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Thabit Abdullah

Bio: Thabit Abdullah is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 103 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Min Zawy al-Dhahira and Tareq Yousif Ismael as discussed by the authors , from the corners of memory: On the periphery of the 14 July Revolution.
Abstract: Review of: Min Zawāyā al-Dhākira: Alā Hāmish Thawrat 14 Tamūz (‘From the corners of memory: On the periphery of the 14 July Revolution’), Tareq Yousif Ismael (2021)Beirut: Maktabat al-Naha al-Arabiyya, 240 pp.,ISBN 978-9-92291-292-9, p/bk

Cited by
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Book
Karen Barkey1
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: Barkey as discussed by the authors examines the Ottoman Empire's social organization and mechanisms of rule at key moments of its history, emergence, imperial institutionalization, remodeling, and transition to nation state, revealing how the empire managed these moments, adapted, and averted crises and what changes made it transform dramatically.
Abstract: This book is a comparative study of imperial organization and longevity that assesses Ottoman successes as well as failures against those of other empires with similar characteristics. Barkey examines the Ottoman Empire's social organization and mechanisms of rule at key moments of its history, emergence, imperial institutionalization, remodeling, and transition to nation-state, revealing how the empire managed these moments, adapted, and averted crises and what changes made it transform dramatically. The flexible techniques by which the Ottomans maintained their legitimacy, the cooperation of their diverse elites both at the center and in the provinces, as well as their control over economic and human resources were responsible for the longevity of this particular 'negotiated empire'. Her analysis illuminates topics that include imperial governance, imperial institutions, imperial diversity and multiculturalism, the manner in which dissent is handled and/or internalized, and the nature of state society negotiations.

393 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Islamic waqf appears to have emerged as a credible commitment device to give property owners economic security in return for social services throughout the Middle East, and it long served as a major instrument for delivering public goods in a decentralized manner.
Abstract: The Islamic waqf appears to have emerged as a credible commitment device to give property owners economic security in return for social services. Throughout the Middle East, it long served as a major instrument for delivering public goods in a decentralized manner. In principle, the manager of a waqf had to obey the stipulations of its founder to the letter. In practice, the founder's directives were often circumvented. An unintended consequence was an erosion of the waqf system's legitimacy. In any case, legally questionable adaptations proved no substitute for the legitimate options available to corporations. As it became increasingly clear that the waqf system lacked the flexibility necessary for efficient resource utilization, governments found it ever easier to confiscate their resources. In the 19th century, the founding of European-inspired municipalities marked a formal repudiation of the waqf system in favor of government-coordinated systems for delivering public goods. Whatever its level of development, every society must grapple with the challenge of providing "public goods"-goods that are nonexcludable (not easily denied to unauthorized consumers) as well as non-rival (capable of being enjoyed by many consumers at once). The private provision of such goods is not impossible; language conventions and measurement standards offer examples of pure public goods that have emerged without the guidance or interference of a governing authority. Yet, if only because competitive markets do not always supply such goods efficiently, various forms of state intervention have been ubiquitous. The public good of national defense tends to be supplied directly by governments. Other public goods are provided by government-enforced private monopolies. For example, technological innovations are promoted through patents that give inventors exclusive rights to exploit their inventions commercially. Of course, the known mechanisms do not guarantee efficiency (Comes & Sandler 1996:ch. 1-2, 6-10). Nor are they necessarily motivated by this goal. Rent-seekers promote delivery mechanisms that raise prices above the levels necessary for profitability (Rowley et al. 1988; Shleifer & Vishny 1998:ch. 1-9). In the premodern Middle East, from 750 C.E., perhaps even earlier, an increasingly popular vehicle for the provision of public goods was the waqf, known in English also as an "Islamic trust" or a "pious foundation." A waqf is an unincorporated trust established under Islamic law by a living man or woman for the provision of a designated social service in perpetuity. Its activities are financed by revenue-bearing assets that have been rendered forever inalienable. Originally the assets had to be immovable, although in some places this requirement was eventually relaxed to legitimize what came to be known as a "cash waqf." The reason the waqf is considered an expression of piety is that it is governed by a law considered sacred, not that its activities are inherently religious or that its benefits must be confined to Muslims. Traditionally, various public goods that are now generally provided by government agencies were provided through private initiatives. Not until the second half of the 19th century did the giant cities of the Middle East begin to establish municipalities to deliver urban services in a centralized and coordinated manner. Even a lighthouse on the Romanian coast was established under the waqf system,' which is particularly noteworthy in view of the modern intellectual tradition that treats the lighthouse as the quintessential example of a pure public good that must be provided by the government out of tax revenues. It is in reaction to this tradition that Ronald Coase (1974) drew attention to several 19th-century British lighthouses constructed and administered by private individuals.2 However, contrary to what is sometimes presumed, Coase did not discover cases in which the state played no role whatsoever. …

290 citations

Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The Ottoman Empire was one of the most important non-western states to survive from medieval to modern times, and played a vital role in European and global history as mentioned in this paper, and it continues to affect the peoples of the Middle East, the Balkans and central and western Europe to the present day.
Abstract: The Ottoman Empire was one of the most important non-Western states to survive from medieval to modern times, and played a vital role in European and global history. It continues to affect the peoples of the Middle East, the Balkans and central and western Europe to the present day. This new survey examines the major trends during the latter years of the empire; it pays attention to gender issues and to hotly-debated topics such as the treatment of minorities. In this second edition, Donald Quataert has updated his lively and authoritative text, revised the bibliographies, and included brief biographies of major figures on the Byzantines and the post Ottoman Middle East. This accessible narrative is supported by maps, illustrations and genealogical and chronological tables, which will be of help to students and non-specialists alike. It will appeal to anyone interested in the history of the Middle East.

235 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the spatial division of cities into residential zones is a universal feature of urban life from the earliest cities to the present and the authors propose a two-level classification of such zones that archaeologists can use to analyze preindustrial cities.

184 citations

Book
Wael B. Hallaq1
16 Apr 2009
TL;DR: Hallaq's Magisterial overview of Shari'a sets the record straight by examining the doctrines and practices of Islamic law within the context of its history, and by showing how it functioned within pre-modern Islamic societies as a moral imperative as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In recent years, Islamic law, or Shari'a, has been appropriated as a tool of modernity in the Muslim world and in the West and has become highly politicised in consequence. Wael Hallaq's magisterial overview of Shari'a sets the record straight by examining the doctrines and practices of Islamic law within the context of its history, and by showing how it functioned within pre-modern Islamic societies as a moral imperative. In so doing, Hallaq takes the reader on an epic journey tracing the history of Islamic law from its beginnings in seventh-century Arabia, through its development and transformation under the Ottomans, and across lands as diverse as India, Africa and South-East Asia, to the present. In a remarkably fluent narrative, the author unravels the complexities of his subject to reveal a love and deep knowledge of the law which will inform, engage and challenge the reader.

137 citations