rhetoric and religious dogma were not the only contents of that declaration. Bin Laden and his fellows made coherent political points. They cited as examples of the harm caused by the United States: the post-Gulf War presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, 'dictating to its rulers [and] humiliating its people;' the continued bombing of Iraq 'even though all [Saudi] rulers are against their territories being used to that end;' and, finally, the way that these actions contributed to the security of Israel by weakening Arab nations. Thus, beneath its religious expression the declaration contained political points with which I could engage. Now, as I categorically oppose the use of violence, I unreservedly reject the conclusion of the fatwa. Moreover, I do not assume that a single statement is evidence of this group's true intent. It may very well be the case, as analysts more versed in their politics than I have argued, that al Qaeda's real goal is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. Its affiliation with Afghanistan's Taliban certainly supports this argument. In spite of these things, though, their use of political arguments meant they were trying to reach an audience that cared about such things. I could address that audience as well, and try to propose different courses of action that would address the same concerns. Thus, I could step outside of my original framework, in which I envisioned implacable hatred, and argue for nonviolent ways of addressing the issues. Yet the religious idiom of the declaration was also an important factor. Given that the declaration addressed Muslims as Muslims, by only trying to argue political points with them I might alienate people for whom the religious language meant a great deal. Already in my research I had come to the conclusion, drawing on R. Scott Appleby's The Ambivalence of the Sacred, that the people best placed to show the peaceful potential of a religion are believers in that religion. I am not, however, religious. Thus, this conclusion left me with no recourse in the face of the religious aspects of conflict. I began to wonder what role a nonreligious - or, as I came to think of myself, a secular - person could play in peacemaking when religion is an element of a conflict. Moreover, I saw that different seculars would have different reactions to bin Laden's arguments. Some would reject the message because of the religious medium. Some, like I first did, would perceive the sociopolitical elements but continue to ignore the religious language. Others, as I also briefly did, might consider the religious element but leave out the issue of their own secular nature. Yet no perspective provided a good model for what I, as a secular, might do. Thus, the goal of my thesis became to analyze the various models of secularity, find the most beneficial principles, and construct from these a model for secular best practice. That Osama bin Laden's words should catalyze this thesis brings me to two important points. First, this is not a thesis about Islam. If a disproportionate number of the examples that I use throughout the thesis focus on Islam, this should not indicate that Islam deserves special attention concerning conflict and violence. Rather, the focus here is always on secularity and secular responses to religion in situations of conflict. However, particularly after September 11th, the largely secular policy and scholarly establishments of Europe and North America have produced a great deal of material concerning Islam. Thus, while I sought out more diverse sources dealing with secularity, I often used the religion most commented on by secular sources as an exemplar. That leads to the second point, which is that this is not a thesis about terrorism. Given its scope and the place of religion in it, most obvious case study to use in this thesis is the 'war on terror' - which I call such for ease of use, as that is what the Western media generally call it, not because I think it is an adequate designation. I will cover this topic in the final chapter, but because the thesis is about peace and violence in conflict, and not about specific forms of violence, it will not figure elsewhere. Because this thesis is concerned with violence and, specifically, with the promotion of peace, it has an overt prescriptive element. This stems in large part from my Peace Studies background. Peace Studies entails a normative commitment to pursue peaceful situations through nonviolent means. Thus, at several points I actively enjoin readers to take or not take certain types of action because, by my analysis, that is the best way to promote peaceful relationships. More generally, by the title of this thesis, I ask readers to 'rethink secular and sacred' - both what these terms mean, and more importantly how they relate to one another. In particular, this goal leads me to avoid discussing the concept of tolerance. Tolerance is often held to be a virtue by those who seek to promote nonconfrontational religious interaction. However, as many other writers have pointed out, the word 'tolerance' itself stems from physiological and biological studies, where it means the ability to withstand negative factors, such as poisons or drugs. Thus I find that its social meaning is essentially negative, denoting forbearance of what one finds repugnant. While in a very limited sense I feel that tolerance is necessary, it is only as a first step to actively engaging with what one might at first find off-putting.

Les trois monothéismes conçoivent un Dieu créateur et ordonnateur du monde, révélé dans l’histoire, garant de toute justice et de tout équilibre, et déterminant l’autorité et les systèmes d’autorités. La théologie a informé le droit et les lois, l’économie et l’éthique des personnes et des États. L’islam, loin d’être homogénéisé dans ses approches économiques, financières et réglementaires, révèle par le biais d’un exemple concret, par l’industrie des services financiers islamiques, les différentes facettes de ce qu’est l’autorité dans un contexte musulman, international et en pleine évolution. Prenant en compte la dynamique des questions sectaires, géographiques et interprétatives, la thèse analyse cette force déterminante que sont les « autorités » en finance islamique. Ces dernières semblent déterminer la finance islamique dans ses formes les plus tangibles, en structurant des produits financiers islamiques. L’analyse comporte d’abord une approche théorique, ensuite une étude comparée des facteurs qui déterminent les décisions prises lors de la structuration de produits financiers islamiques. Ces structures sont en effet fondées sur des contrats financiers conformes aux principes de la sharia. Leur approbation par des membres de conseils de la sharia est-elle déterminée par une autorité régionale, par des autorités internationales ou par des autorités de régulation ? Ces autorités sont-elles conventionnelles ou religieuses ? Afin de bien évaluer la problématique non seulement de l’autorité en tant que telle mais aussi de l’équilibre complexe entre les différentes autorités, nous développons une analyse comparée du système de structuration des produits financiers islamiques par les autorités concernées, en fonction des zones géographiques, au moyen d’un échantillon de 121 membres de conseils de la sharia couvrant l’approbation de produits financiers islamiques au sein de 243 institutions financières islamiques sur 35 pays
The three monotheistic religions refer to a God who is the all-powerful creator of all that exists, revealed throughout history, guarantor of justice and fairness, who is the ultimate moral authority. Theology advises some of the laws, economics and ethics of individuals and of states. Islam is not homogeneous in its economic, financial and regulatory approaches. However, through the financial services industry, it reveals in a tangible manner various facets of authority across Muslim contexts. These include contexts that are international and highly dynamic. Taking into account the delicate balance between sectarian, geographic and interpretive facets, the thesis analyses the determining forces that we refer to as authorities in Islamic finance. These contribute to the Islamic finance industry in its most tangible form in the structuring of Islamic financial products. Analysis is carried out initially theoretically. It is followed by a comparative study of factors affecting decisions pertaining to the structuring of Islamic financial products. These structures are based on financial contracts that conform to the principles of the Sharia. Is approval by Sharia board members fashioned by a regional authority, by international authorities, or by regulatory authorities? Are these authorities conventional or religious? We address the question as it pertains to the dynamics between various types of authority. We develop a comparative analysis of the approach taken in structuring Islamic financial products, according to geographical areas related to a sample of 121 Sharia board members covering Islamic financial products for 243 Islamic financial institutions in 35 countries

This epilogue examines various strands of social history, religious affiliation and language in the Roman Near East in relation to the beginning of Muhammad's preaching in about 610. Muhammad was born, probably in about 570, in Mecca, where he began to receive divinely inspired messages in Arabic. After he died, Muhammad's followers invaded the nearest Roman provinces and conquered all of the Roman Near East, the Sasanid empire, Egypt and Roman North Africa. These are known as ‘the great Arab conquests’. This chapter considers whether the Arabian Peninsula can be properly treated under the title of ‘Arabia and the Arabs’. It also analyses evidence from the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian Near East, as well as the kingdom of Himyar. Finally, it looks at brief allusions to the life-history of Muhammad in a number of Christian sources to shed light on his preaching.

Abstract Although the Islamic calendar was first used in the Arabian peninsula in the seventh century AD, its use has spread throughout the world to wherever Islam is practised. It is employed to regulate the feasts and fasts of that religion, but in many Islamic countries, the Gregorian calendar is used for civil purposes. From the earliest times the Arabian peoples observed a strictly lunar calen dar. In the twelfth month they made a pilgrimage to Mecca. There they indulged in rituals associated with the sacred meteorite given to Abraham by Gabriel and now embedded in the walls of the Ka’ba; at the end of the pil grimage an animal was slaughtered. Since a lunar calendar does not keep step with the seasons, this sometimes led to logistic difficulties in finding food for the trip and animals for slaughter. To ensure sufficient supplies they started to intercalate a month, so as to keep the 12th in the autumn. They had learnt of this stratagem from the Jews ofYathrith, and adopted it in AD 412.

Abstract To say that Islam is merely a religious idea, that its triumph over Arab paganism, its rapid spread, and the widespread victories of the Rashi dun and Umayyad caliphs are all traceable to religious zeal or fanaticism, is considered ridiculous today. Such views have been disproven by historical and economic research by the likes of Professor Wellhausen, Prince Caetani, Professor H. Lammens, T. Noldeke, and V. V. Bartol’d, among others. For it has been well established that Islam, like all other great religions, is not only religious thought but a social and economic matter as well—0r, more precisely, more so than it is religious thought. Prince Caetani said, “Islam was not a religious movement except outwardly; its essence was political and economic.”Part of the genius of the founder of Islam was that he comprehended the source of the economic and social movement which appeared in his time in Mecca, capital of the Hijaz. And he knew how to turn it to profitable account for his lofty religious and social ideals. Caetani says, “Islam is the last emigration of the Arabs and its incentive was the same as that which induced similar movements previously in the Arabian peninsula, i.e., the continuing dessication of the land and its consequent depression and poverty.” As the well-known Dutch orientalist M. deGoeje said, “The cause of the appearance of the Islamic movement was religion; however, the Arab tribes and the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina turned toward it and entered into it for reasons other than religion.

This chapter deals with the life and career of Muhammad. In Muslim belief, the religion of Islam is based on divine revelation and represents a divinely willed and established institution. In the perspective of history, the origins of Islam can be traced back to the prophetic career of Muhammad, its historical founder in the first third of the seventh century. Born around 570 in Mecca, a town in a rocky valley of the Hijaz—the northwestern quarter of the Arabian Peninsula—Muhammad began his prophetic proclamations circa 610. He appeared not as a mystic or visionary but as a prophet with the mission to convert the Quraysh, his fellow Arab tribesmen who had settled there. The discussions cover Muhammad's life from ca. 570 to 610; Muhammad's career in Mecca from ca. 610 to 622 and in Medina from 622 to 632; and Muhammad as a political leader.

Geographical proximity has enabled deep connections between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. While this enabled important ethnic, cultural, and religious contacts between Muslims on the Peninsula and in the Horn, Ethiopia’s relations to the peninsula have, in contrast, been characterized by distance. Depicting itself as the “Christian island,” Ethiopia adopted protective policies toward the outside world—particularly toward its Muslim neighbors. This chapter examines the dynamics of proximity and distance, looking at how this affected Ethiopian-Saudi relations. It also discusses how Ethiopian Muslims negotiated restrictions put upon them in finding ways to connect with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism strategy of the first decade on the twenty first century has been widely acclaimed as highly successful and presented as an example for other Muslim countries. The strategy was developed after the bomb attacks of AlQaida on the Arabian Peninsula in 2003. The program is however deeply religious and is based on the reconversion of terrorists from a Jihadi-Salafism to a quietist and law abiding version of Salafism. The chapter goes into the religious terminology Saudi counter-terrorism program by labelling terrorism as religious “deviation,” radicals as people who have been led by their “passions” and are no longer rational and have diverted form the “middle way”. The article also shows how prominent religious scholars have become deeply involved in the state counter-terrorism program of “intellectual security”.

The Introduction outlines the four-pillar foundation on which the main text of the volume rests. These are Sunni-Shia differences in doctrine, ritual, law, and religious organization; the singular role of Sunni Islam’s Wahhabi doctrine in the rise of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, occupying four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, starting with the small First Saudi State (1744-1818), followed by the Second Saudi State (1824-1891); the salience of Saudi Arabia as the birthplace of Islam and the site of the Kaaba, the centerpiece of the Hajj pilgrimage; and the social, economic and demographic differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia; and their reasons for claiming exceptionalism. Overall, the Introduction serves the function of a framing chapter.

This introductory chapter supplies the basic method used in the following study. It argues that the Qurʾān and, by extension, early Islam, had an ambiguous relationship to other religions, but especially those of Judaism and Christianity. This is because these two religions played large roles on the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Islam’s genesis. After a discussion of how the sources will be used and the difference between Islamic studies and religious studies, a brief breakdown of the chapters that follows is presented.

This chapter explores how the early community expanded upon the aforementioned categories in chapter 1 as it began to encounter real flesh-and-blood religious others entrenched in areas outside of the Arabian Peninsula. Even though such encounters were historical, the presentation of religious others primarily remained literary. As Islam spread into these regions with ancient and deep-rooted monotheistic traditions, Muslim thinkers had to make sense of such traditions in a manner that, while acknowledging their antiquity, nevertheless discredited their presence. At issue was how to demonstrate just when, why, and where they went wrong. Ancient traditions associated with Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism, among others, needed to be plotted on a “historical” grid.

Since ancient times, Arabic poetry has been a depiction of everything that is happening in the Arab environment that surrounds the poet wherever he is, and his igniting flame has not been extinguished in their souls, despite the subjugation of the Arab world to the rule of non-Arabs after Islam. It is known that the Arab Muslims set out from the Arabian Peninsula as conquerors and heralds of the serious Islamic religion, and as a result of this the entry of nonArabs into Islam that enlightened the darkness of their hearts, so the Persians, Romans, Copts, Abyssinians, Turks, and others will be enlightened by his guidance... Muslim rulers will succeed in ruling the Islamic state Arabs and non-Arabs, such as Persians, Turks, Kurds, and others. And when the Turkish Ottoman state was established on an Islamic religious basis, the Turkish Muslims carried the banner of Islam, so they defended it, relying on Muslims of all nations, from the Turks, the Laz, the Arabs, and others, so the Islamic Ottoman rule extended over common areas that included almost the entire Arab lands, and they did not differentiate between Muslim and another in view of his race, color or geography. However, this matter did not satisfy the lurking enemies who wanted sedition and division between the Arabs and the Turks, so they stirred up the winds of nationalism that some Arab poets sought in the modern era, such as Ibrahim al-Yaziji and Khalil Mutran. Herein lies the importance of the research, its objective, and its value. The research uses the descriptive and analytical approaches in order to highlight the manifestations of this brotherhood, which received sufficient attention from Arab poets in the modern era.