Zani i Naltë – Abstracts no. 36

Abstracts no. 36

Feb 12, 2024 Zani i Nalte English 0

Editorial

The Muslim community of Albania, 100 years in the light of historical evidence

H. Bujar Spahiu

Abstract

The independence of the Muslim Community of Albania is among the most important national acts, after the independence of Albania. The Muslim clergy, in general, but also prominent scholars and imams, have their decisive role in the Independence of Albania. In this regard, they did not stop only with the independence of the country, but, on February 24, 1923, they started the irreversible path for the independence of the Muslim Community.

Islamic sciences

The Qur’anic golden mean cure of extremism

Prof. Dr. Hfz. Hajredin Hoxha

Abstract

The Qur’anic and prophetic texts have elaborated in different forms and ways the issue of embracing and practicing the principle of “golden mean” and its manifestations in the Qur’an and Sunnah. The ummah unanimously affirms the obligation to maintain moderation in religious matters. A group of people, believing they were doing the right thing, went astray and lost because of deviating from the ‘golden mean’ and clinging to it.

Islam, our religion, is a religion of peace and security; it is a religion of life, a religion of development and culture. This religion has come for the benefit of people in this world and the next world, and Islam is not a religion of death, killing, destruction, fear and worry. This is the secret of Islam in its fight against radicalism and extremism with different means and methodologies. Based on this historical truth, Islam invites us to return to the golden mean, to prudence, to return to the essential bases for us, the Qur’an and the Sunnah, so that we can take the healing medicine right there, and thus realize ideological unity, social and religious of the ummah.

Competent scholars of this ummah, past and present, have unanimously concluded that the objectives of the legislation of our religion are set to preserve human life and the things on which it depends. These objectives are: preservation of religion, being (body), mind, honor and wealth, and as such they are sacred, therefore no one has the right to violate their sanctity. In the dictionary of great scholars, these five objectives are known as “the five indispensable things (ed-darurat al hams or al kul-lijjat al hams.)”

This study tries to find the answer to the following questions:

What is the position of moderation and prudence in Islam?
What are the manifestations of the golden mean Qur’an and Sunnah?
What do the Quranic and prophetic texts tell us about the golden mean?
What consequences can the individual and society face in the event of the eventual disregard of the principle of moderation and prudence?
How to get out of the crisis of extremism?

Since childhood is the first stage in human life, the Islamic religion takes great care of it and pays great attention to it. Islam is the first to deal with children’s rights since the Middle Ages and predates modern times by more than fifteen centuries. This is due to the fact that children are the future and the hope of tomorrow. Islam has laid down a comprehensive constitution for the rights of the child, which contains his rights before his birth, when he is an embryo, and thereafter at the various stages of his childhood. Islam considers as a child the one who has not reached puberty (the age of maturity) and this does not exceed the age of fifteen.

Quran and science

Al-Qurtubi – the well-known Andalusian Mufessir

Kurra hfz. doc. dr. Xhevad Shoshiq

Abstract

The well-known scholar of Andalusia, Abu Abdullah Muhammed b. Ahmed al-Qurtubi, the follower of the Malikite legal school, has made a well-known contribution to the development of various Islamic sciences, especially the development of Qur’anic commentary. His work “Al-Jami’u li ‘ahkami’l- Qur’an”, written in more than twenty volumes, is considered one of the most valuable achievements of tafsir. It deals with not only the normative aspect of the Qur’an (fiqh), but also other aspects of the engagement of the Qur’anic text, such as: linguistics, stylistics, semantics, qira’et, hadith, etc. In addition to Tafsir, Qurtubi also wrote other works, of which the most famous work is “At-Tedhkire bi ‘ahuali’l-meuta wa ‘umuri’l-’ahire.”

Studies

100 years since the establishment of the Muslim Community of Albania

Dorian Demetja

Abstract

The declaration of independence found the Albanian Muslim leaders and scholars at the head of the historical moments of our country and it was precisely these leaders who would unify the Islamic institutions in our country through the development of several national congresses. Thus, the Muslim Community of Albania was founded by revivalists and signatories of independence, as a community that would represent the voice of Muslim believers in Albania, the Albanian lands, and even, in many cases, the voice of all Albanians.

In order to have a more accurate picture of the religious relations between Albania and the Ottoman Caliphate, and especially about the process of independence of the Albanian mosque, it is necessary to take a retrospective look, because this process actually started much earlier from the first congress of the Muslims.

The one that marked the starting point towards the institutionalization of the Islamic Community, was the First Congress held on February 24 to March 12, 1923, which also laid the foundations for the formation of the Muslim Community of Albania. Since that time, Albanian Muslim believers would be represented by themselves and would be responsible for the spread and preservation of the beautiful tradition of the Islamic faith.

Social sciences

Elderly people – The importance of participation in social systems – addressed from the point of view of social work

Skender Mustafi, BSc. Social Works

Abstract

In this paper, will be discussed the importance of being part of social systems for the elderly. The paper leaves aside the other dimensions of the life spaces of this social group. In this research, the situation of elderly people has been treated only from the point of view of social work. This topic will be elaborated by approaching the consequences of non-participation in social systems and the causes that may lead to non-participation. The purpose of this work is to make a kind of professional encouragement of constructive and productive thinking about the condition of the elderly, a dimension that is completely ignored and not treated professionally in our society.

Elderly persons in this paper will also be known by the term ‘elderly’, a term which I consider synonymous with ‘elderly persons’. In the everyday vocabulary for this group of people, ‘elderly people’ is also used, which I estimate to be an unfair and not comprehensive identification for the condition of this social group. At the same time, the term ‘elderly’ in this paper includes the female gender, since the paper is dedicated to all elderly people.

The research addresses the current streams of thinking about this social group, the factors that influence the level of participation in social systems, the consequences of non-participation in systems and, finally, the paper suggests some of the ways of mitigating the degree of loneliness and the intensity of non-participation in social developments.

Children and their rights

Mr. Sc. Bahri Curri

Abstract

The family is the nucleus of society and its success is the success of society. In addition, children are the fruit of the family, and the hope for the future of the family and the entire nation.

Of course, having children is a priceless gift from God to man, an honor and privilege that makes you feel happy, but it is also a burden and responsibility that requires extra care.

Both girls and boys are priceless assets who, without distinction, are important and have their own vital rights. Although among Albanians, but not only, there is their desire and tendency towards boys rather than girls, this is abhorrent in Islam and this is also condemned by the Qur’an, telling us the bad practice of people before Islam, so in the time of ignorance, when the girl was deprived of all rights, often even the right to life.

Jurisprudence

The legal development of the right of ownership of Religious Institutions in Albania

Prof. asc. sr. Saimir Shatku, Faculty of Law, University of Tirana

Abstract

The property constitutes one of the oldest rights, born together with humanity, which consists in the right of the individual to freely enjoy and dispose of things, within the limits determined by civil law and divine jurisdiction.

The property right of religious communities represents one of the most important legal institutes of real property rights, in general, and also constitutes the main form of exercising human rights over things, turning into the catalyst of all economic development of a country.

Throughout the years of the dictatorship, the coexistence of the regime with features of capitalism and socialism was observed, where the latter would triumph in 1976 with the adoption of the new Constitution, in which the disappearance of private property was sanctioned. With this constitution, the domain of property and real rights related to it was completely eliminated, and the individual was stripped of any right to property, as it was needed for the political “general interest” of the country, thereby violating, in this way, directly exercising the individual’s free right to private property.

The balance of wealth and property loss was extremely large, where about 1 million square meters of the Islamic Community was misused and violated, while the rest was divided and degraded; and as a result, despite the existence of various agreements with the state, the process of restitution and compensation of the properties of religious communities has encountered many difficulties and obstacles.

Translations

The life of Abu Mansur Al-Maturidi and the socio-political and theological context in Central Asia in the tenth century – II –

Dr. Aref Chaker

Abstract

Abu Mansur al-Maturidi is one of the most influential theologians in the Muslim World. He emerged in the tenth century in Central Asia and established his own theological school, alMāturīdiyyah; a school that played and continues to play a pivotal role in the formation of the Sunni synthetic theological movement in the Muslim world. A review of the studies undertaken concerning al-Maturidi demonstrates the influence of the socio-political and theological context of Central Asia on al-Māturīdi has not been studied, examined or analysed. This paper focuses on studying this overlooked aspect in Sunni theology. It evaluates the existence of any influence of the social, political, cultural and religious factors on al-Maturidi’s works and his academic identity. It examines the nature of these influences, positive or negative, by undertaking a qualitative content analysis of all biographical, historical and geographical literature relevant to al-Maturidi and Central Asia. The study uncovered the strong influence these factors had on al-Maturidi. These influences were all positive in many of his writings. More importantly, these factors helped shape the synthetic theological paradigm al-Maturidi adopted in much of his literature.

Personality

Hajji Vehbi Dibra (Agolli)

Abstract

The entire work of Vehbi Efendi remains like a mountain in the field of our theological knowledge and culture. Unforgettable and inspiring, his high and human qualities always remain in front of us: simplicity, honesty, spiritual nobility, love for innovation and for young people, whom he encouraged to light a fire if they had a spark.

In Vehbi Dibra were embedded in the most comprehensive organic way the deep convictions of a theologian and an Islamic philosopher, which in any case, according to the principles of the holy Quran, are in complete accordance with the principles of the patriotic worldview. The clerical and patriotic activity of Vehbi Dibra are compatible with each other and have developed parallelly in the same direction, what indicates that being a cleric is not inconsistent with being a patriot, rather it served better and fully to the national issue.

Retrospective

10- Man and the Universe – II –

Abstract

Man has the capacity to judge and reason; that is, he is free to choose and act, and therefore he is responsible for his actions.

The nobility of a creature is not caused by the common qualities that associate it with its inferiors, but by the characteristic qualities that distinguish it from these inferiors. Man, with the power of reasoning and free will, has an inner life, a transcendental life, which is called human life.

If there is a proven truth, it is that nothing in the world is in vain, but has a purpose, is destined for a predetermined purpose, according to an eternal design.

All scholars have accepted one truth, but they are divided into two parts: some claim that the truth exists and man only discovers it, and some others say that the truth does not exist but man creates it with his mind.

Honest readers automatically understand how right the first part is and how wrong the second part is, because if there is no truth then the person himself is a lie, an untruth. Then how is it that an untruth, a lie, can create a truth? This is something absurd and those who are of this opinion are wrong.

Therefore, we reach the conclusion and say that the truth is and man only discovers it. Man’s mission is therefore only to discover the truth that is, and that was before man came to life.