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In: Journal of Digital Islamicate Research
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In: Journal of Digital Islamicate Research

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review the concepts of centre and peripheries in Mediterranean Islamic art during the late Middle Ages. Traditionally, the idea of a unique Eastern production centre was widespread in historiographical debates; however, in the framework of current research projects, the need to review the well-established concepts of centre and peripheries has been identified.

In this context, this paper considers the geographical distribution of muqarnaṣ in the Mediterranean basin between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries from the Almoravid period. In this framework, a double aspect has been analysed to examine: 1) how muqarnaṣ spread from the Almoravid Empire to other Mediterranean areas, and 2) if those Western muqarnaṣ can be related to the Eastern ones or if, on the contrary, they can be considered an independent manifestation of a new production centre located in an area traditionally considered peripheral.

To achieve this aim, a geodatabase including the Mediterranean muqarnaṣ ensembles has been created. Different categorised analyses have been developed with a Geographic Information System (GIS), as well as an element concentration analysis, with the Heatmap plugin in the QGIS software, to determine where the centres with the highest concentrations of muqarnaṣ are located. On the basis of the different analyses, innovative cartographic materials have been developed and are included in the study. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the traditional view of a unique production centre in the case of muqarnaṣ should be discarded.

In: Journal of Digital Islamicate Research

Abstract

This study explores the topic of spousal duties within the Arab-Muslim world, using a corpus of fatwa inquiries to investigate how Muslim spouses perceive and negotiate their rights and duties within the marital relationship. Acknowledging the complexity of the causes underlying the failure to fulfill spousal rights, this study capitalizes on the rewarding potentials of digital tools by examining the questions posed by the mustaftīs (inquirers). A corpus of 150,000 fatwas, drawn from Islamweb.net and encapsulating approximately 11 million tokens, serves as the data for our analysis. Using the semantic network tool ConceptNet, a lexicon delineating spousal rights is created and employed to assess the prominence and relationships of certain themes in the dataset. Central themes – treatment, housing, financial support, sexual relationship, and obedience – emerge as the primary axes for examining the nuances of marital obligations and rights. The findings reveal the nuanced interplay between traditional norms and contemporary religious discourse, with implications for understanding gender roles and authority within Arab-Muslim marriages. The study confirms that while Shariʿah offers a foundational framework, there remains a need for context-specific interpretation, often sought through fatwa consultations. The study also underscores the potential of corpus linguistics to deepen our understanding of religious texts and their application to modern marital issues, advocating for further research into fatwas across different languages and cultures.

In: Journal of Digital Islamicate Research

Abstract

This article explores how the concepts of ʿilm and adab (knowledge and exemplary behavior) merged in formative Arabic literature and reached Al-Andalus. Originating in a proto-Sunni cultural milieu, different works were recycled across the Islamic world, giving rise to new literary adaptations and patterns of meaning. With the use of computational analysis, the data has revealed juxtaposed reuse practices. This contribution has found that early Andalusi works initially mirrored Eastern sources, gradually transitioning into a more specialized form of knowledge and performance, based on the legitimization of the authority of scholars during the challenging Taifa period.

In: Journal of Digital Islamicate Research

الملخص

‫تُعَدُّ المدنُ التاريخيةُ مساحاتٍ ثقافيةٍ، ذاتِ مرجعيةٍ قيميَّةٍ مزدوجةٍ، اجتماعية واقتصادية، لذلك تتأثر بتحولات النظم الاجتماعية – التقنية الحضرية، ولا سيما في سياق الاستخدام المتزايد للنظم والفواعل التقنية غير البشرية التي قد تؤدي للازدهار الاقتصادي أحياناً، أو إلى تدهور المساحات الحضرية، وعزلها عن سياقها لصالح التحديث في أحيان أخرى. وهذا هو ما سيتم تقييمه من خلال القيمة الإنتاجية الحضرية.‬

‫لذلك، وانطلاقاً من المرجعية القيمية الاجتماعية للثقافة، يستعير البحث عدسة الجغرافيا الثقافية لتأويل المدينة كنصٍّ اجتماعي، وفكِّ رموزه، من خلال نموذج ثلاثي يضم معايير قيميَّة مزدوجة، اجتماعية وأيديولوجية، ذات أداء اقتصادي، ويناقش التركز المكاني لهذه القيم، وفق أنساق وتكتلات منهجية على الأرض، تتفاوت في كثافتها وحجمها وامتدادها، بالاعتماد على الاستبانات الاجتماعية الوصفية.‬

‫تتوصل الدراسة التحليلية، اعتماداً على الإطار القِيَمَيِّ الثقافي، إلى حدود المناطق الثقافية، والاتجاهات المكانية للتفاعل بين البنى التحتية الثقافية، وتراكباتها التي تدمج جميع المقاييس الجغرافية في إطار العولمة، أو تأخذ التنوع الاجتماعي في الحسبان. فعكست الهياكل الأساسية (البنى التحتية) الحضرية جزءاً من الآلية السياسية الحيوية لمدينة دمشق، المعتمدة على ركائز الإنتاجية الحضرية، المرتبطة بأنماط الإنتاج، وروابط الإنتاج.‬

‫ناقش البحثُ علاقة إنتاج المكان، وإنتاج التشكيلات الاجتماعية، ضمن مدينة دمشق التاريخية، من خلال ركائز الإنتاجية الحضرية الاقتصادية، التي تضمنت البنى التحتية للمناطق الثقافية، على اعتبار أن المدن هي مُنتَج وليس قطعةً أثريةً، حيث يكون لكل منتج قيمة قابلة للتبادل، مادياً أو معنوياً. وأظهرت دراسة التحول من خلال عامل التقدم التقني، في مناطق المداخلات على البنى التحتية، المرتبطة بالقيم الثقافية، أن التحولات على عوامل الإنتاجية الحضرية، من رأسمال بشري، سواءً من المالكين أو المستخدمين أو العاملين، قد تتبلور بعلاقات سلبية، مثل اللاتجانس والنزاع الحضري، من خلال بنى تحتية رقمية، كمواقع إلكترونية تسبب ممارسات كالتعصب الرقمي، أو السرقة الرقمية، أو العنف الرقمي؛ أو تتبلور كعلاقات إنتاجية إيجابية، مثل التشارك والتفاعل الاجتماعي الاقتصادي، من خلال بنى تحتية رقمية، كالمساحات الافتراضية للمتاحف الرقمية (hypermediated)، أو مساحات النقاش العامة الافتراضية التي ينشأ عنها مواطنون رقميون Digital (Natives)، والتسويق الالكتروني، وهو ما يضمن استدامة المدينة وازدهارها الاقتصادي.‬

In: Journal of Digital Islamicate Research
Volume Editors: and
Zero has been axial in human development, but the origin and discovery of zero has never been satisfactorily addressed by a comprehensive, systematic and above all interdisciplinary research program. In this volume, over 40 international scholars explore zero under four broad themes: history; religion, philosophy & linguistics; arts; and mathematics & the sciences. Some propose that the invention/discovery of zero may have been facilitated by the prior evolution of a sophisticated concept of Nothingness or Emptiness (as it is understood in non-European traditions); and conversely, inhibited by the absence of, or aversion to, such a concept of Nothingness in the West. But not all scholars agree. Join the debate.

Abstract

Investigating zero in ancient Egypt raises different questions and covers about 3,000 years of cultural history. Starting with the Egyptian language (which was easily able to express the idea of non-existence), I first provide some general information about Egyptian number writing, followed by multiplicative number writing and then a critical assessment of the traditional opinion that the Egyptian word nfr was ‘zero’. After that are considered, in turn, Egyptian expressions for ‘nothingness’ and missing objects (from the third millennium BCE), the absence of entries in bookkeeping (from the second millennium BCE), the absence of numbers and placeholder signs (from the second half of the first millennium BCE). Of particular importance was iwty/iwṱ which was incorporated into Greek (in the first century CE) and finally into Arabic (in the eleventh century) astronomical texts in sexagesimal notations.

The Egyptians did not understand zero as a numerical value. They did not need it for expressing any number and they did not calculate using zero. The question is finally raised as to which criteria one should accept as a firm and definite proof for the existence of the concept of zero as a numerical/mathematical value in a culture, not only the Egyptian.

In: The Origin and Significance of Zero
Author:

Abstract

Two of the characteristics of our modern concept of zero find equivalents in Ancient Mesopotamia. First, the Babylonian sexagesimal positional notation from its invention in the late third millennium BCE required a means of indicating a ‘placeholder’ in a number, a missing power of the base. Secondly, the needs of mathematical astronomy, developed in the first millennium BCE, had to deal with a numerical concept of ‘nothing’ as a full-fledged number, capable of entering into arithmetical operations.

In: The Origin and Significance of Zero