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AbstractExile stands as one of the most ancient punitive measures employed by human societies. Within the framework of creationist perspectives, the narrative of humanity’s inception unfolds significantly through the motif of exile. The narratives of the Jewish exile from Palestine and the migration of Muslims from Mecca to Medina exemplify the enduring historical relevance of human migration, underscoring its universal presence across diverse societies. Notably, Christianity places considerable emphasis on the expulsion of Adam from the celestial realm. Consequently, it can be posited that humans are, in essence, residing in a state of exile on Earth. The primary objective of this study is not to undertake a comprehensive analysis of exile on a broad scale but, rather, to trace the nexus between women engaged in prostitution and exile in the late Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, it aims to scrutinize a noteworthy case that deviates from conventional practices within this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article charts changes in the views towards popular culture of the most prominent Turkish-Islamist movement that operated in the late twentieth century, the Millî Görüş ('The National Outlook'), a movement that altered Turkey's history and brought up its current Islamist leader – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Through a unique and intensive analysis of Millî Görüş texts and documents, the article follows significant changes in Millî Görüş discourse regarding three forms of popular culture – cinema, television, and spectator sports – from the 1970s – when these forms of popular culture were warned against – to the 1990s – when the movement recommended engaging with such culture. This article argues that these changes reflect a greater change in the movement's views on how Muslims should live their lives. Lastly, the paper suggests these changes may have occurred due to three main reasons: (1) deciding strategically to not resist the growing availability and appeal of popular culture; (2) the movement's wish to win the Turkish elections, which required them to appeal also to less pious Turks, and (3) the gradual appearance of alternative, 'Islamic' popular culture in Turkey – one which the Millî Görüş felt comfortable to promote. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past seven decades, dozens of Muslim holy places in Israel have undergone a process of Judaization, becoming an integral part of the Israeli-Jewish sacred landscape. The current paper compares three waves of Judaization that followed the 1948 and 1967 wars, emphasizing the institutional and popular character of this process. The appropriation of Muslim holy places and their conversion is tied to the political, social, and religious changes that Israeli society underwent during its seventy years of existence. During these decades, Jewish holy spaces gained social, cultural, and religious importance; visiting them became a popular pastime. As the demand for holy places grew, former Muslim sites were converted and became part of Jewish sacred space. The process of transformation took place in parallel on two planes – the institutional and the popular – as both Israeli governmental bodies and worshipers converted Muslim holy places into Jewish sacred sites. The outcome of the process was the expansion of sacred space in the State of Israel and the inclusion of the periphery, which in many cases contained former Muslim holy places, as an integral part of the Jewish map of holy places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the Egyptian regime's quest to establish Islamic legitimacy for the transition from conflict to peace with Israel between 1977 and 1981. Based on an integrative analysis of a wide range of sources, it demonstrates that Islamic argumentations were at the core of Egypt's official state campaign for peace. The appeal to Islamic justifications facilitated the regime's efforts to describe its innovative peace policy as a natural link in the chain of traditional religious sequences and enclosed it within deeply socially embedded Islamic concepts and principles. Through a comparative analysis with the Islamist anti-peace campaign that the regime sought to refute, the article highlights that 'Islam' has no essential, consensual stance on peace with Israel. Rather, it demonstrates that different Muslim actors draw divergent – sometimes diametrically opposed – positions from Islamic texts in accordance with their particular needs and outlooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on social history of Fez Jews in the gold-thread craft between the Middle Ages and the French colonialist period. It mentions historiography of the reciprocal relations discusses economic challenges and opportunities for local artisanal enterprises Jewish and Muslim and strengths and weaknesses of the handmade crafts exemplified through a distinct trade. It also mentions collapse of craft production in the Islamic world to the exposure to Western colonialism.

Civil rights of the minorities, substantially framed in the Lausanne Peace Treaty in 1923, were subjected to secular regulation with the Civil Code issued in 1926 in Turkey. The annulment of the Lausanne provisions was justified with collective petitions penned by representatives of the non-Muslim communities. The collective petitions, called ‘mahzar’, constituted the legal pretext by which the non-Muslim communities were reconciled with the secularizing civil code of government. This article unravels the manuscripts of ‘mahzars’ and sheds light on the political backdrop whereby non-Muslim minorities renounced their rights in Article 42. Drawing on the scripts of mahzars, it tracks the justification and arguments made by the disclaimers of non-Muslim communities. It also delineates the debate on the act of renunciation by examining the transcripts of the negotiations at Lausanne Peace Conference and the internal and international press. Despite standing for the consent of the non-Muslim minorities, the collective petitions, this article argues, embodied hegemonic means of government to subdue minority rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abandoned properties of the deportee Armenians is a new topic in the literature which began to attract the interest of scholars. As a general tendency, most of the related studies focused on the evaluation of the rules and regulations on the abandoned properties. Even though it is important to take legal framework into consideration, this article would rather focus on the analysis of the actual process in an Ottoman locality, Kayseri. By doing this, it tries to go beyond presenting the ‘mentality’ of the ruling elite, and construct the actual history of the process. In the first part of the article, the studies on the abandoned properties would be analyzed, and in the second part, the distribution of the Armenian abandoned properties in the sanjak of Kayseri would be detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

`Haifa al-Jadida` (New Haifa) was erected in 1761 by order of the Bedouin ruler Daher el-Omar, governor of the Galilee. As part of the process of building the city, a wall was constructed to encircle it, with a tower overlooking it from above. After its establishment the ‘New Haifa’ became the urban core for the emergence of modern Haifa while the new city was gradually solidified and its characteristic outlines were moulded. From the end of the Ottoman period in 1918 until 1948, the urban expanse remained practically unchanged. In 1948 ‘New Haifa’ was almost destroyed except for the few ruins that were left. In spite of the centrality of the new city in the history of Haifa, very little is known about this area. This article reconstructs the image of ‘New Haifa’ by portraying the location of the city walls and the urban expanse. For the purpose of reconstruction, an 1841 sketch of the city is superimposed on an aerial photograp of the area taken in 2008, and a map of the old city dated to 1937. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines how the Ottoman Empire through pre-modern surveys (tahrir) and censuses, counted, categorized and classified their population according to ethnic and religious identities, and how the social, economic and political transformation impacted on the change of taxonomy (nomenclature, classification and hierarchization) over time. Through this long trajectory, from the imperial system to the modern state system, the Ottoman government increased its power over its ‘population’, and, simultaneously, its taxonomic power [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article looks at statements and acts of the core members of the Committee of Union and Progress in the run-up to the constitutional revolution of 1908 to determine whether these express ideas that later guided them in their policies in Anatolia. The main argument is that the Balkan War of 1912–13, in which the European provinces were largely lost, was an important catalyst that led to a radicalization of policies but that in fact the basic outlook of the Young Turks had been shaped years earlier, during their struggle to keep Macedonia Ottoman. Their relative ignorance of Anatolia led them to read the social and political realities there through a Macedonian prism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Ottoman Empire's immigration and settlement policies were redefined in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a result of the population movements caused by the rise of nationalism, wars and territorial losses. With changing demographics and the acceptance of a new citizenship concept by the Tanzimat Edict in 1839, the millet system which had previously secured the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of the empire for centuries was challenged. The central argument of the paper is that the Ottoman state responded to these challenges by supporting a liberal migration and settlement policy in an institutionalized and highly complex structure through the pioneering Ottoman Migration Commission. Although certain restrictions later took place due to internal and external factors such as a changing economic, social and political climate, the institutionalized settlement and migration policy proves that a multi-dimensional system was developed in response to the challenges of a dissolving and yet transforming Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on fieldwork in the Bethlehem area, this article uses the issue of internal land disputes as a starting point to describe a series of developments that have served to weaken the Christian communities in Palestine, and to identify some dilemmas they face, as Palestinians and as members of a minority community in Palestine. The article describes a situation where a weak and dysfunctional legal system under the Palestinian Authority (PA) has left Palestinians dependent on family and community networks for security and protection. Due to a history of emigration, combined with distinct social and demographic characteristics, Christian Palestinians find themselves in a position of structural vulnerability, subject to land theft and other criminal violation. Cautious about igniting sectarian divisions, Christian community leaders have a hard time addressing these issues within a public discourse. Fearful of harming Palestinian national interests, they are also reluctant to utilize international contacts and seek external support to secure their own rights and interests in Palestine. The article argues that this reflects both a commitment to an ethos of national unity among Christian Palestinians, and an acute awareness of the impact of ‘framing’ in preserving sectarian harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the place of war refugees in patterns of interpersonal violence in Istanbul in the 1890s. I argue that refugees, especially from the 1878 Russo-Turkish war, committed a disproportionate amount of criminal violence, and that their violent acts were often more extreme than those of other groups. I argue that factors such as poverty are insufficient to explain the degree of difference from the patterns of the general population. It is also necessary to look at an important cultural factor that most of these refugees share: exposure to and experience of violence. The conflicts from which the subjects of my paper were fleeing were particularly brutal ones, and thus could be expected to have a particularly brutalizing effect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study is an attempt to shed light on the issue of Cretan Muslim emigration from Crete to the Ottoman Empire in order to analyse the multiple connections among the Ottoman state, immigrants and different localities in the Eastern Mediterranean in the late nineteenth century. Following the Cretan revolts of 1896 and 1897, the establishment of autonomous government on the island of Crete and the withdrawal of Ottoman armies from the island, Cretan Muslims began to emigrate from Crete to various places in the Ottoman Empire. Specifically, this article aims to deal with the migration of Cretan Muslims and to focus mainly on the year 1899, during which large numbers of Muslims were forced to leave their homes. The article suggests that Cretan Muslim emigration provides a good case for understanding the attitudes and policies of the Ottoman state towards migration, and the relationship between the state and immigrants, as well as for analysing the broader connections between Crete and the other localities of the Eastern Mediterranean. The working hypothesis is that in order to understand certain socio-political and demographic changes and transformations experienced within the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth century, it is important to study the issue of Cretan Muslim immigration to Ottoman Anatolia. This presents an opportunity to investigate certain questions with regard to the dynamics of migration and also to discuss certain facts associated with migration within the late imperial context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic literature on political Islam has paid scant attention to how contemporary Islamists conceptualize international relations. By examining the writings on international relations of one leading Islamist thinker - the recently deceased Sayyid Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah - this article attempts to deepen our understanding of this key aspect of contemporary Islamist thought. The article highlights Fadlallah's views on a range of theoretical and substantive issues which are at the core of international relations in the post-Cold War era. These issues revolve around: the underlying principles of international relations; the nature of the current (post-Cold War) international order and the role of the United States therein; the relationship between the United States (and the West, in general) and the Arab and Islamic worlds; Israel and the Palestinian question; and the prospects for Islamic unity and the form that it can take in the modern era. It also relates Fadlallah's discourse on international relations to that of other Islamists, secular Arab nationalists, and other critics of the prevailing international order, as well as to the writings of Christian realists and in particular Reinhold Niebuhr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is awkward for historians to depict a clear-cut portrayal of Ottoman identity. Scholarly analyses by and large lay emphasis on the Islamic and Turkish character of the Ottoman Empire. However, it would be reductionist to evaluate an empire that lasted for six centuries, on three different continents, with solely monolithic ethno-religious tools. A new approach around the term Rum may help to get rid of this reductionism and to understand the sui generis structure of the Ottoman identity. Instead of focusing on ethnic and religious aspects, this novel approach would add both a territorial dimension of Ottoman hegemony and also a social component regarding the relations between the rulers and the ruled. The Rum, with a meaning above Orthodoxy, Greek or Roman Empire, can highlight the ingredients of Ottoman identity and help to overcome the influence of modern nationalist discourses in historical readings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the process leading to the draft of the Sunni Muslim Circassian community into the Israel Defence Forces beginning in 1958. While the Circassians were the second and final minority group to be drafted into the IDF (following the Druze in 1956), the background to and implementation of the draft of this community in Israel has been virtually ignored by previous researchers. This article is the first to examine the process leading to the Circassian draft based on original documentation, and argues that the small number of Circassians enabled the army to incorporate them without threatening the army's fundamentally Jewish character; it also enabled the state to demonstrate its commitment to democracy and equality by incorporating a (second) non-Jewish minority group into a central state institution. Additionally, Circassian service would theoretically engender divisions between Circassian and Arab Muslims, and finally – perhaps – would garner the sympathy of highly placed Circassians in the governments and armies of neighbouring Arab states. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Terminology devoted to miscegenation and inter-ethnic relationships is extremely problematic, and this article shows that many of these categories are more classificatory than descriptive. Some North African and Middle Eastern examples reveal that theoretical concepts about mixture reflect the folk conceptions of the observers rather that the meaning of local categories which not necessarily share those notions of mixture. In this sense, it is suggested that social categorizations of miscegenation are created from specific structures of descent which consider the transmission of two different social statuses, and that the pre-eminent unilineal descent systems of the Arab world should refrain from the political construction of such classification categories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article tackles the question of why an attempt to uncover an indigenous history of limited government in the early modern Ottoman Empire has not been undertaken in twentieth-century Turkish historiography despite the obvious existence of several constituents for such a history, such as the political power and prestige of jurists (ulema), the political role of the janissary corps, and the many depositions and other revolts that they staged in cooperation with the jurists, which, in practice, limited the political authority of the sultan. The answer suggested by the article focuses on the political concerns of the early republic, the socio-economic concerns of the Muslim democrats currently in power, and the theoretical concerns of contemporary western historians who have been influenced by Edward Said's critique of Orientalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the study of Turkey's Jewish minority and Turkish-Jewish immigrants in Israel. It aims to examine the identity formation of Israel and Turkey in terms of non-Muslim minority and Muslim majority. It provides background information on the Jewish minority and immigrants in Turkey and Israel. It also explores the process of Jewish generational assimilation of Turkish identity as well as the immigrants' cultural identity. It also uses the empirical research to investigate the identity formulations of the concerned communities.

The article focuses on Said Halim Pasha whose writings have been revived as well as interest in himself. Said Halim Pasha was a prince of the Egyptian royal family, a thoughtful writer and scholar on topics that agitate Middle East. He also occupies many ministerial positions in the highest echelons of the Ottoman administration during First World War. Said Halim took a tough look at the roots of his civilization and sought refuge in the supra-national appeal of Islam during the time nationalisms of Muslim and non-Muslim groups were tearing the Empire apart. His works also are applicable and current in scope and content.

The article looks into the connection between religion, demography and politics in Lebanon. The country's religious divisions were dominated by Muslims and Christians with 18 officially recognized sects. The Lebanese governments since the mid-1950s have adopted an undeclared policy of refusing to publish any statistics on the demography of religious groups in order to keep the perennial problems out of the public view. Lebanon is the only member state in the United Nations that has not conducted a population census since the end of the Second World War. On the other hand, the country's public agencies followed an explicit policy on statistical publications after Lebanon gained its political sovereignty wherein it publicized the total population by large administrative units.

The article discusses the British occupation of India and its connection to the Ottoman Empire. When Disraeli proclaimed Queen Victoria the Empress of India in 1877, the Moghul Empire in India had become a memory. Indian Muslims began to adopt the position of bowing the political knee to the Queen-Empress, but of transferring their spiritual allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan, who was both Caliph of the Muslims as well as the ruler of the only independent Muslim sovereign state.

The article focuses on the standing of Christian Copts in modern Egypt. The reaction of the Copts to Islamic insurgence in the 1970 and 1980s was either sectarian seclusion or emigration. Due to the seclusion, sociologist Rafiq Habib created a political manifesto based on Islamic memory. The manifesto calls for a communal Islamic state.

The article focuses on efforts of activists in Middle East to stop "crimes of honor" or "honor killings." The killings occur in Middle East among diverse ethnic populations and are not restricted to Muslims. One example is the killing of a woman for engaging in or being suspected of engaging in sexual practices before or outside marriage.

Focuses on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Chechnia and Dagestan, Russia. Reasons behind the survival of Islam in the republics; Division of the Daghestanis by the Soviet authorities; Common characteristics of the Muslim people in both republics.

Examines the relationship between Islam and conflict in the North Caucasus across time, through a longitudinal perspective. Broad survey of Islam and violent conflict in the North Caucasus in the period beginning with the introduction of Islam up through the current conflict in Chechnya; Conventional historical assumptions about the relationship between Islam and violent conflict in the North Caucasus that observers commonly adopt in their analyses; Decisive nature of Islam or Muslim identity as a source of conflict; Fundamental and intractable alienation of Muslim North Caucasians and Russians from each other; Binary categorization of Islam into its mystical, or Sufi, aspects and its legal, or sharia-based aspect.

The article discusses the development of Muslim Brotherhood movement in Syria following its independence in 1946. For nearly a generation now, scholars have intensively studied Islamic movements. Much attention has rightly focused on the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement viewed by many as the mother of salafi Islam, or the movement to return to the fundamentals of Islam as practiced by the founding fathers, the salaf. It was also, for most of the period under discussion, a parliamentary body, participating in the turbulence that was Syrian parliamentary politics during those years.

Discusses the influence of Islamic legal training at the University of al-Azhar on Muslim institutions and practices in Caucasus. Information of Caucasian scholars learning Islamic law; Interpretation of the Shari'a law; Outcome on the development of Islamic legal culture in the Caucasus.

Examines the worldviews of Islamist groups on Jews and Jihad in Israel. Establishment of Hizb al-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun groups; Goals and strategies of the Islamic groups; Reference to the American 'occupation' of Saudi Arabia in the calls for Jihad in Israel; Concept of Jihad in the context of twentieth-century developments.

Discusses the significance of nationalism and the rise of Muslim sentiment in Turkey. Heritage of the Turks; Opposition Nation Party and Democratic Party; Prime Minister Turgut Ozal's foreign policy; National Salvation Party; Activities of the Diyanet or the Ministry of Education; Growth of the Refah (Prosperity) Party; Viability of nationalism.

The article focuses on the Soviet historiography of Shamil, the third and most famous and successful imam (leader) of the Muslim resistance to the Russian occupation of the North-eastern Caucasus. It talks about the developments in the Soviet Union since 1956 and analyzes the nationality policies towards other nations and towards the Muslims of the Caucasus. The Soviet's foreign policy towards the Third World, the periphery-center relationships between the Caucasus and Moscow, and the national problems and relations between the Russians and the Caucasians are discussed.