The Islamic Studies in China:Research in the Field of History

A history of the Islamic studies in China,not only includes studies on world Islam,it also includes research on Islam and Muslims in China.Before the Reform and Opening Up,China did not achieve much in this field,since then,the research field of Islam and Muslim in China has been expanding and the results have been published,forming a new trend.In this field,scholars such as Jin Yijiu,Li Xinghua,Qin Huibin,Zhou Guoli,Sha Qiuzhen,Zhou Xiefan,Wu Yungui,and Yang Huaizhong have made the most outstanding achievements.Especially in the collation of reference books and historical materials,in the past 20 years,The Encyclopedia of the history of Islam,The Chinese Encyclopedia of Islam have emerged,and the Chinese and World Encyclopedia of Islamic Law and other important historical books have been published.This paper focuses on the field of historical research and divided into academic research history at home and abroad,which is discussed from several fields such as general history,special history,national history,and regional history.

The Islamic Religion in Course Curriculums of High School History Textbooks in the Republic of Macedonia

History textbooks can and primarily should contribute to the strengthening of students’awareness of universal human values.However,history textbooks can also deepen the divisions,prejudices,and uncritical attitudes,contrary to the goals of education.The youth population,which is still building and creating their point of view towards the world is the main group in the education process.The learning period,in the elementary,as well as in the secondary education is of utmost importance for the development of every human.To that end,history,through the contents of the past largely shapes our perceptions of every individual,ourselves,and the others.Since we are living in a multiethnic and multi-confessional society,I have decided to conduct an analysis of the teaching contents of high school textbooks related to religion.Another reason for the analysis is the role of religion in the formation of Balkan nations,which have made it one of the key elements of their national identities.It is often given the role of raising and strengthening the national awareness,patriotism,as well as the country homogeneity,which most often leads to forming prejudices,divisions,and discrimination towards people of minority religions.The large volume of content related to the religion,and also the mere fact that Muslims are the second largest religion group in the population,I have decided to analyze the contents which are related only to the Islamic religion.The goal is to look for both the positive and negative sides of those contents in history textbooks in secondary schools,which are backed by state institutions that are supposed to take care of the development of competitive,creative,progressive,and ethically formed human potential.The critical review will give an additional impulse to the efforts of eliminating those parts of the teaching contents that create divisions and prejudices,especially in history textbooks,so that its studying can become the key factor in the building of trust between people of different religions.

Muslim Confucian Philosophy:Islamic-Confucian Dialogue and the Integration of Civilizations

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty,a new theory of learning was created-Muslim Confucian Study(Chinese Islamic Philosophy)-on the basis of Islamic philosophy and under the influence of Confucianism.Wang Daiyu(1570-1660)and Liu Zhi(1660-1739)were two great Huiru(Muslim Confucian)scholars at that time.They published Zhengjiao zhenquan(The real commentary on the tire teaching),Tianfang xingli(Nature and principle in Islam)major books.Their approach is distinguished from that of other Muslim scholars in that they addressed the basic articles of Islamic thought with Confucian terminology and categories.The study deals with the Islamic worldview,and with the practices that make it possible for people to bring themselves into conformity with that worldview.However,the teaching of the Muslim Confucian was continuous with those of Mainstream Islam.In my research,I attempted to answer two questions:(a)How did Muslim Confucian Study Inherit the Mainstream Islamic Thought?(b)What is the value and contribution of the World Islamic philology and civilization?

The Islamic Studies in China-Research in Political and Social Fields

In the research of political and social fields,modern Islamic politics has evolved into three schools of nationalism,modernism and fundamentalism in the 20th century.The research in the field of contemporary Islam involves different countries,nationalities and different economic and political conditions.It is not only the research field of religion,but also has the characteristics of interdisciplinary academic frontier.From the perspective of academic research,these trends have attracted the attention and research of scholars inside and outside the church on Islamic political and social issues.Recently,there have been many problems related to Islam and the current international political life,as well as the research results of Islamic social thoughts and social movements.

Fight Against Poverty From the Islamic Point of View： The Wealth Distribution and Share

Today, poverty is one of the most important problems in the world. This is not only the problem of poor people living in specific regions but also the problem of all people in general. Poverty is expected to decrease as the welfare level increases. The World Bank predicts that extreme poverty will disappear until 2030 but mentions significant hesitations in achieving this objective. Even though extreme poverty will have actually disappeared in 2030, the deep gap between the richest 20% and the poorest 20% will continue to maintain its presence. There are many reasons for poverty arising from individuals such as illiteracy, inexperience, and laziness. However, there are many reasons for poverty beyond the individual such as the management of the capital by a small group of people. While the capital continuously increases under the control of a narrow group, poor community deprived of increasing welfare benefits from it slightly and too late. In this case, the solutions that individuals striving to live below the poverty line can find on their own in order to keep alive remain quite limited. Islam has a shorter term solution for welfare share： Transferring a small amount of high-income group’s wealth to the low-income group. Through this worship called zakat, it is aimed to rid poor people of desperation. It is not theoretically impossible todevelop a method to reduce income inequality by taking the worship of zakat as a model.

Islamic Financing of the Small Projects Palestinian Case

This study aims to expose the available finance by both traditional and Islamic banks in Palestine, determine and identify the most used Islamic tools of finance for the Palestinian economy through small enterprises, in addition, the study aims to assess if there is any contribution of the Islamic banks to the Palestinian economy. In order to reach these goals the researcher used the descriptive analysis method in order to illustrate credit facilities through the Palestinian Banking system, then, enclosing the Islamic banks in Palestine and its credit facilities and used tools. The study identified through the recent experiences of Palestinian Islamic financing and Islamic financing mechanisms practiced in Palestinian Islamic banks, murabaha, ijarah, Musharaka, and mudaraba occupied the same important level as in the neighboring countries. The study found that frequent constraints, Israeli hindrances, and heavy restrictions on goods movement, services and people through internal and international crossings increase the suffering of the small projects, as well as other productive economic sectors at all levels, administrative, financial, and technical, with no Palestinian strategy to enhance the contributing share of small projects to the Palestinian national economy. In addition, the study concluded that the inability of traditional banks to provide the required finance to the Palestinian productive sectors led to Islamic banks entering into the financing market in Palestine to open new funding sources for Palestinian small projects, so the small projects could raise their contribution to GDP. The new Palestinian Islamic financing experience is unable to create financing mechanisms suitable to the Palestinian situation, which has sign for Islamic banks to deal with cases similar to the traditional finance, this comes in the absence of a strategy by Islamic banking or monetary authority or the Palestinian government to activate the role of Islamic banks in financing small projects. For these problems, there must be a strategy to support the activities of these projects and provide appropriate funding for small projects to transcend all these constraints, to support small-sized enterprises in Palestine financially and technically. In this study, the researchers expose the available funding and financing by both Islamic and traditional banks. The study recommends that a comprehensive strategy needs to bring together all financing bodies to have joined efforts towards the formulation of a funding strategy for small projects. Both conventional and Islamic banks are required to provide various types of supports specifically financing for small projects, to enable small projects to play their role in enhancing the national economy. The study also urged the need of Islamic banking to broaden the base of Islamic banking to create a financing base appropriate with the nature of the projects.

Islamic Finance in Theory and Practice

Perspectives of the early scholars of Islamic management of an account concurred that the arrangement of organization partnership in general and Murabah （benefit sharing） specifically is the fundamental technique on which Islamic banks must depend on contributing their money to related assets. Also, the research has found that financing under the Islamic management of an account has decreased intensely from the methodology created by the early scholars. In reality, these banks have received obligation based on financing techniques and underestimated the routines for financing taking into account benefit and loss sharing. This adjustment in financing technique has perversely influenced the bad name and the desire tied with the monetary part of these banks. The study focused on the reason behind the gap between theory and practice in Islamic finance. So, the study was divided in two parts： the first theoretical part of Islamic economy and Islamic banking system, the second practical part by analysing and evaluating the relative distribution of Islamic financing methods in four famous Islamic banks. The study selected a group of Asian Islamic banks as a model for analysis and evaluation through the period from 2012 to 2014. The study concluded that the gaps result from the misuse of the roles and norms of Maqasid Al-Shariah along with the diversion in the relatively allocation of the financing methods toward debt instruments rather than equity instnunents.

The Impact of Social Professional Category Consumer＇s on Acceptance Level Towards Islamic Banking Window

Recently, Islamic banks have been presented as an alternative to conventional banks. Indeed, Islamic banks have proved their worth during the 2009 crisis. They are known like an ethical bank. In Tunisia, only three Islamic banks exist. Even the conventional banks are interested to offer Islamic banking products and services; they are called Islamic banking window. This paper aims to determine the level of acceptance of Islamic banking window on Tunisian consumers and the impact of the social professional category on it. The research questions as follows： Are the consumers familiar with the financial Islamic products？ Did they perceive any differences between conventional and Islamic financial products？ What are the levels of acceptance of an Islamic banking product offered by a conventional bank？ In this respect, a questionnaire was administrated to a sample size of 120 people constituted of 54% men and 46% women from Tunis City. Three types of social professional category are found： 62% employee, 32% senior, and 6% profession. The data were processed by SPSS 21. The results showed that the majority of the respondents have a lack of knowledge of the Islamic banking products. The majority of the respondents don＇t see any differences between the product name of conventional and Islamic banking products. The acceptance level of an Islamic banking product offered by a conventional bank is very satisfying, 53% of the respondents are certain to purchase an Islamic banking product from a conventional bank and 42% are not sure. Only 5% refused.

Packaging Zainab A1-Ghazali： The Gendered Politics of Translation and the Production of ＂Moderate＂ Muslim Sister and Islamism

This paper deals with translation and knowledge production of both an exemplar mould for Islamic woman identity and a cosmetic ＂moderate＂ veneer for Islamism. The paper particularly tackles the question of the visibility of Islamic women in the translational narrative sphere and its implication with respect to both the co-optation of ＂Muslim Sisterhood＂ within the dominant Islamist gender politics and selling political Islam to international politics. Utilizing Baker＇s thesis of translation as re-narration, especially narrative flaming strategies, the paper reads Mokrane Guezzou＇s translation of Zainab al-Ghazali＇s autobiography Return of the Pharaoh： Memoir in Nasir＇s Prison （2006） to examine the framing of al-Ghazali＇s personal narrative and its implications for furthering the Middle Eastern democratization march （in response to Bush＇s ＂Freedom Agenda＂）, while keeping the Muslim Brothers＇ gender politics intact. The paper＇s argument is the gendered politics of Guezzou＇s translation and their influence on the transnational and international spheres. Firstly, in tune with the expectation of the transnational constituency of Muslim Brothers＇ readership, al-Ghazali＇s personal and self-aggrandizing narrative is packaged and re-framed within the public narrative of the Muslim Brothers＇ gender/gendered ethos to co-opt her politicized inscription of ＂Muslim Sisterhood＂ within the Muslim Brothers＇ male-ranked organizational structure and thereby reproduce the mould of a ＂moderate＂ Muslim sister. The individualistic leaning of the narrative is transposed onto the meta-narratives of the Exodus in ancient times and Holocaust in modem times. The female imprint of the narrative is suppressed onto the conflict between militant masculinities with Nasir centerstaged in the title, referenced as the pharaoh, and semantically associated with Hitler and fascism in the translator＇s note. Her gender agency is de-framed and her visibility and access to organizational rank is harnessed to her social identity in marriage and her subscription to and fulfillment of the masculine constructed and assessed criteria of ＂virtue, piety and modesty＂ （Guezzou, 2006, p. ix）. Secondly, in line with the changing dynamics of geo-strategic realities, the translational renarration contributes to configuring the race-based underpinning of Arab exceptionalism onto the compatibility of （the ＂purely political＂ and hence ＂moderate＂） Islamism with democracy through projecting the Muslim Brotherhood＇s anti-fascist, democratic, modern/moderate and gender inclusive image. After all, Islamic women＇s visibility is a testament of feminism capable of redeeming Islamism and selling ＂moderate＂ political Islam to international politics/readership.

The Emergence of Islamic Economics and Finance Education in Indonesia

Islamic banks and finance have appeared over the last two decades in Indonesia and been viewed as having significant growth in terms of numbers of new Islamic banks established in Indonesia. This enlargement is in line with high growth in Islamic economics and finance education. There exist various institutes and universities offering courses related to Islamic economics and finance including Islamic banks. This paper explains the growth and development of Islamic banking and financial industries from 1992 to the 21 st century in Indonesia in terms of education, trends, and challenges. However, the rapid development in the global financial markets poses various challenges to Islamic banking particularly in education of Islamic economics and finance in the present era. These issues and challenges need to be addressed very carefully in order to offer ideal human resources in Islamic banks and financial industries and sustain the rapid growth it experienced before. This paper highlights various developments, issues, and challenges confronting the Islamic banking and finance education system to offer recommendation for further improvement.

Factors Influencing Information Disclosure by Malaysian State Islamic Religious Councils: Evidence from Interviews

This paper aims to identify factors that influence the expectations of a wide range of stakeholders on the information disclosure in the Malaysian State Islamic Religious Councils(SIRC)annual reports,employing semi-structured interviews.The majority of interviewees perceived accounting standards as the main factor contributing to their expectations and further influenced the reporting practices among accountants in SIRC.Others are state fatwa(Islamic rulings),audit expectations,and individual perceptions.The result of the interviews revealed that on the top of accounting standards and government guidelines on the reporting for all government agencies,SIRC should take into account their greater accountability,which should be reflected in their reporting practices.Therefore,Islamic accountability through fatwa,audit expectations,and public demands could be considered.Such awareness is important in SIRC,to differentiate them from other government agencies.The existence of governance is similar to the board of members in a company,in SIRC through the fatwa committee.Therefore,this study suggests that the extent and quality of disclosure depends on the demand from the regulators,auditors,and funders.The findings suggest that SIRC should have an incentive to provide more information to satisfy various stakeholders’needs.Future studies can be carried out to suggest a set of disclosure items that should be disclosed in the SIRC annual reports in order to increase the level of disclosure,discharging their accountability.

Exploring Namrk Kemal’s Understanding of European Concepts: An Islamic-European Synthesis or a Reversion Back to “True” Islam

A simple reading of the Ottoman history during the 19th century displays a diverse ray of intellectual thought and discussion. The so-called clash between Islam and European political structures was a serious debate within the Empire: one that was usually polarized along the lines of progressives and conservatives. Namik Kemal through his writings aimed to overcome the dichotomous view between Islam and European political and social concepts through a reversion to what he called “true” Islamic understanding and principles. Namrk Kemal throughout his writings touches upon and interprets many different European concepts and their relationship with Islam. This paper examines Namrk Kemal’s observation of three European ideals:“sovereignty of the people”,“nation”, and “parliamentarianism”. The study argues that Namrk Kemal understands and interprets these concepts in a manner that creates a harmonious relationship with Islam. The paper utilizes different writings of Namik Kemal to comprehend how he understands the above-mentioned concepts. The study is mainly based on Namrk Kemal’s primary works and specifically on Kemal’s writings on sovereignty, nation, and parliamentarianism in the Ibret Gazette.

Bankers＇ Views Towards Islamic Banking and Islamic Marketing： The Case of Libyan Main Wahda Bank in Benghazi City

The research topic of this paper is about the transformation process of Libyan Main Wahda Bank to Islamic Banking, and how Islamic Marketing has been practiced in this bank. The study aims to investigate bankers＇ views towards Islamic Banking and Islamic Marketing practices in Benghazi City. Few interviews with bankers were conducted to design the research instrument, which validated and circulated to bankers responsible for Islamic Banking affairs at Wahda Bank. Data were collected and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences （SPSS）. Tests of normality mean scores, T-test, Anova, Correlations and Reliability Analysis were all used in this research paper. The key finding is that there is a consensus among participants that the bank faces numerous challenges including： cultural obstacles, insufficient regulations, increasing environmental challenges, weaknesses of higher authorities responsible for banking affairs, weakness of technology, and poor administrative performances. The study exhibited low level of customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products marketed. The study urges the need to develop a governmental Islamic banking strategy to focus on spreading Islamic Banking and Islamic Marketing culture. Learning from leading Islamic countries＇ experiences would be a critical future step to develop Libyan banks＇ practices. It also advises reconsidering the current banking legislations, and explaining their implications properly. Islamic Marketing and customer satisfaction measurement should be given a priority in bank＇s future strategies. Finally, the paper concludes with research limitations, implications and suggests future research.

The Reconcilability Between Islamic and the Conventional Banking

Tensions between Western and Islamic traditions are very fierce in evidence currently. Many see the two systems as irreconcilable and the conflict between the two as inevitable （Huntingdon ＆ Berger, 2002）. This paper argues if reconcilability between Islam and the West exists in the field of finance and if the two systems can co-evolve in a mutually productive way, then, the author can be optimistic about the ability of the two systems to co-exist. Clearly, they involve different attitudes, but this paper argues on the basis of significant compatibility issues that these are resolvable under the tradition of tolerance that has existed in Western and Islamic societies. The context chosen for this analysis is finance which is central to global capitalism and is an area in which key differences of principle and practice exist between Islam and the West.

Qatar as an Emerging Islamic Finance Hub

The principal objectives of this research are to provide information, commentary, and analysis of the potential opportunities for Qatar in developing its Islamic financial services and industry. This research examines how competitive Qatar is today and its future prospects in Islamic finance. This research provides policy makers and Islamic finance stakeholders with a superior understanding of the role of the key competitive factors in Islamic fmance. It is anticipated that this research will influence the growth and diversification of Islamic financial services in Qatar.

Economic Engagement of Religious Ethics in the Global Economy： The Raising of Islamic Capital in an Anatolian City, Kayseri as a New Economic Power

This study attempts to clarify the role of religious values in the rise of new pious Muslim entrepreneurs in Turkey, based on field study carried out in Kayseri of 1980 to present. It particularly attempts to account for the influence of religion over the work ethic of these entrepreneurs, popularly known as ＂Anatolian Tigers＂. To achieve the goals of this research, in-depth interviews were held with 30 Turkish business people from religious and secular backgrounds. The new pious middle class is engaged in forming its own path of modernity by directly addressing the needs that are ignored by the secular republican project and its elites. The case of Turkey indicates that Westernization is not the only possible path to modernity. This new development, if it indeed continues, may prove to be one of the most important transformations determining the future of Turkey. Numerous books and articles have been published on Islamic economics but there is no details works on which provide a qualitative overview of the dynamics for the evolution of Turkish ＂Islamic capital＂. There has been little published material which assesses the acceptability of a pro-oriented system of ~conomic life to the values and moral code of the Turkish people. The Turkish situation offers a comprehensive picture of what Islamic capital can encompass, such as Islamic partnerships, holdings, banks, and business associations, and also how it can be effectively integrated within the democratic framework by adapting a ＂Muslim ethics＂ compatible with capitalism. The main aims of this study are to evaluate the social, economic, and the cultural factors, which contributed to the development of these ＂Islamist Calvinists＂ and their economic organizations in Central Anatolia. The result of this study shows the compatibility of the work ethic of pious entrepreneurs with capitalism in the case of Kayseri. This paper also illustrates the impact of local heritage and Islamic religious values on modern economic activity.

Idiosyncracies of Democracy： Islamic Societies

The supposedly unique impact of Islamic culture on democracy has been debated by various scholars. While some argue that it has a deleterious effect, others explain why its effect is not any more negative than other religions. Some even argue that there is no reason to assume Islam has a negative impact on democracy at all. The results of empirical studies are equally confusing. While some support the negative view of Islam, others actually demonstrate its positive effect on democracy. This article contributes to this debate by focusing its attention on the often-neglected distinction between electoral and liberal democracies, comparing Islamic societies with the rest of the world. Its findings demonstrate that the religion of Islam cannot be used to explain the seeming lack of the growth of democracy among Islamic societies.

Organizational Justice and Gender Equity:The Contingent Effect of Islamic Work Ethics

Organizations are facing challenges to cope with gender equity in the presence of a diverse workforce.The present study investigates the moderating impact of Islamic work ethics on the organizational justicegender equity relationship.Self-administered questionnaires were sent to employees working in a large private university in a State of Qatar.This study collected data from 250 employees with 66.12%response rate.The present study employed structural equation modelling to analyse data in SmartPLS 3.0 and SPSS version 24.Empirical findings revealed the significant relationship of distributive justice and interactional justice with gender equity.Procedural justice did not relate to gender equity.Furthermore,Islamic work ethics also moderated the relationship of interactional justice with gender equity.Limitations and implications have been added at the end of paper.This study is first in its nature revealing the conditional factor of Islamic work ethics on the organizational justicegender equity relationship.

School health promotion:A cross-sectional study on Clean and Healthy Living Program Behavior(CHLB)among Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia

Objective:This study aims to identify the knowledge,attitude,and behavior of students using eight indicators of Clean and Healthy Living Behavior(CHLB)in relation to the health education and grade levels in Islamic Boarding Schools(IBS)in Jember regency,East Java Province,Indonesia.Methods:A cross-sectional school-based survey design was used.About 114 students(mean age of 13.17 years old)selected through a multi-stage random sampling completed a selfadministered questionnaire to measure the eight indicators of CHLB,such as washing hands with running water and soap,eating healthy snacks,using clean and healthy latrines,exercising regularly and measurably,eradicating mosquito larvae,not smoking at school,weighing and height measurement every 6 months,and disposing garbage properly.The data analyses included descriptive and comparative analyses of the difference in knowledge,attitude,and behavior toward CHLB by health education and grade level.Results:About 66.7% students received health education.Significant knowledge in CHLB in relation to health education and grade was observed(P<.05),including in-depth knowledge of exercises,measurable weight and height,smoking,and healthy latrines.Meanwhile,no significant difference was observed between the attitude toward CHLB and health education in different grade levels.Furthermore,CHLB was associated with health education,including habitual exercise and using of clean and healthy latrines.

Islamic Banks Impaired Financing： Relationship Between Shariah Committee Meetings Frequency and Shariah Risks Compliance on Assets Quality

This study made a pioneering attempt to econometrically examine what factors determining impaired financing using shariah committee meetings frequency from data on Islamic banks in Malaysia and how does it affects on the quality of assets. The objective of the study is to improve assessment of their assets quality so as to increase the reliability of the financial statements. The European Central Bank may find the findings from this study useful in their exercise to assess risks and assets quality of their commercial banks, a move to tackle the ailing banks in centralizing oversight supervision in late 2014. The major components of the Islamic banks＇ assets quality are impaired financing and provisions for financing impairment. In the Islamic banks, shariah committee principally manages the shariah risks non-compliance with other risks; however because their management is not straightforward, the study uses the shariah committee meetings frequency as an indicator of the assets quality. The study found the less-than-full frequency of shariah committee meetings resulted in less guidance and conformation of shariah principles, and consequentially the quality of the assets.