In a unique parallel analysis, Muhammad Kamal delves into the most controversial subjects of Islamic and Western existential philosophy. He describes the philosophical ‘turn’, ontological difference, becoming, and nothingness in the ontology of Mulla Sadra and Martin Heidegger. Through analysing the ontological enterprises of Sadra and Heidegger, Kamal shows how they both held that Being is the sole reality, and how both stood in opposition to Plato’s metaphysics. Despite hailing from different regions and eras, both Sadra and Heidegger viewed Plato’s philosophy as an established philosophical tradition which led to a state of untruth, or what Heidegger would have called ‘the oblivion of Being’. As Kamal explicates, Heidegger’s opposition to Plato became manifest in his deconstruction of the history of ontology, while Mulla Sadra’s opposition to Plato emerged through his criticism of the Iranian philosopher Suhrawardi’s doctrine of the principality of essence. These new interpretations of being by two philosophers brought new life to both Islamic and Western schools of philosophy and have formed the basis of much of modern ontology, epistemology, and philosophical psychology.
This book is an interpretation of one of the central themes of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy of existence known as ‘transubstantial change’. It provides, for the first time in English, a comprehensive analysis of transubstantial change in light of Sadrian ontology and its impact on some philosophical issues such as identity, values, and truth. As the author elucidates, in transubstantial change nothing is indestructible and everything in the world, including substance, is inconstant renewal.
How did the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) converse and engage with other religious believers? Did he start off with prejudice and mistrust? Or was he convivial and open-minded? This book analyses six models of the dealings in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), specifically, but not restricted, to the siblings of Abrahamic religious believers. The six models of dialogue analysed in the book are dialogue with Ashamah, Najashi of Abyssinia, delegation of Najran Christians, different Jews of Yathrib, and emperors of Byzantine and Sassanid. The analysis applies Ibn Khaldun’s (d. 1406) historical approach which the author termed as Khaldunian Hermeneutics due to the similarity between his ideas to that of Johann Gustav Droysen (d. 1884), a German philosopher, in historical hermeneutics. As such, the analysis goes beyond the dialogue content, taking into consideration the immediate and larger contextual settings, and changes of the contexts due to the passage of time. It critically considers the suitability of each model due to the difference in times and contexts. The book serves as a reference for Muslim dialogue advocates and practitioners, to provide substantial evidence of the dialogue application by the role model of Muslims – the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) whom they hold very dear to their hearts.
The book provides a detailed analysis of the relationship between syllable structure and word order, a long-standing correlation in typological linguistics which has been previously described as an implicational universal. It presents data from Pashto (an Eastern-Iranian language spoken mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan), and explores consonant clusters and the basic word order of the language. It begins by introducing the Pashto language, before going on to highlight the word order typology and language universals, followed by a detailed analysis of its syllable structure and basic word order in light of the Optimality Theoretic (OT) framework. The study then takes up the case of the basic word order as a weak foundation for such a typological correlation and challenges this view of structural implications by comparing Pashto (an SOV language) with English (an SVO language). Finally, the book concludes by emphasising the global implications of the study, and offers future recommendations for further research on this language.
Al Masjid al Haram at Makkah, the spiritual abode of Islam and the Muslim world, is a complex of holy sites and built spaces that is totally unique. In response to the ever-increasing numbers of worshippers a highly significant new project to extend, modernize and embellish the mosque and its surroundings was started in 1991.
This book explores the complex relationship between the novel and identity in modern Arab culture against a backdrop of contemporary Egypt. It uses the example of the Egyptian novel to interrogate the root causes – religious, social, political, and psychological – of the lingering identity crisis that has afflicted Arab culture for at least two centuries.
The Mecca Bible is the culmination of 38 years of research, yielding the following major findings: The Holy Land promised to Abraham was not Palestine but the Mecca region of Arabia. The Israelites were originally from ancient West Arabia, with a significant population still present during the emergence of Islam, forming an important part of Saudi Arabia's population today. The original Old Testament was written in the old Arabic of the 2nd millennium BCE. Two distinct eras emerge from this research: The Israelite Era: According to this research, the Garden of Eden was situated in the lush green mountains of West Arabia during the Savannah period following the last Ice Age. The four rivers mentioned in the Old Testament are identified as four valleys in this region. Noah's clan resided near Tayef to the North. The boat of Noah is said to have landed in the mountain area of Al Arid in East Arabia, leading to the repopulation of Arabia after the Deluge. The homeland of the first Semitic Gubarah/Hebrews was the Riyadh region, from where Abraham's clan migrated to Dawasir valley and then to the Mecca region. Jacob and his children left for Misr (modern-day Ethiopia) from Idhim, south of Mecca. The Exodus under Moses is said to have occurred from Axum, with the Red Sea crossing at Bab el Mandeb, leading to a 40-year wandering in the Tihama region of Asir in Saudi Arabia. Joshua is credited with leading the conquest of the Holy Land of Mecca, and King David established a kingdom with U’ra es-Salam/Mecca as its capital. King Solomon is believed to have built the Temple to encompass the Kaaba in the location of the holy mosque of Mecca. Following Solomon, the kingdom was divided, with Samaria/A’sfan in the north and U’ra es-Salam/Mecca in the south falling to the Assyrians and Chaldeans, respectively. The Jewish Era: After Babylon fell to Cyrus the Great, the Israelites gradually returned to U’ra es-Salam/Mecca, albeit facing opposition from surrounding tribes. The Achaemenid Empire guaranteed religious freedom to its subjects. Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 BCE did not extend to Arabia, allowing Arabs to regain their independence. Believers faced pressure from heathen Arab tribes, leading to a choice between abandoning their monotheistic beliefs or leaving. While some integrated with local beliefs, a minority moved to Greek-dominated lands. In Alexandria, the Hebrew Old Testament was translated to Greek, and a Hashemite Meccan dynasty led Jews in Palestine. Under pro-Greek influence, the community started to disconnect from West Arabia. Scriptures were translated from Greek to Aramaic, defining Canaan as Palestine, Syria as Aram, and Misr as Egypt. The gentile Edomites/Adnanites emigrated from Arabia, favored by Romans for their lack of allegiance to the Greeks. King Herod built the Jerusalem Temple, which existed during Jesus Christ's time and was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. The 2nd century witnessed the deportation of Jews from Palestine. Identity of Original Scriptures: In Palestine, liturgy was conducted in Aramaic, with Hebrew largely forgotten. In the 5th century AD, efforts to read square Aramaic texts began in Galilee and Babylonia, which were previously copied from old Aramaic texts commissioned by Ezra. This research posits that the texts must be reread in the 28-letter format and in the context of their place of origin, ancient West Arabia. When interpreted as such, geographic and historical contradictions can be resolved. Y-DNA Haplogroup Studies: Recent Y-DNA genetic studies support these findings, with high compatibility found between the Y-DNA of the Cohen family and royalty members from Jordan, Morocco, and the Shareefs of Mecca. Most of the population in KSA belongs to the J1 haplogroup family. Ashkenazi Jews are believed to have central Asian and East European origins, while Sephardim Jews have North African origins.
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