This article examines the influence of Islamic thought on the development of political worldviews. The article recounts the evolution of classical principles from the fundamental works of Al-Farabi and Ibn Khaldun, whose writings gave early frameworks for moral leadership and empirical political analysis, to current research facing contemporary governance issues. Drawing on primary texts and extensive scholarly literature, the study first contextualizes the historical deliberations on governance, space, and authority in the Islamic tradition. It then explores how these foundational principles have been inherited and reinterpreted to orient current sociopolitical dynamics, and finally, it offers a comparative analysis with Western political thought in the era of globalization. The findings underscore that an understanding of classical Islamic political philosophy enriches contemporary debates on statecraft and facilitates a critical reassessment of dominant Western narratives. The study advocates for an integrated framework that bridges traditional insights with modern imperatives, thereby enhancing cross-cultural understanding and contributing to the discourse on global political reform.
This study examines the intricate nexus between Iranian religious instrumentalization and Iraqi political dynamics in the post-2003 era. Employing a realist theoretical framework, the analysis investigates how Iran systematically exploits sectarian affiliations and ideological convergences to pursue its geopolitical objectives and project regional hegemony. The research delineates the mechanisms through which Iran exercises religious soft power and examines the consolidation of Shi'a political ascendancy in post-Ba'athist Iraq. Through systematic analysis of Iranian patronage networks and proxy organizations, this investigation evaluates the modalities of Iranian religious influence penetration within Iraqi political structures. While acknowledging the instrumental utility of religious discourse in contemporary statecraft, the study critically assesses the limitations inherent in realist analytical frameworks, particularly their tendency to marginalize grassroots mobilization and cross-cultural dynamics. The findings contribute to scholarly understanding of the multifaceted interplay between religious identity, political authority, and state behavior in the contemporary Middle Eastern context, as conceptualized through the lens of structural realism. This research offers empirical insights into the evolving patterns of transnational religious influence and its implications for regional security architecture.
This article is about women in the media in Indonesia in general and Muslim women in particular from Islamic dakwah perspectives. Generally, the media images of women have strengthened their position as inferior beings. The media in general have portrayed the images of women as the objects in the world dominated by men in their advertisements, the soap opera, as well as the coverages by some journalists. The negative and inferior status and position of women in the media should be improved based on Islamic da`wah perspectives. Since Allah has created men and women to live on this world planet in peaceful conditions as demanded by Him. This article explores Islamic da`wah perspectives for Muslim women and non-Muslim women in Indonesian media. For Muslim women, they are to be portrayed and presented in the media by referring to some verses of the Holy Quran and based on the status and position of Muslim women in the Muslim early historical period.
In the context of Halal tourism emerging as a strategic global segment characterized by rapid growth and heightened demands for cultural and religious identity, the development of Muslim-friendly destinations has become increasingly imperative for many countries, including Vietnam. However, Vietnam currently lacks an official set of criteria to assess the Halal compatibility of destinations, posing challenges for destination management, marketing, and service quality improvement. This study proposes a framework of evaluation criteria for Halal tourism destinations in Vietnam, constructed through a mixed-method approach that integrates the three-round Delphi technique and the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The research results identify six main groups of criteria and 31 sub-criteria, each assigned specific weights to reflect their relative importance in the destination selection behavior of Muslim travelers. The proposed framework aligns with Vietnam's current institutional, cultural, and infrastructural conditions and contributes to guiding destination governance towards inclusiveness, multiculturalism, and sustainable competitiveness in the international tourism market.
In diverse Indonesia, the use of pigs as dowry in Dani Muslim marriages is a culturally significant practice; it serves as a powerful medium of confluence between Islam and local custom. Although pork consumption is considered haram in Islam, Dani Muslims still raise pigs and use them in various rituals. This article specifically discusses the cultural reasons for using pigs as dowry in Dani Muslim marriages. The data used for analyses were collected through ethnographic methods, including observations, interviews, and literature study. The study findings show that Dani Muslims use pigs as matrimonial dowry on account of three underlying reasons. First, a cultural reason in which pigs are considered an inseparable part of Dani culture and regarded to have close cultural ties with human beings, where they are even viewed as a sacred animal. Second, a political reason wherein pigs serve as power of identity that can be employed as a tool of intertribal diplomacy and conflict resolution. Third, an economic reason in which pigs hold a significant function for maintaining the tribe's daily life sustenance and as a tool of transactions, particularly for paying dowries. This article emphasizes that the use of pigs as dowry is a middle ground in the attempt at combining two practices: religious and customary. The resilience of Dani Muslims in preserving their custom of using pigs proved dilemmatic when they face conditions imposed by their professed religion, i.e., pigs are prohibited by Islam.
