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This book presents an overview of Islamic educational institutions and the types of schools available for Islamic or mixed education in selected countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Europe.
Insurgencies are like the hydra, the many-headed beast of Greek mythology. Once one begins, the measures a government takes to eliminate militantsùto cut off the insurgencyÆs headùcan provoke countless others to join the enemy ranks. Tactical victories often breed strategic de¼feats. Traditional ôsearch, destroy, and withdrawö missions that rely on firepower to wipe out reb¼els frequently destroy the livelihoods and loved ones of innocent people caught in the cross fire. U.S. troops have seen the pattern repeated as their initially successful offensives toppled en¼emy regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, but soon transformed into grueling guerrilla wars. Hearts, Minds, and Hydras outline...
This book focuses on education and Afghan women in the pre-Taliban period, under the Taliban and today. More specifically, it explores the educational prospects for women under and following the fall of the Taliban, the significant improvements that have been achieved during the past few years and the challenges that still lie ahead. Against this background, concepts such as education, empowerment and personal development are discussed, as well as the progress and the challenges that women in Afghanistan will face in the event of the Taliban returning to power. This publication offers a unique, original and current insight into the world of Afghan women, encompassing contributions from academics, journalists and civil society advocates.
Despite its pervasive reputation as a place of religious extremes and war, Afghanistan has a complex and varied religious landscape where elements from a broad spectrum of religious belief vie for a place in society. It is also one of the birthplaces of a widely practiced variant of Islam: Sufism. Contemporary analysts suggest that Sufism is on the decline due to war and the ideological hardening that results from societies in conflict. However, in Sufi Civilities, Annika Schmeding argues that this is far from a truthful depiction. Members of Sufi communities have worked as resistance fighters, aid workers, business people, actors, professors, and daily workers in creative and ingenious ways...
Memory and Commemoration across Central Asia: Texts, Traditions and Practices, 10th-21st Centuries is a collection of fourteen studies by a group of scholars active in the field of Central Asian Studies, presenting new research into various aspects of the rich cultural heritage of Central Asia (including Afghanistan). By mapping and exploring the interaction between political, ideological, literary and artistic production in Central Asia, the contributors offer a wide range of perspectives on the practice and usage of historical and religious commemoration in different contexts and timeframes. Making use of different approaches – historical, literary, anthropological, or critical heritage studies, the contributors show how memory functions as a fundamental constituent of identity formation in both past and present, and how this has informed perceptions in and outside Central Asia today.
For two decades, militant jihadism has been one of the world's most pressing security crises. In civil wars and insurgencies across the Muslim world, certain Islamist groups have taken advantage of the anarchy to establish political control over a broad range of territories and communities. In effect, they have built radical new jihadist proto-states. Why have some ideologically-inspired Islamists been able to build state-like polities out of civil war stalemate, while many other armed groups have failed to gain similar traction? What makes jihadists win? In Jihad & Co., Aisha Ahmad argues that there are concrete economic reasons behind Islamist success. By tracking the economic activities o...
Using concepts that are not already a part of the militant discourse as a way to undermine extremism, Countering Heedless Jihad explores a stratagem aimed at defusing jihadist ideology. It explains how to counteract idealist theology using concepts from it, borrowing ideas from some revered Islamic theologians and positioning them in a way that sabotages jihadist ideology. By integrating the theology with viable methods for dissemination, it presents a viable means for confusing existing members of radical groups and for neutralizing their recruiting effort. The book includes contributions by Major General Michael Lehnert, USMC; U.S. Ambassador David J. Dunford; and Dr. Khuram Iqbal.
In states in which the public role of religion is controversial, religious instruction becomes both a means and an end of politics. This groundbreaking collection of case studies drawn from Arab, Asian and European countries examines different aspects of religious instruction: how it is regulated, who decides its content, the values it imparts and, in particular, whether it triggers, deepens or reduces conflict.