Akbar’s Chamber - Experts Talk Islam
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As any observer of the Islamic world—or regular listener to Akbar’s Chamber—will know, there are a dizzying variety of different forms of Islam. Yet every Muslim who follows one of these different versions believes it represents the true version of the faith. This begs the question of who gets to decide what is, and isn’t, Islam? In other words, who has the religious authority to define Islam? In this episode, we explore the social, historical, and doctrinal dimensions of religious authority through the lenses of anthropology. Step by step, we unpack the key components of religious authority, from revered historic founder figures to their living representatives, along with the crucial components of respected texts and institutions that range from mosques and mystical orders to political parties and states. While looking at Islam from the analytical outside of the social sciences, we also examine how this approach relates to two foundational Islamic concepts: the Sunna (or Model of the Prophet Muhammad) and the Jama‘a (or Muslim Community). Nile Green talks to Ismail Fajrie Alatas, author of What is Religious Authority? Cultivating Islamic Communities in Indonesia (Princeton University Press, 2021).
Chinese Muslims and the Middle East: The Transformation of Islam in Modern China
Sharia and the Modern State: How the British Empire—and its Muslim Subjects—Transformed Islamic Law
The Mongol Storm: How the Mongols Transformed the Middle East
Saintly Infrastructures of Medieval Islam: The Shrine at Torbat-e Jam
A Muslim Book Collector in Late Ottoman Europe
The Many Meanings of Muslim Martyrdom
The Muslims of Sri Lanka: Custodians of Adam’s Footprint
Praising the Prophet in West Africa: The Profound Eloquence of Arabic Madih Poems
The Archaeology of Islam: What Digging Tells us that Reading Doesn’t
The Most Influential Branch of Islam You’ve Never Heard Of: Barelwism
The Architect of Global Jihad: The Exile Life of Abdallah Azzam
Islamic Law across the Indian Ocean: Shafi‘i Debates from Egypt to Indonesia
The Adventures of Joseph in Africa: Swahili Tales of the Prophet Yusuf
A World of Wonders: A Muslim Guidebook to the Cosmos
How Bengalis Became Muslim (and How Islam Became Bengali)
The Meanings of Muslim Mysticism: An Introduction to Classical Sufi Texts
Singapore Islam: How a Commercial Hub became a Muslim Melting Pot
‘The Master of Illumination’: The Teachings of Suhrawardi
God’s Unruly Friends: Rule Breaking World Renouncers of Medieval Islam
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