The article analises from the perspective of the concept of ‘processuality’ proposed by Andrew Smirnov, as well as in comparison with Kant’s categorical imperative, the concept of ‘reflection’ and its role in the ethical teaching of the outstanding Iraqi Sufi al-Haris al-Muhasibi (VIII-IX centuries). Reflection is an integral component of the mystic’s continuous observation of his thoughts and intentions. The latter is the main tool for cleansing the soul and heart on a person’s path to God. The ‘additional’ tools used (...) in the study are Smirnov’s logical-semantic theory and Kant’s ethical teaching goal is to show the fundamental difference between the ideological paradigm of al–Muhasibi as a representative of Afro-Asian civilization from the paradigm of Kant as a representative of Western European civilization. The contrast of two ethics – ‘procedural’ (al-Muhasibi) and ‘substantial’ (Kant) – leads us to the theory of four types of civilization-specific mentality developed by Andrew Paribok. This article can and should be considered as a demonstration of how the method of Pskhu’ ‘situational hermeneutics’ works, according to which the researcher has the right to use those intellectual theories (sometimes irrelevant to each other) that help him in a concise form to clearly and unambiguously convey to the reader the meaning of the phenomenon under study (concept / text). (shrink)

Nella seconda parte del _Libro della condanna dello status e dell’ostentazione_ il ventottesimo libro della sua opera principale, _La rinascita delle scienze religiose_ – al-Ghazālī trae molta ispirazione da al-Muhāsibī, soprattutto dalla sua opera _al-Ri’āya al-huqūq Allāh _(_L’osservanza dei diritti di Dio_). Il fatto che al-Ghazālī menziona esplicitamente il nome di al-Muhāsibī non meno di quattro volte in questa sezione testimonia la sua ammirazione profonda per questo grande mistico delle origini. Un attento esame di questi riferimenti e del (...) loro contesto rivela una grande familiarità e un ampio uso della _Ri’āya_, così come un accesso diretto a un’altra grande opera di al-Muhāsibī, cioè il _Kitāb al-Wasāya_ (_Il Libro dei Comandamenti_). Inoltre, la scelta di al-Ghazālī di specifici versetti coranici e delle Tradizioni, sia profetiche che di storie, è molto debitrice della _Ri’āya_, come diventa chiaro sulla base di un esame del primo capitolo di questa seconda parte che consiste interamente in citazioni di versetti coranici e delle Tradizioni riguardanti la questione dell’ostentazione. Per quanto riguarda il secondo capitolo, che si concentra sui modi usati per attirare l’attenzione della gente su di sé sia negli atti religiosi che in quelli verbali, esso condivide molte caratteristiche con l’esposizione di al-Muhāsibī nella _Ri’āya_, compresa la copia quasi letterale di alcuni passaggi. Infine, l’uso che al-Ghazālī fa della _Ri’āya_ in ciascuno degli altri capitoli è brevemente indicato. Questo studio mostra che al-Muhāsibī non era solo una fonte importante per al-Ghazālī – un fatto già noto da quasi un secolo – ma _la_ fonte principale, almeno per questa sezione della sua _Rinascita_. Tuttavia, allo stesso tempo, questo studio chiarisce che al-Ghazālī non è colpevole di cieco plagio. In the second part of the _Book of the Condemnation of Status and Ostentation_ – the twentieth-eight book of his major work, _The Revival of the Religious Sciences_ – al-Ghazālī draws much inspiration from al-Muhāsibī, above all from his work _al-Ri’āya al-huqūq Allāh_ (_Eyeservice to God’s Laws_). The very fact that al-Ghazālī explicitly mentions al-Muhāsibī’s name no less than four times throughout this section clearly testifies to his profound admiration for this great early mystic. A close examination of these references and their context reveals a great familiarity with and an extensive use of the _Ri’āya_, as well as a direct access to another major work of al-Muhāsibī, i.e., _Kitāb al-Wasāya_ (_The Book of Commandments_). Moreover, al-Ghazālī’s choice of specific Qur’anic verses and of Traditions, both prophetic and stories, is much indebted to the _Ri’āya_, as becomes clear on the basis of an examination of the first chapter of this second part which consisting entirely of quotations of Qur’anic verses and Traditions concerning the issue of ostentation. As to the second chapter, which focuses on the ways used to draw people’s attention to oneself both in religious as well as in wordly acts, it shares many features with al-Muhāsibī’s exposition in the _Ri’āya_, including the almost verbatim copying of some passages. Finally, al-Ghazālī’s use of the _Ri’āya_ in each of the other chapters is briefly indicated. This study shows that al-Muhāsibī was not just a major source for al-Ghazālī – a fact already known for nearly a century – but _the_ major source, at least for this section of his _Revival_. However, at the same time, this study makes clear that al-Ghazālī is not guilty of blind plagiarism. (shrink)

Education is a phenomenon that has existed from the early times of human beings, but it has recently become a scientific discipline. Until recently, there were no separate fields such as education, religious education, moral and value education. Therefore, their separation from each other as scientific disciplines is also a new phenomenon. In fact, in the historical process, education has a religious and moral character in itself, and these two have not seen independent from each other. Here religion has provided (...) meaningful goals and objectives to education, while morality constitutes one of the important aims of this education. Besides, the religious and moral character of education has also been significant in order to accrue a positive and balanced personality. For this reason, it is of great importance to understand how the modern concepts of education, religious education, and moral education have been dealt with in traditional education or in historical processes. Hārith al-Muhāsibī (d. 243/857), among the founding names of Ahl as-Sunnah theology and Sufism, was one of the early scholars who emphasized that the heart, mind (‘akl) and soul (nafs), forming the dynamic structure and the source for human’s positive and negative actions, should be educated in a certain measure and equilibrium, and who presented various concepts and terms in this direction. It seems that Muhāsibī refers to different concepts concerning the humans’ change and transformation, his education and training. In this respect, our study aims to deal with the concepts Muhāsibī used within education, religion and moral education in today’s terms and to reveal in which meanings he used these terms. It is also hoped that considering the concepts of education in the traditional and classical concept will make it easier to understand the current content of education, the changes and specialism it has experienced. The concepts that Muhāsibī dealt with on education, especially on decency (adab/ta’dīb), have a religious and moral theme in accordance with the general understanding of the period. Among the main concepts that Muhasibi includes are educating/teaching (ta‘līm/ta‘allum), instruction/teaching (dars/tadrīs), decency, purification (tathīr, ıslāh and tasfiya), and mucāhada. It seems that he doesn’t deal with the concepts such as tarbiyah, tahzīb, tazkiya and riyāzat at all or very little. Among them, Muhāsibī was especially interested in decency/adab, as it was handled in the context of Sufism, with a religious/moral view and mostly in the way of educating the soul. In addition, it is observed that other concepts are handled with a similar perspective. (shrink)

How did premodern Muslim thinkers talk about living authentically as a Muslim in the world? How, in their view, could selves transform themselves into ideal religious subjects or slaves of God? Which virtues, technologies of the self and intersubjective relations did they see implicated in inhabiting or attaining what I shall call ʿabdī subjectivity? In this paper, I make explicit how various discursive, ethical strategies formed, informed, and transformed Muslim subjectivity in early Muslim thought by focusing on the writings of (...) an important ninth century Muslim moral pedagogue, al‐Muḥāsibī (d. 857). This study illustrates the advantages of approaching early Muslim texts and discourses through the tools and methods made available by comparative religious ethics in order to reexamine our understanding of Muslim subject formation and the role of ethical and theological discourses in the same. (shrink)

There are some radical practices of asceticism, such as wearing ṣūf (wool clothes), traveling without provisions, choosing to be single, and avoiding earning a living by working, which were generally seen in the 2nd century A.H. and were subject to criticism with the formation of classical Ṣūfism. Criticisms of these practices have started to appear in the literature since the 3rd century A.H. Early Ṣūfī writers such as Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī, Muḥāsibī, Abū Saʿīd al-Kharrāz, al-Sarrāj focused on this issue and criticized (...) these practices. How are these practices of ascetics viewed in the sects that were formed and spread in the 6th and 7th centuries? Our research seeks the answer to this question, but limits it to the example of Abū l-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī, the founder of Shādhiliyya. This question is important in two respects: First of all, it is investigated whether the determination of some researchers that al-Shādhilī taught comfort in the face of worldly blessings is also correct. Because, among contemporary researchers, there are those who believe that al-Shādhilī wears ostentatious clothes, rides horses, encourages economic competitiveness, and is therefore open to benefiting from worldly blessings to the fullest. Secondly, it includes an investigation of the validity of the belief that these practices belong to an early period in the history of Sûfism and have been completely abandoned over time. Although al-Shādhilī seems to have completed his spiritual education in Morocco with his sheikh, he later went to Tunisia with the latent command of his master. We see that in his first years in Tunisia, he went into seclusion in a cave and was completely isolated from the society and engaged in worship in a way that reminds us of the practices of the early ascetics. But in the second phase of his life in Tunisia, he went to the city on a spiritual sign, socialized, started to give sermons to people, and started to behave more flexible about eating and drinking. al-Shādhilī specifically states that he did not prefer socialization at this stage, but with a spiritual sign. Later, he went to Egypt again with a spiritual sign and got married there, started to deal with agriculture, and continued to socialize by establishing relations with the rulers. Therefore, it can be said that this new social period is a break both from the radical practices of the early ascetics and from the early period in Tunisia itself. It is also seen that in this new period of al-Shādhilī, he did not wear the clothes of ascetics like sūf (wool clothes) and did not want his followers to wear them. He also encouraged to have a profession and was generally against traveling without provisions. But there are two points to be noted here: First, these milder and more comfortable practices should not lead to a search for comfort and luxury. He continued to keep his distance from worldly blessings and to advise asceticism. Secondly, he had some of his distinguished disciples make some practices of the ascetics. The reason for the existence of these seemingly contradictory practices is that while he recommends moderate and sustainable practices to the general public and his followers, he can make the specialized sūfis more strict and difficult practices. While he was encouraging work and earning in general, not ignoring experience, including avoiding work; not ignoring seclusion while leading to sociality in general; while generally suggesting to resort to occasions, he also follows a path of implementing and enforcing radical practices such as traveling without food. Thus, al-Shādhilī is able to encompass all the seemingly incompatible practices of the previous sūfi accumulation with a point of view of spiritual rank and hierarchy. (shrink)

In the field of ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, in which the conceptual framework of the science of interpretation is drawn and the main rules used in tafsīr are discussed, independent books have been compiled since early periods. Some of these works stand out as foundational texts because they make important determinations about the nature, function, methodology, and relationship of the science of tafsīr with other Islamic sciences. The masterpiece entitled Fahm al-Qurʾān by al-Khāris al-Muhāsibī, a scholar of sufism, tafsīr, kalām, and (...) hadīth is one of these books. Al-Muḥāsibī was a writer who lived in a period when philological and Sharīʿah sciences gained a systematic structure and schools were born and developed. Muhāsib'i's multifaceted scholarly depth, the requirements of his time, and the characteristics of his work distinguish Fahm al-Qurʾān from other works in the field in terms of its problematic, content, and style. It can be said that Fahm al-Qurʾān consists of two main chapters. In the first chapter, the issues of kalām, meaning, and reason are subjected to a quiddity inquiry. In the second chapter, the linguistic aspect of kalām is emphasized and the content and style of the Qur'ān are discussed under the headings of muhkam- mutashābih, naskh and üslūb al-Qur'ān. In this work, al-Muḥāsibī suggests that before asking How we should understand the Qur'ān?, the reader should ask What exactly is being understood and what is meaning? The first of these questions includes the question Who am I? While the sources of The Sciences of the Qurʾān mostly focus on how to understand the Qurʾān at the epistemological and methodological level, in Fahm al- Qurʾān, the meaning of understanding the Qurʾān is problematized and a theory of reason and meaning that is competent with moral training is built. Thus, the conceptual inquiries of the work extend to the existential philosophy of the author. Despite these privileges, it is surprising that Fahm al-Qurʾān did not gain a prominent place among the main sources of tafsir methodology in later periods. This may be due to the theorization of a theory of meaning in which moral maturation is placed at the center. In this research, while trying to reveal the original value that Muhāsibī added to the field with Fahm al-Qurʾān, the systematic structure of the science of interpretation, its connection with other religious sciences, the relationship between speech adjective and language were made problematic and tried to be resolved in the context of the research hypothesis. In this context, it has been determined that al-Muḥāsibī's Fahm al-Qurʾān draws the conceptual framework of tafsīr methodology in relation to the authentic structure of the sharī'ah sciences at a very early period. The fact that Fahm al-Qurʾān carries important signs regarding the position of tafsīr in the hierarchy of sciences and its relationship with other sharī'ah sciences increases the value of the work in identifying the codes of the traditional paradigm. In the research, in which induction methods were used in text analysis and deduction methods were used in discourse analysis, it was determined that Fahm al-Qurʾān had a fiction that shapes the traditional paradigm and depicts the authentic structure of religious sciences. (shrink)

The translation, notes, and commentary of Imam al-Harith al-Muhasibi's "Risala al-Mustarshidin (Treatise for the Seekers of Guidance)" serves as a layman's ...

Adalet hem klasik hem de modern dönemde tasavvuf ve siyasetin önde gelen konularından biridir. Özellikle tasavvuf ve siyaset alanlarında, adalet kavramı olmadan sürdürülebilir bir düşünce yapısı kurmak mümkün değildir. Adalet, genellikle siyasetle ilişkilendirilse de İslam Hukuku'nda da çok önemli bir yer tutar. İslam Hukuku, adaletin sağlanması ve korunmasını temel amaçlarından biri olarak görür. Adalet, İslam Hukuku'nda sadece bireyler arasındaki ilişkilerde değil, aynı zamanda devletin ve toplumun düzeni ve refahı için de hayati bir öneme sahiptir. Bu nedenle, İslam Hukuku'nun temel prensiplerinden (...) biri adalettir ve bu prensip, İslam toplumlarında adaletin sağlanması ve korunması için çeşitli yollar ve kurumlar oluşturmuştur. İslam Hukuku’nda önemli bir yere sahip olan adalet kavramının tasavvuf ilmiyle de bağlantılı olarak ele alınması konunun farklı perspektiflerini görme açısından önem arz etmektedir. Zira tasavvuf, içsel bir dönüşüme ve manevi arayışlara yoğunlaşan bir ilimdir ancak adalet kavramı da bu bağlamda önemli bir yer tutar. Tasavvufi öğretiler, bireyin iç dünyasında denge ve adaletin sağlanması gerektiğini vurgular. Bu denge ve adalet, kişinin nefsiyle mücadelesinde, Allah'a olan bağlılığında ve diğer insanlarla ilişkilerinde kendini gösterir. Tasavvuf geleneği, bireyin içsel adaleti sağlamasını ve dengesini bulmasını ifade ederken, aynı zamanda dış dünyada adil davranışları teşvik eder. Bu nedenle, tasavvufun adaletle ilişkisi hem bireysel hem de toplumsal düzeyde önemli bir rol oynar. Söz konusu ilişkiyi anlamak, tasavvufun insanların manevi ve toplumsal hayatlarına nasıl etki ettiğini anlamak açısından kritiktir. Esasında tasavvuf-adalet ilişkisini kuran çalışmalar, adalet kavramına ve uygulamalarına daha derin manalar yüklemeyi hedeflemektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı da zikredilen hususla beraber tasavvufun adalet anlayışını ve bu anlayışın günlük hayata nasıl yansıdığını anlamak ve açıklığa kavuşturmaktır. Zira böylelikle insanlar hem bireysel hem de toplumsal düzeyde daha adil bir yaşam sürmeye yönelik kapsamlı bir anlayış geliştirebilirler. Çalışmanın diğer bir amacı ise mutasavvıfların adalet hakkındaki düşüncelerinin anlaşılmasına ve günümüzdeki adalet tartışmalarına katkı sağlamaktır. Araştırmada yöntem olarak bilhassa tasavvuf ilminin önde gelen teorisyenleri kabul edilen mutasavvıfların adalet konusundaki görüşleri esas alınmıştır. Dolayısıyla özellikle Hâris b. Esed Muhâsibî (öl. 243/857), Sehl b. Abdullah Tüsterî (öl. 283/896), Muhammed b. İbrahim Kelâbâzî (öl. 380/990), Ebû Tâlib el-Mekkî (öl. 386/996), Ebû Nuaym el-İsfehânî (öl. 430/1038), Abdülkerîm b. Hevâzin Kuşeyrî (öl. 465/1072), Muhammed b. Gazzâlî (öl. 505/1111), Muhyiddîn İbnü’l-Arabî (öl. 638/1240), Mevlânâ Celâledddîn-i Rûmî (öl. 672/1273) gibi önemli mutasavvıfların fikirleri araştırmanın kapsamını oluşturmuştur. Bu bağlamda söz konusu mutasavvıfların eserlerinde adalet kavramını nasıl ele aldıkları, adaletin dini ve toplumsal boyutlarına verdikleri önem, içsel denge, merhamet, teslimiyet ve toplumsal adalet gibi prensiplere verdikleri vurgu gibi konular araştırılmıştır. Böylelikle tasavvuf geleneğinin adalet anlayışının derinliği ve kapsamlılığı ortaya konmuştur. Sonuç olarak söz konusu mutasavvıfların adalet anlayışının dışsal hukuk sistemlerinin yanı sıra içsel denge, merhamet, teslimiyet ve toplumsal adalet gibi derin ve kapsamlı prensiplere dayandığı görülmüştür. Zira onlar adaleti sadece yasalara uymakla değil, aynı zamanda insanların iç dünyalarında denge, merhamet ve teslimiyetin varlığında da görmüşlerdir. Nitekim toplumsal adaletin sağlanması, sadece cezaların belirlenmesiyle değil, aynı zamanda insanların birbirlerine karşı merhametli, adil ve teslimiyet içinde olmalarıyla da gerçekleşir. Bu nedenle, mutasavvıfların adalet anlayışı dışsal hukuk sistemlerinin ötesinde, derin ve kapsamlı bir perspektife sahiptir. (shrink)

There has been growing scholarly interest in understanding individual-level antecedents of counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB). While researchers have found a positive relationship between individuals’ negative affect and engagement in CWB, to date, our understanding of the factors which may affect this relationship is limited. In this study, we investigate the moderating roles of moral disengagement and gender in this relationship. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that individuals with a greater tendency to experience negative emotions were more likely to engage (...) in CWB when they had a higher propensity to morally disengage. Moreover, we found that this interacting relationship varied across men and women. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and offer avenues for future research. (shrink)

This paper asks how perception becomes racializing and seeks the means for its critical interruption. My aim is not only to understand the recalcitrant and limitative temporal structure of racializing habits of seeing, but also to uncover the possibilities within perception for a critical awareness and destabilization of this structure. Reading Henri Bergson and Maurice Merleau-Ponty in dialogue with Frantz Fanon, Iris Marion Young and race-critical feminism, I locate in hesitation the phenomenological moment where habits of seeing can be internally (...) fractured. Hesitation, I claim, makes visible the exclusionary logic of racializing and objectifying perception, countering its affective closure and opening it to critical transformation. (shrink)

There has been increased interest in the “dark side” of organizational behavior in recent decades. Workplace bullying, in particular, has received growing attention in the social sciences literature. However, this literature has lacked an integrated approach. More specifically, few studies have investigated causes at levels beyond the individual, such as the group or organization. Extending victim precipitation theory, we present a conceptual model of workplace bullying incorporating factors at the individual-, dyadic-, group-, and organizational-levels. Based on our theoretical model, a (...) number of propositions are offered which emphasize an interactionist, multi-level approach. This approach provides a valuable stepping stone and framework to guide future empirical research. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

What does Husserlian phenomenology have to offer feminist theory? More specifically, can we find resources within Husserl’s account of the living body ( Leib ) for the critical feminist project of rethinking embodiment beyond the dichotomies not only of mind/body but also of subject/object and activity/passivity? This essay begins by explicating the reasons for feminist hesitation with respect to Husserlian phenomenology. I then explore the resources that Husserl’s phenomenology of touch and his account of sensings hold for feminist theory. My (...) reading of Husserl proceeds by means of a comparison between his description of touch in Ideas II and Merleau-Ponty’s early appropriation of this account in the Phenomenology of Perception, as well as through an unlikely rapprochement between Husserl and Irigaray on the question of touch. Moreover, by revisiting the limitations in Husserl’s approach to the body—limitations of which any feminist appropriation must remain cognizant—I attempt to take Husserl’s phenomenology of touch beyond its initial methodologically solipsistic frame and to ask whether and how it can contribute to thinking gendered and racialized bodies. The phenomenology of touch, I argue, can allow us to understand the interplay between subjective, felt embodiment and social-historical context. In opening up Husserl’s account of touch to other dimensions—intersubjective and affective—sociality is revealed as residing within, and structuring of, touch. Such touch can allow us to think embodiment anew. (shrink)

The research aims to study the role of strategic and operational planning as approach for crises management in UNRWA - Gaza Strip field- Palestine. Several descriptive analytical methods were used for this purpose and a survey as a tool for data collection. Community size was (881), and the study sample was stratified random (268). The overall findings of the current study show that strategic and operational planning is performed in UNRWA. The results of static analysis show that there are a (...) relation between strategic and operational planning and crises management. In spite this relation existence, it need more improvement and expanding. Also there are shortcomings in the way that organization manages the crises before and after they occur. A crisis management is only practicing during the crisis. The study suggests that UNRWA must invest in more resources to enhance strategic and operational palming and improve other methods to face potential crises in the future. (shrink)

This paper aims to identify the decision support systems and their role on the strategic management development in the Universities- Case Study: Islamic University of Gaza. The descriptive approach was used where a questionnaire was developed and distributed to a stratified random sample. (230) questionnaires were distributed and (204) were returned with response rate (88.7%). The most important findings of the study: The presence of a statistically significant positive correlation between the decision support systems and strategic management in the Islamic (...) University in Gaza, and this shows that there is a role for decision support systems in strategic management development. The senior management is convinced of the importance of strategic management of the organization, and this conviction paid to clearly understand the process of the development of strategic management and thus led to a commitment to this process to improve its performance. There is an impact on the strategic management of the capabilities available for the use of decision support systems, and the type of decision support systems used, while there is little effect of top management support for the use of decision support systems. Also, the results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the averages of the respondents answers attributed to personal data. The research also concluded a series of recommendations: The Islamic University of Gaza need to develop its infrastructure of decision support systems when it develops the strategic management. It should increase its interest in organizational potential through the necessity of a separate unit for decision support systems. As well as increased interest in the physical and technical capabilities available to decision support systems through continuity in keeping pace with technological means and techniques, continued support of senior management in the organization of strategic management for its positive role on decision support systems, that senior management will continue in the organization in creating a culture of strategic management, and it should encourage employees to participate in the strategic management process. (shrink)

Evolutionary approaches to the emotions have traditionally focused on a subset of emotions that are shared with other species, characterized by distinct signals, and designed to solve a few key adaptive problems. By contrast, an evolutionary psychological approach (a) broadens the range of adaptive problems emotions have evolved to solve, (b) includes emotions that lack distinctive signals and are unique to humans, and (c) synthesizes an evolutionary approach with an information-processing perspective. On this view, emotions are superordinate mechanisms that evolved (...) to coordinate the activity of other programs in the solution of adaptive problems. We illustrate the heuristic value of this approach by furnishing novel hypotheses for disgust and sexual arousal and highlighting unexplored areas of research. (shrink)

In this paper, the results of a pilot interview study with 19 subjects participating in an EEG-based non-invasive brain–computer interface (BCI) research study on stroke rehabilitation and assistive technology and of a survey among 17 BCI professionals are presented and discussed in the light of ethical, legal, and social issues in research with human subjects. Most of the users were content with study participation and felt well informed. Negative aspects reported include the long and cumbersome preparation procedure, discomfort with the (...) cap and the wet electrodes, problems concerning BCI control, and strains during the training sessions. In addition, some users reflected on issues concerning system security. When asked for morally problematic issues in this field of non-invasive BCI research, the BCI professionals stressed the need for correct information transfer, the obligation to avoid unrealistic expectations in study participants, the selection of study participants, benefits and strains of participation, BCI illiteracy, the possibility of detrimental brain modifications induced by BCI use, and problems that may arise at the end of the trials. Furthermore, privacy issues were raised. Based on the results obtained, psychosocial and ethical aspects of EEG-based non-invasive BCI research are discussed and possible implications for future research addressed. (shrink)

Merleau-Ponty's reference to "a past which has never been present" at the end of "Le sentir" challenges the typical framework of the Phenomenology of Perception, with its primacy of perception and bodily field of presence. In light of this "original past," I propose a re-reading of the prepersonal as ground of perception that precedes the dichotomies of subject-object and activity-passivity. Merleau-Ponty searches in the Phenomenology for language to describe this ground, borrowing from multiple registers (notably Bergson, but also Husserl). This (...) "sensory life" is a coexistence of sensing and sensible—bodily and worldly—rhythms. Perception is, then, not a natural given, but a temporal process of synchronization between rhythms. By drawing on Bergson, this can be described as a process in which virtual life is actualized into perceiving subject and object perceived. Significantly, this process involves non-coincidence or delay whereby sensory life is always already past for perception. (shrink)

Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s “Eye and Mind” and Bergson’s Matière et mémoire and “La perception du changement,” I ask what resources are available in vision for interrupting objectifying habits of seeing. While both Bergson and Merleau-Ponty locate the possibility of seeing differently in the figure of the painter, I develop by means of their texts, and in dialogue with Iris Marion Young’s work, a more general phenomenology of hesitation that grounds what I am calling “critical-ethical vision.” Hesitation, I argue, stems from (...) affect and leads to critical memory. In hesitation, the seeming coincidence between my habits of seeing and the visible is decentered, revealing these habits and their social reference as the constitutive horizon of my field of vision. Hesitation, then, provides the phenomenological moment within which vision may become at once critically watchful, destabilizing its objectifying habits, and ethically responsive, recollecting its affective grounds. The critical and the ethical are here inseparable. Critically, this vision is an awareness of the structures of invisibility, diacritical and habitual, social and historical, to which my vision owes—dimensions which institute particular ways of seeing and being as norm while eliding others. Ethically, this is the recognition of how seeing is already seeing with others—others whose affective influence is operative within vision, even as their existence is reductively represented or denied. (shrink)

Dashtakī Shīrāzī's commentary on al-Suhrawardī's Hayākil al-nūr.

I argue that representations of the Muslim woman in the Western imaginary function as counter-images to the patriarchal ideal of Western woman. Drawing upon the work of Frantz Fanon (and supplementing it with a consideration of the role of gender), I show how the image of the veiled, Muslim woman is both othered and racialized. This “double othering,” I argue, serves: (i) To normalize Western norms of femininity. The social control of women and their bodies by liberal society is hidden. (...) Gender oppression is rather projected onto Muslim women, and identified with their societies, while remaining invisible within Western society. Western womanhood is taken to be “free” of such oppression. (ii) To deflect attention away from Western patriarchy, and promote complicity on the part of Western women with this society rather than other women. (iii) To represent Western femininity as an ideal that solicits women’s complicity universally. The attempt is to establish the superiority of Western society and its gender norms and morally justify the domination of other societies (in the name of civilization and the liberation of women). (shrink)

al-Masāʼil al-qudsīyah -- Mutashābihāt al-Qurʼān -- Ajwibat al-masāʼil.

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The aim of the research is to shed light on the nature of the organizational structure prevailing in Palestinian governmental universities and to identify the most important differences in the perceptions of employees of the organizational structure in the Palestinian governmental universities according to the demographic and organizational variables. The researchers used the descriptive analytical method, through a questionnaire randomly distributed to the sample of the employees of Al-Aqsa University. The study was conducted on a sample of (80) administrative staff (...) from Al-Aqsa University. The study found that there is a moderate degree of satisfaction with the nature of the organizational structure prevailing in the Palestinian governmental universities from the point of view of the administrative staff, with a percentage of (63.11%). The absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure prevailing at Al-Aqsa University, the absence of differences in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure depending on the age variable. There are statistical significance differences in the perception of the elements of the organizational climate depending on the variable of scientific qualification in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure in favor of holders of a bachelor's degree, the absence of differences in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure depending on the variable years of service, and the absence of differences in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure depending on the variable level of career (Director, Head of Department, and Administrative Officer). The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the management of the Palestinian governmental universities in general and Al-Aqsa University in particular should be given special attention to the organizational structure and modified in a way that achieves the goals of the university and the aspirations of the employees. The universities should have the opportunity to participate in the restructuring of the organizational structure, the importance of solving the problems of employees and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems, and the need to use the method of rotation of employees and periodically. (shrink)