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Wahhabi Islam facing the challenges of modernity : Dar al-Ifta in the modern Saudi state /
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This book focuses on the history and work of the Saudi Dār al-Iftā, one of the most central modern Islamic official religious institutions. The study was undertaken from two perspectives: (1) Dār al-Iftā creation, power structure, functions and the sociopolitical environment in which it operates; and (2) The actual work of this institution, mainly the mechanisms by which modern Saudi state muftis cope with clashes between Wahhābī idealism and the reality of an evolving society. This is a critical work which updates the readers' grasp of contemporary law and society in the modern Saudi state, in particular, and in Islamic jurisprudence in general.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [189]-202) and index. :
9789004185708 :
1384-1130 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Dikes and Society in Rural China: The Jianghan Plain, 1788-2010s /
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To feed an ever-growing population in a water-rich region, the people of the Jianghan Plain in Central China constantly built dikes and polders. As China's political system changed dramatically from 1788 to the 2010s, the governance of Jianghan's dikes and polders also changed, moving from indirect supervision by the state to direct management. This shift has dramatically improved the security of the dike systems and has had a profound impact on the Jianghan people's lives. Based on rarely used local gazetteers and newly available archival materials, this book uses a multidimensional interactive approach to explore water control and state-society relations in rural China over the past three centuries.
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1 online resource (428 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004739482
Divining Disaster. Signs of Catastrophe in Ancient Greek Culture /
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In a world riddled with earthquakes and plagued by epidemics, how did the ancient Greeks cope with, and make sense of, disaster? As our present-day environment is perceived to be increasingly perilous, this book includes the ancient Greek world in the longue durée of disaster discourse. Drawing on anthropological disaster studies, ecocriticism, and cognitive studies, this study considers disaster as a semiotic phenomenon marked by uncertainty. Divining disaster, then, functions as a hermeneutic form of disaster management that alleviates uncertainty and assigns agency, not only in religious practices such as oracle consultation but also in historical and mythological narratives.
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1 online resource (408 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004739581
