Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies
Online ISSN : 2433-1872
Print ISSN : 0913-7858
Volume 26, Issue 1
Displaying 1-14 of 14 articles from this issue
  • Hiroshi KATO, Erina IWASAKI
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 1-40
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Rural migration to Greater Cairo is a phenomenon that indicates the dynamics of rural-urban linkage. The paper aims, as part of a study on the urban-rural relationship in Egypt, to offer basic information on village associations in Cairo. A village association refers to an association organized by Cairo residents who originally come from the same village. The paper is composed of five chapters including the introduction in Chapter I. Chapter II explains the spatial differences in socioeconomic aspects in Greater Cairo by conducting a cluster analysis and displaying its results on a digital map. Chapter III presents the overall situation of village associations in Cairo by examining their location, memberships and activities, based primarily on the list of 576 village associations in Cairo governorate. Chapter IV is a case study of the association of a village named Abu Senita that uses the association’s member list. Finally, Chapter V concludes with certain implications concerning the characteristics of the urban-rural relationship between villages and Greater Cairo deduced from our analysis will be deduced from the analysis of village associations. Our conclusions are as follows. Recently, some associations have become more active and are diversifying their activities, which play an important role for the migrants as a means of coping with the socioeconomic difficulties in daily life in Cairo. Village associations of migrants from Lower and Upper Egypt are the same in this regard. However, socioeconomic backgrounds appear to differ between migrant village associations from Lower and Upper Egypt. For Lower Egypt, the essential factors influencing the foundation of village associations appear to be their proximity to Greater Cairo, and the lack of job opportunities in the nonagricultural sector. Conversely, for Upper Egypt, while migration is essentially a socioeconomic phenomenon caused by low income and unemployment, the establishment of an association seems to be a rather matter of social network or culture, and an issue requiring further examination through a case study.
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  • Yutaka TAKAOKA
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 41-74
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study attempts to verify the truth of commonly held assertions or assumptions about the problem of infiltration of Mujāhidūn into Iraq via Syria (Infiltration Problem). The study focuses on tribes in the region of North Eastern Syria, because there are many analyses that make assumptions about the importance of their role without a practical basis. Preceding studies revealed that there are four types of actors in the mechanism of the Infiltration: “Infiltrators,” “Recruiters,” “Coordinators,” and “Accepters.” Good relations and cooperation between the latter three actors are key factors for successful infiltration into Iraq. Usually, the inhabitants of North Eastern Syria are considered to play the role of “Coordinators.” The study presents major discussions and facts about the Infiltration Problem, such as tribal linkage between Syria and the Arabian Peninsula, tribal linkage between Syria and Iraq, Syrian policy toward the Infiltration Problem, and the possible relationship between smuggling and the Infiltration Problem. Although it is difficult to examine Syrian policy toward the Infiltration Problem, or to acquire reliable information about the smuggling network, the study attempts to verify the importance of the role of tribal relationships and sympathy for the Mujāhidūn on the Syrian side with regard to the Infiltration Problem. The results indicate that the role of tribal relationships and sympathy for the Mujāhidūn has been overestimated. On the other hand, it also demonstrates that there is, to some extent, an ideological contradiction between actors with regard to the Infiltration Problem. The importance of understanding the Infiltration Problem by taking a subjective approach will be crucial in the short term. Hence, improved ways of conducting research about the Infiltration Problem are still required.
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  • Kenji KURODA
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 75-97
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper aims to consider the state control of the Iranian Shi’ite Islamic jurisprudence academia under Kamenei’s leadership based on a survey of literature and fieldwork from September 1, 2008 to October 29, 2008. Specifically, I will focus on the process of administrative reform in the madrasa complex of Qom (Ḥowze-ye ‘Elmīye-ye Qom) under his leadership and the recent condition of monthly stipend for students in the madrasa complex of Qom. On June 4, 1989, the Assembly of Experts held a meeting and decided to elect Khamenei, who had been president, as the new supreme leader. But Khamenei was a middle-ranking Islamic jurist, Ḥujja al-Islam wa-l-Muslimīn, unlike former supreme leader Khomeynī. This was not accordance that Article of the constitution of 1979, that the supreme leader must be a marja‘-e taqlīd (source of emulation; the title of a highly educated jurisconsult who has his followers) recognized by a large majority of the citizens. This contradiction of Khamenei’s appointment with the constitution was solved by revising the constitution that Khomeini had ordered before his death. In addition, the state encouraged Khomeini’s followers to obey two marāja‘-e taqlīd (pl. of marja‘-e taqlīd) who were recommended by the state. This meant the ruling structure was divided into two spheres: a political sphere and a religious sphere. At the same time, direct control by the state was limited to the former sphere. Thus it was a solution for only one side of the dualistic ruling structure that the state promoted Khamenei for a marja‘-e taqlīd. In 1994, Khamenei was nominated one of the recommended marāja‘-e taqlīd by two ruling support groups. Some researchers pointed out that repressive measures such as house arrest were taken against some high ranking Islamic jurists and their relatives. In other words, the violation by the state was a way of control over the jurisprudence academia. On the other hand, some researchers referred to Khamenei’s leadership in the administrative reform in the madrasa complex of Qom. In addition, they also referred to Khamenei’s financial support there. If their indication was correct, the solution was not only based on the violation. However they did not give enough explanation about not only the administrative reform but also the monthly stipend. Therefore, I attempted to refine their discussion and analyze the way of the state controlling the jurisprudence academia. As a result, I found out the control of the ruling body through an institution based on the above two topics. First, the administrative reform in early 1990s provided institutional connection between the state and new administrative body of the mardasa complex of Qom. Second, there were two types of the monthly stipend system. One was “informal,” the other was “formal.” In the “informal” system, insolvent marāja‘-e taqlīd paid students personally. On the other hand, in the “formal” system, the center for monthly stipend under the new administrative body collected money from each solvent marāja‘-e taqlīd and distributed this to students. At the same time, Khamenei absorbed more than thirty percent of total amount in the “formal” system. Then, these results meant a way of the state controlling the jurisprudence academia based on institution.
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  • Ryuichi SUGIYAMA
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 99-135
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper attempts to examine the role played by the Vaqf endowments in the expansion and development of the Emām Reżā Shrine in Mashhad during the latter half of the Safavid period. The study is mainly based on the analysis of the Vaqf documents. The paper first examines the financial base of the Emām Reżā Shrine provided by the Vaqf. Specifically, it discusses the social strata of the Vaqif (Vaqf donors) in order to identify the people who contributed to the funding of the shrine. It then examines the types of Vaqf properties along with their geographical distributions. The study reveals that the ruling elites of the Safavid dynasty expanded the shrine using the Vaqf endowments and that the Vaqf properties were concentrated in the Mashhad district during the historical period studied. The second focus of this paper is the exact mechanism by which the Vaqf endowments contributed to the development of this shrine/mausoleum to form a religious space for the Shi‘ite pilgrims. The analysis of the Vaqf documents showed that the Vaqf endowments were instrumental in establishing the shrine’s infrastructure, offering financial support to the pilgrims, and assisting scholarly pursuits at the shrine. The endowments not only guaranteed the veneration of the Sayyeds at the shrine, which had been in practice since the preceding period, but also helped to provide funds for the Shi‘ite rituals of ta‘zīye as well as to establish the Shi‘ite graveyard, amidst the ongoing Shi’ization trend. The paper concludes that the Vaqfs, during the late Safavid period, played a key role in preserving the pre-existing religious complex and the veneration of the Sayyeds, while gradually lending Shi‘ite characteristics to the shrine.
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  • Hiroshi NAWATA
    Article type: Special Feature
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 137-150
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Hiroshi NAWATA, MUḤAMMAD ‘Aḥmad ‘Asīrī, RABĪ‘ ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Ḥasānīn
    Article type: Special Feature
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 151-184
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of this paper is to clarify the traditional natural resource use and social importance of the juniper in order to set an appropriate plan for conservation of the juniper woodlands. People are engaged in clipping branches of the junipers till they grow upright. The reason they need straight trunks is to use them as building materials for their traditional houses. The mountainous land of the escarpment, which is filled with juniper trees, had been under the management and protection of na‘īb, the tribal representative of the village. When any individual of the village intended to build a new dwelling house with the wood of juniper trees, he had to request the na‘īb for permission at their council. Community members were concerned about the cutting locations and numbers of big trunks of dried or even living juniper trees. Dead branches and twigs of juniper were used as heating and cooking fuel. Ashes of these were scattered on farms as a kind of fertilizer. On the other hand, grazing any kind of livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats in the juniper woodlands had been permitted in all tribal territories. In terms of the social aspects of conservation of the juniper woodlands, we need to consider 3 aspects: 1) bridge between social practices and the latest scientific knowledge in the local context; 2) redevelopment of cultural knowledge for preservation of biodiversity; 3) application of the traditional resource-management system for sustainable resource use in a new form.
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  • Shun ISHIYAMA
    Article type: Special Feature
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 185-213
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study analyzed the efficacy of an improved cooking stove at the household level in sub-Saharan Africa. The improved cooking stove was introduced in the sub-Sahara zone in the mid-1980s to help combat deforestation, replacing the three-stone stove, which has low caloric efficiency. Various materials are used in the improved cooking stoves, including clay, sundried bricks, and metal. Most of the promoters of the improved cooking stove have chosen the metallic type because of its mobility and solidity. Unfortunately, the use of these stoves has not spread. There are two main reasons for this failure—price and convenience. First, the improved cooking stove costs 3,000 CFA (4.6 Euros), which is too expensive for the beneficiaries. Second, the stove is inconvenient to use. Field research was carried out in three households in Tourba, located on the southern shore of Lake Chad. Of the three households, two used the improved cooking stove, while the other used only a traditional three-stone stove. The qualitative analysis showed that improved cooking stoves are used together with three-stone stoves. The reason for the parallel use with three-stone stoves was that it is inconvenient to cook cereal balls on the improved stove, as the hot water and cereal flour must be stirred in the pot on the stove. The quantitative analysis showed three differences in fuel wood consumption—across households, between maize and rice, and between the improved cooking stove and three-stone stove. In conclusion, fuel wood consumption is influenced by the number of stoves used, differences in cereals and ingredients, and the size of fuel wood used in the cooking stoves. To save fuel wood, the cooks must also be conscious of the cost of fuel. The logic of the improved cooking stove is clear for its promoters, but under real cooking conditions, the full capacity of the stove is not always utilized. In addition, we need more synthetic studies of the problem of household energy use and wood utilization in the management of Sub-Saharan deforestation.
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  • Ryo NAKAMURA
    Article type: Special Feature
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 215-240
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The objectives of this paper are (1) to show how the people of Kilwa Island, located off the southern Swahili Coast, Tanzania, make use of mangrove resources by direct use and environmental use; and (2) to consider how a harmonious coexistence between humans and the natural environment might be achieved and sustained in this maritime society with otherwise limited living space and resources. The multiple roles of the mangrove resources as materials, occupational spaces, and a medium for the formation of regional societies on Kilwa Island are clarified from the perspectives of direct and environmental uses. Kilwa Island, once an influential Islamic kingdom, is now home to a small village. It is surrounded by two distinct seas: an inland sea with mangroves and the open sea fringed with coral reefs. Its maritime environments can be divided into three ecological sea zones. Ecozone 1 is the inland sea covered with mangroves. Ecozone 2 is the open sea that is fringed with coral reefs, and Ecozone 3 is the intermediate region between ecozones 1 and 2. Ecozone 1 is the most satisfactory place to live on Kilwa Island, and historically, its shallow seas enabled the inhabitants of the former Kilwa Kingdom to defend themselves against enemies from across the Indian Ocean. People on Kilwa Island have long lived close to the mangrove inland sea. Seven kinds of direct use (house-building materials, boat-building materials, fishing-gear materials, firewood, medicine, fodder, and toys) and five kinds of environmental use (fishing grounds, sea transportation routes, salt panning, beekeeping grounds, wind and wave breaks) are discussed in this paper. The relationship between direct and environmental uses is delicately balanced because immoderate mangrove pole logging destroys the environment, but prohibition of logging on conservation grounds leads to difficulties in the lives of the local people. Although the balance is tenuous, the mangrove environments in the Kilwa coastal region have not been destroyed by the local people’s daily use. This may be due to the low population density of the southern coastal regions, including Kilwa (12 people/km2), and the stagnant economic conditions of the region. Another key factor in the sustainable use of mangrove resources is that local people understand the importance of mangroves and possess valuable local knowledge about them; therefore, they treat mangroves with care. The local community in the Kilwa coastal region has developed through the use of sea routes in the mangrove inland sea. Based on shared values of Islam and relationships of reciprocity, exchange of products and information, and mutual help between relatives and friends, a regional society has been established since, and possibly even before, the Kilwa Kingdom era. Mangrove resources provide countless benefits to members of the Swahili maritime society, whose living space and natural resources are limited. To ensure a sustainable future, consideration must be given to the historical meaning of mangroves on the Swahili Coast and the appropriate management and use of mangrove resources to cope with increasing human pressure on the maritime environment.
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  • Masayuki AKUTSU
    Article type: Research Note
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 241-268
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Several modern studies have treated the ulamā as quasi-bureaucrats, influential urban elites, distinguished families, etc. However, I attempt to consider them mainly as professional intellectuals, regardless of their social position, in order to disclose the Islamic nature of the society that they established. First, we need to reveal their “institution” for the transmission of ilm, partly because the ulamā could not have been passed down (succession) without this process and partly because Islamic society should be understood on the basis of Arabic-Islamic values, not a non-Arabic-Islamic bias. How the changing situation in society has been approved by the professional ulamā and the evaluation of social environments that led to such attitudes of intellectuals are discussions related to this point. As indicated previously, an interdisciplinary attempt (historical sociology in this case) is necessary to look beyond the existing sense of values in Middle Eastern studies.
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  • Takeji INO
    Article type: Book Review
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 269-272
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Yushi CHIBA
    Article type: Book Review
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 273-276
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Hikari INOUE
    Article type: Book Review
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 277-280
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Aiko NISHIKIDA
    Article type: Doctoral Theses in Middle East Studies
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 281-286
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Shinsuke NAGAOKA
    Article type: Doctoral Theses in Middle East Studies
    2010 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 287-291
    Published: July 15, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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