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Islamist extremism is often explained by the suffering endured by Muslims in Islamic countries as a result of Western‐led wars. However, many terrorist attacks have been carried out by European Muslims with no personal experiences of war. Across two studies among Danish Muslims, we tested if what we call “victimization‐by‐proxy processes” motivate behavioral intentions to commit acts of violence. We used Muslim identification, perceived injustice of Western foreign policies, and group‐based anger to predict violent and nonviolent behavioral intentions. More importantly, we compared path models of Danish Muslims from conflict zones with those without direct personal experience of Western‐led occupation. We found similar effects among the participants in each category, that is, vicarious psychological responses mimicked those of personally experienced adversity. In fact, participants born in Western Europe were, on average, more strongly identified with Muslims, more likely to perceive Western foreign policy as more unjust, reported greater group‐based anger, and were more inclined to help Muslims both by nonviolent and violent means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The finding that threat boosts the public's preferences for authoritarian policies has been well established in the research literature. Why this shift occurs remains open as the extant literature reports contradictory findings regarding the interaction of dispositions, such as conservatism and authoritarianism, with threat. One line of research argues that threat increases authoritarian preferences among those who are more prone to authoritarianism. Another argues that it is those with a nonauthoritarian ideology who switch in response to threat. By using a two‐wave panel study of the French population taken before and after the January 2015 twin attacks in Paris, we find that both trends occur simultaneously. Our results show that the factors that drive the impact of ideological dispositions on support for authoritarian policies are emotional reactions. On the one hand, anxiety led left‐wing respondents to move towards adopting authoritarian policy preferences following the attacks, yet produced no such change among right‐wing respondents. On the other hand, anger did not turn left‐wing voters more authoritarian but strengthened authoritarian policy preferences among right‐wing respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the authors views on the politics in the reformation on the nature of the sociopolitical impact the Ottomans had on the European Reformation. The issues discussed includes External Perspectives in relation to Attempts to Convince the rulers for the change and Ottoman-Lutheran Relationship and Protection of Protestantism by the Ottoman State.

The article repoprts on the view of the author on the sixteenth century travel of the french travelers to the Ottoman empire and also the impact of travels in the ottoman empire on the Guillaume postel and philippe Canaye"s views on the reformation. The view and contour of the scoiety on their travel are discussed.

The article reports on the condition of the society in the Ottoman empire and the change in the patriarchal culture in turkey and also presents views of kyrillos Loukaris on the changes brought upon the society by the rulers. Renewal, Innovation and Tradition as a matter of common discourse in Early Modern Ottoman Empire are also discussed.

The literature about secularization proposes two distinct explanations of anti-Muslim sentiment in secularized societies. The first theory understands it in terms of religious competition between Muslims and the remaining minority of orthodox Protestants; the second understands it as resulting from value conflicts between Muslims and the nonreligious majority. The two theories are tested by means of a multilevel analysis of the European Values Study 2008. Our findings indicate that, although more secularized countries are on average more tolerant towards Muslims and Islam, strongest anti-Muslim attitudes are nonetheless found among the nonreligious in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indonesian model of inclusive society 'masyarakat madani' is arguably based on a one-view perspective of Islamic intellectuals. Although it was intended to embrace the whole of society in general, its implications might not reach and permeate the entire society. The unique features of Indonesian society have, to a certain degree, made the understanding of inclusive society rather complicated and ambiguous. Nevertheless, the aspiration of creating a more inclusive Indonesian society will perpetually be heralded as one way of tackling the multidimensional challenges faced by Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on large-scale comparative surveys across nine sociopolitical contexts, we address the question when and why ethno-religious and city or national identities of European-born Muslims are in conflict. We argue that the sociopolitical context makes the difference between identity compatibility or conflict and that conflict arises from perceived discrimination and related negative feelings towards the national majority. Using multigroup structural equation modelling, we examine how Turkish and Moroccan Muslims in five European cities combine their civic membership of the city and country of residence-as common identities shared with the national majority-with distinct ethnic and religious identities. In all sociopolitical contexts, participants combined significant city and national identities with strong ethnic and religious identifications. Yet, identification patterns varied between contexts from conflict (negatively correlated minority and civic identities) over compartmentalization (zero correlations) to compatibility (positive correlations). Muslims who perceived more personal discrimination were more committed to their ethnic and religious identities while simultaneously dis-identifying from their country and city. Across cities, discrimination experiences and negative majority-group evaluations explained away identity conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether the pattern of behavior associated with popularity in the USA is also found in Indonesia. Participants were 452 7th (13 years) and 10th grade (16 years) Muslim students from West Java, Indonesia. Data were obtained from adolescents, peers, and teachers. Social preference and popularity were positively associated with prosocial behavior and number of mutual friends. Whereas social preference was positively associated with academic achievement and negatively associated with aggression, popularity was positively associated with aggression and tobacco use. These patterns of association are similar to those found in the United States. Indonesian society is highly hierarchical and popularity structures may build upon these stratifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to consider the role played by emotions, or rather emotional display, in the public spectacle of the conversion of infidels in early modern Spain and Portugal. It begins with a concise examination of the ritual of public baptism, based chiefly on evidence gleaned from surviving accounts of four large ceremonies held in Lisbon (1588), Seville (1625 and 1672), and Barcelona (1723), as well as two smaller public baptisms in the village of Fitero in Spain (1659) and the town of Estremoz in Portugal (1739). It then focuses on the account of the public baptism of a Muslim that took place in Seville in 1625 - by far the most detailed account - to highlight the importance given to the emotional responses of both the convert (to establish his sincerity) and the spectators in these ceremonies. Finally, it examines the wider social function of these spectacles and argues that their organisers, beyond their own personal or institutional motives, exploited the conversion of infidels in order to create a sense of communal identity binding the spectators together through their collective emotional response to specific symbols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asking whether Islam in Western Europe is like race in the United States is, to a large degree, to ask whether Muslims in Europe share the same fate and face the same barriers as blacks in the United States. The article considers (1) the nature of the hostility to Islam in Western Europe and why it is a greater barrier to inclusion for immigrants and their children than in the United States; (2) the dynamics of color-coded race in the United States, comparing, on the one hand, the severe barriers confronting individuals and groups with African ancestry in the United States with the barriers facing Muslims (as well as black immigrants) in Western Europe and, on the other hand, considering certain advantages available to immigrants of color in the United States that Muslim and other immigrants lack in Europe; and (3) whether the boundary based on religion will prove more permeable for the descendants of Muslim immigrants in Western Europe than the racial boundary in the United States for those with visible African ancestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the neglect of family-owned farms in Malaysia by young people who go to cities in the quest for jobs that do not even pay a living wage. Topics include younger generation's abandonment of the traditional husbandry of the land finding themselves stuck in desk jobs in cities, the need for Muslims to learn from the resurfacing back-to-the-land movement in the West, and the failure of Muslims in the work places to learn the art of interpersonal transactions in Islam.

This contribution analyzes the public discourse on foreigners and Muslims in Switzerland between 2000 and 2009. In Switzerland, as elsewhere in Europe, the Muslim minority has emerged as the main concern for integration in public discourse. What makes Muslims special in the debate on immigration and integration? How does the public discourse on Muslims differ from the portrayal of foreigners in general? A quantitative content analysis of four Swiss newspapers was conducted covering three direct democratic campaigns. While the demographic composition of the Muslim minority has not changed substantially, the way Muslims are perceived in public discourse did. Certain ethnic groups, which are still categorized as foreigners in 2000, are mainly assigned to the Muslim minority in 2009. The latter is seen as a relatively homogeneous group raising other issues than foreigners. These results should lead to question the current academic and political debate on integration in Switzerland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is much discussion of educational needs and how to integrate Muslim students into modern Western contexts, there is a shortage of research on teachers' attitudes about these issues. Finland offers a particularly interesting context for research, given its relatively new, small, yet rapidly growing Muslim population, its prominence of negative attitudes to visible religiosity, and its official policy of multiculturalism. This article presents the results of a quantitative study of Finnish teachers' attitudes to Muslim students and to their integration into Finnish schools. A nonprobability sample of Finnish preservice and practicing teachers ( N = 864) was surveyed and the resulting data analyzed with exploratory factor analysis, t-tests, and ANOVA. The results indicate that Finnish teachers consider learning about general democratic values important, but their attitudes to dealing with Islam and Muslims are not quite as positive. However, previous involvement with other cultures indicated more positive attitudes among preservice teachers. Female teachers and practicing teachers were more oriented toward the teaching of commonality, and teaching at a more advanced level indicated more positive attitudes to Muslims and Muslim integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the higher number of Muslims in France who are working for the country's security than for the Islamic group Al Qaeda. Topics discussed include the violent attack at the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the status of Muslim politics and culture, and the negative impact of the emergence of Internet on the security of the Muslim community.

A persistent theme in the British and international debates about immigration and diversity is the controversial claim that living in diverse areas has negative consequences for intergroup attitudes and community relations. In the present paper we test this claim by investigating the impact of neighbourhood diversity and self-reported intergroup contact on orientations (outgroup attitudes and social distance) toward one religious outgroup: Muslims. Respondents were both White British majority (N=867) and non-Muslim ethnic minority (N=567) residents of neighbourhoods in England which varied in their proportion of ethnic minority residents. We tested both direct and indirect (via intergroup contact) effects of diversity on outgroup orientations toward Muslims. Results show that individuals living in more ethnically diverse areas-regardless of whether they are White British members of the majority or non-Muslim members of ethnic minorities-have more positive contact with Muslims, with positive consequences for intergroup relations with Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British National Party and English Defence League forged new frontiers in British political spaces in relation to anti-Islam, anti-Muslim ideologies. Whereas the former sought to do so in formal political arenas, the latter did so as a street-level movement. With the subsequent waning of both, Britain First has emerged seemingly to fill the political void they left. In many ways, Britain First combines the strategies and actions of the parties that preceded it, at both the formal and street levels. This article considers what is known about Britain First, about its history, development and its ideology, and how this is manifested in terms of its political strategies and actions. This includes such activities as standing for European elections and also undertaking 'Christian patrols' and mosque 'invasions'. The article considers how Britain First, while having some similarities with the BNP and EDL, is more confrontational and militaristic and is informed by apocalyptic Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews how racialization enables an understanding of Muslim and Muslim American experience as racial. Race scholarship in the United States has historically been a Black/White paradigm. As a result, the experiences of many racial and ethnic groups who have become a part of the American landscape due to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 have largely been ignored in race scholarship. By reviewing racialization and its application to Arabs and Muslims, it is apparent that scholars must continuously explore newer theories and languages of race. Racialization not only provides a way to understand the fluidity of race and racism but it also contributes to the advancement of race scholarship by reflecting on the current contextual influences on race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many Mauritian Muslims the participation in transnational piety movements is inseparably linked to what they consider to be modern and cosmopolitan lifestyles. Taking the growth of Islamic idioms and movements among Mauritian Muslims as an example, in this paper I argue for a more complex understanding of the links between contemporary Islamic piety movements and current trends of globalization. Moreover, the Mauritian state also encourages the growth of transnational religious networks as part of a policy of encouraging 'ancestral cultures' in which major, standardized religious traditions have a central place. The example suggests that the intersection of processes at a global scale with state policies towards religion plays a key role in the emergence of religiously grounded cosmopolitanism in the contemporary world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the immediate aftermath of the September 2001 attacks on America, defending civilization was quickly established at the core of the ‘war on terror’. Unintentionally or otherwise this incorporation of civilization connected with Samuel Huntington's ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis. Within the ‘war on terror’ the dark side of counterterrorism has become apparent through international practices like extrajudicial killing, extraordinary rendition and torture. The impact of Western governments' policies upon their indigenous Muslim populations has also been problematic but social and political analysis has been relatively limited. This paper seeks to help address the scarcity of sociological contributions. Hidden costs of the UK government's attempts to utilize violence and enhance social constraints within the nation-state are identified. It is argued that although counterterrorism strategies are contributing to a self-fulfilling spiral of hatred that could be considered evidence in support of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’, the thesis is unhelpful when trying to grasp the underlying processes. Instead the paper draws upon Norbert Elias's application of the concepts of ‘civilizing’ and ‘de-civilizing’ to help improve levels of understanding about the processes and consequences of particular Muslim communities being targeted by security forces. The paper concludes with an exploration of the majority of the population's acquiescence and willingness to accept restraints upon Muslims in order to safeguard their own security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the experiences of women who live in Muslim countries, examining in particular the experiences of women from the West who live in Muslim nations under the guidance of Sharia law. Western women who are in Middle Eastern countries are subject to daily insults which include verbal insults, vulgar remarks, and sexually explicit remarks. Topics include the way Western women are viewed as prey in Cairo, Egypt, attitudes demonstrated by men towards women who wear a "hijab," and the dangers Western women face in visiting Muslim countries which include kidnapping.

istanbul—The effort to forge new forms of non-Western modernity in the Muslim world has pushed Iran into sometimes bloody civil strife while Turkey swirls with persistent rumors of military plots against the Islamist-rooted government. The great historical question is whether, in the years to come, Iran will look more like Turkey, or Turkey like Iran? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photo essay which documents the social conditions of several Arabs and Muslims in Chicago, Illinois is presented.

This article presents an ethnographic montage of a young Pakistani Muslim woman in the U.S. It mirrors the complexity of the lived experiences and given realities of the woman, as they manifested themselves through my informal dialogic interactions with her, participant observation of her roles in different contexts, and tape-recordings of her own rendering of her life history. It is suggested by a heavy majority that the woman, who has earlier insisted on not taking up a leadership position, represent the women in the meeting with Mizaan today.

Focuses on the discourses of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi on belief in Allah. Contribution of the Risale-i Nur literature to the corpus of Islamic discursive thought in contemporary age; Reflections on Qur'anic themes and principles; Impact of belief in Allah on the lives of Muslims; Account on the tradition of Islamic thought in modern times.

Focuses on the implications of Ihya' literature for the role of author Budizzaman Said Nursi in the preservation of Islam. Involvement of Muslims in material and scientific progress; Understanding of the rational nature of Islam as the main route to Ihya'; Influence of knowledge and reason on Islam.

Focuses on estrangement as paradigm of Muslim life. Role of the Islamic literature Risale-i Nur in shielding the Muslim society from modernity; Account on the experience and reflections on estrangement of author Bediuzzaman Said Nursi; Resistance to Westernization and radical secularism by Said as a role model for Muslims.

Explores chroniclers' accounts of the hysteria that gripped a large part of France during the spring and summer of 1321 when an alleged plot of the lepers, Jews and Moslems to overthrow the whole structure of Christendom was detected and prevented. Systematic arrest of lepers in and around Perigueux; Fate of the Jews; Alleged confession of the lepers and the Jews relating to the poisoning of the waters and other crimes; Letters, allegedly written by the Moslem kings of Granada and Tunis, which suggest that they were actively providing financial support for the plot and indeed sending actual poison; Medieval mental attitudes revealed by the delusion that a conspiracy between the lepers, the Jews and the Moors actually existed in 1321.

The author reflects on the social conditions of Muslim as victims of prejudice and violence. He offers details of several facts and statistics that explain how Muslims were often persecuted, including women and children. The author also mentions his purpose of providing the list of atrocities in an aim of providing balance the paranoid perspective on Muslims and enrich the literary and conceptual palate in socio-political dialogue and praxis.

The article reports on the social condition in Nigeria which is plagued with riots in the run up to the 2011 elections. It states that numerous violent incidents has occurred among rival Muslims in the region which include the murder of eight residents by unknown assailants in Jos. It adds that some observers attribute it to the upcoming elections and that it has less to do with ethnic and religious differences.

The article offers news briefs related to events in Nigeria. The unofficial death report on the clashes between Muslims and Christian gangs in Jos and other communities was 450. International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo was petitioned to investigate the unlawful killings and other crimes during the violence in Jos in January 2010. The rebel group Movement for the Emancipation of the Delta (MEND) said that it is ending its ceasefire declared in October 2009.

The article reports that the Supreme Islamic Courts Council (SICC) in Somalia has warned Ethiopia of war unless it withdraws the troops it has allegedly sent to Somalia to defend Somalia's transitional government. Ethiopia rejected the claims of the SICC, but it has pledged to defend itself and the Somali government from any Islamist threat. Meanwhile, Galkayo residents who are loyal to former Mogadishu warlords have been preparing to meet the Islamists at Duol.

The article reports that the African regional organization Intergovernmental Authority on Development is preparing to send African peacekeeping troops to Somalia by October 2006. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki agreed to support the peacekeeping mission. The mission intends to help the transitional government strengthen their authority. Mogadishu has been seized by the Islamists in June 2006.

The article reports on changes in Mogadishu, Somalia following its capture by the Supreme Islamic Courts Council in June 2006. The Islamic law has managed to reduce the number of weapons on the streets and discourage people from chewing khat. The Mogadishu port has resumed its operations for the first time in over ten years and its airport has reopened to commercial flights.

Reports that 20,000 mourners turned out in a Cairo suburb on January 9, 2004 to mourn the spiritual leader of Egypt's main opposition group, the officially banned but tolerated Muslim Brothers. Sudden death of Mamoun al-Hodeibi, the sixth leader of the group; Questions about the future direction of the group.