ISLAMIC-GOVERNANCE.ORG

The Journal of Islamic Governance is an inter-disciplinary peer-reviewed publication encompassing all aspects of scholarly inquiry into the processes of governing from an Islamic perspective – whether such processes are undertaken by governments, corporations or other modes of human organisation.

The Journal is published online bi-annually by the Institute of Policy Studies Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and is intended to provide a robust intellectual arena that can contribute constructively to the betterment of human civilisation. All papers published by the Journal are open-access so as to encourage the free exchange of ideas, knowledge and experience among students, academics and professionals, and so broaden the disseminative reach and discussion of knowledge.

Advice to a Nation

Dina Aliuddin

Abstract

This paper analyses the political thinking of Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddein III through his, Syair Nasihat, or The Ode of Advice. Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddein III wrote Syair Nasihat in 1957 and it expresses His Majesty’s insights on how culture and ethical values are essential social elements for preserving and promoting what is recognisable today as the Maqāsid of the Shari’ah. This paper argues that although the concept of ‘Islamic Governance” is a recent addition to the Muslim political vocabulary, the practice of governing in an Islamic way is not. Sir Muda conveyed his ideas on Islamic Governance via the verses of his Ode of Advice where he expounded aspects of the Maqāsid, and as the mission of a true Islamic leader.

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Minority Participation in an Islamic Negara

Pang Li Li

Abstract

On the 1st of May 2014, Negara Brunei Darussalam declared the implementation of an Islamic criminal code of law, thus becoming the first country in modern Southeast Asia to declare so. Inevitably, Brunei was scrutinised by the international media, particularly over its relations with its non-Muslim minorities. This paper investigates the causes of the international media’s anxieties by analysing the socio-political circumstances of the non-Muslim minorities in Brunei, with particular focus on its ethnic Chinese citizens, and with reference to the Islamic Law of Minorities, or ahle dhimmah. Perspectives of the Islamic Law of Minorities toward Brunei’s Chinese citizens are also examined within the political-cultural context of Negara. Thus, exploring simultaneously these conceptual dichotomies, Islam and Negara, this paper asserts that the Islamic Law of Minorities has long been upheld in the Brunei Negara, serving to foster the coexistence of peoples of various ethnic and religious affiliations within the Abode of Peace.

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Theorising Islamic International Relations

Gubara Hassan

Abstract

The Western originators of the multi-disciplinary social sciences and their successors excluded religion as an explanation for the world and its affairs. They held that religion had no role to play in modern society or in rational elucidations for the way world politics or/and relations work. Expectedly, they also focused most of their studies on the West, where religion’s effect was least apparent and argued that religion’s influence in the non-Western world was primitive residue that would vanish with modernisation, the Muslim world in particular. Paradoxically, with modernity there has been a resurgence of religion, including Islam. As an alternative approach to this Western-centric stance and while focusing on Islam, the paper argues that religion is not a thing of the past and that Islam has its visions of international relations between Muslim and non-Muslim states or abodes: peace, war, truce or treaty, and da’wah.

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Islamic Governance : Strategies for Relevance

Yung Mei Chee

Abstract

A challenge for many governments is the devising of strategies that can create policies that ultimately are implementable, effective and sustainable over time. This paper will explore a holistic approach, at a national level, and not specifically at any particular ministry or departments per se, on how to create for Islam a functional and relevant role in the processes of policy formulation. Particular focus is given to the human agency as the operator of whatever strategies are needed. As a modern Negara, this approach is crucial in order to achieve for Islam functional relevance in public policy and towards implementing a genuine and viable system of Islamic Governance.

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Approaches in Islamic Public Sector Management

Azaharaini Hj. Jamil

Abstract

Modern Public Sector Management can be defined as groups of public officials (elected and appointed) with the authority to formulate, interpret and implement government policies and programmes to achieve the desired socio-economic development goals using a series of processes from planning, organising to leading and controlling. This paper explores whether or not the delivery of goods and services to the public is implemented in accordance to the objectives of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and in the light of the statement made by a number of Islamic scholars that ‘none of the existing Muslim countries has so far achieved a form of government that could be called genuinely Islamic’. By reflecting upon those allegations, this paper examines the concept of Islamic Governance and the Maqāsid of the Shari’ah, and suggests approaches towards making Islamic values and principles play a more prominent role in the conduct of public affairs.

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Governance in a Contemporary Islamic Negara

Amin Abdul Aziz

Abstract

The idea of utilising Islamic values and principles, as a system of governance has been the ambition of Muslim governments and administrations throughout Muslim history. Granted, attempts to realise the ideals of the epitomic Madīnian Polity had been pursued with varying levels of faithfulness, and hence of success, but the possibility of replicating the prophetic community in other socio-political settings remains an enduring aspiration. The Madīnian Polity is the epitome of Islamic Governance, underpinned by the universal principles of justice, equity, compassion and other qualities of high civilisation. The task of this paper is to articulate those Madīnian values by capturing the ideals, principles and vision of what an Islamic political community should espouse to possess, and how a cohesive theory of Islamic Governance can be applicable to all socio-political settings, past and present, including the Negara.

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The Journal of Islamic Governance

The Journal of Islamic Governance welcomes original articles between 4,500 to 5,000 words in length, excluding references, tables and figures. All papers seeking consideration for publication in The Journal should submit a preliminary abstract of around 1000 words, explaining the objectives, nature and approach of the study, no less than four (4) months before the next publication date. If the Board of Editors accepts the proposal, the author(s) will be invited to submit a full paper no less than two (2) months before the date of publication. An invitation from the Board of Editors to submit a final paper does not imply in any way an acceptance of the paper submitted or guarantees its publication in The Journal of Islamic Governance.

The editors will also consider any topic not listed below as long as the topic retains pertinence to the Islamic system of governance :

 

• Al-Quran and Hadith pertaining to Governance
• Islamic Theology in Governance
• Islamic Ethics and Morals in Governance
• Islamic Governance and Law
• Islamic Governance and Art & Architecture
• Islamic Governance and Identity
• Islamic Governance and Economics
• Islamic Governance and Politics
• Islamic Governance and Public Policy & Management
• Islamic Governance and International Relations
• Islamic Governance and Future Generations
• Islamic Governance and Gender
• Islamic Governance and Psychology
• Islamic Governance and Spirituality
• Islamic Governance and Other Religions
• Islamic Governance and Culture & Civilisation
• Islamic Governance and Sociology
• Islamic Governance and Environmental Issues
• Islamic Governance and Education
• Islam and Contemporary Issues

Publication Dates

• First week of May
• First week of November