Tenth Annual Meeting of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies 11-12 Ramadan 1413/5 -6 March 1993 Georgetown University, Washington, DC

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 ...