Sharḥ al-Nukhbah fī uṣūl ʻilm al-ḥadīth / lil-ʻAllāmah Ibn Ḥajar : manuscript, 1725 or 1726

Title from f. 1r.

Tarjamat Fayḍ Allāh Afandī : manuscript, undated

Autobiography of Şeyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi.

Hādhihi risālat Iḍāʼat al-badrayn fī tarjamat al-Shaykhayn / lil-ʻAllāmah Sayyidī al-Shaykh Ismāʻīl al-ʻAjlūnī. manuscript, undated

Holograph copy. f. 61r: "hādhihi bi-khaṭṭ al-muʼallif raḥimahu allāh."

Kitāb Ṭabaqāt al-aqṭāb fī dhikr awliyāʼ Allāh taʻālá wa-aqwālihim wa-aḥwālihim ilá intihāʼ ājālihim / taʼlīf al-Shaykh al-Imām al-ʻĀlim al-ʻAllāmah Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī : manuscript, 1567

A biographical dictionary of sufis.

Kitāb yusammá bi-al-ʻUqūd al-laʼālī fī al-asānīd al-ʻawālī al-muttaṣilah bi-shaykh shuyūkhinā al-ʻālim al-ʻallāmah wa-al-Muḥaqqiq al-mudaqqiq al-fahhāmah al-Sayyid Muḥammad Shākir al-ʻAqqād al-ʻUmarī / taʼlīf tilmīdhihi khātimat al-muḥaqqiqīn al-Sayyid Muḥammad Amīn al-shahīr bi-Ibn ʻĀbidīn : manuscript, 1860

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم حمدا لمن وصل من انقطع اليه برحمته الاولية ورفع على السوى ... :Incipit

Kitāb mashāyikh wa-marwīyāt al-ʻAllāmah Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhlī al-Makkī allafahu fī mashāyikhihi wa-marwīyātih : manuscript, 1744

Unbound.

Thabat al-Shaykh Muḥammad al-Bābilī : manuscript, undated

Written in one column, 49 lines per pages, in black.

al- Jawāb fī al-takrār al-wāqiʻ fī al-Qurʼān al-karīm : manuscript, 1852

Title from f. 1v.

Risālat Rafʻ al-ḍarūrah ʻan ḥajj al-ṣayrūrah / li-Sayyidī ʻAbd al-Ghanī al-shahīr bi-al-Nābulusī al-Dimashqī al-Ḥanafī : manuscript

undated.

#DressCodePM & Re-Framing The Niqab: News Sources, Hashtag Activism, and Media Representation

This thesis originates from my interest in exploring how minorities are using social media to talk back to mainstream media. This study examines whether hashtags that trend on Twitter may impact how news stories related to minorities are covered in Canadian media. The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated the niqab was “rooted in a culture that is anti-women” on 10 March 2015. The next day #DressCodePM trended in response to the PM’s niqab remarks. Using network gatekeeping theory, this study examines the types of sources quoted in the media stories published on 10 and 11 March 2015. The study’s goal is to explore whether using tweet quotes leads to the representation of a more diverse range of news sources. The study compares the types of sources quoted in stories that covered Harper’s comments without mentioning #DressCodePM versus stories that mention #DressCodePM. This study also uses Tuen A. van Dijk’s methodology of asking “who is speaking, how often and how prominently?” in order to examine whose voices have been privileged and whose voices have been marginalized in covering the niqab in Canadian media from the 1970s and until the days following the PM’s remarks. Network gatekeeping theory is applied in this study to assess whether the gated gained more power after #DressCodePM trended. The case study’s findings indicates that Caucasian male politicians were predominantly used as news sources in covering stories related to the niqab for the past 38 years in the Globe and Mail. The sourcing pattern of favouring politicians continued in Canadian print and online media on 10 March 2015 following Harper’s niqab comments. However, ordinary Canadian women, including Muslim women, were used more often than politicians as news sources in the stories about #DressCodePM that were published on 11 March 2015. The gated media users were able to gain power and attract Canadian Media’s attention by widely spreading #DressCodePM. This study draws attention to the lack of diversity of sources used in Canadian political news stories, yet this study also shows it is possible for the gated media users to amplify their voices through hashtag activism.

Ibn Marwan e a fitna: islamismo e feudalismo no Gharb al-Andalus

Esta tese tem como objectivo, de um modo geral, analisar o impacto social, político e até mesmo civilizacional, que levaria ao clima de guerra civil que assolou a Península Ibérica muçulmana no século IX. De um modo mais restrito, analisaremos estes acontecimentos a partir de um dos seus personagens principais, ‘Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Marwan al-Jilliqi, a figura-chave desta dissertação. Como referência, temos o estudo de Manuel Acién Almansa sobre a mesma temática, Entre el Feudalismo y Islam; ‘Umar ibn Hafsun en las Fuentes y Historiografia, partindo de um outro personagem central da fitna: ‘Umar ibn Hafsun. Para além da obra de M. Acién, também consideramos o estudo de Jesus Lorenzo Jimenez, La Dawla de los Banu Qasi, uma dawla de grande protagonismo em toda a fitna. A proposta será analisar o caso de Ibn Marwan à luz dos mesmos problemas elencados por estes dois académicos, mas tendo como cenário o Gharb. Estabelecemos assim um ponto de partida para problematizar dentro da questão social ocidental e oriental, a que pertinentemente M. Acién acrescenta uma outra: a islâmica.

O imaginário das ilhas atlânticas no universo medieval islâmico-cristão

O pensamento cultural medieval aparece-nos como herdeiro da Antiguidade Clássica, da sua filosofia, ciência, arte e mitos. Todos estes conceitos traduzem-se com facilidade para as elites intelectuais cristãs e muçulmanas, que os conservam e integram em elementos da sua própria cultura. A ideia do mar, em especial o mar dito ‘aberto’ como o Oceano Atlântico, é marcada pelo maravilhoso. Em plena Idade Média o Oceano Atlântico surge como território de Caos, envolto em mistério. O Oceano Atlântico é local das mais variadas manifestações do fantástico. Desta forma, as ilhas atlânticas, contidas neste vasto oceano, são elas próprias impregnadas de um carácter maravilhoso. Tentaremos, ao longo desta dissertação de mestrado, abordar a questão das ilhas atlânticas e das suas características a nível de imaginário. Este exercício será feito, sempre que possível, fazendo o cruzamento de fontes de origem islâmica e de origem cristã. Desta maneira, surgirá uma imagem comum em relação ao imaginário do Oceano Atlântico e, em especial, das ilhas neste contidas. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é verdadeiramente demonstrar pontos de aproximação entre relatos e mapas, de origem cristã e islâmica, ligados a ilhas fantásticas e, ao mesmo tempo, reais. Veremos que as duas categorias, do real e do imaginário, sobrepõem-se diversas vezes, sendo que não se conseguem muitas vezes distinguir a nível das fontes. Desta forma, relatos de navegações atlânticas como a de São Brandão (de origem celto-cristã) ou a dos Aventureiros de Lisboa (originária no al-Andalus,) são reveladoras das atitudes e ideias na Idade Média em relação ao Atlântico e às suas ilhas.

Russia’s Middle East policy after the Arab revolutions. OSW Commentary No. 59, 2011-07-26

Russia’s policy towards the Middle East is instrumental. Its activity in the region has been growing since the middle of the last decade, and its aim is to help Moscow achieve its objectives in other areas, particularly in its policies towards the US and Europe, as well as its energy policy. The establishment of these political influences constitutes a bargaining chip for Russia in its relations with the US. Russia’s participation in resolving conflicts is aimed at building up its image as a supra-regional power. Russia’s Middle East policy is a key element in its contacts with the Muslim world. At the same time, Russia’s policy in the region remains cautious – despite its return to the region, Russia has not decided to ‘play’ for the Middle East, and its position and role in the region remain limited. The balance of power in the Middle East has been shifting in the aftermath of the Arab revolutions. However, it does not seem that they have opened up larger opportunities for Russian policy in the region. The Russian elite has been divided in its assessment of the consequences of these events. One part of it has displayed scepticism, treating the revolutions rather as a threat than a chance to strengthen their own position. The revolutions were not seen as democratisation processes, but rather as a destabilisation of the region and as posing an increased danger from radical Islam. For the other part of the elite, the revolutions were the natural consequence of the social changes occurring in the region. This internal dispute made it difficult for Russia to present a cohesive approach to the Arab revolutions, and its stance was reactive. The defensive position which Moscow adopted showed that Russia did not have the potential to mould the political situation, either in the region as a whole or its individual countries; neither did it display any willingness to do so. What Moscow is doing is positioning itself in such a way so as not to spoil relations with any other actor in the region, and to be able to exploit any possible emerging opportunities in case of further-reaching changes.

New Europeans, New Identities; Reflections on Europe’s Dilemma. IES WORKING PAPER 1/2008

This paper examines issues relating to the integration of immigrants, particularly Muslim immigrants, into European societies. It first contemplates whether a true European identity really exists. Building on the different conceptions of (European) identity, the paper claims that a sense of belonging is crucial in helping immigrants integrate into Europe. The paper also argues that identity is, actually, most relevant when it is under threat. The paper therefore looks at the nature of Muslim society in Europe and some of the reasons for disaffection in that population. While doing this, the paper compares the various models of integration in, for example, the United States, Canada and Israel with the attempt by a number of EU Member States to find satisfactory integration strategies. Also, the efforts of the European Commission to forge an acceptable integration framework through the principles elaborated following the Hague declaration in November 2004 are discussed. The paper concludes that integration is best approached by creating cohesive communities and loyalties at the local level.

The Mirage of the State: Why the West has failed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali and Central African Republic? Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 No. 15, July 2014

The state still matters. However, the members of the Euro-Atlantic community may be misinterpreting this crucial baseline prior launching their military interventions since 2001. The latest violence and collapse of the state of Iraq after the invasion of Northern Iraq by a radical Sunni Muslim terrorist group, so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), demonstrate once again the centrality and requirement of a functioning state in order to maintain violent forces to disrupt domestic and regional stability. Since 2001, the US and its European allies have waged wars against failed-states in order to increase this security and national interests, and then have been involved in some type of state-building.1 This has been the case in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali, and Central African Republic (CAR). France went into Mali (2012) and CAR (2013), which preceded two European Union military and civilian Common Security and Defense Policy missions (CSDP), in order to avoid the collapse of these two states. The threat of the collapse of both states was a concern for the members of the Euro-Atlantic community as it could have spread to the region and causing even greater instabilities. In Mali, the country was under radical Islamic pressures coming from the North after the collapse of Libya ensuing the 2011 Western intervention, while in CAR it was mainly an ethno-religious crisis. Failed states are a real concern, as they can rapidly become training grounds for radical groups and permitting all types of smuggling and trafficking.2 In Mali, France wanted to protect its large French population and avoid the fall of Mali in the hands of radical Islamic groups directly or indirectly linked to Al-Qaeda. A fallen Mali could have destabilized the region of the Sahel and ultimately affected the stability of Southern European borders. France wanted to avoid the development of a safe haven across the Sahel where movements of people and goods are uncontrolled and illegal.3 Since the end of the Cold War, Western powers have been involved in stabilizing neighborhoods and regions, like the Balkans, Africa, and Middle East, which at the exceptions of the Balkans, have led to failed policies. 9/11 changes everything. The US, under President George W. Bush, started to wage war against terrorism and all states link to it. This started a period of continuous Western interventions in this post-9/11 era in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali and CAR. If history has demonstrated one thing, the members of the Euro-Atlantic community are struggling and will continue to struggle to stabilize Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali and Central African Republic (CAR) for one simple reason: no clear endgame. Is it the creation of a state à la Westphalian in order to permit these states to operate as the sole guarantor of security? Or is the reestablishment of status quo in these countries permitting to exit and end Western operations? This article seeks to analyze Western interventions in these five countries in order to reflect on the concept of the state and the erroneous starting point for each intervention.4 In the first part, the political status of each country is analyzed in order to understand the internal and regional crisis. In a second time, the concept of the state, framed into the Buzanian trinity, is discussed and applied to the cases. In the last part the European and American civilian-military doctrines are examined in accordance with their latest military interventions and in their broader spectrum.