This book argues that the late Ottoman constitutional reforms (i) were carried out as a consequence of the metamorphosis of the Empire into a modern state, (ii) were considerably in favour of the bureaucratic class, (iii) were paying regard to the expectations of the Ottoman and the Western public, and most importantly (iv) had been in conformity with Islamic jurisprudence. The constitutional reforms in the late Ottoman Empire on fundamental rights and freedoms were an idiosyncratic reflection of a trans-regional political paradigm shift.
This book offers a comparative and critical introduction to the various major social theories and methods with an emphasis on the implicit assumptions upon which they are founded. It aims to go beyond the conventional theories and methods in the social sciences that are colored with Eurocentrism. It attempts to teach the reader not only the existing theories but also the art of theory-building.
History testifies that Muslims are successful in diversity management. Islamic polity has never aimed to build a community exclusively for Muslims; instead, Muslims built an Open Civilization from Andalusia to India where people from different cultures lived together. Islamic law has taken adamiyyah (humanity regardless of religion) as the subject of Islamic la to which rights and duties are accorded. This tradition, originating from
This chapter examines whether the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provided a concrete background to illuminate the preludes to the Arab Spring by focusing on the experiences of Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. It first considers the common features of the Arab Spring in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen before discussing the implementation of the MDGs in those countries.