YOUTH AND SPORTS IN ALGERIA’S DIPLOMATIC STRUGGLE FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION (1957–1962) JAKOB KRAIS Based on coverage in El Moudjahid, the paper of the independence movement, the article studies the role that youth, in particular...
moreYOUTH AND SPORTS IN ALGERIA’S DIPLOMATIC STRUGGLE FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION (1957–1962)
JAKOB KRAIS
Based on coverage in El Moudjahid, the paper of the independence movement, the article studies the role that youth, in particular student associations, and sports, exemplified by Algeria’s national football team, played during the Algerian war of independence. Youth and sports were central elements in the complex diplomatic struggle for international recognition that the nationalist leadership conducted at a time of Cold War rivalry and the emergence of the Third World movement, in which Algeria became an important actor. Youth and sports served to raise awareness for the Algerian cause in global public opinion and were a means to interact with non-state actors in the face of hostile governments. Apart from that, the importance of youth groups can be explained by their role in the development of a modern middle class in Algeria prior to the war, which would then lead the nationalist movement.
'ABD AL-RAZZAQ AL-QASHANI’S (D. 736/1335?) SUFI HERMENEUTICS IN TA'WILAT AL-QUR'AN: THE BASMALA AS A CASE STUDY
ISMAIL LALA
ABSTRACT
Despite being a prolific Sufi theorist of vertiginous stature, the fame of 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Qashanı in the West relies chiefly on his commentary of Mu'yı al-Dın ibn 'Arabı’s (d. 634/1240) Fusus al-'ikam. In many quarters, al-Qashanı’s linearisation and formalisation of Ibn 'Arabı’s dauntingly recondite metaphysics still signifies nothing but a true representation of the Andalusian’s intended meaning. However, recent scholarship casts doubt over such a depiction of this Sufi: Is al-Qashanı only a steadfast commentator of Ibn 'Arabı? Or do his own mystical ideas percolate through the framework of Ibn 'Arabı’s Sufi weltanschauung?
This article confronts these issues in the context of the basmala. Instances of hermeneutic digression and interpretive licence are showcased and the reasons for them examined. It will be shown that the disciple, though frequently endeavouring to merely clarify his shaykh’s spiritual unveilings, oftentimes splices them with his own mystical insights in ostensibly irenic manoeuvres.
TURKISH–SAUDI RELATIONS: COOPERATION OR RIVALRY?
EFRAT AVIV
ABSTRACT
Turkey and Saudi Arabia are not natural allies, with their relationship overshadowed by many factors, including their historical rivalry during the Ottoman era; their respective relations with Iran, Egypt, and the Muslim Brotherhood; and the largely negative view of Saudi Arabia held by Turks. Yet relations between the two countries, both Sunni, have recently become stronger, to the extent of creating a formal (anti-Shiite) alliance. This article surveys the common interests driving this rapprochement, and examines the tensions that threaten it. It concludes that the relationship serves a short-term pragmatic purpose, but is restricted in its long-term potential.
