Browsing by Author "Jalajel, David Solomon"

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    Bibliography Islam & biological evolution exploring classical Sunni sources and methodologies
    (2010) Jalajel, David Solomon; Mohamed, Yasien
    This research investigates, within the framework of classical Sunni Islamic scholarship,what we might expect an Islamic opinion about evolution to be,bringing together an accurate and detailed understanding of evolutionary biology as the field stands today with a systematic consideration of the traditional Islamic sciences.The scope of the study encompasses the scholarly traditions recognized, at least by their respective adherents, to be part of Muslim orthodoxy � referred to in Islamic discourse as Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jam??ah or more colloquially as �Sunni�. It covers the works of the scholars of the Ash?ar?, M?tur?d?, and Salaf? theological schools as well as the sources which they all draw upon � the Qur�?n, the Sunnah, and the opinions of the Salaf.The reason for this choice is that these traditions represent for most Muslims the �mainstream� of Islamic thinking, and therefore have a greater relevance for determining what a general Islamic perspective on evolution could be.The study first identifies and defines the methodological approaches of classical Sunni scholarship that have relevance to the question of an Islamic position on biological evolution. It also identifies and defines the issues within the field of Evolutionary Biology that need to be brought under scrutiny. The methods of classical Islamic Theology are then applied to the claims of Evolutionary Biology, drawing on traditional Islamic sources. The result of the study is an extrapolation of what an orthodox Islamic position towards biological evolution could be. Is Islam neutral towards the idea of biological evolution? Does it support it or categorically reject it? Can it accept certain aspects of Evolutionary Biology while rejecting others?Finally, the extrapolated �classical� Islamic position on evolution is compared with the writings of some contemporary Muslim scholars whose views run contrary to that extrapolation. Possible reasons for the discrepancy are explored.Such an interdisciplinary work should provide a valuable frame of reference for a more accurate analysis of the creation-evolution debate unfolding in the Muslim world today.
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    Women & Leadership in Islam
    (2013) Jalajel, David Solomon; Mohamed, Yasien
    The present research examines the post-formative Islamic legal literature surrounding the question of women�s leadership to gauge whether and to what extent the development of Islamic legislation pertaining to women was determined by genderattitudes prevalent in Muslim society. There are three main theories to explain the prevalence of Islamic legal rulings divesting women of leadership roles. The first is the traditional view that these rulings are best explained by the application of the theoretical and hermeneutical approaches of classical Islamic legal theory to the Islamic source texts, the Qur�?n and Sunnah. The second is that the rulings are best explained as the consequence of the widespread gender attitudes in near-eastern society during the formative and early post-formative period of Islamic Law. The third is that legal inertia is the primary factor in explaining the existing post-formative Islamic legal corpus and little can be determined from it regarding the origin and early perpetuation of the laws. These competing theories are tested and explored by returning to a broad survey of Islamic legal texts from the four canonical schools of thought. The relevant passages from these texts are first translated and then examined according to three separate analytical approaches � a legal-hermeneutical analysis, an analysis of gender motifs, and a diachronic analysis of legal arguments � to explore the ways in which classical legal scholars arrived at and justified the prohibition of female leadership in politics, the judiciary, and congregational prayer. Key