The role of Islam in the state has become one of the most contentious issues in modern Middle Eastern society. It holds a central position in every public debate over constitution, law and civil rights, as well as over the very essence of cultural identity. Here Meir Hatina sheds light on the issue of Islam in the state through the prism of Egypt during the twentieth century. She traces the continuity of Egyptian liberalism, from its emergence during the first half of the century through its repression following the July 1952 revolution, to the rise of secular liberalists such as Faraj Fuda...

This collective volume provides an integrative historical and contemporary discussion of Sunni ʿulamaʾ in the Middle East in both an urban and a semi-tribal context. The various chapters reinforce a renewed interest in the position of the ʿulamaʾ in modern times and offer new insights as to their ideological vitality and contribution to the public discourse on moral and sociopolitical issues.

The issue of religious authority has long fascinated and ignited scholars across a range of disciplines: history, anthropology, the sociology of religion, and political science. Religious Knowledge, Authority, and Charisma juxtaposes religious leadership in premodern and modern Islam with examples from the Judaic tradition. By illustrating various iterations of authority in numerous historical and cultural contexts, this volume offers fresh insights into the nature of institutions of learning and other systems of establishing and disseminating authority, the mechanisms for...

The Islamic resurgence in modern times has received extensive treatment in scholarly literature. Most of this literature, however, deals with the concept of jihad and disputes between radicals and their rivals over theological and political issues, and far less with martyrdom and death. Moreover, studies that do address the issue of martyrdom focus mainly on "suicide" attacks - a phenomenon of the late twentieth century and onward - without sufficiently placing them within a historical perspective or using an integrative approach to illuminate their political, social, and symbolic features....

Examining core issues of post-1967 Arab liberalism, this book brings forth a timely study highlighting the key themes of freedom and democracy championed in the 2011 uprisings as central to Arab liberal thought. The volume aims at confronting the image of the Middle East as a region that is fraught with totalitarian ideologies, authoritarianism, and conflict. It gives voice and space to other, more liberal and adaptive narratives that endorse the right to dissent, question the status quo, and offer alternative visions for society.

An in-depth analysis of modern Islamic martyrdom and its various interpretations, positing martyrdom as a vital component of contemporary identity politics and power struggles.

Martyrdom in the Muslim world is increasingly integral to conversations about international security. Over the years, the belief system around self sacrifice has become key to understanding the Middle East and its political relationships with the West, although much of the literature and conversation has been restricted to modern concepts of jihadism. The recent spate of scholarship relating to suicide bombers and jihadists studies these concepts without a broader understanding of the principle of martyrdom. This book expands on the chronology of self-sacrifice within Islam and contextualizes...