ALOHA!
This week's issue features the Imam and his/her roles and functions in a Muslim community. In modern day Arabic usage, an Imam can be anyone who holds a position of leadership and is learned in the Qur'an as well as the Hadith (Sayings of the Prophet Mohammad). In this issue, we highlight Imams who lead the congregational prayers and serve as the pious leader of a mosque or other Islamic institutions.
In a more universal sense, the term "Imam" refers to one whose leadership has been made mandated and practiced in accordance with the tenets of Islam. Historically, there were twelve Imams who carried out the task of leadership and succesion after the death of Prophet Mohammad. Learn more about them here.
We have found some interesting cases of female imams in China, which are unheard of in other societies because priestly duties are customarily reserved for men and partly due to the relative conservatism of Islam. We have take a deeper look into these imams, as well as their religious functions through some articles drawn from China's experiences and in the United States as well.
We would to ask for your suggestions on themes, topics, and fields of interest that we might feature in future editions of this newsletter. We encourage your participation in making this a truly reader-directed information resource. Feedbacks and suggestions can be sent to us at msap@hawaii.edu.
Mahalo!
Program Coordinators
Muslim Societies in Asia and the Pacific
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Women Imams
Yao Baoxia: Imam of Kaifeng City
Yao Baoxia has been a female imam or ahong (a word derived from Persian), in Keifeng City, Henan Province, for more than 14 years. Kaifeng has an Islamic enclave, where Muslims have lived for more than 1,000 years. Yao studied to become an imam for four years, after being laid off from her job as a factory worker. She initially studied under a female imam, then with a male imam alongside male students. When she leads the prayer, Yao stands alongside the other women, not in front of them as a male imam would, but her role is the same as a male imam. More stories here. Bai Yanlian: Another Young Imam
Bai Yanlian is one of China's young imams. It took her seven years of study to become an imam, including three years of Arabic-language training. She then had to take an exam to get a license from the state since the state has standardized the process. More stories here. Ding Gui Zhi: Nu Ahong (Imam), Lu Lan Mosque 
Ding Gui Zhi is the Nu Ahong(Imam) at Lu Lan Women's Mosque. Her whole life is devoted to her work because she lives at the mosque. She considers her job as Nu Ahong to be critically important to her community, and she wants to dedicate herself to it as fully as possible. More stories here and also here. |
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Imams Around the World
China's Female Imams
China has an estimated 21 million Muslims, who have developed their own set of Islamic practices with striking Chinese characteristics. The biggest difference is the development of independent women's mosques with female imams, something scholars who have researched the issue say is unique to China. Listen to their stories below.
Listen to their Motivations and Challenges  | |
Female Imams in China's Muslim Minority |
Get to Know Hui Minority Female Imams  | |
Female Imams of China |
Imam and Pastor
 At a time when many in the world are wondering whether friendly relations are possible between Muslims and Christians, the Nigerian protagonists of this film emphatically assert that they are. The Imam and the Pastor tell how they made this remarkable transition. It is both a moving story of forgiveness and a case-study of a successful grass-roots initiative to rebuild communities torn apart by conflict.
'Imam Muda' or Young Imam 
A hit Malaysian Islamic reality TV show "Imam Muda" or "Young Imam", kicked off its second season this week after drawing more than 1,000 hopefuls from the region is a sign of the religion's growing reach in Southeast Asia. The prime-time show features contestants in sharp-looking black suits who are judged on a variety of tasks, including reciting Koranic verses, washing corpses, and counseling promiscuous young Muslim couples.
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Special Announcement:
East West Philosophers' Conference
Tenth East-West Philosophers' Conference on the theme, "Value and Values: Economics and Justice in an Age of Global Interdependence" will be held at the East West Center, Honolulu, Hawai'i on May 16 to 24, 2011. It will bring together philosophers from different cultures and with different perspectives to reflect upon a productive and sustainable relationship between economics and ethics.
A section on Islamic Panel titled: "ISLAMIC ETHICS, ISLAMIC ECONOMICS: ONE OR MANY?" is listed as follows:
Date: 19 May 2011
Time: 10:30a.m to 11:30a.m
Place: Koi Room, Imin Conference Center.
Moderator and speakers introduction:
Nevzat SOGUK, University of Hawai'i, Moderator
Robert GLEAVE, University of Exeter
"Ethics, Harm and Money: Economics as a Substitute for Violence in Islamic Jurisprudence"
Oliver LEAMAN, University of Kentucky
"Economics and Religion or Economics vs. Religion: the Concept of an Islamic Economics"
Ghazala IRFAN, Lahore University of Management Sciences
"The Muslim Epistemological Tradition: Philosophy or Theosophy?"
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Call for Participation
Call for Registration: Harvard Summer Course on Pakistan
A Unique Bilocational Course which connects students with indigenous leaders in Pakistan at Harvard University from June 27 to August 12.
Learn more here.
Call for Nominations: Damle-Fatehlal Awards 2011
The Institute for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (IPSCR), a Mumbai-based organisation working for Communal harmony and Peace, is calling for nominations for the Damle-Fatehlal Award. This award is presented to remarkable and hardworking grassroots worker based on an exemplary of Hindu Muslim friendship; Damle, a Konkanasta Brahmin and Fatehlal, a Muslim; who didn't let religious boundaries divide them or their friendship.
Last dates for the nominations: 15 June 2011. Call for Contributors: Journal of Lesbian Studies- LESBIANS, SEXUALITY, AND ISLAM There has been very little published work on lesbians and Islam. Possible topics and methods include, but are not limited to religion, Quran, Hadith, Sharia, personal experiences of Muslim women, ethnic and regional diversities, oral histories, feminist theory, research, fiction, and poetry. Please send a one-page abstract of your proposed contribution to Huma Ahmed-Ghosh at ghosh@mail.sdsu.edu by July 1, 2011. Last day for abstract proposal: 1 July 2011 Call for Papers: Non-State Islamic Dispute Adjudication in Asia and Asian Diasporas An invitation to participate in a project that is put together to investigate non-state Islamic dispute adjudication in Asia and Asian diasporas. By bringing together scholars working on Islamic law from a broad range of Asian nations and their diasporas, we hope to encourage a more nuanced and broader scholarly discussion about contemporary Islamic legal practice.
Last day for abstract proposal: 1 September 2011 |
New Online Resources
Encyclopedia of Women
and Islamic Cultures
The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC) is an interdisciplinary, transhistorical project that compiles essays by scholars on all women in Muslim majority societies and all Muslim women in Muslim minority societies. The print version of EWIC, consisting of 6 volumes (1,246 articles, 2 million words), was written by 907 scholars from around the world and published between 2003-2007. EWIC is now available online as a digital, fully searchable database of articles on every facet of life of women in societies with a Muslim population, anywhere in the world. Asia Pacific Perspectives 
The editors of the University of San Francisco's online journal, Asia Pacific Perspectives, are pleased to announce publication of a special issue featuring five conference papers on the theme of "Religion and Globalization in Asia: Prospects, Patterns, and Problems for the Coming Decade." A link follows the table of contents below, and will take you to individual papers. |
Articles
The Imam's Role in Meeting the Counseling Needs of Muslim Communities in the United States
by
Osman M. Ali, Glen Milstein
and Peter M. Marzuk
Muslims are one of the most rapidly growing minority groups in the United States and have experienced increased stress since September 11, 2001. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the roles of imams (Islamic clergy), in meeting the counseling needs of their communities. The findings indicate that although imams have little formal training in counseling, they are asked to help congregants who come to them with mental health and social service issues.
Full article available here
Can a Woman be an Imam?
Debating Form and Function in
Muslim Women's Leadership
by
Ingrid Mattson
Hartford Seminary
This paper is primarily interested in examining women's religious leadership within voluntary communities of Muslims in secular societies, especially in America.
[This is an earlier version of an article to published in: Sisters: Women, Religion and Leadership in Christianity and Islam, ed. Scott Alexander (Sheed and Ward, forthcoming).]
Full article available here
Study on Imams' Role in the Construction of a Harmonious Society: Take Wuzhong City, Ningxia, China,
as an Example
by
Wang Li-hong
Under the situation when people of the whole nation participate in the construction of harmonious society, the role of imams, who act as religious personnel as well as embodiment of Islam spiritual life, become more and more important. In daily life,the role of the imam characters serve as a bridge between government and the general public. Through imams' work, people's economic, political and cultural enthusiasm would be highly promoted, and they could, in turn,make their due contribution to a more harmonious society.
Full article available here
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Employment Opportunities
Academic
Assistant Professor (tenure-track), East Asian Religions,
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Last day to apply: 15 May 2011
Lecturer, Modern History of the Middle East
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Last day to apply: 18 May 2011
Lectureship in the Study of Religions, Contemporary South Asian Religions
University College Cork, Ireland
Last day to apply: 27 May 2011
Research Fellowship Aga Khan University
(AKU-ISMC Research Fellowship Programme 2011-2012)
Last day to apply: 30 May 2011
Lecturer, Middle Eastern History
University of Tennessee, United States
Last day to apply: 19 July 2011
Community
Research Associate
Ismaili Studies
Institute of Ismaili Studies, London
United Kingdom
Last day to apply: 31 May 2011
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Conferences
Sacred Precincts: Non-Muslim Sites in Islamic Societies
(Society of Architectural Historians)
April 18-22, 2012
Detroit, Michigan
Abstract Dateline: 1 June 2011
2012 International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society
20 to 22 February 2012
Vancouver, Canada
Abstract Dateline: 9 June 2011
Public Action in Pakistan: Vacillating between Apathy and Anger
27 to 28 November 2011
Pakistan
Abstract Dateline: June 15 2011
Conference on Turkmenistan, 1860-1960
September 30, 2011
Amsterdam, Holland
Abstract Deadline: 15 June 2011
Workshop: Inter-Asian Connections III
6 to 8 June 2012
Hong Kong Abstract Dateline: 24 June 2011
World Congress for Islamic History and Civilization
10 to 11 October 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract Dateline: 30 June 2011
Muslim Religious Authority in Contemporary Asia Workshop
24 to 25 Nov 2011
National University of Singapore
Abstract Dateline: 1 July 2011
2012 European Architectural History Network (EAHN),
31 May - 3 June 2012
Brussels, Belgium
Abstract Dateline: 30 September 2011
2nd International Conference on Islamic Education 2011 (ICIEd2011)
12 to 14 December 2011
Bangi-Putrajaya, Malaysia
Full Paper Submission: 5 October 2011
10th East-West Philosophers' Conference
16 to 24 May 2011
University of Hawaii - East West Center, USA
Islamic Davos: World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF)
6 to 9 June 2011
Astana, Russia
4th International Indonesia Forum Conference: 2nd Call for Papers
28 to 29 June 2011
Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia
IIUM International Accounting Conference V
12 to 13 July 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Islamic Tourism Conference & Travel Mart 2011
13 to 14 October 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
International Conference on Imam Shafi'i: Reformation of Islamic Thought
1 to 2 November 2011
Bandar Sri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam
2nd International Conference On Islam and Higher Education
14 and 15 November 2011
Pahang, Malaysia
Law and Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia
17 to 18 November 2011
National University of Singapore, Singapore
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