INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT, 8, 01-03, 2012 Copyright BIIT ISSN 1816-689X

Editorial A new board and a new look

The International Journal of Islamic Thought (IJIT) is a successor to the Bangladesh Journal of Islamic Thought (BJIT). I would like to express our gratitude to late Professor Dr. U.A.B. Razia Akter Banu for her dedication to the Journal. She worked diligently and directly with authors and reviewers to build a community that values high quality research. She deserves the credit for the Journals success so far. The new Editorial Board would like to build on the successes achieved and lift the Journals esteem to a new high. The International Journal of Islamic Thought (IJIT) purports to function as a discussion forum for academics and practitioners from all over the world. It is this spirit which prompted us to request replacing the word Bangladesh with International in the title of the journal. This would also help remove any misconception about the journal being maintained by and meant for the Bangladesh scholarly community only. The journal is Islamic in orientation and would serve the humanity as a whole. The Prophet (SAW) was sent as a mercy for the whole of humankind. Changing the name of an academic journal with a history of 8 years since its first issue in 2005 was a delicate task. However, we succeeded in gaining the support of the Editor-in-Chief, M. Azizul Huq, and through him the support of the Executive Committee of the Bangladesh Institute Islamic Thought (BIIT). He remains as its Editor-in-Chief with the new Editorial Board. We believe that his expertise and leadership experience will bring the journal to a new era of recognition in knowledge and information systems. This journal will contain articles mainly in the English language. Some high quality articles in the Bangla language will be published with abstracts in both Bangla and English. However, the ultimate emphasis of the journal will be on the English language so as to reach the wider Muslim community. Having the journal mainly in English is also the first step in developing it into a Science Citation Index (SCI) Journal. In this endeavour, a number of difficult tasks lay before the members of the editorial board: practical tasks such as maintaining an evaluation system suitable for an international journal, globalization of the website and design evaluation team, and finding a manuscript editor to copyedit the English language content. The editorial board members have to work together to maintain its excellence and quality service to the Muslim ummah. The journal will be published regularly on a bi-annual basis as before. The ability to publish the issues on time is the first big challenge that has to be faced by the Editorial Board, which implies the establishment of a healthy backlog of the submitted manuscripts. This is also an essential criterion for the journal indexation by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). However, I strongly believe it is just a question of time until the IJIT can be indexed, mainly because this is a respectable peer-reviewed journal of international scope.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT, VOL 8, NO 1 & 2, 2012

This journal is based on two pillars: one is based on the world of scholarship, the other on the world of practice. In the first dimension, this journal focuses on general developments in Islamic thought. Its main interest lays in general, theoretical issues in the realm of social, economic and political thought. Equally important, however, are the views of those engaged in realizing the socio-economic and political systems based upon shariah. The world of scholars and the world of practitioners largely function in separate settings. This Journal aims at bridging this separation or narrowing it down by creating a forum where the two can fruitfully interact and benefit the ummah. We are delighted to present an issue that brings articles on diverse ideas and authored by scholars from various countries. Maszlee Malik argues that, for long civil societies have been identified as promoters of good governance. But with the resurgence of religion, scholars have incorporated the culture, faith and tradition into the discourse of development and good governance. Taking Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) as a case, Maszlee Malik attempts to examine the role of religion in mobilizing civil society towards the achievement of good governance. In his opinion, JIM has successfully combined the role of a faith-based organization and civil society and has contributed positively to the development of good governance and a democratic culture in a plural society like Malaysia. Noor Mohammad Osmani analyzes the writings of Ghulam Ahmad Parvez from Pakistan on wide ranging topics particularly issues relating to women such as their testimony in courts, their role in politics, and wearing of Hijab or Niqab (face veil). He argues that Parvez rejected the authority of the hadith of the Prophet (SAW) and that his modernist views on women issues are not in conformity with the Quran and Sunnah. Osmani finds that Parvezs rejection of hadith led him to adopt opinion on issues which are contrary to the shariah based views of the majority Muslim scholars. Juwairiyya Badamasuiy and Usman Muhammad Shuaib in their article provide a critique, from a shariah perspective, of the provisions of Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Using doctrinal and comparative methods of analysis, they argue that gender equity as provided by the Shariah serves the interest of women better than gender equality as encapsulated by the CEDAW. They also conclude that the provisions of Shariah on gender issues help achieve equity among men and women. Md. Manzoor explores the concept of good governance which is considered by many scholars as a prerequisite for socio-economic and political development. The West links good governance with the democratization of the polity and quite often considers Islam as inimical to democracy. Manzoor argues that Islam, with a complete code of life, is not incompatible with democracy. The Islamic polity based upon Quran and Sunnah incorporates many of the features considered democratic. It is characterized by rule of law and equality, accountability and responsibility, freedom and human rights, and equitability and justice and other features essential for good governance. Given these features, Islam can play a positive role in enhancing good governance in the Muslim World. In the short note section, Md. Noman Siddikee explores the perceptions of Bangladeshi teens on some issues considered essential in securing and retaining jobs in the hospitality industry. Based upon a survey, the study establishes that teens prefer to work for industries that offer flexible working hours, friendly

A NEW BOARD AND A NEW LOOK/ A. R. MOTEN

coworkers and a good salary. In the light of these findings, the entrepreneurs in hotel and restaurant sectors be well advised, among others, to better treat their employees, provide transport facilities, pay competitive salaries and improve their human relations sectors to facilitate a better understanding of the environment in which the teens are employed. Preparing the first issue of this journal with a new feature is not an easy task. The journal still has to establish itself and attract potential authors and readership. We invite both academics and practitioners to submit contributions. We hope that this first issue will stimulate colleagues to prepare shorter notes or more extensive articles in order to share their ideas and experiences with a wider audience. I mainly would like to emphasize that the new editorial team is resolutely committed to making the best research available to our readers and looks forward to working synergically to further improve the IJITs quality and international reputation in the years to come. May Allah (SWT) guide us to whatever He wills! Ameen. Abdul Rashid Moten