The aim of this study is to examine new interpretations of homosexuality in Islam based on Scott Kugle?s book ?Homosexuality in Islam? and the documentary ?A Jihad for love? by Parvez Sharma. Through a theological perspective, a critical analysis is performed in order to find new interpretations and compare them with each other and with the Islamic legal tradition. Argumentative analysis is also used for both the book and the documentary for this essay.     Both Kugle and Sharma use new interpretations and arguments about love to find space for homosexuality in Islam. They use a Muslim language to have relevance with their discussions to Muslim readers and viewers.

The fundamental freedoms and human rights is something the countries, and its citizens, of theEuropean Union more or less take for granted. However, in recent years these rights have become atopic of discussion in the way that a debate about the Islamic headscarves has developed. Thisdebate has resulted in that a number of countries, including France, have taken legislative measuresto ban clothing that fully covers ones face. Out of these bans a discussion has arisen concerning thefundamental freedoms and human rights. These burqa bans, as it is labeled in the pubic debate, havebeen accused to wrongfully limit the individuals freedoms and human rights.This study therefore has the aim to analyze these burqa bans in relation to the European Union,United Nations and the Council of Europe?s general declarations concerning the fundamentalfreedoms and basic human rights.The main result of this study shows that these bans in fact is not a proportionally restrict in thefundamental freedoms and human rights.

The aim of this study is to examine new interpretations of homosexuality in Islam based on Scott Kugle?s book ?Homosexuality in Islam? and the documentary ?A Jihad for love? by Parvez Sharma. Through a theological perspective, a critical analysis is performed in order to find new interpretations and compare them with each other and with the Islamic legal tradition. Argumentative analysis is also used for both the book and the documentary for this essay.     Both Kugle and Sharma use new interpretations and arguments about love to find space for homosexuality in Islam. They use a Muslim language to have relevance with their discussions to Muslim readers and viewers.

The aim of this study is to examine new interpretations of homosexuality in Islam based on Scott Kugle?s book ?Homosexuality in Islam? and the documentary ?A Jihad for love? by Parvez Sharma. Through a theological perspective, a critical analysis is performed in order to find new interpretations and compare them with each other and with the Islamic legal tradition. Argumentative analysis is also used for both the book and the documentary for this essay.     Both Kugle and Sharma use new interpretations and arguments about love to find space for homosexuality in Islam. They use a Muslim language to have relevance with their discussions to Muslim readers and viewers.

The fundamental freedoms and human rights is something the countries, and its citizens, of theEuropean Union more or less take for granted. However, in recent years these rights have become atopic of discussion in the way that a debate about the Islamic headscarves has developed. Thisdebate has resulted in that a number of countries, including France, have taken legislative measuresto ban clothing that fully covers ones face. Out of these bans a discussion has arisen concerning thefundamental freedoms and human rights. These burqa bans, as it is labeled in the pubic debate, havebeen accused to wrongfully limit the individuals freedoms and human rights.This study therefore has the aim to analyze these burqa bans in relation to the European Union,United Nations and the Council of Europe?s general declarations concerning the fundamentalfreedoms and basic human rights.The main result of this study shows that these bans in fact is not a proportionally restrict in thefundamental freedoms and human rights.

15th of December 2005 was a historical day for the Iraqi people when they could vote for the first time in a free referendum for the draft of the new constitution. The result showed that 79% accepted it. The Iraqi constitution has been criticized by many for its Islamic ascendancy. By giving Islam the role as the source for legislation, will make the situation worse for the Iraqi women, so it has been said.My aim with this Master thesis is not to evaluate weather or not Islam as a religion will undermine women's roll in the society. My ambition is rather to examine the constitution in order to see which kind of theory of citizenship it is inspired from and how will it affect the situation of the Iraqi women.

I have in this essay focused on the attitude towards the medieval muslims in swedish textbooks, in the subject of history from the years between 1954 and 2012. I have made an analysis on the discourse in the books and what they says about the muslims who lived before 1500 AD. The theory I have is a Postcolonial one from the authors Edward Said, Ania Loomba and Leela Gandhi. I have also analyzed the rhetorics the authors have used in every textbook. The results I have identified is that the attitude towards the muslims have changed during the years, from a generalizing view that says that the muslims were driven by the religion and that they were different from the Christian European society that existed during the same time.

The purpose of this study is to analyse asylum seeking converts understanding of their conversion process based on church context, specifically within the realm of evangelical church and theology. Through the method of content analysis this essay analyses six qualitative interviews done with converts from two Islamic traditions to Swedish free church Christianity. The essay discusses the results through the lens of Lewis Rambos seven-phase theoretical concept of conversion. The important results given by this study shows that the first contact with other Christians in a new country, which creates a new community serving as an interpretive framework for their lives, triumphs the question of the theological perception for the conversion. Also, the results shows that intellectual understanding of the doctrines of faith is less important relative to the conversion process best described by the words touched, taught, and transformed.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, issues related to religion and violence has beenactualized in the media. Do Islamic texts and sources legitimate violent actions? In responseto these questions, some professional scholars of Islam argued that the 11 September terroristswere not really Muslims, but hijackers of Islam. According to other scholars, such argumentsreflect a common sui-generis discourse in religious studies which stresses the autonomy ofreligious phenomena, the priority of faith over cultural production, interior experiences andbeliefs over social practice. The scholars in favor for a naturalistic approach in religiousstudies argues that, in order to approach religion in a naturalistic way, we have to be critical ofrepresentations of religion ? and in this case representations of Islam ? drawing on a suigenerisdiscourse.

After 9/11 and the following War on Terror, Muslims are often understood as global enemies. However, the idea of an international, Islamic enemy is in some circumstances criticized, not least after the actions of Anders Behring Breivik in Norway in 2011.This study analyses the North American, Emmy Award-winning television series Homeland. It centres on the War on Terror and the following social and political climate, and there are opposing understandings regarding how religion and ethnicity are portrayed in the series. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to analyse how such aspects are constructed in the series. A text analysis is used methodologically and the theoretical perspective contents of Semiotics, Eurocentrism and Orientalism in general, and Islamophobic themes in particular.This study shows that in Homeland, the portrayal of heroes and enemies plus good and evil is complex.

The aim of this study is to examine new interpretations of homosexuality in Islam based on Scott Kugle?s book ?Homosexuality in Islam? and the documentary ?A Jihad for love? by Parvez Sharma. Through a theological perspective, a critical analysis is performed in order to find new interpretations and compare them with each other and with the Islamic legal tradition. Argumentative analysis is also used for both the book and the documentary for this essay.     Both Kugle and Sharma use new interpretations and arguments about love to find space for homosexuality in Islam. They use a Muslim language to have relevance with their discussions to Muslim readers and viewers.

The purpose of this study is to find out how Swedish Muslim girls use Facebook and its functions in constructing their Muslim identity on the platform. The study is based on a qualitative method which consists of nine interviews with Swedish Muslim girls between the ages 17-23 and who use Facebook daily.The study is based on the view of Facebook as a scene where individuals can perform for an audience. I have used Erving Coffman?s dramaturgical perspective that explains why individuals appear in an appropriate manner to achieve confirmation from their audience. I also used theories about identity construction, community and the theory about how individuals create a social presence online.

In this thesis I have used post-colonial theory to analyze the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group located in Xinjiang province in the Northwest of China, and their identity shaping process in relation to the dominating Han Chinese. I have analyzed the possibilities to use the power perspectives in post-colonial theory, especially Edward Said's Orientalism and the creation of the Other in a new context, where the main focus is on the Uyghurs through the eyes of Han Chinese. I have argued that Han Chinese, with colonial tendencies, have created two generalizing pictures of the Uyghurs; one romantic picture to use as an exotic tourist attraction and one threatening picture that portray Uyghurs as Islamic terrorists to win support in international politics. The thesis is a qualitative single case study with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding for the Uyghurs as well as examine possibilities of widening the analyze areas for post-colonialism. My conclusion is that the power perspectives in post-colonial theory are usable implements also for non-western contexts and in this case function as a way to understand the identity shaping process for the Uyghurs and their relation to Han Chinese..

Turkey has often been described as a cultural and geographical bridge between West and East. When the Islamic AKP came to power in Turkey 2002 many critics feared that the country was going to abandon its former Western allies and strengthen their relations with the Arab world instead. The criticism was intensified when the AKP increased Turkey?s bilateral relations with the Middle East and moved closer to former foe?s like Iran and Syria, at the same time as their long-time friendship with Israel experienced serious crisis. The aim and purpose of this thesis is to describe and explain the change in AKP?s foreign policy towards Israel.The research method is a combination of a qualitative text analysis of Turkey?s speeches in the UN General debate and Jakob Gustavsson?s model for explaining foreign policy change.The results show that the Turkish-Israeli relations have deteriorated after the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2010, particularly regarding diplomatic relations and military agreements.

This thesis rests on the theory and methodology of discourse theory. By viewing social reality as constituted by discourses, meanings that are taken for granted can be challenged.The events of September 11th 2001 resulted in the American war on terror. This thesis explores the impact of 9/11 and the war on terror on the Russian image of the conflict in Chechnya.Discourse theory is applied to shed light on how the conflict over Chechnya is discursively constructed by the Russian state and media. The discourse is organized in three thematic sections: Identity, Enemy Images and Islam. Russia establishes itself as a member of the Western civilisation.