Islam,Human Rights and Interfaith Relations: Some Contemporary Egyptian Perspectives

Abstract

This paper explores current discussions and debates on Islam, human rights and interfaith relations in Egypt through an analysis of the public statements and writings of various religious scholars and spiritual teachers and the textbooks used to teach Islam in public secondary schools. It is well known that Islamist perspectives have become mainstream in Egypt, a largely devout and socially conservative country that is also the source of most of the major Islamic trends and political ideologies that have impacted the Muslim world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nonetheless, there is a broad tendency in government-issued textbooks on Islam and in the population at large to equate Islam with democracy and human rights, despite the authoritarianism of the state and the contradictions between traditional interpretations of Islam and international human rights norms. The rhetoric of democracy and human rights is linked to the threat of terrorism, which is labeled un-Islamic. Among ordinary Egyptian Muslims, even those who support Islamist politics, there seems to be a new concern to eradicate Islamic extremism and more openness to unconventional Muslim approaches. The most liberal example of this is an association that teaches the unity of all religions from a somewhat Sufi perspective, promotes interfaith dialogue, and advocates reinterpreting the Shari'a to promote gender equality and equal human rights for all Egyptians.     

Historical Perspectives on Pre-Colonial Irrigation in Southern Africa

Abstract

One of the basic areas of interaction between water as natural resource and human societies as agents of cultural transformation is the technology of irrigation. In Africa at least 66 per cent of the available water is used for purposes of irrigation. For more than 4 000 years irrigation has secured food supplies for humans on a continent that is noted for its relative shortage of sufficient natural water supplies.

There is a remarkable hidden power of water in the history of southern Africa. This is particularly the case when we consider the development of early irrigation technologies of Iron Age farmers. The small irrigation furrow of the subsistence farmer was just as important to an insular community of Bantu-speaking people in pre-colonial times, as is the sophisticated irrigation technology in present-day South Africa. Currently there is a paucity of information about pre-colonial indigenous irrigation technology. This can be ascribed to a number of factors of which the invasion of modern Western traditions in the nineteenth century is perhaps the most important. A number of other factors for the apparent blind-spot is also presented in this study.

In southern Africa there are traces of indigenous pre-colonial irrigation works at sites such as Nyanga in Zimbabwe; the Limpopo River Valley; Mpumalanga; and South Africa's eastern Highveld. Reference is also made in this article to specific strategies of irrigation used by Iron Age communities, prior to the advent of a colonial presence. Finally, attention is also drawn to pre-colonial land tenure and state formation against the backdrop of Wittfogel's theories on hydraulic society.     

Managing Oman's Archaeological Resource: Historical Perspectives

Abstract

This article examines the history of the development of archaeological resource management in the Sultanate of Oman. It provides an overview of past and present practices and investigates the relevance of current management to the present state of Omani society. Although archaeological resource management in Oman started only three decades ago, the government has made enormous progress in establishing archaeological organizations and in creating their administrative and legislative tools. Nevertheless, it is also evident that the national system of archaeological resource management is facing a number of challenges that need to be addressed. The significance of this study lies in the fact that it is the first attempt to review this resource management historically. It aims to fill an obvious lacuna left by the many researchers who, since starting their activities in the 1950s, have only focused on the archaeology of the resource without evaluating the system through which this resource has been managed.     

Some Notes from North-Western India

The Aborigines of Tasmania. By H. Ling Roth. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Halifax: F. King &; Sons. 1899. 21s. nett. By A. C. Haddon.

Archæological Report, 1898: being part of Appendix to the Report of the Minister of Education, Ontario. Printed by order of the Legislative Assembly. Toronto: Warwick Brothers &; Rutter, 1898. By E. Sidney Hartland.

Archæological Report, 1899: being part of Appendix to the Report of the Minister of Education, Ontario. Printed by order of the Legislative Assembly. Toronto: Warwick Brothers &; Rutter, 1900. By. Sidney Hartland.

The Saga of King Sverri of Norway. Translated by J. Sephton, M.A. London: D. Nutt. 1899. (Northern Library, Vol. IV.). By W. A. Craigie.

Studies on Biblical Subjects, No. II. Jacob at Bethel : The Vision—The Stone—The Anointing. By A. Smythe Palmer, D.D. London: David Nutt. 1899. By A. H. Sayce.

The Homeric Hymns. A New Prose Translation, and Essays, Literary and Mythological. By Andrew Lang. With illustrations. George Allen.

Dr. M. Rosenfeld : Der Midrasch Deuteronomium Rabba, Par. IX. und XI. 2-10, ueber den Tod Moses. Berlin, 1899. By M. Gaster.

Die Krankheit im Volksglauben des Simmenthals. Ein Beitrag zur Ethnogrâphie des Berner Oberlandes. Von Dr. Hans Zahler. Bern: Hallersche Buchdruckerei. 1898. (Arbeiten aus dem Geographischem Institut der Universität Bern. Heft IV.)

Rügensche Skizzen. Herausgegeben von Dr. A. Haas. Greifswald, Julius Abel, 1898. By E. Sidney Hartland.

Naturgeschichtliche Volksmaerchen aus nah und fern. Gesammelt von Oskar Daenhardt. Leipzig, 1898.By Mabel Peacock.

Literatura Kulturne-historická a ethnografická. 1897-8. I. By Cenke Zibrt. (Reprinted from the “Cesky Lid.”)

Merry Suffolk, Master Archie, and other Tales : a Book of Folklore. By Lois A. Fison. With which is included “Tom Tit Tot” and Sequel, by Mrs. Walter Thomas. London: Jarrold &; Sons. 1899. By E. Sidney Hartland.

American Indians. By Frederick Starr. Boston: D. C Heath &; Co. 1899. By E. Sidney Hartland.

The Races of Man : an Outline of Anthropology and Ethnography. By J. Deniker, Sc D. (Paris). London : Walter Scott, Limited. 1900. By. Sidney Hartland.     

Great Britain and die International Economy: Changing Historical Perspectives

E.H. HUNT. British Labour History 1815–7014. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1981. Pp. 428; M.W. KIRBY. The Decline of British Economic Power Since 1870. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981. Pp. 205; DONALD N. MCCLOSKEY. Enterprise & Trade in Victorian Britain. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981. Pp. 211; SIDNEY POLLARD. The Integration of the Europe Economy Since 1815. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981. Pp. 109.     

Oil in the Arctic 1. Historical,Environmental and Regional Perspectives

Abstract

An ecologist's point of view of the historical, scientific and social background to the Alaskan pipeline and offshore oil is presented ranging over many discipline and their close interplay. Starting with a deep concern about the protection of the Arctic's unique environment and the oil industry's impact upon it, the work of the Alaska Conservation Society is reviewed. The lack of biological information about Alaska's hinterland made environmental surveillance of the pipeline difficult. The political conflict between State and Federal authorities has hindered scientific effort and the author concludes that the outlook of this many-faceted interdisciplinary impact of technology on the Arctic and Alaska is at present uncertain.