ABSTRACT

This study explores some grammatical aspects of Rural Palestinian Arabic (RPA), spoken in the vicinity of the city of Tulkarm in the Northwest part of the West Bank, and compares the variety to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Urban Palestinian Arabic (UPA). The study introduces an overview of the Arabic language and its colloquial dialects and the status of diglossia in the Arab world. Subject-verb agreement in MSA and RPA is also discussed.

The focus of this study is on the pronominal system and negation in both MSA and RPA. It investigates the correlations between dependent subject pronouns and independent pronouns and their phonological and syntactic relationships. I argue that dependent subject pronouns are reduced forms of the independent subject pronoun. The study explains how dependent subject pronouns are formed by deleting the initial syllable, except for the first person singular and the third person masculine plural, which use suppletive forms instead. Dependent object pronouns are also derived from their independent counterparts by the deletion of the second syllable, with the exception of third person plural pronouns, which take the same form as clitics attached to their hosts.

I argue that dependent subject pronouns are agreement affixes used to mark verb argument features, whereas pronominal object and possessive pronouns are clitics attached to their hosts, which can be verbs, nouns, prepositions, and quantifiers. This study investigates other uses of subject pronouns, such as the use of third person pronouns as copulas in both MSA and RPA. Additionally, third person pronouns are used as question pronouns for yes
o questions in RPA.

The dissertation also explores the morphosyntactic properties of sentential negation in RPA in comparison to sentential negation in MSA. The study shows that the negative markers ma: and -iš are used to negate perfective and imperfective verbs, while muš precedes non-verbal predicates, such as adjectives, prepositional phrases (PPs), and participles. The main predicate in the negative phrase does not need the noun phrase (NP) to raise to T if there is no need to merge with the negative element.

Keywords: Standard Arabic, Rural Palestinian Arabic, Urban Palestinian Arabic, independent pronouns, dependent pronouns, pronominal clitics, copula pronouns, negation

The Mizrahi Jews have greatly influenced current Israeli culture through their music and food. The Mizrahi immigrated from Middle Eastern countries and brought with them their music and food. Their music has changed slowly over time. Musiqa Mizrahit started as music the Mizrahi brought with them when the immigrated to Israel. As they adjusted to Israeli society, they began switching the Arabic words to Hebrew. Musiqa Mizrahit really took off with the creation of cassette recordings that allowed anyone to cheaply record music and share it. As Musiqa Mizrahit became more accessible, it slowly gained popularity across Israel. As popularity for the genre, it slowly became accepted in Israeli society. Up until then, Musiqa Mizrahit had been discriminated against and was not considered part of Israeli culture. Nowadays, Musiqa Mizrahit is very popular and widely accepted in Israel. The food was accepted by the Ashkenazi in the first two decades of the countries existence by the widespread Israeli pushback in Mandatory Palestine and into the existence of the brand new country. now many of the Mizrahi foods are considered part of the Israeli national cuisine.

In the 1980s Jose Casanova wrote a book called Public Religions in the Modern World. He noticed that, although religion was seen a private matter for some time, it was now becoming more de-privatized, which he believes was strongly compelled by the rise of the Moral Majority. Moreover, Talal Asad, also, agrees that religion is definitely not disappearing but becoming more identifiable in the public realm. Casanova's theory contends that the privatization and the de-privatization of religion appeared to be happening simultaneously. Assuming Casanova is correct, it is now approximately 35 years later and the question is "where are we now in the process of the de-privatization of religion?" I chose to use the Evangelical Community as an example due to the fact that the majority of people that live in the United States are very familiar with this particular religion. It has become evident that the Evangelical Community has had a strong voice in the political arena. Focusing mainly on politics and using Billy and Franklin Graham as a lens, who have been both visible and influential in the process of the de-privatization of religion, I try to determine where the United States is in this process. I look at how the Grahams see God fitting into politics and how each of them views their participation in politics. In addition, I utilize present-day examples of what, both, the privatizing and de-privatizing of religion looks like while examining some areas that religion has been asserted into the public sphere. Moreover, I discuss the role of the secular in relationship to religion. Finally, I conclude with answering the question, "is religion still a private matter?"

This research focused on the extent to which Syria's Muslim Brotherhood and Syrian Islamic Front have managed to acquire political legitimacy within a society that has historically remained under the control of either a foreign occupier or an oppressive regime. In addition, the added instability caused by the various ethnic/religious allegiances, external forces and a long-standing tradition of inhibiting a civil society have caused their legitimacy within the society to fluctuate dramatically. As a result the Islamic opposition parties in Syria have undergone a variety of ideological and organizational changes in an attempt to acquire a firm support base from Syria's varied population. Therefore, this thesis looked at each Islamic party's ability to obtain support from a wide spectrum of the Syrian populace, starting from their introduction into the political theatre, up until the onset of the Syrian Civil War.

The term I'jaz al Qur'an refers to the inimitable quality of the Qur'an. The doctrine of inimitability comes directly from the Qur'anic text itself: And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful (The Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:23). This verse is one of the verses of tahaddi (challenge) that challenges mankind to imitate just one chapter of the Qur'an. The doctrine of inimitability comes directly from this verse and four others throughout the Qur'an. It took about two centuries after the revelation of the Qur'an for the topic i'jaz to become the subject of mass scholarly activity. Reasons for the sudden increase in scholarly activity surrounding i'jaz include such historical events as the emergence of Sufism, the mu'tazalah school of theology, the shu'ubiyyah movement, and the Muslim-Christian interactions during the ninth century. Scholarly activity on has produced several theories on i'jaz from the likes of classical Islamic scholars including Abu Ishaq al-Nazaam, Al-Qadi Abd Al-Jabbar, Abu Bakr Abd al-Qahir bin Abd ar-Rahman bin Muhammad al-Jurjani, Abu Bakr Muammad ibn al-Tayyib al-Baqillani, and Muhammad ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi. These theories of i'jaz, while sharing many similarities, were chosen for this analysis due to the key differences they exhibit. These differences are often associated with the theological school and area of expertise of the given scholar, all of which will be explored thoroughly.

9/11 is a suspended moment in history that changed the lives of everyone alive in that moment forevermore. Some became zealous patriots, others despised the United States more, and I was utterly scared. I was scared for many reasons: For starters bombs, violence and hatred visited my country's doorstep. Not only that, but I was a victim of a crime I couldn't logically comprehend. I was unaware of the ongoing tension between the west and the Middle East. I was unaware of the Twin Towers, and I was fully unaware of my vulnerabilities. These emotions triggered a zeal and inspired me to study our "enemy" and try to understand why I was, personally, was their victim. I started reading any and all books that had the keywords I heard in the mainstream media: terrorism, Afghanistan, Taliban, Islam and more. I was afraid to ask questions. Independently I studied many different texts, most of which I share in this document. My autodidactic nature helped me to familiarize myself with the region, its culture and history of conflict with the U.S. I was thankful for three particular books that fomented my interest in the feminism in Islam movement. My essay features these three titles, and my development into an advocate for the movement. I hope to lend my journalism writing and communication skills to the Muslim women of the world who envision a movement rooted in Qur'anic truth and social progress.

The widespread and rapid adoption of mobile phones into urban Morocco is significantly impacting the lives of middle to lower class individuals who interact with this technology. These impacts fall into one of two societal spheres: social and economic. Socially, mobile phone use is altering the way that place-making practices, time construction, and gender roles are being negotiated. These changes are brought about by the phenomena of time/space compression and constant connectivity that these devices enable. Economically, cell phone use is enabling an ease and efficiency of communication that significantly reduces the costs of information transfer. For micro-entrepreneurs, this cost reduction activates pre-existing social networks and generates job opportunities and social status in ways never before possible. The cumulative result of these social and economic shifts is the creation of societal gap that runs down a technological fault line, fundamentally differentiating the day-to-day strategies of those who interact with mobile phones from those who do not.

The American-led 'war on terror' affected how media outlets and some contemporary literature addressed and stereotyped Islam. One of the most common stereotypes regarded the status of women in society. The constant images of oppressed Afghani women generated a wave of negativity toward Islam. Afghani women were portrayed as passive characters during the Taliban rule awaiting liberation from the west. Defending their rights became one of the moral justifications for waging the 'war on terror' after the tragedy of 9/11. Gender politics in Afghanistan is closely tied to the regime in power. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the social and cultural transformation of society that followed also directly affected women and their identity as Muslims. Both the Soviet and the Taliban regimes envisioned a drastic transformation of women's participation in the public sphere. Each regime's gender politics oppressed Afghani women and sought to take away their agency. Some women welcomed the freedom under the Soviets, but others found the freedoms to be oppressive. The Taliban aimed to preserve men's authority over women. However, Afghani women never gave up the hope of freedom and equality. My main argument is to challenge the contemporary belief that Afghani women were passive characters in their history. This study introduces a fresh perspective on to women's role as change makers in the society. I argue that Afghani women maintained their autonomy and fought for their rights, before the rest of the world rushed to liberate them. They engaged in different forms of resistance from directly attacking the oppressors to keeping their resistance hidden. This thesis challenges the notion of Afghani women as victims in need of saving. On the contrary, they were the agents of change in their communities. On the basis of ethnographic interviews and three memoirs written by women who lived in Afghanistan during Soviet and Taliban rule. Their resistance against the oppressors is an affirmation of their courage and bravery.

Historically, colonizers, immigrants, and enslaved Africans served as carriers of Islamic culture to Puerto Rico, and today, that Islamic element is often unassumingly intertwined with the Puerto Rican culture. Using Bourdieu's concept of habitus as the framework, this dissertation engages customs and mannerisms of Puerto Ricans to reveal the imprint and legacy of Muslim Spain and the Islamic heritage of West Africa in Puerto Rico. It makes a study of the Spanish language to include vocabulary, proverbs, songs, and games that carry vestiges of Arabic language and culture. Most importantly, it also addresses an inherited religious and cultural tradition rooted in the history and legacy of Islam and Christianity and the human experience of cultural and religious phenomena of conflicts within Medieval Spain. Of particular focus, Fiestas de Santiago Apóstol in Loíza, Puerto Rico (a Moor and Christian celebration in honor of St. James, the Moor Slayer) offer a uniquely different expression. The celebration not only displays remnants of cultural and religious practices influenced by several world traditions such as folk Catholicism, Santería, Espiritismo, and Islam, but embraces the Vejigantes character which symbolizes the Muslim. The implications of these celebrations attest to a historically covert Muslim presence or at least a less biased conceptualization by the Puerto Rican people regarding Muslims. Unlike Medieval Spain, where Muslims were deemed invaders from 711-1600's, the religious, cultural, and political history of Puerto Rico does not suggest a deeper legacy of conflict that includes Islam as an adverse religious and cultural tradition.

Assyrians face numerous concerns resulting from the status of a stateless people. Overcoming immigrant transitions, difficulties related to diaspora, and the implications of these on Assyrian culture are pressing matters to be addressed in the evolution of the Assyrian nation. In order to develop a strategy to benefit individuals, families and the nation, Hometown Associations, a form of nonprofit organization, may be used to connect, assist, and progress Assyrian communities. This thesis provides background, rationale for, and guidelines to creating Hometown Associations for Assyrian communities. Ultimately, Hometown Associations and other forms of cultural organizations appear to be a viable means toward community solidarity and cultural preservation. However, further research and more diverse subjects are required to assess the generalizeability of the findings discussed.