Journal of Muslim Philanthropy & Civil Society

The Limitations of a Western Epistemology in Examining Muslim Community Volunteering

Mario Peucker — 2024-06-01

We don’t exactly know the historic origins of volunteering and, depending on what definition we apply, it may go back to the beginning of mankind. What
we do know is that most world religions, including Islam and Christianity, have for many centuries emphasized—in their scripts and practice—the importance of caring for and helping others, in particular those in need (Hustinx et al., 2015). Faithbased perspectives on volunteering have been the subject of scholarly inquiry in specialized academic niches, but they have received little attention in volunteering research more broadly, where volunteering has been examined mainly through a secular lens of citizenship and civic participation. This is not to say there is not also excellent scholarship on volunteering in religious contexts and on the role of faith and organizational religiosity in volunteering (Cnaan et al., 1993; Becker & Dhingra, 2001; Grönlund et al., 2021). Most of this work, however, has applied an analytical approach rooted in a secular, social-science epistemology and mostly looked at Christian faith groups.

What Is Holding Back the Revival of The Waqf Institution?

Salma Taman — 2024-06-01

In the early years of Islamic civilization, the Waqf institution served many important purposes for Muslims, offering essential services across various sectors. However, the role of Waqf has declined since the 19th century. At the present time, most Waqf properties have been neglected, become unproductive, or illegally occupied. As a result, the Waqf institution’s ability to provide crucial services has weakened considerably. However, according to estimates, the global
value of Waqf assets ranges from USD 100 billion to USD 1 trillion. This means that if used correctly, Waqf has the potential to improve the lives of Muslims significantly. This paper discusses some of the challenges that the Waqf institution must overcome in order to, once again, regain its crucial position in the Muslim community.

Aesthetics and Ethics of Islamic Giving: Religious Moral Economy

Ala Rabiha Alhourani — 2024-06-01

The paper explores the aesthetics and ethics of Islamic giving. The ethnography focuses on the Mustadafin Foundation’s preparation, cooking, and distribution of akhni (local meat and rice dish) to poor families in various neighborhoods in the broader Cape Town area. Mustadafin Foundation is an Islamic philanthropic organization that provides a range of social services for Muslim and non-Muslim people in Cape Town. The discussion unpacks how the ethics of Mustadafin giving is an embodied piety toward God, driven by its caring about the other, a sense of active citizenship, and social commitment. The paper argues that the various ethical dispositions toward God, others, and the social are mutually constitutive of Mustadafin’s ethics of giving. Unfolding the ethics involved in the act of Islamic giving offers insight into a synthesis of ethics. However, paying attention to aesthetic experience alludes to a total sensory experience of ethical formations. By foregrounding the question of the ethics of Islamic giving, the paper considers the Mustadafin Foundation as constitutive of a religious moral economy.

Loud Silence, Secret Support: Funding US Muslim Efforts against Domestic Violence

Juliane Hammer — 2024-06-01

Drawing on materials and moments from ethnographic research between 2009 and 2019, this article focuses on the many challenges that US Muslim advocates and service providers face in having to raise funds for their important work against domestic violence. It illustrates and critiques that effective advocacy work against domestic abuse faces a plethora of challenges that, brought together, reinforce the trauma of silence around domestic violence. In conversation with the author’s 2019 monograph, Peaceful Families: American Muslim Efforts against Domestic Violence, this article considers gendered anti-Muslim hostility in US society, Muslim reticence to consider critiques of Muslim gender norms and practices, as well as an emphasis on visible philanthropy as such challenges and explores how Muslim anti-DV advocates respond to them.

Halaqa: A Muslim Philanthropic Model of the University Classroom

Mohsin Mukhtar — 2024-06-01

A central teaching in Islam is a celebration of the diversity and richness of the human experience. The Quran states that human beings were created into nations and tribes so that we “may know one another.” As much as this teaching dispels prejudices we might have against one another and facilitates appreciation for diversity among mankind at large, it also serves as a directive for Muslims to engage people from all walks of life in generous-spirited conversations, seeking to build deeper understanding through respectful dialogue. In this spirit, we apply the Islamic concept of halaqa toward fostering philanthropy in our university classrooms. Drawing on our experiences teaching interdisciplinary courses to undergraduate students of many different majors, we describe how halaqa can serve as a model to reconfigure university classrooms and nurture honest, open conversations to enhance awareness, humility, and compassion.

Importance of Psychosocial Skills among Youth in the West Bank, Palestine

Ilham Nasser — 2024-06-01

This study examines youth perceptions on competencies relevant to their well-being and socioemotional learning in private schools in major cities across the Palestinian occupied territories of the West Bank. The uniqueness of this study stems from its focus on life skills within a challenging sociopolitical context of occupation and instability. Differences between girls’ and boys’ ratings of skills such as empathy, relatedness, and school belonging are investigated. Structural
equation modeling is used to examine correlations and prediction pathways among variables. The results indicate that school belonging is predicted directly by empathy and social support and indirectly through mediation of relatedness among both male and female secondary education students. Despite the similarities in responses, the analysis suggests differences between males and females on social support and ways it impacts their sense of efficacy. The results of this study, especially gender differences, have implications for education and development in Palestine and in similar contexts. It adds to the literature examining gaps in academic achievement between boys and girls where girls have been excelling and boys dropping out of school. It highlights youth and adds to the knowledge of their attitudes toward social institutions, especially schools.

Shehabuddin, Elora. (2021). Sisters in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism. University of California Press

Sameena Azeez — 2024-06-01

Sallam, Hesham. (2022). Classless Politics: Islamist Movements, the Left, and Authoritarian Legacies in Egypt. Columbia University Press

Rizwanullah Bahrami — 2024-06-01

Yilmaz, Ihsan. (2021). Creating the Desired Citizen: Ideology, State and Islam in Turkey. Cambridge University Press

Elnaz Kohen — 2024-06-01

Ismail, Abdul Ghafar, Rose Abdullah, and Muhammad Hasbi Zaenal, eds. (2022). Islamic Philanthropy: Exploring Zakat, Waqf, and Sadaqah in Islamic Finance and Economics. Springer

Tulib A. I. Ahmed — 2024-06-01