This dissertation is a conceptual inquiry about Shari’a exploring distinct and yet interrelated dimensions of the revealed law of Islam: (i) political, (ii) spiritual, (iii) ethical, (iv) epistemic and (v) rational. These dimensions are studied from the perspective of Sunni Islam in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Egypt on the basis of a fieldwork conducted in Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo in 2012-2014, as well as of works by classical and contemporary Islamic scholars.

This study of Shari’a is guided by the following questions: What kind of political subjectivity is enabled by Islamic jurisprudence when dealing with revolutionary protests, power, and order? What kind of spirituality is entailed by Shari’a rules? To what extent is Shari’a a kind of law distinct from contemporary state law that gives shape to a form of ethical life based on the relationship between acts of worship and social interactions? Under what epistemic conditions does revealed speech call for deeds? How does the Islamic legal episteme involve the use of reason in relationship to revelation?

This dissertation shows that any attempt to deepen our understanding of Shari’a and the epistemic and cultural practices associated with it requires the study not only of jurisprudence (fiqh) and the sources of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) but also of other forms of knowledge such as Sufism, theology (kalam), and philosophy and the ways in which they are intertwined with the revealed law. It brings to light the epistemic language and the evidential regime displayed in shared assumptions and agreements between Islamic scholars versed in these disciplines as much as in disagreements between them.

In the light of this research, this dissertation reconsiders several theses which have been influential in the study of Shari’a. First, it reassesses the claim that Shari’a should be studied merely as a juridical law enforced by a central authority. Second, it revisits the thesis of Shari’a’s demise in modern times. Third, it recasts the thesis according to which Shari’a is set in opposition to spirituality, ethics, philosophy and rationality. Finally, if modernity is understood as the regime of separation of between knowledge, religion, law, ethics and politics understood as autonomous spheres within the modern polity, then my dissertation is an invitation to question this normative assumption and to think about the intertwinement of all these dimensions in Islam.

The impact of the SAS-Swissair strategic alliance on service quality, market concentration, and fares is assessed. Comparison of services before and after the alliance show increases in flights between the SAS and Swissair hubs, in the number of markets in which the alliance airlines offer connecting service, and in the average service frequency offered in these markets. Further, there has been an overall reduction in the layover time associated with SAS-Swissair connecting services. Impacts of market concentration include effective monopolization of non-stop services between the alliance partners’ hubs and a slight reduction in concentration in markets in which the partners offer connecting service. Fares in non-stop markets served by the alliance were found to have increased relative to those in non-alliance non-stop markets, probably due to the increased concentration. Variation in service and fare impacts among alliance airports was found to correlate so that those with the strongest service increases also had the lowest fare increases. Taken as a whole, the results point to the redistribute nature of alliance impacts.

Biosensors based on the principle of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) have proven to be powerful tools for biological research. Aided by the plethora of color variants of green fluorescent proteins, numerous FRET-based probes have been developed for study of molecular interactions, enzyme activities, and small molecules in live mammalian cells with high spatial and temporal resolution. In this dissertation, we focus on the development of genetically encoded FRET-based probes for cellular processes related to hydrogen sulfide and hypoxic signaling.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been recently identified as an important gasotransmitter playing crucial roles in cell signaling. We developed the first, genetically encoded, FRET-based biosensor, hsCY, for imaging live-cell H2S. We utilized a blue- (EBFP) and a green- (cpGFP) fluorescent proteins, and genetically modified the probe with p-azidophenylalanine as a H2S-sensory element. We validated hsCY in vitro and mammalian cells and demonstrated the use of hsCY for selective, ratiometric imaging of H2S. hsCY thus represents a valuable addition to the toolbox for H2S detection and imaging.

Oxygen is vital for all aerobic life forms. Oxygen-dependent hydroxylation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α by prolyl hydroxylase domain enzymes (PHDs) is an important step for controlling the expression of oxygen-regulated genes in metazoan species, thereby constituting a molecular mechanism for oxygen sensing and response. Herein, we report a genetically encoded dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent sensor, ProCY, which responds to PHD activities in vitro and in live cells. We demonstrated that ProCY could monitor hypoxia in mammalian cells. By targeting this novel genetically encoded biosensor to the cell nucleus and cytosol, we determined that, under normoxic conditions, the HIF-prolyl hydroxylase activity was mainly confined to the cytosol of HEK 293T cells. The results collectively suggest broad applications of ProCY on evaluation of hypoxia and PHD activities and understanding of pathways for the control of hypoxic responses.

As HIF-prolyl hydroxylases have emerged as promising drug targets for a variety of diseases, such as myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and severe anemia, we also explored the use of ProCY in high-throughput assays to identify inhibitors or activators of PHDs. Our preliminary study supports the feasibility of this approach. A lentiviral system has been developed for transduction of HEK 293T and establishment of ProCY-expressing stable cells.

The Mustafawiyya Tariqa is a regional spiritual network that exists for the purpose of assisting Muslim practitioners in heightening their level of devotion and knowledges through Sufism. Though it was founded in 1966 in Senegal, it has since expanded to other locations in West and North Africa, Europe, and North America. In 1994, protegé of the Tariqa’s founder and its most charismatic figure, Shaykh Arona Rashid Faye al-Faqir, relocated from West Africa to the United States to found a satellite community in Moncks Corner, South Carolina. This location, named Masjidul Muhajjirun wal Ansar, serves as a refuge for traveling learners and place of worship in which a community of mostly African-descended Muslims engage in a tradition of remembrance through which techniques of spiritual care and healing are activated. This dissertation analyzes the physical and spiritual trajectories of African-descended Muslims through an ethnographic study of their healing practices, migrations, and exchanges in South Carolina and in Senegal. By attending to manner in which the Mustafawiyya engage in various kinds of embodied religious devotions, forms of indebtedness, and networks within which diasporic solidarities emerge, this project explores the dispensations and transmissions of knowledge to Sufi practitioners across the Atlantic that play a part in shared notions of Black Muslimness.