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Kategorie: English

Hussein Muruwwa dressed as a "Shaykh" or "Mujtahid" and "secular" 0

The Red Mujtahid: Hussein Muruwwa’s Synthesis of Islamic Heritage and Revolutionary Marxism

Hussein Muruwwa (1908-1987) developed a materialist hermeneutics that challenged the false choice between cultural authenticity and revolutionary transformation facing postcolonial Arab intellectuals. His monumental work al-Nazʿat al-Madiyya demonstrates that historical materialism can unlock revolutionary potential within Islamic heritage by treating turath as a dynamic historical product rather than a static spiritual legacy. Against both Orientalist dismissals that portrayed Islam as inherently backward and Salafist idealizations that romanticized an ahistorical golden age, Muruwwa’s dialectical analysis revealed indigenous rationalist and progressive tendencies within Arab-Islamic philosophy. His synthesis proves that postcolonial revolutionaries need not abandon their cultural foundations to pursue radical social change, offering crucial insights into how traditional knowledge systems can serve rather than impede liberation struggles.

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Best Paper Award: Socialism and Communism in the MENA-Region

Best Paper Award: Wer bis zum 01.10.2025 einen Text zum Thema Sozialismus/ Kommunismus in der MENA-Region einreicht, kann bis zu 500 € gewinnen!
Alle bis zum Beitragsschluss eingesendeten Texte, die den redaktionellen Vorgaben entsprechen, werden einem ‘Double-Blind Peer Review’ unterzogen und in diesem bewertet. Dises wird von externen, qualifizierten Wissenschaftler:innen durchgeführt. Der beste Text erhält 500 €, der zweitbeste 250 €, und der drittbeste 125 €. Außerdem werden alle Texte, die das Peer Review erfolgreich durchlaufen, auf unserem Blog veröffentlicht und erhalten eine DOI.

Arabian Woman and child 1896 1

Children in vulnerable positions in the 19th century Ottoman Empire

The text deals with the abuse of power towards children in the late Ottoman Empire. It shows that children were often in vulnerable positions, especially orphans and half-orphans, and that their fate was often the subject of public debate and political action. The situation of orphan girls was particularly precarious, as social, moral, financial and political constraints often prevented mothers from protecting their children. Whereas the government did not interfere in early forced marriages of girls, it became active in the religious identity of foundlings and forced conversions, especially in the context of increasing social and religious diversity and Western influence in the 19th century.

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Pro-Iranian militias in Mosul: Between stability and destabilization

After the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in 2017, Mosul was largely left in ruins. Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias that initially helped to defeat IS gained a foothold in the city and became increasingly involved in the profitable field of reconstruction. The most powerful of these militias are Shiʿa and pro-Iranian, whereas the Mosul area is predominantly Sunni territory. Taking the sectarian organization of Iraq into account, this article looks at the involvement of Shiʿa militias in the reconstruction of Mosul and the possible implications this could have on the region’s stability.