Islamic piety and masculinity

Barbara Metcalf suggested some years ago that a well-known contemporary Islamic movement of pietist inclinations, the Tabligh-i Jama’at, acted in effect to produce a gentler, more feminised male Muslim identity among its adherents. Some other contemporary Islamic movements have similar tendencies. Ritual practices among the Hijaz Community, a mostly Pakistani organisation in the British Midlands, for example, are explicitly aimed to produce a gentler, less aggressive orientation among their followers. Can we see these new movements as part of the evolution of new forms of masculinity among Muslim men, both in Muslim-majority and diasporic populations? I explore this question through field research carried out as part of an ESRC-funded research project on young Muslims in the UK and Bangladesh.     

Islam and Gender in the Thought of a Critical-Progressive Muslim Scholar-Activist: Ziba Mir-Hosseini

This article highlights the scholarly contribution of the Iranian-born Muslim scholar-activist Ziba Mir-Hosseini to the academic field of gender and Islam. In the first part, Mir-Hosseini's thought is positioned within the larger processes of the shifting loci of authority and normativity in contemporary Islamic discourses, particularly with reference to the emergence of what will here be termed critical-progressive Muslim scholar-activists. There follows a brief justification as to why a study of Mir-Hosseini's thought in relation to gender and Islam warrants examination. Mir-Hosseini's personal journey in the field of gender and Islam is then outlined and her major contributions to the field are noted. This is followed by a discussion of the support Mir-Hosseini finds for her ideas in the hermeneutical theories employed by reformist male Muslim scholars, and then an examination of her views on the relationship between Islamic feminism discourses and (neo-)traditional expressions of Islam. Mir-Hosseini's deconstruction of the assumptions governing classical Muslim family law and ethics that have been re-appropriated and legally enforced by some contemporary Muslim majority nation states is presented next, followed by a discussion of her proposals for the reform of Muslim family law and ethics. The final section discusses Mir Hosseini's activism with special reference to her involvement with Musawah, the global movement for equality in Muslim family law based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.     

Islam,HIV/AIDS and activism: a critical analysis of some themes in Positive Muslims' ‘theology of compassion’

The present article is a critical analysis of the South African organization Positive Muslims' ‘theology of compassion’, put forward by its proponents as a Muslim religious initiative to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and the stigmatization of those affected by the disease. The article addresses the hermeneutics applied and the results reached in relation to a wider contemporary Muslim religious discourse on HIV/AIDS. It also connects the ‘theology of compassion’ to a broader transnational movement of progressive Islam, of which the ‘theology of compassion’ is a practical, grass-roots application. The main analytical focus, however, is on the way in which certain features in this theology are shaped by basic assumptions on the part of its producers concerning the beliefs, emotions and background knowledge of its main stated consumers: believing Muslims.     

The origins and growth of the Tablighi Jamaat in Britain

One of the largest Islamic movements of contemporary times, in terms of both geographical spread and number of activists, the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) has received but scant attention from scholars. By and large, what little has been written about it has focused on the movement in its South Asian setting. To date no detailed study has been conducted on the TJ in the West, where it has become increasingly active in recent decades. This paper seeks to study the origins and growth of the TJ in one such Western country—Britain, starting from the 1940s continuing till the present day. The paper begins with a brief account of the growth of Muslim communities, largely of South Asian origin, in Britain and this provides the context for the study of the TJ in the country. It goes on to discuss the growing appeal of the TJ to these early migrants, seeing this as reflecting the concerns and needs of groups who found themselves culturally uprooted in an alien land. The attraction that the TJ held was not, however, uniform across these Muslim groups, and here we deal with the movement's special appeal among certain classes and ethnic clusters among Britain's Muslim communities of South Asian origin. Tracing the historical development of the TJ in Britain through the decades, we finally turn to the state of the movement in the country today. Here we focus on how the movement is faring among young British Muslims and search for answers to the question of why it appears to be facing a crisis of credibility, with young Muslims increasingly turning either the secular way or going in for more activist, and sometimes more aggressive, Islamic groups.     

A Reappraisal of the Role of Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb and the YMMA in the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood

In contemporary academic literature, the name of the Syrian publisher and journalist Mu?ibb al-Dīn al-Kha?īb often appears in connection with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood during the interwar years. Although his role in the transition of ?asan al-Bannā's movement from a marginal to a significant socio-political player in Egyptian affairs has been mentioned in numerous works, no comprehensive study has yet been undertaken to determine how and by what means exactly al-Kha?īb supported al-Bannā's organization in its early years. The following article is an attempt to answer these questions by showing the strategic importance of al-Kha?īb and his network in helping al-Bannā develop from being an Arabic teacher in a primary school to one of the main leaders of the Islamist movement in Egypt.     

Modernity,the Principles of Public Welfare ( maşlaşa ) and the End Goals of Shari ¥ ˛a ( maqa ¥ şid ) in Muslim Legal Thought

Modernity is often assumed to be a unilateral schema that everybody could follow. This essay examines the adaptability of certain notions embedded in the literature about development in the Muslim world. The discourse on modernity in Muslim societies has taken shape mostly post World War II after the Muslim nations asserted their independence, and it has continued till contemporary times. How did this discourse change over the years? How did the exchange of ideas also affect the Muslim 'other'? Are there common grounds between 'modernity' and Islamic legal percepts (which are central to Muslim political thought)? This essay will examine these queries and discuss the importance of the principle of 'Public Welfare' in our contemporary discourse on modernity in Muslim societies.     

Elusive piety: Hajj logistics and local politics in Tatarstan,Dagestan and the Crimea

ABSTRACT

This article explores a barely addressed but crucial element of Muslim politics in contemporary Russia: hajj logistics and its repercussions in Muslim communities. Focusing on Tatarstan, Dagestan and the annexed Crimea, I first introduce the actors orchestrating the Russian hajj, encompassing coordination with the Muslim Spiritual Boards and tour companies, transportation, medical care and distribution of the hajj quota annually provided by Saudi Arabia. I then illustrate the politics of quota distribution and the dynamics of the hajj market. While Islamic leaders definitely need the state’s increasing support and mediation, central and regional administrations also attempt to demarcate their own sphere of commitment to Muslim citizens’ sacred journey, often invoking the separation of state and religion. Nonetheless it is Muslim citizens searching for the optimal price and service for the holiest journey who shape Russia’s hajj market and the politics of the quota across Tatarstan, Dagestan and the Crimea.     

French secularism as a ‘guarantor’ of women's rights? Muslim women and gender politics in a Parisian banlieue

This paper considers contemporary discourse in France that positions secularism (laïcité) as a guarantor of Muslim women's rights. In the first section I sketch a socio-historical genealogy of this discourse focusing on key shifts in its articulation. I suggest that the current identification between secularism and Muslim women's rights has its main expressions in recent public policy commissions and, as an example on the ground, in the positions taken by France's largest feminist organisation, Femmes Solidaires. Informed by one another, these commissions and this organisation (a) conceptualise Islam as overtly political and patriarchal and (b) define secularism as the primary way to ‘liberate’ Muslim women. The second section examines the impact of this discourse on Muslim communities in Petit Nanterre, a Parisian suburb where I conducted extensive anthropological fieldwork. Significantly, Muslim women in this suburb are uninterested in headscarf-related debates on secularism and more vividly engaged in the 2005 Pork Affair, a locally oriented controversy in a public school. I conclude that the religious concerns of the Muslim women positioned at the centre of the secular debate are expressed in certain forms of activism, efforts ignored by commissions and women's advocacy groups.     

The White Cross in Muslim Java: Muslim–Christian Politics in the Javanese City of Salatiga

The interplay of religion and politics has been a consistent theme within the literature of political radicalism and religious violence in the contemporary Muslim world. Indonesia, which has long paraded its multi-layered history of religions, recently emerged as one of the main sites of Muslim–Christian violence. The religious volatility that has characterized Indonesia over the past decade has, however, left variations in vitality between faith-based organizations under-researched. In order to examine how the Christian churches undergird their institutions in the world's largest Muslim country, this article takes as its case study Salib Putih (White Cross) in the Javanese city of Salatiga and traces how a legal issue comes to transcend the boundary between religion and politics at local and national levels.     

Struggles over access to the Muslim public sphere: Multiple publics and discourses on agency,belonging and citizenship (Introduction to the Themed Section)

This introductory essay provides the context for the articles in this Themed Section. Despite the diversity in locations, historical backgrounds and contemporary processes of change, all contributors to this Themed Section focus on the struggle of Muslim groups over access to an emergent Muslim public sphere. They highlight the contestations of and shifts in the notions of agency, belonging, and citizenship in nation-states with Muslim communities within its borders. The introduction consists of two parts. The first part reviews the notion of the public sphere as conceptualized by Habermas and critiqued by scholars of a diversity of backgrounds. In relation to the concept of the Muslim public sphere, three aspects of critique are given closer consideration in this first part: the value of thinking in terms of multiple publics, the loss of legitimacy of traditional religious authorities, and the importance of agency and identity that allow individuals to engage in a diversity of publics. The second part introduces the various contributions in the Themed Section.     

For Christian Eyes Only? The Intended Audience of the Martyrdom of Antony Rawḥ

The Arabic account of the early medieval Passion of Antony Raw? is a remarkable source for the character of Abbasid-era Muslim–Christian relations in that, although it recalls an instance of intercommunal violence, the account itself suggests a profound familiarity among Christian audiences with the defining communal narratives of the early Muslim umma. What is more, certain specific uses of language and apparent allusions to Muslim texts may also reveal this text as one intended for mixed audiences of Christians and Muslims. This only becomes apparent, however, when we read the Passion of Antony Raw? in tandem with certain contemporary Muslim texts recalling the personalities and events of the first/seventh-century Arab conquests, texts that recent research suggests were themselves crafted in accordance with much older late ancient hagiographic traditions.     

Albanian women’s interpretations of Islam enlarge the space of women

Even though rarely acknowledged, approximately one fourth of all European Muslims live in the Balkans. These Muslims, as well as women of the Balkans, are seldom in the focus of scientific research on Islam and Europe. This article discusses themes related to the women’s movement and feminism in the Balkans and within Islamic framework from women’s point of view. The research context is located in the Republic of Macedonia and ethnographic material builds on thematic interviews with Albanian Muslim women. Four generally recognized orientations are distinguished (1) atheist or antireligious feminism, (2) secular feminism, (3) gender complementarity as an ideal and (4) Islamic/Muslim feminism(s), and used as analytical tools while ethnographic interview material is tackled. Article sheds light on Albanian-speaking women’s thoughts concerning Islam in the contemporary context, and tendencies of these thoughts to enlarge space that women occupy through personal interpretations of Islamic tradition.     

Women and the Tablighi Jamacat

Little has been written on theTablighi Jamacat (TJ), probably the largest Islamic movement in the world today and within the existing limited corpus of writings on the TJ, almost no mention has been made of the involvement of women in it. This paper begins with a brief background of the emergence of Islamic reformist efforts in South Asia from the nineteenth century onwards that saw Muslim women as playing an important role in the ‘protection’ and ‘preservation’ of Islam in the wake of Muslim political decline in the region. The particular efforts in this regard of Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, founder of the TJ, are noted. The paper then goes on to discuss the TJ's programme for women's involvement in the work of the movement. This is followed by a discussion of notions of ideal Muslim femininity as spelled out in tracts and books written bytablighi elders. In concluding, we look at what implications the efforts of TJ activity might have for the status of Muslim women generally.     

Reading Their Book of Faith: North American Muslims and Their Interpretations of the Qur'an in the Post 9/11 Era

Abstract :  This article seeks to provide an overarching view of the North American Muslim conversation about interpreting the Qur'an in a post 9/11 world. While most Western critiques of Islam focus on reading the texts of Islam, the author argues that one must also listen to the contemporary intra-Muslim conversation about their own text, in order to faithfully understand the Muslim perspective. In this conversation, the author provides evidence for a plurality of social-political views among Muslims and notes that the post 9/11 North American context is alive and well with such faith conversations.     

Peace,Dialogue and Da˛wa ¥ : An analysis of the writings of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Coming to terms with the challenges of modernity has been a major concern for many Muslim scholars. Faced with the reality of the global system of nation-states, and the questions that the challenges of democracy, secularism and religious pluralism pose for traditional understandings of religion, many contemporary Muslim writers have sought to develop new visions of their faith that seek seriously to engage with these concerns. This article looks at the writings of the Indian ?a ¥ lim, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, who has developed his own understanding of Islam and its place in the modern world. It examines how he, as a member of the Indian Muslim minority, has sought to present Islam in terms that are intelligent to the modern mind, as well as making it possible for Muslims in India to attempt to create a balance between what have often been seen to be their conflicting loyalties to the state, on the one hand, and to their religion, on the other.     

Inequity in Hindu–Muslim Riots: A Test of Two Biases1

During the past 50 years, substantially more Muslims than Hindus have died in riots in India. This study examined and found support for 2 possible individual‐level reasons that are consistent with this disproportionate number of deaths. First, Hindus, compared to Muslims, considered historical incidents to be more important for contemporary Hindu–Muslim relations. Second, Hindus showed an ultimate group bias in that they generally valued Hindu lives more than Muslim lives, whereas Muslims showed no difference in the valuation of Hindu and Muslim lives. Together, these results are consistent with an equity notion that Hindus consider as relevant input factors both historical incidents and perceptions that in‐group members’ lives are more valuable than are out‐group members’ lives.     

Max Weber's remarks on Islam: The Protestant Ethic among Muslim puritans

This article takes a look at Max Weber's remarks on Islam compared with Calvinism with reference to the doctrine of predestination, the quest for salvation, inner-worldly asceticism and the concept of rationalization. The comparison shows that Weber regarded Islam as the polar opposite of the Protestant ethic, particularly in its Calvinist variant. The article then shifts its focus to Indonesian Islam in order to demonstrate that ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslim’ are not univocal but multivocal. Indeed, Indonesian Islam contrasts sharply with Weber's portrait of Islam in the Middle East. Finally, the article examines the extent to which the rise of Muslim puritans within the early Islamic reformist movement in the Muhammadiyah of Indonesia resembles ascetic Protestantism, particularly Calvinism.