Research Korner: Islam

Proposal

Effects to Muslim Community of American Fight against Islamic Fundamentalism Background             Post 9/11 America showed the US government bent towards the reassertion of the integrity of the American nation after its sovereignty has been breached by terrorist attacks on its own territory. The terrorist attacks were attributed to Islamic fundamentalism espoused by anti-western imperialist groups such as the Al Qaeda network. (Hayajneh, 2004) However, as the war against terrorism continued, the US government expanded its military ‘defensive’ action to encompass Islamic fundamentalism through the launch of preemptive war in Iraq but sending a strong message throughout other predominantly Muslim countries. While the international battle against international terrorism has not been put to question, the preemptive war against Islamic fundamentalism has been subject to debate in the international political arena. Advocates of the preemptive war cite Article 51 of the UN Charter providing for the right of states to self-defense against armed attacks and allowing for defensive actions until the Security Council deals with the matter. Iraq’s alleged nuclear weapons were considered a threat to the national security of the United States because of its anti-western ideology justifying the self-defense based preemptive war launched by the United States against the country. Critiques of the preemptive war provide that targeting the wider sphere of Islamic fundamentalism instead of focusing on terrorism is uncalled for because there is no sufficient justification for unifying Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism or even equivocating Islam and terrorism. The war launched by the United States government against Islamic fundamentalism has greatly impacted Iraq. This has also affected Muslim communities around the world. (Chernus, 2006)     Research Problem             The continuing US-led fight against Islamic fundamentalism has affected Muslim communities around the world. The research investigates the nature, characteristics and extent of the effect of the preemptive action against Islamic fundamentalism to Muslim communities across the globe. Significance             As the preemptive war against Islamic fundamentalism persists, the debate over the morality and legality of this US-led action remains unsettled. The research would provide informational support as contribution to academic efforts to clarify the various aspects of the issue in order to develop policy recommendations on the continuing preemptive fight against Islamic fundamentalism recognized to have effects on Muslim communities. The study would also elicit information on an area that lacks research but has great implications to the future of the fight against Islamic fundamentalism.    Review of Related Literature             From the perspective of states having significant pockets of Muslim communities, the continuing war against Islamic fundamentalism could result to breach in domestic security and economic instability. This is the reason why India and Pakistan have distanced from the US-led war against Islamic fundamentalism despite their recognition of the United States as an important political and economic ally. Their participation in the war against Islamic fundamentalism could stir uprising in the more than 120 million Muslims living in India and Pakistan because of the incessant media portrayal of Muslims and Islamic fundamentalists as terrorists. A civil conflict of this proportion could render the governments unstable that could result to the overthrowing of current political leaders. Political instability in these countries would negatively affect economic activities resulting to the flight of foreign investments and losses in domestic businesses, comprising consequences that these countries are not willing to risk. (Malkin, 2004)             From the perspective of Muslim communities, the most blatant effect of the U.S. fights against Islamic fundamentalism is the sowing of stereotyping among cultural groups and communities because of the barrage of negative media portrayals of Islam. The continued linking of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism to terrorism has created a negative image for Muslim communities. The result is the development of a disparity in the definition of Islamic fundamentalism in western and Muslim communities. Among Muslims, Islamic fundamentalism refers to the movement to reinforce Islamic values and the rule of Shari’a law amidst the growing influence of western ideologies, inconsistent with Mohammedan teachings. Islamic fundamentalism has been expressed in predominantly Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, North Africa and Pakistan, although in varying degrees of fundamentalism and areas of implementation. The goal of Islamic fundamentalism is the achievement of social justice through the application of the teachings of Islam. (Jansen, 1997)             The long-term move of Muslim countries to reassert Islam and Islamic teachings in political governance and societal life has been perceived by western governments as Islamic fundamentalism. With the intensification of the US-led preemptive war against Islamic fundamentalism, the movement has been linked to images of terrorist activities such as hostage takings, siege of embassies, hijackings, and suicide bombings. This created a negative image of Islamic fundamentalism and Islam to the extent that Muslim communities experienced various forms of discrimination and violence. (Malkin, 2004)             Muslim communities have experienced the consequences of stereotyping. Muslims experience discrimination in the areas of employment and housing. In the workplace, Muslim employees may experience threats from co-workers and employers with strong reactions towards terrorism. Some find it difficult to find jobs because they are perceived differently by some employers or employers may hesitate to hire Muslims as employees or employers may impose different standards and requirements towards Muslims. In terms of housing, some Muslim families and communities find it difficult to seek the approval of zoning boards and even neighbors to in establishing places of worship. Muslims also experience varying levels of violence from harassment to assault and even death. (Fekete, 2004)   Methodology To obtain primary and secondary data needed to complete the study, the descriptive research is the appropriate approach because this tries to explore the causes of a particular phenomenon, present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study, and portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations (Creswell, 1994; Robson, 2002). Descriptive approach includes the data gathering tools of interview and observation. For this study, the interview method guided by a questionnaire will be used in data collection to allow more control over the research process and obtain wide-ranging data (Rubin and Rubin, 1995). In analyzing research data, the qualitative method works efficiently in eliciting detailed verbal and written descriptions or accounts of characteristics, cases and situations (Alasuutari, 1998) presented through tabulations, means and variances in the answers given by Muslim research participants, from Muslim communities in the United States, to the interview. Sunni-Shiite War in Iraq: What’s the Real Score? Background              After the establishment of a new government in Iraq following the US-led invasion of the country resulting to the capture of Saddam Hussein, limited sovereignty was transferred to the Interim Governing Council in 2004 followed by the ratification of the country’s constitution in 2005. The political change has spurred the division between the majority Shiite and the minority Sunni Islam religious factions. The conflict between the two factions commenced as sectarian violence until it worsened into a full blown civil war towards the middle of 2006. (Nasr, 2006) Based on the survey conducted by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2006), a conservative estimate of the deaths arising from the civil war totals 654,965 and less than one third of these deaths are attributed to military actions by coalition forces. Although, claims of undue violence by coalition forces comprise another issue altogether, statistics show that there are more people dying from the Sunni-Shiite conflict when compared to deaths brought about by coalition forces in Iraq. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2006), there were at least 365,000 Iraqis displaced during the US attacks on Iraq but with the civil war the number escalated to 1.6 million displaced individuals.             The civil war evolved from the insurgency movement of the Sunni minority based on social, economic and political oppression translated into the dominance of the Shiite religious beliefs in the community, limited economic opportunities, and lack of political representation. The root of the problem seems to emanate from the desire of a minority group to assert itself in the community in order to derive similar, equivalent or even proportional opportunities and benefits as experienced by the majority.   Research Problem             The civil war in Iraq appears to be similar to other civil disturbances in other states. However, the difference is that the primary groups involved in the civil are different Islamic religious factions adding a religious twist into the conflict different from the political, economic and socio-cultural bases of conflicts in other countries. The study seeks to investigate in depth the real reason or root cause of the Sunni-Shiite conflict in Iraq in order to draw significant implications on the manner of arresting the civil war.  Significance             Academic research and society in general have been engrossed in the results of the Sunni-Shiite civil war in Iraq and the links of the US-led attacks in the country causing the establishment of a new government to the civil war together with the implications of these factors to the stability of the country and international peace and order. However, the root cause of the civil war have been given limited attention despite the significance of this information in determining ways of deterring the further intensification of the conflict and achieving peace in Iraq. The research would closely investigate the historical roots of the Sunni-Shiite conflict in order to trace the reason or reasons resulting to the persistence of the conflict and the difficulty faced by the Iraqi government and peace-keeping troops in averting further violence and deaths. Review of Related Literature             Although, 95 percent of the population of Iraq are comprised of Muslims and the remaining 5 percent are Christian and Yezidi, a civil still occurred dividing the majority Muslim population. The conflict emerged between the majority Shiite Islamic faction comprising 65 percent of the Iraqi population and the minority Sunni Islamic faction comprising 35 percent of the total population in Iraq. However, apart from the division of the country into religious factions, these factions are further divided according to ethnic strands. Three-fourths or 75 percent of the Iraqi population are Arabs adhering to either Sunni or Shiite Muslim tradition, twenty percent are Kurdish with majority adhering to the Sunni tradition but expressed through secular governance, 3 percent are Assyrians and the remaining 2 percent are Turkoman playing no significant role in the conflict. Based on this religious and cultural delineation of the Iraqi people, the primary players in the conflict are the Arab-Sunni and Arab-Shiite factions with the Kurdish Sunni and Shiites trapped in between the conflicting factions. (Tripp, 2001; Marr, 2004)             Due to the uneven distribution of the population among the religious and cultural factions, this would inevitably lead to the existence of minority groups. Depending upon the manner that the majority manages governance determines the existence of harmony or conflict between the minority and majority groups (Zubaida, 2005). In terms of religious practices, the assertion of the majority of its Islamic tradition to the minority would result to the resistance of the minority groups adhering to a different Islamic tradition. The extent of resistance could range from the development of dual identities of complying with the majority tradition but practicing the minority tradition in a secretive manner to the segregation of the minority in a guarded territory and then to the radical armed struggle against the majority. A civil war is the conclusion or the totality of a protracted conflict between two groups so that the Sunni-Shiite conflict has been brewing for some time. This only escalated due to the opportunity for assertion of rights that the change in political governance opened to the minority groups.             Religious and cultural underpinnings of a civil war cannot be removed from its political and economic aspects. Iraq is an oil rich country able to support its needs for the next decade with the efficient management of its oil refineries. These refineries provide employment as well as fuel the establishment of employment producing industries providing income to households and individuals. With the majority Shiite Islamic faction having control of the government, it also gained control of oil refineries and other linked economic activities. In policy formation and decision-making, the direction targeted by the majority group gets to be implemented. As a result, minority groups are pushed towards the fringes of society in terms of government welfare support, economic opportunities and political representation. Minority groups fail to gain access to channels where they can assert their interests. (Nasr, 2006)   Methodology Secondary data required for the research will be collected through the descriptive approach, aimed at capturing the nature of a situation and explore the cause/s of particular phenomena (Holloway, 1997). The descriptive approach is quick and flexible giving rise to three advantages: first, when new issues and questions arise during the duration of the study, this approach allows a further investigation; second, when there are unproductive areas from the original plan of the study, the researcher can drop them; and third, the approach is more practical in terms of time and money (Creswell, 1994). Data requirement for the research covers the analysis of existing secondary sources on the root cause/s of the Sunni-Shiite conflict and determine information or research gaps.

Proposal

Effects to Muslim Community of American Fight against Islamic Fundamentalism Background Post 9/11 America showed the US g...

Women in Islam

Women in Islam   Women who are part of the Muslim society have varying roles, obligations as well as rights. However, these variations are believed to be caused by cultural differences rather than the teaching of the Qu’ran. In most Muslim countries, women have lesser rights than men when it comes to civil rights, education, dress code, legal status, marriage as well as divorce. In addition, most Muslims believe that the restrictions being imposed on women are mandated by the teachings of the Qu’ran and are expounded by the Islamic law (2006) . Therefore, they believe that these restrictions are based on the divine understanding of the natural differences of men and women. Therefore, the restrictions on women are perfect and just. However, there are those who believe that the restrictions go beyond the Islamic since they are being motivated by culture. For example, the rulings on dress codes are different depending on the cultural background of the follower; there are those who wear veils to cover their heads while other wear burqas to cover their entire body except their eyes. Muslim women cover their bodies since it is stated in the Qu’ran that they should not show their bodies and adornments to people other than their husbands, fathers, sons or relatives. This is a means of protecting their families by exemplifying good human interactions.   The role of women in Islam is governed closely by regulation s in terms of behavior, human relations and conduct. The most emphasized role of women in Islam is that of their role within family units. As mothers, women have play the role of early socializers and educators (Shorish-Shamley). This means that women have the obligation of passing onto the next generation of Muslims that teaching of Allah as they know it themselves.   This means that women have the role of women in Islam is an important one. This is the case because they are entrusted with the role of preserving the family. In addition, it I the obligation of women to ensure that the next generation of Muslims are raised to continue and spread forth the word of Allah.   As such, women as not restricted from being educated especially in the field of Islamic studies. This is still part of ensuring that the next generation of Muslims will be raised according to the teachings of the Qu’ran as their forefathers have interpreted before them. However, it is still the case that women cannot lead men. This means that they teach their sons but there will come a time that they would have to abandon this duty for they can only be imams fo a group of women.   Since the time of the Prophet , the status of both Muslim and non-Muslim women have changed. For this reason, some are arguing that the interpretation of the teaching of the Qu’ran regarding the roles of women be restudied in order to fit the changing times.  In addition, Islam is known as the forerunner of women’s and as such, its interpretation should not be frozen in the 7th century.

Women in Islam

Women in Islam Women who are part of the Muslim society have varying roles, obligations as well as rights. However, these variations...