Thought and society

What drives Muslim women to buy the hijab? A survey of 603 Malay Muslim women at four universities finds religiosity, satisfaction, dress style and sources of information all matter.

Cited 48 timesRead the paper: Integrating Factors Influencing Hijab Purchase Intention Among Muslim Women

Al-Biruni's study of the religions of India: scientific accuracy about the other alongside firmness in his own faith, an early model of dialogue between religions and civilisations.

Cited 16 timesRead the paper: Understanding the 'Other': The Case of Al-Biruni (973-1048 AD)

The Algerian thinker Abdallah Sharit's reading of Ibn Khaldun: Arab societies still ruled by 'asabiyya and the struggle for power, and how far Khaldunian concepts explain the Arab world today. A Turkish version appeared in İbn Haldun Çalışmaları Dergisi (2017).

Cited 5 timesRead the paper: Ibn Khaldun's Political Thought and Relevance: Abdallah Sharit's Critical Perspective

A survey of one hundred hijab-wearing students at the University of Malaya: is the hijab a religious commitment or a fashion? Most wear it out of faith, and accept new styles as long as the hijab itself is kept.

Cited 81 timesRead the paper: Is Hijab a Fashion Statement? A Study of Malaysian Muslim Women

Charity (sadaqa) in Islam as a means of spiritual purification and a foundation of social and economic sustainability, with a framework for research on Islamic philanthropy.

Cited 59 timesRead the paper: Ethico-Spiritual Dimensions of Charity: An Islamic Perspective

Debt in Islam: its spiritual and moral weight for borrower and lender, and the religious measures that ease a debtor's distress while protecting the lender's rights and the community's dignity.

Cited 39 timesRead the paper: Enduring Financial Debt: An Islamic Perspective

How Islam understands sustainability in societies of many religions, and what its spiritual, moral and legal values bring to coexistence, cohesion and development.

Cited 37 timesRead the paper: Sustainability in Multi-Religious Societies: An Islamic Perspective

How Islamic art draws on Islamic spirituality, why art tells as much about a civilisation's standing as its politics or economy, and how the two have shaped and sustained each other.

Cited 20 timesRead the paper: Islamic Art and the Ethos of Spirituality within a Civilizational Context

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas as architect: his design for the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) in Kuala Lumpur and its blend of Malay, Moorish, Roman and Greek elements.

Cited 10 timesRead the paper: Al-Attas's Works and Contributions to the Islamic Architecture in Malaysia

Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali on faith and change: belief that drives renewal in harmony with reason, human freedom and the laws of nature, and his call to reform how theology is taught.

Cited 4 times

The knowledge, method and ethics a historian of Islam needs, from law and hadith to an open mind, drawing on Ibn Khaldun and other Muslim historians.

The factors that weakened objectivity in the writing of Islamic history, and a method that joins the criticism of chains of transmission with the criticism of historical texts. Published in Arabic; an English version appeared as "Islamic Historical Writing: A Critical Analysis", Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research (2013).

Read the paper: The Methodology of Writing Islamic History: A Critical Analysis

The phrase “sons of Isaac” in Abu Hurayrah's narration in Sahih Muslim on the conquest of Constantinople; the conflict with other narrations is only apparent, not real.

Read the paper: Children of Isaac or Ishmael? A Critical Examination of Abu Hurayrah's Narration on the Conquest of Constantinople

Social reform needs a worldview: Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali on theology and reform, the Qur’an's way of building belief, and the need for a new way of teaching it.

Read the paper: Scholastic Theology and Social Reform in Muslim Society: Shaykh Ghazali's Approach

The rich intellectual life of the Almohads, long obscured by debate over Ibn Tumart's claim to be the Mahdi and the campaign against Malikism, and their place in the learning of the Maghreb.

Read the paper: The Intellectual Developments during the Almohad Dynasty (1130-1269)