Tenth Annual Meeting of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies

Abstract

The general theme, "Islam and Muslim Issues around the World ," was discussed in six two-hour sessions. After the welcome address b y Michael Bishku, the conference coordinator, the first session began with discussion on "Nationalism in the Balkans." Pet ya Nitzova presented a paper on the Muslims of Bulgaria. Nedzib Sacirbey outlined the historical causes of the problems of Bosnian Muslims and said that what is now happening in Bosnia is a preplanned anti-Muslim policy dating back to 1917. Edward Damich (George Mason University, Fairfax, VA), who focused on the Croats, disagreed. Both papers generated a heated debate. "Islam in the Arab World" was the topic of the second session. David Commins (Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA) talked about the Muslim Bmthers and Egyptian popular culture. He gave a historical account of how this movement was founded by Hasan al Banna and how it incorporated and adapted elements of Egyptian culture, especially the Sufi culture, into its program. Ibrahim Abu Rabi' (Hartford Seminary, West Hartford, cr) enlightened the audience with his presentation "Reading the Intellectual History of the Modem Arab World: The Islamic Factor." He explained how Islamic ideologies influenced the thoughts of some of Arab intellectuals, especially Sayyid Qutub ...