Research Plans: Unit 1

Unit 1 Thought and Politics in the Islamic World

Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo
Unit Leader: KOMATSU Hisao

Islamic Area Studies Unit 1 Research Office
The University of Tokyo, Bungakubu Annexe
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Tel: +81-3-5841-2687 Fax: +81-3-5841-2686
E-mail: ias-hiro@l.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Unit 1: Research Themes and Activities

Among the various movements seen in the contemporary Islamic world, one of the most outstanding issues is the Islamic Revival Movement. This is not a mere ideological phenomenon but has been reflected in political and social movements both in Islamic nations as well as Islamic societies in areas throughout the world. This movement is based not only on the rich heritage of Islamic thought but also on the spread of Islamic awakening seen in the modern Islamic world. What role will the Islamic world play in the 21st century, and what significance will it embody in the future? In order to answer these questions we must understand holistically the Islamic Revival Movement of today.

Through our research we seek to shed light on the complex inter-relationship between modern civilization and Islam primarily by means of comparative analyses between areas. In our analyses we will look at the tendencies of Islamic thought today, and closely related political-social movements; the status and role of Islamic areas within the post-Cold-War international dynamics; and the present situation of Islamic law, which binds thought, politics and society. The three groups comprising Unit 1 have laid the following research plans.

Group 1-A, "Contemporary Islamic Thought and Movements," will be exploring the thoughts of major modern and contemporary Islamic thinkers by making use of their original texts. This will in turn complement the comparative research we will be conducting between Islamic regions to explain the Islamic revival movements of today. In the process of the research, historical backgrounds and inter-regional influences are taken into account.

Group 1-B, "Islam and International Relations," will seek to situate Islam within the framework of contemporary international politics. We will be hosting workshops on such issues as the role of Islamic political movements in international conflicts; the relationship of "Islam" and the formation of blocs; the relationship between the anti-establishment Islamic movement and international society. These workshops will be conducted with scholars from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, mainly from the disciplines of political science, modern history, and area studies.

Group 1-C will focus on Islamic family law, the only realm in the Islamic state today where traditional standards are applied almost unchanged to this day. While examining the form of traditional Islamic family law, we will compare this with contemporary legislation. To this end we will hold workshops with historians and anthropologists in an attempt to explain how the differences between modern legislation and traditional family law were born.

As a unit we will hold joint workshops to organically join the results of individual research and compare regional tendencies. Under the sponsorship of the Japan Foundation (Japan-Europe Support Program for Conferences and Symposiums) and the French Embassy, we will host the international symposium Intellectuals in Islam in the 20th Century: Situations, Discourses, Strategies (October 13-15, 2000, Tokyo). Scholars specializing in Arab countries, Turkey, Iran, the Balkans, Central Asia, South Asia, and China will participate in this symposium in order to discuss 20th-century Muslim intellectuals.

The Central Asian Research Network, based in Unit 1, will organize seminars, create a database of microfilm resources, as well as work on the "Ferghana Project."

Creating a Database on Microfilm Resources:

We are working to digitalize microfilms of Russian and Central Asian newspapers and journals from the turn of the 20th century. These resources have been made available for the first time due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and are necessary in understanding the development of the Islamic Revival Movement. This digitalization is certain to aid Central Asian area studies greatly. We are using the Islamic Area Studies Information Network for this project.

The Ferghana Project: Analyzing Population Dynamics Through the Use of Geographic Information Systems

The Ferghana Valley is located in eastern Central Asia where Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet. While it is the region where the Islamic Revival Movement is most active in Central Asia today, it is also suffering from worsening internal conflicts including ethnic clashes and environmental pollution. It is a tense region where conflicts such as the civil war in Tajikistan are in constant danger of recurring. It was in southern Kyrgyzstan that in the summer of 1999 several Japanese were held hostage by an armed group. In order to understand these issues it is profitable to look simultaneously at the population dynamics, ethnic distribution and geographical factors of the past century. The Central Asian Research Network developing this Ferghana Project is now working on the input of statistical data onto a map to the scale of 1:200,000. With the strong support of Professor OKABE from Unit 4, we are able to work toward the IAS Projectﾕs policy to utilize the latest in computer technology.

Unit 1: Publications

We plan to publish the following this year:

HACHIOSHI Makoto and NAKANISHI Hisae, eds., Al-Afghani

OKA Mari and NAKANISHI Hisae, eds., Islam and Feminism

TOMITA Kenji, Khomeini Works

KASUYA Gen, Selections from the Risale-i Nur Collection

NAKANISHI Hisae, Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Ja'fari's "Universal Human Rights: From the Viewpoints of Islam and the West"

Raja A.ADAL, ed., The Index of the Journal "La Nation Arabe"

Unit 1: International Exchange

Scholars to be sent abroad

- ITO Hiroko (Aichi Women's Junior College) will investigate Indian family law. August 15-September 5. India.

Scholars invited from abroad

- Francoise AUBIN (CNRS/CERI, Paris)

Stephane A. DUDOIGNON (CNRS, Strasbourg)

Dale F. EICKELMAN (Dartmouth College)

Marc GABORIEAU (CNRS/EHESS, Paris)

Nuria G. GARAEVA (Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan)

Francois GEORGEON (CNRS/EHESS, Paris)

Yusuf IBISH (Furqan Foundation, London)

Alexandre POPOVIC (CNRS Paris)

Stefan REICHMUTH (The University of Bochum)

Yann RICHARD (The University of Paris III Sorbonne-Nouvelle)

will participate in the international symposium Intellectuals in Islam in the 20th Century. October 2000. Tokyo.

Unit 1: From the Group Leaders

(Group 1-A) This year we will continue to look at political, economic, and sociological conditions in comparative analyses between regions in order to elucidate the nature and development of 20th-century Islamic thought and the Islamic Revival Movement. To this end we will conduct seminars on the Revival Movement as well as on related books and original texts. We also plan to publish a compilation in English of works based on the 1998 international symposium on the Manar journal as well as one on the 1999 international symposium Islam and Politics in Russia and Central Asia. In October 2000 we will hold another international workshop entitled Intellectuals in Islam in the 20th Century, where we will look at the dynamism of the Islamic world. We call on scholars of a wide range of disciplines to join us in order to widen our horizons of comparative area studies. (KOMATSU Hisao)

(Group 1-B) In Group 1-B we have been concerned with two issues until now: the analysis of events in the Middle East and tendencies of international politics; and Central Asian studies. This year, however, we wish to include two new aspects in our focus: the study of international politics and political theory, and the concepts of nationalism and the nation-state. The purpose of the former is to widen the range of Islamic area studies to include comparative studies and theory. The latter, with "nationalism, nation-state, and contemporary political movements" as key words, will analyze mythology, religion, and nationalism as reflecting the ideologies of nation-building. Also, we will make conscious efforts to move out of our group and exchange views with members of other units. (SAKAI Keiko)

(Group 1-C) Having held three seminars last year involving collaborative efforts from outside the group, we can now claim a clearer vision of our goals. This year we plan to examine the relation between traditional law and contemporary legislation. We will also start coordinating our research results on various regions and times in preparation for publication. (YANAGIHASHI Hiroyuki)