One mosque and the negotiation of German Islam

In the last half century (pious) Muslims and their communities have become integral parts of German cities. They are creative cultural producers and religiously inspired urban citizens. Mosques are central nodes in urban Muslim religious and cultural geographies where believers negotiate pious identities and lifeworlds, configure pious public personae and modes of civic participation. In this paper I introduce the Al-Nour Mosque as a unique node in the religious and cultural geography of the southern German state capital of Stuttgart. I examine this mosque as an urban space where individual and communal religiosities and religious cultures are discussed, formulated, tested and practised. My central question is how urban culture and religion are negotiated in the context of a mosque community. I argue that urban culture and religion are negotiated not only in mainstream public spaces or established churches but also in invisible places like mosques. Based on several years of ethnographic fieldwork in Stuttgart, I analyse the creative role of the Al-Nour Mosque in the construction of religious subjectivities, negotiations of urban religiosities and religiously inspired urban cultures. Analysing exemplary events, activities, cultural and religious negotiations in the Al-Nour Mosque, I demonstrate that places like the Al-Nour Mosque are dynamic elements of the urban religious and cultural geography.     

Media making Muslims: the construction of a Muslim community in Germany through media debate

This article focuses on the ways in which Muslims actively participate in media debates about Islam and Muslims in Germany, and how they challenge or reinforce representations of themselves. It questions the narrative of powerlessness versus dominant actors in media and politics. Even though they were already perceived as part of a Muslim community, several prominent individuals in the German cultural and political sphere took an explicit position as Muslims—some insisting on their distance to religion. This paper aims at describing the various reasons and reflections accompanying this decision and argues that media images of Muslims steered individuals, who are not members of Islamic organizations let alone representatives of them, to become active or change their self-representation and act as Muslims. By demanding recognition as active members of German society, prominent Muslim individuals are creating new images of Muslims beyond an imaginary that is reducing them to their (alleged) religiosity and positioning them outside German national identity.     

Namik Kemal's constitutional Ottomanism and non‐Muslims

The nineteenth century was a turning point in Muslim conceptualization of non‐Muslims in Islamic societies. This paper analyzes Namik Kemal's (1840–88) conceptualization of the role of non‐Muslims in Ottoman society. I argue that it stemmed from his reformist discourse, in particular, from his criticism of the ideology of absolutist Ottomanism, and gave rise to a variety of discursive tensions. Specifically, tension emerged in his attempt to reconcile the issue of egalitarianism with that of Islamic political and cultural unity. I link Kemal's ideas on the means and objectives of reforms, in particular, his thoughts on constitutional Ottomanism, to his views on the political role of non‐Muslims in the Ottoman state. The results should hopefully elucidate our understanding of the organizing principles of inclusion and exclusion of non‐Muslims in the Ottoman Empire.     

Gender and sexuality online on Australian Muslim forums

This paper examines the e-religious discourse that Australian Muslims produce on the internet. The study of two online discussions on MuslimVillage forums—one of Australia’s largest online Muslim communities—about polygamy and homosexuality will illustrate how online interaction within virtual Islamic environments provides both greater and lesser fluidity to e-Islamic normative discourses associated with gender and sexuality. Muslim forums provide opportunities for members to display a variety of views and opinions: on the one hand, they allow Muslims to post views that may challenge, contest, or even transgress Islamic gender and sexuality norms, while equally allowing members, on the other hand, to reaffirm more authoritative normative Islamic views. The various voices that inhabit Australia’s Islamicyberspace’s new Muslim social and networked environments thus need to negotiate virtual normative representations.     

Muslims and Meat‐Eating

Religious thinking, including among Muslims, connects food and sex, as well as women and animals; both food practices and gender norms are significant for communal identity and boundary construction. Female bodies (properly covered) and animal bodies (properly slaughtered) serve as potent signifiers of Muslim identity, as patriarchal thought sustains the hierarchical cosmologies that affirm male dominance in family and society and allow humans to view animals as legitimately subject to human violence. I argue that Muslims in the industrialized West—especially those concerned with gender justice—ought to be vegetarians and that feminist ethics provides underutilized resources for Muslim thinking about ethics generally and food ethics in particular. Much contemporary Muslim thought about meat is at least as concerned with demonstrating the primacy of “Islamic” identity as with general questions about the formation of virtuous subjects and the development of good societies. This defensive concern with religious authenticity poses a stumbling block to richer thinking. Engagement with non‐Islamic (though not “un‐Islamic”) ethics provides a model for productive dialogue and engagement among parties who disagree about basic presumptions but agree on desirable outcomes, including the development of individuals' ethical sensibilities and the construction of societies conducive to human flourishing.     

Yemeni debates on the status of non‐Muslims in Islamic law

This essay examines Yemeni legal debates, in the period between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, regarding the status of and relations with non‐Muslims inside and outside the Islamic state. The legal works considered in this paper are written by Zaydi scholars, but they are informed by all other Muslim legal traditions. Studies of the Islamic law of nations and of the dhimma system have traditionally fluctuated between either wholesale condemnation or unqualified apologetic defence. And yet, as the works examined in this essay illustrate, the Islamic legal position on each of the controversial aspects of the laws of non‐Muslims is diverse, and it does not lend itself to essentialist classifications. Moreover, this diversity demonstrates the internal flexibility of the law and its inherent potential for reforming itself.     

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.     

Creative thinking and collective mobilisation in the Muslim world

ABSTRACT

To what extent does openness to new ideas and creativity (ONIC) help explain the elite-challenging collective mobilisation in the Muslim world? Are religious Muslims who are open to creative and innovative thinking more or less likely to engage in pro-democratic collective action? Analysing 16 Muslim-majority countries, this study advances the debate of Muslim contentious politics by systematically examining the extent to which ONIC explains the variation in high-risk, pro-democratic collective mobilisation. A quad-dimensional analysis of creativity indicates that ONIC is an empirically distinctive measure to capture openness and creative thinking. The evidence further suggests that, ceteris paribus, Islamic religiosity and ONIC are not mutually exclusive and that both are positively associated with collective protests. Notably, ONIC does appear to intervene to mediate the positive relationship between Islam and engagement in high-risk collective action, implying that the effects of religiosity may not be independent from how Muslims position themselves towards being open to novel ideas or creativity. The findings also demonstrate that an individual-level ONIC may be boosting the likelihood of protest engagement among more devout individuals in Islamic societies.     

Rethinking citizenship rights of non‐Muslims in an Islamic state: Rashid al‐Ghannūshi's contribution to the evolving debate

Of interest to Islamists of the twentieth century has been the question of minority rights in an Islamic state and of how non‐Muslim minorities should be treated: in particular, should they enjoy equal citizenship rights and responsibilities with Muslims? Traditional Islamic law did not accord equal rights to non‐Muslim protected minorities (ahl al‐dhimma), placing Muslims above them in several key areas. Notwithstanding the law, however, early Muslim rulers exercised some pragmatic discretion according to the imperatives of their day. With the Islamic revival of the twentieth century, the traditional view has been adopted by several Muslim thinkers and leaders, though the traditional view is at odds with the concept of the nation‐state. The nation‐state is built on a secular premise, with no single religious group favoured over another. Within this context, a number of Muslim thinkers have attempted to reinterpret the traditionally held view of ‘citizenship rights’. This article will focus on the contribution of one such thinker, the Tunisian Islamist Rashid al‐Ghannūshi, who espouses somewhat ‘liberal’ views on the issue and argues for rethinking on a number of related aspects. Commencing with some background to the problem, the article explores the issue of citizenship rights as espoused by Ghannūshi, and notes the key importance of the concept of justice as their basis, in his view. Specific rights examined are: freedom of belief, including for Muslims who wish to change their religion; the holding of public office by non‐Muslims; equal treatment for Muslims and non‐Muslims in terms of fiscal duties and benefits. Throughout his arguments, Ghannūshi emphasizes justice as central to the issue, and as the basis of interpreting and developing related rules and laws. Although Ghannūshi's views are not entirely new, he goes well beyond what has been acceptable in Islamic law, and his contribution should be considered important in the efforts at rethinking Islamic law in this area.     

Living under threat: Mutual threat perception drives anti‐Muslim and anti‐Western hostility in the age of terrorism

This research demonstrates a common psychology of outgroup hostility driven by perceived intergroup threat among three groups and seven cultural contexts: non‐Muslim Westerners, Muslims in Western societies, and Muslims in the Middle East. In Study 1, symbolic, but not realistic and terroristic threats, predicted non‐Muslim Norwegians' intentions to join anti‐Islamic movements. In Study 2, symbolic and realistic, but not terroristic threat, predicted non‐Muslim Americans' willingness to persecute Muslims. In Studies 3 and 4, symbolic threat predicted support and behavioral intentions against the West among Swedish and Turkish Muslims. Finally, in Study 5, a comparison demonstrated that symbolic and realistic threats had the same effects on violent intentions among non‐Muslim and Muslim Danes, and Muslims in Afghanistan. Meta‐analysis showed that symbolic threat was most strongly associated with intergroup hostility. Across studies, participants with high religious group identification experienced higher levels of threat. Implications for intergroup research and prejudice reduction are discussed.     

German Muslims and the ‘Integration Debate’: Negotiating Identities in the Face of Discrimination

Based on five focus groups (total N?=?56) with German Muslims, we analyze discourses on the experience of discrimination and feelings of national and religious attachment. The focus groups took place in mid to late 2010 in four German cities. Whereas only few participants describe personal discrimination by non-Muslim Germans, almost all participants complain about being collectively discriminated and rejected. This perception triggers processes of confirming their original cultural identity, primarily their Muslim affiliation and of strengthening the boundary towards the wider society. The analysis of the discourse shows the participants to fall back into an essentialized way of thinking that makes their ethnic being incompatible with being German; and they resort to their Muslim roots as a cultural resource for identity construction and self-worth. Others cope with their feeling of rejection by engaging in local politics and sports activities that allows them to attribute themselves a hyphenated identity as Turkish-Germans. The findings are discussed in terms of social identity, psychological essentialism, transnationalized religion, and boundary making.     

Group‐based discrimination,national identification,and British Muslims’ attitudes toward non‐Muslims: the mediating role of perceived identity incompatibility

In two studies, we tested a model in which the perceived (in)compatibility of being British and Muslim (identity incompatibility) was expected to mediate between group‐based discrimination and the identifications and attitudes of British Muslims. In Study 1 (N = 76), anti‐Muslim discrimination was associated with lower national identification and more negative attitudes toward non‐Muslims, and these relationships were mediated by perceived identity incompatibility. In Study 2 (N = 70), we additionally found that anti‐Muslim discrimination predicted stronger endorsement of Islamic group rights, and this relationship was also mediated by perceived identity incompatibility. The studies highlight the importance of group‐based discrimination in shaping the perceived (in)compatibility of being British and Muslim, and, in turn, the identifications and attitudes of British Muslims.     

‘My Husband is My Key to Paradise.’ Attitudes of Muslims in Indonesia and Norway to Spousal Roles and Wife-Beating

This article explores the influence of religious factors and values held by local societies, when Muslims develop their personal attitudes and perceived religious norms regarding spousal roles and wife-beating. It is based on qualitative interviews with 59 Muslims in Indonesia (N?=?35) and Norway (N?=?24). In addition, relevant Indonesian and Norwegian Muslim literature and web pages are examined. According to most Indonesian respondents, Islamic norms prescribe male leadership and allow the husband to beat a disobedient wife. This was regarded as crucial for the wife’s destiny after death. According to most Norwegian respondents, Islamic norms promote gender equality and oppose wife-beating. The sharp contrast between the perceived religious norms of Indonesian and Norwegian respondents may be caused by dissimilar cultural values in the two countries – values that influenced personal attitudes and thus the horizon of understanding where religion and authoritative text were interpreted. The reasoning of the respondents also sheds light on the importance of specific sacred texts when religious norms were developed individually. From a psychological point of view, the implementation of the egalitarian attitudes represented by numerous respondents may have positive effects for Muslim women living in patriarchal societies.     

(Re)presenting: Muslims on North American television

This article describes and analyzes the portrayal of Muslims on several North American television shows. Greatest detail is given to the two seasons of Sleeper Cell, the first show on American television created to deal with Muslim lives post 9/11. I deal briefly with Muslim characters on Oz for a look at portrayals of Muslim life pre 9/11. I also mention Muslim characters in Lost and 24 as well as some films to add further insights to my argument. These television dramas are compared with two comedies, Aliens in America as well as Little Mosque on the Prairie, the first Canadian television show to examine Muslim lives. The conclusion is that in dramas, Muslims are not recognized on American television as citizens of their own country, but instead are portrayed as dangerous immigrants with a religion that is both alien and wicked. Moreover, the religion as it is lived out on the television drama is one of violence—there seems to be no other substantive practice that embodies Islamic faith. The case is very different with regard to the television comedy.     

INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AS AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS

Abstract. I explore the contributions of Ibrahim Moosa, a Muslim legal scholar, to a Muslim‐Christian dialogue on religion and science. Moosa begins from the context of Shari'a, Islamic law, and not from the usual issues of the religion‐science dialogue. Beginning as it does from a legal tradition, the approach suggests a perspective on science and religion that is particular to Islam and provides insight into how an authentic dialogue between Muslims and Christians would proceed—and thereby an alternative model for a religion‐science dialogue.     

Mahometans on the Edge of Colonial Empire: Antipodean Experiences

ABSTRACT

The public conceptualization of Muslim immigration and settlement in New Zealand has become synonymous with the comparatively recent influx of Asian and African migrants and refugees over the past two decades. However, a noteworthy minority of Muslim immigrants arrived during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in the colonial period. This article surveys the immigration and settlement of Muslims from the 1850s to the 1950s, focusing on the biographies of the most prominent individuals, broadly tracing their arrival and participation in the Anglo-European Christian society they chose to settle in, through to the creation of the Islamic institutions in this country from the 1950s to 1980s. I will conclude with a brief overview of the significance of this pioneer period in view of more recent immigration and the proliferation of Islam in New Zealand, together with some observations upon the interactions of Muslims with a largely Christian society and what that may indicate for the understanding of relations between Muslims and Christians within New Zealand from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. Although the first century of Muslim settlement has been largely overlooked, or marginalized, much can be revealed about the broader Muslim experience at this extremity of the (former) British Empire.     

Queer Muslims: between orthodoxy,secularism and the struggle for acceptance

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to concentrate on responses by Muslim scholars to both the Orlando incident and the United States Supreme Court Judgment on same-sex marriage. I first provide some comments on the Orlando incident in relation to the issue of Muslims, violence and homophobia. More importantly and central to my argument, I consider what the import of these responses are for Muslims – especially Muslims who identify as LGBTIQ or at least experience same-sex sexual attraction or participate in same-sex sexual conduct – and also what do such responses suggest about the prospect of same-sex sexuality being seriously considered, understood and accepted within the contemporary Islamic tradition and the possible consequences thereof. I make the case that the Islamic tradition, by way of its self-identified and proclaimed scholarly interpreters and representatives, urgently need to engage with the issue of same-sex sexuality in a more robust, dynamic and imaginative manner or risk a deepening epistemological crisis.     

Muslim Dilemmas in the Republic of Ireland: Anti-Extremism and Self-Regulation in the Context of Super-Diversity

Since the 1990s, a very small Muslim community in the Republic of Ireland has expanded rapidly and become increasingly diverse. For all that research has identified growing expressions of anti-Muslim racism, mainstream Irish political discourse and political responses to Ireland’s Muslim communities have not reflected the antipathy towards Islam that is identifiable in a number of other European countries. The response of the Irish state towards Muslims has been one of apparent neglect, benign and otherwise, whilst Muslims, for their part, appear to have lived unobtrusively. We examine the position of Muslims in Ireland through the lens of three issues that have been debated within Muslim communities in recent years: the alleged threat of terrorist activity within Muslim communities; calls for regulation of Muslim/Islamic activities; and a 2018 controversy relating to comments made by a leading Islamic figure in Ireland on the topic of female genital mutilation. Our analysis, framed by Steven Vertovec’s concept of super-diversity, emphasizes the need for policymakers to avoid presumptions of homogeneity.