Asma Afsaruddin | |
|---|---|
 Asma Afsaruddin in 2015 | |
| Born | Asma Afsaruddin 1958 |
| Nationality | American |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Indiana University |
| Notable works |
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Asma Afsaruddin (born 1958) is an American scholar of Islamic studies [1] [2] and Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University in Bloomington. [3]
She was an associate professor in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. [4] She has previously taught at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University, from which she received her PhD in 1993. [5] Her fields of specialization include the religious and political thought of Islam, study of the primary Islamic texts (Qur'an and hadith), as well as gender studies. [5]
Afsaruddin has been an editorial board member for the Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, published by Cambridge University Press. She was an editor of the Routledge Encyclopedia of Medieval Islamic Civilization and a consultant for The Oxford Dictionary of Islam (2002). [5]
Afsaruddin chairs the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy board of directors. She also sits on advisory committees for the Muslim World Initiative of the United States Institute of Peace and the human rights organization Karamah. [6]
In 2015, she was presented the Jayezeh Jahani (World Book Prize) for the best new book in Islamic studies by the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani for her book Striving in the Path of God: Jihad and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought. [7] The book was also a runner-up for the British-Kuwaiti Friendship Society Book Prize in 2014. [7]
Jihad is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as an internal struggle against evil in oneself, efforts to build a good Muslim community (ummah), and struggle to defend Islam. Literally meaning 'struggle', the term is most frequently associated with warfare.
Political aspects of Islam are derived from the Quran, ḥadīth literature, and sunnah, the history of Islam, and elements of political movements outside Islam.
Liberalism and progressivism within Islam involve professed Muslims who have created a considerable body of progressive thought about Islamic understanding and practice. Their work is sometimes characterized as "progressive Islam". Some scholars, such as Omid Safi, differentiate between "progressive Muslims" versus "liberal advocates of Islam". Liberal Islam originally emerged out of the Islamic revivalist movement of the 18th–19th centuries. Liberal and progressive ideas within Islam are considered controversial by some traditional Muslims, who criticize liberal Muslims on the grounds of being too Western and/or rationalistic.
Fakir, faqeer, or faqīr, derived from faqr, is an Islamic term traditionally used for Sufi Muslim ascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do not necessarily renounce all relationships, or take vows of poverty, but the adornments of the temporal worldly life are kept in perspective. The connotations of poverty associated with the term relate to their spiritual neediness, not necessarily their physical neediness.
At-Tawbah is the ninth chapter of the Quran. It contains 129 verses and is one of the last Medinan surahs. This Surah is known by two names, At-Taubah and Al-Bara'at. It is called At-Taubah in light of the fact that it articulates taubah (atonement) and informs about the conditions of its acceptance.. The name Bara'at (Release) is taken from the opening word of the Surah.
Islamic military jurisprudence refers to what has been accepted in Sharia and Fiqh by Ulama as the correct Islamic manner, expected to be obeyed by Muslims, in times of war. Some scholars and Muslim religious figures describe armed struggle based on Islamic principles as the Lesser jihad.
Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or ʿaqīdah (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves there may be differences, such as different orders (tariqa) within Sufism, and within Sunnī Islam different schools of theology and jurisprudence. Groups in Islam may be numerous, or relatively small in size.
Criticism of Islam can take many forms, including academic critiques, political criticism, religious criticism, and personal opinions. Subjects of criticism include Islamic beliefs, practices, and doctrines.
In Twelver Shia Islam, the Ancillaries of the Faith are a set of practices that Shia Muslims have to carry out.
Verse 29 of chapter 9 of the Qur'an is notable as dealing with the imposition of tribute (ǧizya) on non-Muslims who have fallen under Muslim rule. Most Muslim commentators believe this verse was revealed at the time of the expedition to Tabuk to threaten the Christians of Arabia in Syria and those of Rome.:239-240
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad, the religion's founder. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number 1.9 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians.
Jihadism is a neologism for militant Islamic movements that seek to base the state on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief held by some Muslims that armed confrontation with political rivals is an efficient and theologically legitimate method of socio-political change. It is a form of religious violence and has been applied to various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideologies are based on the Islamic notion of lesser jihad from the classical interpretation of Islam. It has also been applied to various Islamic empires in history, such as the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates of the early Muslim conquests, and the Ottoman Empire. There were also the Fula jihads in West Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Sword Verse is the fifth verse of the ninth surah (at-Tawbah) of the Quran. It is a Quranic verse widely cited by critics of Islam to suggest the faith promotes violence against pagans by isolating the portion of the verse "kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them".
[9:5] But once the Sacred Months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them on every way. But if they repent, perform prayers, and pay alms-tax, then set them free. Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.[Quran 9:5]
Different Muslim movements through history had linked pacifism with Muslim theology. However, warfare has been an integral part of Islamic history both for the defense and the spread of the faith since the time of Muhammad.
The use of politically and religiously-motivated violence in Islam dates back to its early history. Islam has its origins in the behavior, sayings, and rulings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his companions, and the first caliphs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries CE. Mainstream Islamic law stipulates detailed regulations for the use of violence, including corporal and capital punishment, as well as regulations on how, when, and whom to wage war against.
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources is a 1983 biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad by Martin Lings.
Natana J. DeLong-Bas is an American academic, scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, and author of a number of academic publications on Islam on the subjects of Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism, Islamic thought and history, Islam and politics, and contemporary jihadism.
Caner K. Dagli is a Turkish Circassian-American Islamic scholar and associate professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Jihad: What Everyone Needs to Know is a book by American Islamic studies scholar and author Asma Afsaruddin. It was published in 2022 by Oxford University Press and is part of its What Everyone Needs to Know series. The book studies the concept of jihad, contrasting popular, often violent representations of the term with its broader meaning within Islamic tradition. Afsaruddin delves into the scriptural, theological, moral, ethical, legal, and socio-political dimensions of jihad, offering readers a historically grounded understanding of its significance. In 2024, a Polish version was published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Muhammad ibn as-Sā'ib al-Kalbī, also known as Abū n-Nadr, was an Islamic scholar and polymath from Kufa. Born around 737 AD, al-Kalbī is well-regarded for his contributions to Islamic historiography, tafsir, and genealogical literature. His works have been foundational to later Islamic traditions and studies.
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