Search

In recent decades, the phenomenon of international immigration has witnessed a dramatic increase, propelled by factors such as globalisation, escalating poverty and hunger, environmental degradation, war, and civil unrest. Since 2015, a notable surge in immigration from Muslim-majority countries to Europe has occurred, attributed to the geographic proximity of Europe to crisis-ridden areas like the Middle East and North Africa. On the other hand, in recent years, extreme right-wing and racist tendencies have proliferated across nearly all European nations. Immigrants, particularly those of Muslim faith, have become easy scapegoats for these right-wing elements, portraying them as threats to European identity, values, culture, and economy. This article aims to delve into the perception of Europeans towards Muslim immigrants, addressing the pivotal question: Is the immigration of individuals from Muslim countries to the European Union a genuine threat or a constructed one? The paper systematically deconstructs the primary arguments depicting Muslim immigrants as threats to the security, identity, and economy of European countries. It rigorously contends that this perceived threat is predominantly constructed by certain right-wing politicians and media outlets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until the end of the imperial period, the Volga-Ural Muslim communities in the Russian empire practiced several methods of intergenerational property transfer, such as waṣiyyat (bequest), hiba (gift), ṣulḥ/takhāruj (peaceful settlement) and the “science of the shares” (ʿilm al-farāʾiḍ). The Volga-Ural Muslims considered them all as legitimate ways of property division according to Islamic law (sharīʿa). However, a significant shift occurred in the early 1820s when the Russian imperial state confirmed the Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly as the court of appeal for family and inheritance matters. Subsequently, Volga-Ural Muslims began to petition the oa, seeking a reconsideration of their inheritance divisions, specifically requesting a division “according to sharīʿa”. By the end of the nineteenth century, most of these petitions resulted in divisions based on the science of the shares. I argue that the oa served as an extra-communal venue where Muslims could challenge intra-familial or communal methods of inheritance division, and request divisions based on the science of the shares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islam is the religion of a peace-oriented system that depends upon the duties and rights of its citizens. Any political system that fulfils the basic needs of its system lives longer than those systems that corrupt the rights of its citizens. Moreover, the soundness of any political system depends upon its provisions which govern and fulfil the basic spiritual and biological needs of human beings and its allowance for change. Aside from spiritual and moral aspects of the creed which are permanently established, Islam provides broad principles and frameworks in the area of worldly interactions which makes it possible for the Muslim community to evolve and meet the needs of every period. Its soundness lies in its protection of minorities and providing them with all basic facilities to grow up as sound human beings free from all sorts of discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the 15th century, the transformation of Anatolia into a region with a large Muslim majority had been completed. By then the Christian population in most of Anatolia was either small—in absolute numbers as well as in comparison to Muslims—or non-existent. This general picture has long been known to scholarship, yet no effort has been made to date to provide a systematic overall perspective of the Christian presence in Ottoman Anatolia. This article offers a preliminary overview of the location and relative strength or weakness of that presence in the different parts of Anatolia, based on data from Ottoman fiscal registers that reflect the situation in the 1520s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the way religious identity is constructed via languages, with a particular focus on Arabic and Bengali terms originating from Persian, will be explored. It is vital to comprehend how Bengali Muslims create this constellation of languages, recognising that religion also has its linguistic demands, as language assists with making identities (Jaspal and Coyle 2010). The two languages will provide traces of how Muslimness is managed in the East End and consider how historically, the role of these languages have shifted. For example, the Persian-origin terms analysed are crucial in understanding Persian's influence in constructing a particular South Asian Muslim/Islamic expression. I critically examine how Arabic and Bengali intermingle while asserting different socio-religio-positionings. The claims-making qua a religious identity is morphed through various political junctures, particularly while forging a religious identity with other Muslims and how Arabic has become the dominant language in Bengali Muslims' lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What motivates young Muslims to study Islamic theology or religious education? Are they aiming for a specific professional qualification that requires the study of Islamic theology, or do they want to deepen their faith and aim for further personal development? The question of motives for studying Islamic theology is linked to the life goals and biographies of young Muslims, which opens up the issue of migration and Islam. This article aims to investigate the relationship between the study motives, professional aspirations, and life goals of Islamic theology students within the context of migration. Additionally, it seeks to explore their experiences with foreign and self-positioning in society. Empirical data gathered through qualitative and quantitative research methods will serve as the basis for this examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows that British homosexual Muslims face rejection and identity conflict between their homosexuality and their Muslimness. The opposition between Islam and homosexuality has created a feeling of exclusion, illustrating the assumed incompatibility between being Muslim and being homosexual. Homosexual Muslims face religiously motivated homophobia rooted in the heteronormative precepts of Islam. In parallel, they face Islamophobic attitudes in which Islam is now used as a form of civilisational opposition to the British values of tolerance and inclusion and the wider homosexual community see it as a threat to their very existence. Nevertheless, the results show that the hostility of Muslims toward homosexuality is evolving, and the heteronormative discourses are now coexisting with more neutral and even homo-friendly approaches. A new bicultural belonging among homosexual Muslims is being constructed to address individual strategies of managing both identities and is fostering new interpretations of acceptance of different sexualities within Islam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes a series of legal opinions from the Far Maghrib between the 8th/14th and 11th/17th centuries in which the authors promote a remarkable position: that members of the Muslim community deemed ignorant of creedal doctrine should be accorded the legal status of Magians (ḥukm al-majūs). The primary consequence of categorizing people as Magians – meaning here something different than Zoroastrians – was the annulment of their marriages. After discussing the sources and offering comments on the social, political, and religious circumstances that may have conditioned this position (Section 1), I explain its intellectual architecture. I show that while the concepts animating the concern with creedal ignorance were rooted in Ashʿarī theology (Section 2), the tools of enforcement came from Mālikī law (Section 3). The "Magian position" thus sheds light on historical interactions between Islamic theology and law, as well as on the functioning of orthodoxy in Muslim societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early modern Italy, stereotypes about Muslim men's supposed inclination towards the vice of 'sodomy' gave rise to fears that Christian masculinity was being tainted. Eighteenth-century court records from the Republic of Genoa and the Papal States contain numerous instances of cross-confessional male relations that faced persecution by state authorities. In each of these cases, Christian men were prosecuted for taking a sexually 'passive' role in relation to sexually 'active' Muslims, while the reverse scenario was never pursued. This article argues that the sexual focus of judicial authorities obscured the enduring bonds of affection and mutual obligation that developed between men across religious lines. The existence of these relationships unveils an intimate sphere of connections across faith in the early modern Mediterranean while highlighting an intersectional site of Christian social anxiety, where fears of religious contamination overlapped with concerns about same-sex intimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates attempts at, and the implications of, speaking publicly for Islam in Denmark, with special attention to the notion of "voice." First, I present a theoretical framework for an analytical focus on voice, and develop a distinction between "being" and "having" a voice. In the analysis that follows, I focus on three recent Danish podcast series produced by and featuring Muslims that to various extents all address issues related to Islam. Thereafter I discuss the effectiveness of the studied podcasts' efforts to be and have a Muslim voice in light of the analytical concepts "recognition" and "resonance." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the role and content of Islamic knowledge in Europe, focusing on how it is produced, communicated, and negotiated by Muslim actors in various settings. The authors examine different Muslim communities, intellectual fields, and educational traditions, highlighting the diverse forms of Islamic knowledge and the ways in which it is received and combined with other types of knowledge. The article also explores the concept of relevant Islamic knowledge and its negotiation among European Muslims, emphasizing the processual nature of knowledge production and the importance of adaptation to local contexts. The special issue includes four research articles that delve into specific practices, groups, and contexts, shedding light on the experiences and motivations of young German Muslims studying in Turkey, Danish Muslim women's search for Islamic knowledge, embodied engagements with religious traditions through theater productions, and the use of podcasts by Muslim speakers in Denmark. Overall, the articles contribute to a deeper understanding of the multiplicity and complexity of Islamic knowledge in European settings. [Extracted from the article]

This article focuses on continuity in the practice of the conversion of Muslims and its social implications in Venice in the period 1750–1824. Neophytes were people of other religious confessions who converted and were baptized as Catholics. Among neophytes of Muslim origin in Venice at this time were enslaved people, formerly enslaved individuals, and free men and women, as well as others of uncertain status. While the article discerns patterns of continuity in the practice of the conversion of Muslims and the wider experience of enslaved people in Venice, it argues that significant changes occurred after the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. These developments emerged in response to the shifting political climate and legal reforms of the Napoleonic period (1806–1814) and the post-1814 period in which Venice came under Austrian rule, culminating in a reduction in the number of neophytes and enslaved people in the city. The geographical origins of the neophytes ranged from the Ottoman Empire and its regencies to Eastern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Atlantic. Sources from Venice's Pius House of Catechumens reveal the types of work the neophytes performed and indicate how changes in ownership dictated slaves' or former slaves' trajectories before their arrival in Venice. The article also highlights how religious conversion from Islam to Catholicism was a watershed moment for individuals, one that had a major bearing on their living and working conditions and, in some cases, their social status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arab Law Quarterly has published a special issue on the topic of Islamic constitutionalism. The articles in this issue challenge existing paradigms and emphasize the importance of local context and national politics in shaping debates over the role of Islam in legal systems and constitutions. The authors argue against monolithic thinking and decontextualized analysis in the field of Islamic constitutionalism. They provide examples from Pakistan to illustrate their points and highlight the need for a more nuanced understanding of the role of Islam in constitutional structures. The authors also question the use of the term "Islamic constitutionalism" without considering the diverse interpretations and practices of Islam in different Muslim-majority countries. Overall, this special issue offers a fresh perspective on Islamic constitutionalism and invites readers to explore the complexities and nuances of the topic. [Extracted from the article]

In 1909, when the sultanate of Wadai, the last independent Muslim state in Africa, succumbed to French authority, the scholar ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Sanūsī al-Tarjumī wrote a treatise explaining why Muslims could remain in the country and live in reconciliation (ṣulḥ) with their Christian conquerors. More than a hundred years later, the author and his treatise, Tabṣirat al-ḥayrān min hawl fitan al-zamān (Instructions for the Perplexed on the Horror of the Trials of our Time) have both acquired new reputations, with al-Tarjumī now a central figure in the sphere of oral wisdom narratives. This article explores why interest in al-Tarjumī has revived, and the relation between his work and his reputation. It argues that his scholarly plea for reconciliation with the non-Muslim colonial occupants of Wadai is re-invoked today to strengthen the position of traditional Muslims in Chad compared to that of fundamentalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the roles and representations of dogs in Islam by focusing on their place in four manifestations of the Islamic tradition: the Quran, Islamic jurisprudence, Muḥammad al-Damīrī's The Great Life of Animals , and Sufism. Whereas many Muslims and non-Muslims alike believe that dogs have a low status in Islam, these four sources offer an abundance of positive material about the canine that challenges this view. They also reveal that Muslim scholars have debated much of the contentious material concerning dogs, often forming opinions in response to it that are favorable to the creature. Paying greater attention to the nuances and complexity of the discourses on dogs and their images within the Islamic tradition can help improve understanding of dogs therein and inspire dog-friendly attitudes among modern Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ahmadiyya movement is one of the most controversial movements within the South Asian Islam from the late 19th and the 20th century. The movement from the beginning was instrumental in reinvigorating the debate on the Islamic orthodoxy and interpretation and re-interpretation of the Islamic texts among Muslims. These controversies and debates over the period of time have entered into the public consciousness particularly among Muslims of South Asia, which has enabled it to become an accepted feature of the contemporary South Asian Politics. As the movement became more public, the distinct identity of Ahmadi took shape and a notion of Ahmadiyyat as distinct expression of Islam became increasingly politicised. Similarly, the emergence of this Ahmadi identity was influenced by modern South Asian politics as much as South Asian Islam was influenced by the modernists. This influence has widened the dichotomy between Ahmadi Islam and the orthodox Islam. The current study focuses on how South Asian Islam’s narratives grew and developed to build and declare Ahmadis as a non-Muslim minority. It also demonstrates how these narratives were exploited over time by both Muslim groups and famous Muslims to malign and portray the Ahmadiyya community as ‘other’ in the eyes of Muslim and state structures. The study focuses primarily on the narratives of the 20th-century Muslim intellectuals such as Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Abul A’la Maududi, and other groups such as Majlis-i-Ahrar, as well as their role in building and constructing narratives that declared Ahmadis as ‘other’ while also changing their identity and status as Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public theology is a contemporary field that transcends mere trendiness; it stands as a vital imperative for the Arab Church. This imperative arises not only from the need for effective communication with its counterparts but also as a means to bridge the cultural chasm between the East and the West. Rooted in historical legacies and lived realities, Arab Christian theology boasts rich wellsprings of wisdom, yet it also confronts distinct challenges. While it shares commonalities with global public theology, the Arab Church's presence in this pivotal region renders its public theology distinctive and profoundly significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the subjection of Europe's lower-strata working-class Muslims to a politics of containment on two levels: isolation and elite capture. Departing from analogies between antisemitism and Islamophobia, it argues for a different comparison between the two that involves their effects when weaponised as discursive strategies. While the effects of the weaponisation of ('new') antisemitism tend to isolate Muslims through a de -essentialising good vs. bad Muslim discourse, the effects of the weaponisation of Islamophobia move towards the tendential dynamics of elite capture through a re -essentialising discourse. Instead of theorising identity-formation as a direct consequence of ideology, the paper situates both discursive strategies within a structural framework that involves Muslims' organisational and collective- action forms, which in turn consolidate non-class identities. The paper concludes that the effects of the weaponisation of both discourses are realised in the containment of Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores unions between elite Muslim men and elite non-Muslim women from the conquered populations during the seventh to ninth centuries CE. It considers cases from a range of geographic settings, including the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, the Fertile Crescent, and Iran. It examines these unions in their immediate historical contexts as well as literary artifacts of much later periods. With respect to the former, it argues Muslim conquerors often used elite non-Muslim women to cement their alliances with indigenous elites and as instruments to humiliate and abase these elites. With respect to the latter, it argues that stories of aristocratic non-Muslim women constitute a neglected but important feature of conquest narratives and they show how elite non-Muslim lineage remained prized among Muslims long after the conquests were over. Finally, as the article argues, the phenomenon demonstrates that many in early Muslim society considered maternal lineage to be very important, even if social standing was technically based mainly on the father. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into social group structures, examining them through the prism of kinship ties. At the core of our exploration is Marshall Sahlins's definition of kinship as "mutuality of being," which will be elaborated towards the article's conclusion. We home in on the first four centuries of Islam (approximately 600–1000 CE), a pivotal era marked by shifts in social affiliations and loyalties. Initially, "mutuality of being" was deeply influenced by patron-client relationships, known as the Islamic patronate (walāʾ). Yet, by the era's end, "mutuality of being" evolved to resonate more with affiliations to one of the three major Islamic currents or their subsets: Kharijite, Shiite, or Sunnite Islam. Our objective is to dissect the societal transformations during this period, from a Muslim society anchored in Arab tribal loyalty to one gravitating towards the aforementioned religious currents. We then connect these observations to Sahlins's kinship theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes up Michael Pearson's concept of littoral societies and discusses how it provides us with a lens to study a specific estuarine place, a mangrove forest called Sundarbans that is found along the coastlines of India and Bangladesh and opens onto the Bay of Bengal. Inhabitants cope with constant risks and hazards, maintaining distinctive folk traditions practiced by both the region's Hindus and Muslims. This article discusses the outsider and insider perceptions of this place and its distinctive material culture, which may provide a window for studying other littoral cultures across the Indian Ocean basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the case of Sweden as its focus, this article contributes to the research on state–Islam relations in Europe. From a comparative European perspective, it demonstrates that Sweden departs from what is generally presented as the common pattern when it comes to when, how and why state-Islam relations were first established. Previous theorising on this topic, primarily connected with Jonathan Laurence's seminal work on state–Islam relations in Europe, argues that such relations follow two phases, namely (1) Embassy Islam (1960–1990) and (2) the institutionalisation of domestic relations with (national) Muslim Councils (1990-onwards). Our conclusion, however, is that Sweden skipped the first phase and went directly to the second in the mid-1970s. This, we argue, can be explained as the (unplanned) result of a general change in church–state relations in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although they may have learned the norms and practices of fiqh at home and in school, most Muslims have scant knowledge of the ways in which their religious laws and mores were practiced in pre-modern times. Indeed, when it comes to imagining and understanding the role of fiqh in earlier Muslim societies, many contemporary Muslims get their information through fictional treatments, particularly from films and television dramas. For Arab Muslims, the relevant medium here is the musalsal , the 30-episode Ramadan drama. This article is a preliminary investigation into the role of fiqh in Egyptian historical films and musalsalāt. Based on collected scenes of fiqh – judges passing sentences, muftis issuing fatwas, teachers instructing, and student discussions – it identifies the issues at stake and analyzes the style of argumentation, the exercise of authority, and the general image of a fiqh -based society created in films and dramas. While the fuqahāʾ only play a minor role in Egyptian film, they are prominent in Arabic historical and religious musalsalāt , often, but not exclusively, produced in Egypt. In these two genres, we have biopics of major religio-legal figures, such as the founders of the four legal schools, major theologians, 19th century reformers, and a few modern ʿulamaʾ. Tracing the evolving treatment of fiqh and fuqahāʾ from the early dramas of the 1980s up to today, this article focuses on the themes of judicial independence, justice for the poor, corruption, and the intellectual process behind rulings. It argues that, overall, the lesson of the musalsalāt is a positive one: Shariʿa works, authoritarian rule has the capacity to be enlightened, and the key to effective leadership is appointing the right people to govern, or judge. The article concludes by discussing these messages in a contemporary Egyptian setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Greek region of Thrace, the category of Muslim "Minority" citizen has long had social and legal consequences. But is it possible to evade minority status by avoiding recognition as a Muslim? This paper analyzes two representations of "passing" – attempts to access majority status or rights by avoiding classification as Muslim. The first, a Greek TV drama, depicts a young man's social passing as he struggles to conceal his Minority identity. The second – an example of legal passing – depicts a man avoiding legal classification as a Muslim to have his estate administered under Greek civil rather than Islamic inheritance law. Analyzing "passing" across these contexts illuminates anxieties around minority legibility and how legal and social practices intersect to regulate identity and rights. This analysis problematizes how popular culture representations may unsettle or reinforce the idea of Muslims as a discrete, separately administrable, population of citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1453, the world witnessed the fall of the medieval Christian Empire's largest capital, Constantinople, at the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (1444–1446/1451–1481). Some scholars have argued that this event encouraged crusades against the Ottomans throughout Europe. Consequently, this research debates the previous studies by discussing both the primary objectives of the papacy and Christian states after the fall of Constantinople and the presence of Muslims in Western Europe. It also considers the Catholic Church's actions during its attempts to incite Christian countries to wage war against the Ottoman Empire. Lastly, the study analyses various primary sources, including papal sources, and provides deeper insights into various papal responses to Ottoman threats, comparing them with simultaneous, more enthusiastic support for the Iberian Reconquista. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As research on religion and spirituality at healthcare institutions gains momentum, there is still scarce knowledge pertaining to Muslim patients' spirituality living in the West. In this article, I present and discuss the results from my qualitative study of 12 Muslim patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at Danish hospitals. Based on the empirical data, using thematic analysis, the major emergent theme 'meaning-making' is subjected to investigation. This is done by bringing relevant Islamic theological terms into the conversation. The aim of this study is to understand how critically ill Muslim patients relate to religion and spirituality in their meaning-making processes. I argue that there is both a theocentric and anthropocentric worldview prevalent amongst Muslim patients in the meaning-making process and what glues the two worldviews together is a 'relational spirituality'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically analyses popular and children's science magazines published in Kerala, a southern state of India. It examines how these magazines construct an ideal Hindu nation and citizen through different narratives. Here, I argue that the imagery of popular children's magazines in Kerala is rooted in the Hindu ideal – wherein dominant masculine characters and a glorified Hindu cultural past are foregrounded. In these magazines, the idealisation of Hindu masculinity takes place through presenting Muslims as less progressive / incapable of acquiring "modern standards". In this context, the Hindu emerges as a reformer who helps the Muslim to "acquire modernity". Also, children's science magazines view science as a means for liberation from religion and irrational beliefs through critiquing "irrational" stories in popular Malayalam children's magazines. But a close examination of science magazines reveals that it is embedded in the very religious ideologies from which it is seeking liberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the critique of generic terms, such as religion or mysticism, regarded as Western-centric, comparison in religious studies has been faulted for reinforcing Western dominance over the rest of the world. Global Religious History claims to constructively address these charges by focusing on global entanglements. On closer inspection, however, if the latter are theorized at all, an astounding exclusion comes to the fore: the omission of gender as category of knowledge. Engaging this phallogocentrism in Global Religious History, this article calls for a conceptualization of global entanglements that takes this omission seriously. As a case study, I use a tract published serially in a Singapore-based Islamic missionary journal (1938–1941), to argue that a revised conceptualization of global entanglements can help to uncover the contributions of non-hegemonic subjects to contemporary discourses on religion, mysticism, Islam, and Sufism, as well as to the comparative study of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the religious dimension of the coastal adaptation of Muslim communities on northern coast of Java, Indonesia. As a volcanic island, geomorphological processes are the main causes of coastal inundation in Java. Nonetheless, debates on coastal adaptation mostly related to climate change adaptation. By focusing on North Coast Java, this study aims to draw parallels between the experiences of Javanese communities and communities facing rising sea levels in other parts of the world. Two Muslim communities were selected as both have experienced coastal flooding and indicate religious dimension in their adaptive strategies. This study has three main findings: 1. The religious dimension contributes significantly to environmental adaptation processes; 2. Religious practices interact in both positive and negative ways to affect the adapting communities; and 3. In the Javanese context, environmental adaptation takes the form of a narrative around local history and the experiential knowledge of the drowning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the intricate dynamics of Central Asian religious identity in the context of global and local changes. It examines the interactions between Islam and local pre-Islamic traditions, with a primary focus on R. Charles Weller's book titled, Pre-Islamic Survivals in Muslim Central Asia: Tsarist, Soviet, and Post-Soviet Ethnography in World Historical Perspective. Through a comprehensive assessment of the book, the essay investigates the survival and evolution of pre-Islamic traditions within Central Asia's Muslim communities. The book contributes to the field of Central Asian studies by offering a specialised analysis and shedding light on the formation of religious history and identity in Central Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers an experiment in chronological boundary crossing as way of addressing questions about continuity and change in Central Eurasia. It analyzes the violent transformations of holy sites in Altishahr (more widely known as Eastern Turkistan or southern Xinjiang), examining the 11th-century transition from Buddhist to Muslim rule alongside the 21st-century efforts of the People's Republic of China to transform sacred Islamic sites into nationalist showpieces and "Silk Road" tourism sites. This juxtaposition calls into question prevailing understandings of the 11th -century transition as a simple refashioning of existing Buddhist sites into Islamic forms, while also placing current Chinese restrictions on Islamic holy sites in a broader historical perspective. Together, these 11th- and 20th century transformations show that shrines act as cultural arbiters, establishing routes by which change has entered Altishahr and stubbornly preserving not just older meanings, but also older ways of knowing. At the same time, they are places where the dynamics of continuous meaning creation come into clear view—where cultural change itself becomes an explicit part of the narratives that bind people together in supposedly stable identity groups such as religions and nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Egypt today, turāth (often translated as "heritage", "legacy", or "tradition") is a pivotal concept for the Muslim religious scholars (ʿulamāʾ) of al-Azhar, the preeminent institution of Sunni learning located in Cairo. Although scholarly interest in turāth has grown in recent years, this literature has focused primarily on articulations of the concept at the hands of the Arab intelligentsia without attention to the ʿulamāʾ. To address this lacuna, and in so doing, offer a more complete understanding of the politics and contours of turāth debates in the contemporary Arab Muslim world, this article analyzes turāth in the writings and statements of ʿAlī Jumʿa (b. 1952), one of its most prolific interpreters amongst the contemporary Egyptian ʿulamāʾ. Sections one and two explore the semantic evolution of turāth in the intellectual genealogy within which Jumʿa locates his understanding of the concept, which includes two students of al-Azhar: Muḥammad ʿAbduh (1849–1905) and Ṭāhā Ḥusayn (1889–1973). The third section analyzes Jumʿa's conceptualization of turāth and compares it to those of ʿAbduh and Ḥusayn. The article argues that Jumʿa's representation of turāth is central to his efforts to reassert the intellectual and religious primacy of the ʿulamāʾ in the contemporary Muslim world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laughter and humour can have therapeutic effects on traumatized individuals. Now, the generation of Muslims that grew up after the 9/11 terror attacks is using comic relief to recount their experience with Islamophobia. While the trend started with television stand-up comedians and their performances, the movement has spread through the social media grape vine all the way from Twitter to TikTok. In this article the (social) media landscape is examined and comedic content is analysed to assess how and why content creators share their experiences. It finds that the greatest difference between content creators results from the gender-based experiences they draw on when recounting their stories. Comedy was a very strong means of communicating this highly sensitive subject. Through humour, content creators also wished to also break the stereotype of Muslims not understanding satire and just being an angry inflexible mob. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elizabeth Lhost's rich history of Islamic law in colonial South Asia contributes significant evidence of the dynamism of Islamic law in South Asia during this period. In Part III Lhost pursues the question of jurisdiction by focusing on Muslim men and women and the predicaments they brought to state and non-state courts and to muftis. [Extracted from the article]

She examines how several mosques were embroiled in a contradictory yet totalizing colonial "legal regime", and she explains how "each story of contest for control in a mosque" reveals "the sheer diversity of colonial Muslim society" (2). I especially appreciated Haroon's attention to the broader historical context and avoidance of any normative judgments about mosques, Muslim social movements, and identity politics. [Extracted from the article]

Following a brief introduction, this article has two parts and an appendix. In the first part, I examine the passage prohibiting intoxicating ṭilāʾ (cooked grape juice) in the "fiscal rescript" attributed to ʿUmar II (d. 101/720) by Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (d. 214/829). I argue that this passage's core goes back to an edict of ʿUmar II that is no longer extant. I suggest that ʿUmar II issued the prohibition following an earthquake that devastated Syria because he feared that the drinkers of intoxicants would cause a similar catastrophe to befall all Muslims. I situate ʿUmar II's prohibition within the early legal discussions about ṭilāʾ. In the second part, I analyze a group of edicts prohibiting nabīdh (date wine) that are attributed to ʿUmar II. I conclude that the edicts are pseudepigraphical. In the appendix, I trace the transmission history of a tradition attributed to al-Shaʿbī about a missive of Umar I concerning ṭilāʾ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this article is to examine the construction of a religiously ideal Muslim woman as presented in two sources documenting Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) customs. The concept of a religiously ideal Muslim woman adopted in this article is based on recent theoretical studies in mainstream Sunnism, which can be arranged into three thematic areas: (i) the nature of female sexuality; (ii) gender segregation and veiling; and (iii) husband-wife dynamics and corresponding gender roles and norms. This article argues that the concept of a religiously ideal Bosnian Muslim woman in the two selected sources strongly reflects the ideal presented in mainstream Sunnism, which are premised upon beliefs that women embody an aggressive socio-morally corrupting sexuality, that upholding strict segregation and veiling is vital, and that husbands hold the locus of authority and control over their wives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to demonstrate the principle of gender equality in relation to its spatial and practical implementation in Alevi places of worship (cemevi and dergah) and in participatory roles within Alevi institutions from two perspectives. Firstly, in terms of women's empowerment and participation at the administrative level through case studies of Hazreti Ali Cemevi in Sultangazi and Karaağaç Bektaşi Dergah in Sütlüce, both of which are presided over by women presidents. Secondly, in relation to spatial access and participation in rituals and religious festivities at the small Adalar Cemevi located on the multi-faith Burgaz Island analysed in comparative perspective with the extensive Kartal Cemevi situated in the Muslim majority district of Kartal. This study also briefly addresses the erosion of Alevi gender principles within the urban setting and its attributing factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on a post-migrant German-Turkish film, Der Hodscha und die Piepenkötter (Buket Alakuş, 2016), regarding gender and religious representations. Approximately twenty-five per cent of the population in Germany has a migration background, and the largest minority religion is Islam, as the number of Muslims increased with Turkish-German labour migration. Gender equality, wearing headscarves, and building sacred places (mosques) are featured in German films from time to time. Some films offer perspectives built on prejudices and stereotypes at the intersection of religion, migration, and gender, while others do not or do so to a lesser extent. In this article, we review the relevant film studies literature to see if there has been a transformation and then explore portrayals in a selected film through discourse analysis. The findings reveal that in Der Hodscha und die Piepenkötter , women contribute significantly to realising certain religious rights, and devout Muslims are portrayed as culturally heterogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the role of children in perpetuating the chain of memory of the faiths in Europe. Drawing on indepth interviews with parents/guardians and fifty-two children on the religious socialization of Roman Catholic, Muslim, and non-religious children in Malta, it argues that Roman Catholic children are now the bearers of "vicarious religion" of communities that have become "unchurched," while Muslim children steady the "precarious" memory of Islam in Europe. The article explores how children propel adults' religious practices, keeping parents and grandparents connected to the faiths, churches, and mosques. Given the moral panic regarding voluntary childlessness as a threat to the perpetuation of the faiths, the vital role children play in the chain of religious memory is acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"A New Spirit in Christian-Muslim Relations in India. Three Jesuit Pioneers" by Joseph Victor Edwin explores the contributions of three Jesuit scholars, Victor Courtois, Christian W. Troll, and Paul Jackson, to Christian-Muslim relations in South Asia. The book emphasizes the importance of studying Islamic texts with respect and living among Muslims with love. It provides a context for understanding the pioneering work of these scholars and offers theological insights on how Christians and Muslims can coexist in diverse societies. The book promotes interreligious dialogue and challenges the notion of a clash of civilizations. It is a valuable resource for scholars and students interested in Christian-Muslim relations in South Asia. [Extracted from the article]

In the context of contested succession within a silsila (lineage) of sufis, this paper studies Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusaynī Gesūdarāz's (d. 1422) recourse to a familial genealogy in order to claim the status of a pīr or sufi master, while attempting to entrench his legacy in Gulbarga where he emigrated to from Delhi after the incursions of Timur (d. 1405). As he arrived in the Deccan at the turn of the fifteenth century, Gesūdarāz used his kinship with the Prophet and particularly his identity of sayyid (a descendant of the Prophet through Ḥusayn) as a persuasive device, to set himself apart from other sufi shaykhs in the area who claimed an equivalent spiritual genealogy. The case of Gesūdarāz reveals a societal pattern wherein the identity of sayyid was gaining new traction, and relational ties were evoked not only as a means of establishing an identity as part of a community but also to supersede others who made the same claim. Kinship was a device through which Gesūdarāz staked his claim to authority, and it was also a mechanism that he and his family utilized to cement their hold on the Muslim community of Gulbarga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes the example of post-Ottoman Niš to argue that the transformation of post-Ottoman cities was not a local, nationalism-induced architectural phenomenon, as suggested by the studies of "de-Ottomanization," but rather a global development which was made possible through the dismantling of the local Ottoman legal regime of urban property. Focusing on the waqf as a quintessential Ottoman form of urban property, this article examines how war and displacement of the Muslim population on the one hand, and new associations between the modern city and particular forms of property on the other together contributed to the destruction of the waqf despite its protection by international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an imaginary dialogue that is critical of the thoughts of Arnold N. Radjawane, theologian and pastor of the Protestant Church of Maluku (GPM). This is shown in one of the articles he wrote in the 1960s. For some Muslim clerics in Maluku, the article reveals the idea of Christianization through local culture in Maluku, which they believe had hardened Christian-Muslim cultural relations in Maluku. By utilizing hermeneutic and cultural studies, I will analyze the construction of ethnic and religious identity ideas that are affected by his theological ideas. I apply a contemporary mission perspective that dialectically places Christian-Muslim relations as a form of identity negotiation, which has implications for strengthening cultural dialogue and encourages contextual theological processes for the establishment of human relations in Maluku and Indonesia as a multicultural society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious majoritarianism was established in Turkey with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The Diyanet became the new home for the Ottoman Sunni ulema and supported the implementation of Sunni majoritarianism by assimilating minorities, e.g. Alevis. With the AKP government in power in the last decades in Turkey, Turkish majoritarianism has come to the fore. Turkish majoritarianism consists of Sunni Islam along with Turkish cultural and political dimensions. Diyanet imams function as important transmitters of Turkish majoritarianism to the Muslim community. At the same time, imams in Germany are seen as mediators for German integration policies. German politicians set the framework for integration with the expression 'majority society' (Mehrheitsgesellschaft) in policies regarding Islam, although a concrete definition of this seems to be problematic. Elements of Christian religion and German culture are used as elements in the construction of a 'majority society'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses religiously motivated financial behaviour among young Muslims in Finland. The aim of the article is to provide empirical knowledge of Islam-based views on rejecting interest-based loans and the implications of this among Finnish Muslims. The research questions are: What are the reasons and motivations for rejecting interest-based bank loans? Are there alternative modes of financing? What are the impacts of rejection on personal investments, including in business and housing? Data were obtained from 18 Finnish Muslim entrepreneurs and professionals who reject interest-based bank loans. The data show that their rejection led to the scope for financial arrangements being more limited, and may also have significant implications for their children, the next generation. To circumvent these consequences, those interviewed used some or all of four alternative models for funding: savings; interest-free loans from family and friends; credit circles; and the time-bound, interest-free repayment period on credit cards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many years, media and political discourses in Austria have claimed that the Muslim population rarely takes pluralist positions, but instead adopts a negative attitude towards other faiths and people of another religion. The Islamist terror act that took place in Vienna on 2 November 2020 fuelled this stereotype. In order to approach this debate objectively, this article examines Muslims' attitudes towards the religious other in an evidence-based manner. For this purpose, an empirical data set has been reprocessed and reanalysed. The present article reveals the ways in which exclusivist, inclusivist and pluralist attitudes are taken by Muslims; which religious schemes they prefer; and how they interact with non-Muslims in their social environments. In this way, the article sheds light on the diversity of Muslims' positions regarding the religious other and people of another faith; the impact of contextual conditions; and the role of media and its reception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between second- and third-generation descendants of Cretan Muslims in Turkey and their Cretanness. It takes the public manifestations of and heightened involvement with Cretanness that have recently been taking place in Turkey as a starting point and develops a framework to elucidate the contemporary dynamics of Cretanness. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation, this study reveals that Cretanness has undergone transformation for the current generations. It is characterized by the fading of certain cultural aspects, but by a parallel vocal identification with Cretanness. This dual pattern is unified under the concept "symbolic Cretanness," inspired by Herbert Gans' notion of "symbolic ethnicity." The article argues that this current form of Cretanness encompasses the pursuit of visibility, an intermittent involvement with origins, and the precedence of symbols, the most significant of which is food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the uses of education certificates (ijāza s) as a tool of self-expression by Russia's Muslims in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While the transmission of ijāza s as such served as a means of constructing the ideal Muslim personality, manuscript evidence suggests that a selective approach to compiling ijāza miscellanies could successfully be employed in building one's own archival persona – the way how an individual wanted to appear on pages of future biographical books: not only as an important transmitter of prestigious lineages, but chiefly as a unique performer of their selective combinations. The presence of Sufi certificates on multiple lineages within and beyond the borders of the established Sufi 'orders' suggests the increasing heterogeneity of Sufi organization and practice that was part of the phenomenon of a broadening cultural repertoire, from which individuals could draw upon for their archival persona. The type of ijāza s that we analyse here, namely the separate documents and miscellanies listing the transmitted practices, were very much the product of their time and their wide circulation in late imperial Russia suggests, as we argue, an unprecedented rise of ijāza culture, imported from the Ottoman realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a global tilt toward rightist majoritarianism has made Muslim and Christian minorities of Asia more vulnerable to violence and displacement. China's program of "de-extremification" among the Uyghurs, Myanmar's military operations against the Rohingya, and Hindutva-inspired violence in India illustrate strong-handed homogenizing impulses, even by governments that profess to embrace diversity. By examining these different contexts through a common lens, it becomes possible to recognize recurring patterns and think beyond the nation-state as the only framework for addressing minority vulnerability. After comparing Muslim and Christian vulnerability across a variety of Asian contexts, the essay explores the possibility of "Islamo-Christian" solidarity in the face of majoritarian violence. This new alignment defies a longstanding imperialist framework, whose geopolitics pits a Christian West against a Muslim other. It also embraces an ethic of empathy that transcends the language of "religious freedom" – a principle arising from the same geopolitics that manufactured majority-minority distinctions to begin with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]