POLITICAL STUDIES OF ISLAMIC WORLD
Year:2016 | Volume:4 | Issue:4 (16) |Papers Count:6

Nowadays, speaking of a same identity or a homogenous pattern of social identity for all Muslims living in western countries such as Britain or Scotland is so difficult and impossible because Muslims like other minority groups and even like any members of majority groups construct multiple or hyphenated social identities drawing on different factors such as religion, ethnicity and nationality. The importance of each of these factors is different in Muslims’ social identities and therefore their sense of belonging to ethnic, national and/or religious identities vary in strength, nature and meaning. In most studies little attention has been paid to unpack this diversity and heterogeneity. With regard to the necessity of examining the importance of different factors on Muslims’ social identities, this paper, drawing on empirical data and qualitative interviews assesses different meaning and importance of nationality, ethnicity and religion on first generation Muslims’ social identities in Scotland. The findings presented in this paper can contribute to the better and in-depth understanding of different Muslims’ social identities in Scotland and Britain.

One of the events occurred in Iraq after Saddam Hussein’s Government and especially the withdrawal of the US military forces from Iraq was the enhancement of political violence and terrorism in this country. This disastrous phenomenon continued to the extent that Iraq turned to be avirgin land for the ISIS and Al-Qaeda to sweep into power. The current paper, using political sociology approach and analysis- explanatory methods, sought the answer to this question: Regardless of Foreign Factors what is the main reason of the emergence of political violence and terrorist groups like ISIS in Iraq? The research hypothesis is that the inappropriate approach to the management of security and lack of attention to the software security have had the main role in the increase of political violence and emergence of terrorist groups in Iraq. The research findings show that in the third world countries like Iraq, attention to hardware security without enough attention to software security dimensions has beenan inefficient and imperfect act. Also, current Iraqi officials need to pay attention to cultural approaches (specially increasing the legitimacy of the regime, integrity of the society and acquisition of the policy making ability) to conquer the social problems of their country.

The Month of Moharram has a special meaning for the Shiites. This characteristic which is regarded as one of its privileges has diverse and critical capabilities and functions for some Shia minorities, especially in India. The close affiliation of the Shia in Indian Subcontinent with religious traditions and rites is such that has turned it into the ground for Shia studies in this region. Studying the social history of Shia population in India indicates that there is a close linkage between ritual traditions and religious and political life of the Shiite as well as between them and other ethnical and religious groups in this country. Adherence of the Shiites to mourning rituals for Martyrs of Karbala possesses both religious and social nature and includes a set of social, cultural, historical and political features. This Shiite religious tradition, in turn, forms or influences the Shiite literature, art, social relations and political developments as well as their apprehension of religion. This essay is an effort to delve into some impacts of mourning rituals during the Month of Moharram on Shiite social identity by emphasizing orient lists' viewpoints.

Iran has had long ties to the Palestinian Islamic resistance movements, and specifically the relationship with The Islamic Jihad Movement (PIJ) is very important. On the one hand, the Palestinian groups adhere to Sunni Islam and have ideological differences with Iran's official religious beliefs; on the other hand, the full support of Iran in various fields including political and military movements has been costly. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran and regarding the framework of supporting the Palestinian people, Iran's opposition to the peace process, the adoption of legislation to protect the Islamic Revolution of the Palestinian people, Palestinian support conferences and the capacity utilization of presidency of the Organization of Islamic Conference was formed. In military relations as well as logistical support and weapons from Iran to Palestinian resistance groups, to offer Fajr-5 missile technology to the Islamic Jihad movement continued. This study has been conducted to answer the question of why the Islamic Republic of Iran has put the relationship to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement and multilateral assistance to these movements in special attention. Studies show that a common discourse of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Jihad movement on axes of "Islamism", "Anti-Zionism" and "resistance" are among the main reasons of the relationship and Iran’s support.

The Syria conflict has the potential to change the regional balance of power significantly with all players nervously eyeing the gains and losses to their regional status and strength and responding accordingly. The ongoing internal conflict between the Assad-led government and the political and military opposition forces within Syria has increasingly become a regional conflict. This is the case not only because the violence within Syria has regional implications, but also because all the main regional powers have been directly involved in the conflict, mostly by supporting one of the warring sides. For Example, this is particularly true in the case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has been one of the stronger regional supporters of the anti-Assad opposition; Because Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in recent years have been characterized by religious-ideological antagonism, competing political and geostrategic interests, and an ongoing competition for regional hegemony With the onset of the Arab Awakening, the hostility between the two states has intensified, especially as the regional revolutionary wave arrived in Syria, creating a direct clash between Saudi and Iranian interests and policies. One the other hand, The Syrian conflict has been a major test for Turkey’s Middle East policy as well as its domestic politics. Regionally, Syria has become the test case for Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s vision to engage regional actors, including political exchanges. On the domestic front, Turkish engagement with the Syrian regime ensured its cooperation with Turkey in its three-decade fight against the PKK. Purpose in this reserch is coming to a great understanding of positive approach in Syria’s Crisis. Research Method is descriptive – analytical and research type is functional and data collecting is based on document and book study.

As an unprecedented popular movement, Islamic Awakening taken place firstly in Middle East and northern Africa, has had outstanding effects over internal circumstances of the revolutionary countries resulting in political regime changes in some cases. Besides this, it has also had influences over regional arrangements. Islamic Republic of Iran and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as two regional powers have differently been influenced. In order to find an appropriate response to how different attitudes taken by Iran and Saudi towards changes, caused by Islamic Awakening, might have been influenced by their different and somehow conflicting interpretations of Islam, the article hypothesizes that while the political system established in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on a conservative Salafism and a quietist notion of Islam on the contrary Islamic Republic of Iran as a political system resulted from the Islamic Revolution, finds root in a revolutionary notion of Islam. the article tries to, comparatively, analyze why the two Islamic countries have taken fundamentally different perspectives in regard to the post-awakening changes. As a result it might be concluded that the Islamic Republic though faced with some challenges in terms of the movement, it finds a wide range of opportunities hence goes with the popularization of the movement. Contradictorily, Saudi Arabia finds it a problematic and so tries to stop the movement. Following these two conflicting strategies, Iran-Saudi relationship has got blurred.