The Concepts of Dār al-Islām and Dār al-Ḥarb and their Role in the Contemporary Global Ǧihād in the Understanding of Riḍwān al-Sayyid

Sawadogo, Augustin (2017) The Concepts of Dār al-Islām and Dār al-Ḥarb and their Role in the Contemporary Global Ǧihād in the Understanding of Riḍwān al-Sayyid. Licentiate thesis, Pontificio Istituto di Studi Arabi E d’Islamistica PISAI.

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Abstract

Nowadays, terrorist attacks have become known worldwide and it appears that anybody anywhere can be a victim. This situation leads more than one to ask the question: ‘why do they hate us’? Based on this question, two more may be asked. Firstly, who are ‘they’? Secondly, who are ‘us’? In other words, what are the reasons that so angered ‘terrorists’ and what could be the objectives of this practice of terror? All these questions raised my desire to study the relation between the two concepts of the territory of Islam (dar al islam) and the territory of war (dar al-harb) and their role in the contemporary global gihad according to the understanding of professor Ridwan al-Sayyid, to whom I will be referring as ‘my author’. In order to make a fair analysis of al-Sayyid’s reading of this worldwide situation, this study comprises three chapters. In the first chapter, since my author is a Lebanese, I will be offering a historical review of Lebanon in order to situate the environment in which al-Sayyid was born and in which he is working. As we shall see, Lebanon’s history is marked by events similar to those of my topic of study. Those events to be studied appear on one hand as consequences and on the other hand as causes of the relation that exists between the two concepts and gihad. The second chapter is my English translation of an Arabic text taken from one of my author’s books entitled: Siyasiyyat al-Islam al-mu‘asir: muraga‘at wa-mutaba‘at (‘The Politics of Contemporary Islam: Revisions and Follow Ups’) published in 1997. The translated text, which I will be referring to as ‘the text’, can be divided into two major parts. In the first part, the author shows how the definition of the two concepts engendered a discussion between three Sunni schools. Consequently, depending on how each school defined the two concepts, gihad and higra got connected or separated and were practiced or discouraged throughout the history of the spread of Islam, mainly in Islamic India, Algeria, Sudan and Libya during the European colonization. Consequently, at the level of territory, my author considers colonialism as one of the major causes of the disappearance of dar al-Islam in favour of the nation-state system of governance. However, at the conceptual level, the two concepts continued to exist even though undergoing significant changes in how they are interpreted and understood. In the second part of the text, my author shows that Muslims struggled in vain to find a substitute for dar al-Islam as a symbol of unity of the umma (Muslim community). Consequently, militant Muslims in modern time took up the task of bringing back dar al-Islam through violent acts that we call here ‘terrorism’. In the third chapter I will argue that the causes and consequences of the relation between the two concepts and gihad constitute the origin and objectives of violent terrorism which, since it is being carried out worldwide, is termed as global gihad.

Item Type: Thesis (Licentiate)
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology > BV1460 Religious Education
Divisions: Africana
Depositing User: JHI Africa
Date Deposited: 02 Aug 2018 09:07
Last Modified: 02 Aug 2018 09:07
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/8336

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