The Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia

The Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia PDF

Author: Afshin Shahi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-04

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1134653263

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Exploring the management of ‘truth’ in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this book aims to investigate the ways in which the official ‘truth’ is constructed and institutionalised in the country. The Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia argues that there are two interrelated notions which articulate the ways in which ‘truth’ is conceptualised in Islam. One, at macro level, constitutes the trans-historical foundational principles of the religion, a set of engrained beliefs, which establish the ‘finality’, and ‘oneness’ of Islam in relation to other competing narratives. The other, at a micro level, takes place internally to find ‘truth’ within the ‘truth’. Unlike Islamic truth at the macro level, which is entrenched, the Islamic truth at the micro level refers to the various attempts by different agencies to claim to have found the ‘truth’ within the ‘truth’. Wahhabism, which is the product of an eighteenth century revivalist movement, is portrayed as the most ‘authentic’ reading of Islam. It is seen as the raison d'être for the prevailing political mechanism in the country and is introduced as an example of truth management at the micro level. Arguing that truth is not born in a power vacuum and often its construction and institutionalisation signify domination in one way or another, this book will be of interest to students of Religion, Politics, and Saudi Politics more specifically.

The Politics of Truth Management

The Politics of Truth Management PDF

Author: Afshin Shahi

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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This study is about the management of 'truth' in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It aims to investigate the ways in which the official 'truth' is constructed and institutionalised in the country. It attempts to critically analyse some of the ways in which the official 'truth' is tailored to rationalise the prevailing model of the distribution of power in Saudi Arabia. This study argues that truth is not born in a power vacuum and often its construction and institutionalisation signify domination in one way or another. Hence, what the management of truth means is, in principle, the management of power, and the quest for truth is the quest for power. The main focus of this study is Wahhabism, which functions as the official 'truth' of the state in Saudi Arabia. Wahhabism, which is the product of an eighteenth century revivalist movement, is portrayed as the most 'authentic' reading of Islam, which provides the raison d'être for the prevailing political mechanism in the country. This thesis puts forward an argument that there are two interrelated notions which articulate the ways in which 'truth' is conceptualised in Islam. One, at macro level, constitutes the trans-historical foundational principles of the religion, a set of engrained beliefs, which establish the 'finality', and 'oneness' of Islam in relation to other competing narratives, and the other at the micro level takes place internally to find 'truth' within the 'truth'. Unlike Islamic truth at the macro level, which is entrenched, the Islamic truth at the micro level refers to the various attempts by different agencies to claim to have found the 'truth' within the 'truth'. Wahhabism is introduced as an example of truth management at the micro level. This study underlines four factors of narrative construction, leadership, socialisation and violence, which are instrumental in the management of truth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia

The Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia PDF

Author: Afshin Shahi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-04

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1134653190

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Exploring the management of ‘truth’ in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this book aims to investigate the ways in which the official ‘truth’ is constructed and institutionalised in the country. The Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia argues that there are two interrelated notions which articulate the ways in which ‘truth’ is conceptualised in Islam. One, at macro level, constitutes the trans-historical foundational principles of the religion, a set of engrained beliefs, which establish the ‘finality’, and ‘oneness’ of Islam in relation to other competing narratives. The other, at a micro level, takes place internally to find ‘truth’ within the ‘truth’. Unlike Islamic truth at the macro level, which is entrenched, the Islamic truth at the micro level refers to the various attempts by different agencies to claim to have found the ‘truth’ within the ‘truth’. Wahhabism, which is the product of an eighteenth century revivalist movement, is portrayed as the most ‘authentic’ reading of Islam. It is seen as the raison d'être for the prevailing political mechanism in the country and is introduced as an example of truth management at the micro level. Arguing that truth is not born in a power vacuum and often its construction and institutionalisation signify domination in one way or another, this book will be of interest to students of Religion, Politics, and Saudi Politics more specifically.

Sufism in Ottoman Damascus

Sufism in Ottoman Damascus PDF

Author: Nikola Pantić

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-09-29

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 100096261X

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Sufism in Ottoman Damascus analyzes thaumaturgical beliefs and practices prevalent among Muslims in eighteenth-century Ottoman Syria. The study focuses on historical beliefs in baraka, which religious authorities often interpreted as Allah's grace, and the alleged Sufi-ulamaic role in distributing it to Ottoman subjects. This book highlights considerable overlaps between Sufis and ʿulamāʾ with state appointments in early modern Province of Damascus, arguing for the possibility of sociologically defining a Muslim priestly sodality, a group of religious authorities and wonder-workers responsible for Sunni orthodoxy in the Ottoman Empire. The Sufi-ʿulamāʾ were integral to Ottoman networks of the holy, networks of grace that comprised of hallowed individuals, places, and natural objects. Sufism in Ottoman Damascus sheds new light on the appropriate scholarly approach to historical studies of Sufism in the Ottoman Empire, revising its position in official early modern versions of Ottoman Sunnism. This book further re-approaches early modern Sunni beliefs in wonders and wonder-working, as well as the relationship between religion, thaumaturgy, and magic in Ottoman Sunni Islam, historical themes comparable to other religions and other parts of the world.

Islamic Law and Society

Islamic Law and Society PDF

Author: Emine Enise Yakar

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1000456420

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This book places context at the core of the Islamic mechanism of iftā’ to better understand the process of issuing fatwās in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, thus highlighting the connection between context and contemporaneity, on one hand, and the adaptable perception of Islamic law, on the other. The practice of iftā’ is one of the most important mechanisms of Islamic law that keeps Islamic thought about ethical and legal issues in harmony with the demands, exigencies and developments of time. This book builds upon the existing body of work related to the practice of iftā’, but takes the discussion beyond the current debates with the intent of unveiling the interaction between Islamic legal methodologies and different environmental contexts. The book specifically addresses the three institutions (Saudi Arabia’s Dār al-Iftā’, Turkey’s Diyanet and America’s FCNA) and their Islamic legal opinions (fatwās) in a comparative framework. This demonstrates the existence of complex and diverse ideas around similar issues within contemporary Islamic legal opinions that is further complicated by the influence of international, social, political, cultural and ideological contexts. The book thus unveils a more complicated range of interactive constituents in the process of the practice of iftā’ and its outputs, fatwās. The work will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Islamic law, Middle Eastern studies, religion and politics.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy

Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy PDF

Author: Neil Partrick

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-02-23

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0857727931

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As the only oil producer with sufficient spare capacity to shape the world economy, Saudi Arabia is one of the most significant states in twenty-first century geopolitics. Despite the enormous potential for Saudi Arabia to play a more robust regional and international role, the Kingdom faces serious internal and external challenges in the form of political incapacity and competition with states such as Iran. In this examination of Saudi Arabia's foreign policy, Gulf expert Neil Partrick, and other regional analysts, address the Kingdom's relations in the Middle East and wider Islamic world, and its engagement with both established and emergent global powers. In doing so, he analyses the factors, ranging from identity politics to Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons that determine the Kingdom's foreign policy. As Saudi Arabia prepares for a generational shift brought about by an ageing leadership, the rapidly changing balance of power in the Middle East offers both great opportunity and great danger. For students of the Middle East and international relations, understanding Saudi Arabia's foreign policy and its engagement with the region and the world is more important than ever.

Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent

Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent PDF

Author: Mamoun Fandy

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9780312210212

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Few books on Saudi Arabia deal with primary sources in examining internal Saudi dissent. In contrast this study relies on field work and the analysis of more than 100 taped sermons by Saudi Islamic activists, examining their personal backgrounds, their rhetoric, and their strategies.