Asifa M. Hussain and William L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199280711
- eISBN:
- 9780191604102
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199280711.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This book is a pioneering study of how multiculturalism interacts with sub-state nationalism in Britain. It gives equal attention to Scotland’s largest ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ minorities: ethnic ...
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This book is a pioneering study of how multiculturalism interacts with sub-state nationalism in Britain. It gives equal attention to Scotland’s largest ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ minorities: ethnic Pakistanis (almost all of them Muslim) and English immigrants; and to the Islamophobia and Anglophobia of majority Scots. Rising Scottish self-consciousness could have threatened both these minorities. But in reality, problems proved to be solutions, integrating rather than alienating. In the eyes of the minorities, the devolution of power to a Scottish Parliament has made Scots at once more proud and less xenophobic. English immigrants also felt that devolution has defused tensions, calmed frustrations, and forced Scots to blame themselves rather than others for their problems. Muslims suffered increased harassment after 9/11, although less in Scotland than elsewhere. Consciously or unconsciously, they continued to use Scottish identities and even Scottish nationalism as tools of integration. Conversely, nationalism in Scotland did not increase the majority’s Islamophobia as it did in England and elsewhere. The book is based on extensive quotations from focus-group discussions with minorities, in-depth interviews with elites, and statistical analysis of large-scale surveys of minorities and majorities.Less
This book is a pioneering study of how multiculturalism interacts with sub-state nationalism in Britain. It gives equal attention to Scotland’s largest ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ minorities: ethnic Pakistanis (almost all of them Muslim) and English immigrants; and to the Islamophobia and Anglophobia of majority Scots. Rising Scottish self-consciousness could have threatened both these minorities. But in reality, problems proved to be solutions, integrating rather than alienating. In the eyes of the minorities, the devolution of power to a Scottish Parliament has made Scots at once more proud and less xenophobic. English immigrants also felt that devolution has defused tensions, calmed frustrations, and forced Scots to blame themselves rather than others for their problems. Muslims suffered increased harassment after 9/11, although less in Scotland than elsewhere. Consciously or unconsciously, they continued to use Scottish identities and even Scottish nationalism as tools of integration. Conversely, nationalism in Scotland did not increase the majority’s Islamophobia as it did in England and elsewhere. The book is based on extensive quotations from focus-group discussions with minorities, in-depth interviews with elites, and statistical analysis of large-scale surveys of minorities and majorities.
Kathleen Moore
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195387810
- eISBN:
- 9780199777242
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387810.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Today there are more Muslims living in diaspora than at any time in history. This situation was not envisioned by Islamic law, which makes no provision for permanent as opposed to transient diasporic ...
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Today there are more Muslims living in diaspora than at any time in history. This situation was not envisioned by Islamic law, which makes no provision for permanent as opposed to transient diasporic communities. Western Muslims are therefore faced with the necessity of developing an Islamic law for Muslim communities living in non-Muslim societies. This book explores the development of new forms of Islamic law and legal reasoning in the U.S. and Great Britain, as well as Muslims encountering Anglo-American common law and its unfamiliar commitments to pluralism and participation, and to gender, family, and identity. The underlying context is the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7, the two attacks that arguably recast the way the West views Muslims and Islam. Islamic jurisprudence, the book notes, contains a number of references to various “abodes” and a number of interpretations of how Muslims should conduct themselves within those worlds. These include the dar al harb (house of war), dar al kufr (house of unbelievers), and dar al salam (house of peace). How Islamic law interprets these determines the debates that take shape in and around Islamic legality in these spaces. The book's analysis emphasizes the multiplicities of law, and the tensions between secularism and religiosity. It offers a close examination of the emergence of a contingent legal consciousness shaped by the exceptional circumstances of being Muslim in the U.S. and Britain in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century.Less
Today there are more Muslims living in diaspora than at any time in history. This situation was not envisioned by Islamic law, which makes no provision for permanent as opposed to transient diasporic communities. Western Muslims are therefore faced with the necessity of developing an Islamic law for Muslim communities living in non-Muslim societies. This book explores the development of new forms of Islamic law and legal reasoning in the U.S. and Great Britain, as well as Muslims encountering Anglo-American common law and its unfamiliar commitments to pluralism and participation, and to gender, family, and identity. The underlying context is the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7, the two attacks that arguably recast the way the West views Muslims and Islam. Islamic jurisprudence, the book notes, contains a number of references to various “abodes” and a number of interpretations of how Muslims should conduct themselves within those worlds. These include the dar al harb (house of war), dar al kufr (house of unbelievers), and dar al salam (house of peace). How Islamic law interprets these determines the debates that take shape in and around Islamic legality in these spaces. The book's analysis emphasizes the multiplicities of law, and the tensions between secularism and religiosity. It offers a close examination of the emergence of a contingent legal consciousness shaped by the exceptional circumstances of being Muslim in the U.S. and Britain in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century.
Abdulaziz Sachedina
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195378504
- eISBN:
- 9780199869688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378504.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The epilogue undertakes to assess the intellectual exchange between religious communities and medical researchers in the Muslim world for the development of biomedical ethics. The problem-solving ...
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The epilogue undertakes to assess the intellectual exchange between religious communities and medical researchers in the Muslim world for the development of biomedical ethics. The problem-solving method adopted by the prestigious Islamic Juridical Council of the World Muslim League in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is founded upon searching for normative responsa based on revealed sources only. The Council, represented by Sunni and Shi‘ite jurists, has deemphasized human dimension of medical enterprise by ignoring to evaluate human moral action and its ramifications for Islamic biomedical ethics. The classical juridical heritage, as demonstrated in this study, instead of functioning as a template for further moral reflection about critical human conditions and vulnerability in the context of modern healthcare institutions, has simply been retrieved to advance or obstruct legitimate advancements in biomedicine. Normative essentialism attached to evolving interhuman relationships has reduced Islamic jurisprudence to the search in the revealed texts rather than in theological ethics to estimate human nature and its ability to take the responsibility of actions performed cognitively and volitionally under variable circumstances. Religious and moral empowerment of average human person appears to be out of question for the Islamic religious establishment across Muslim world. It is this lack of empowerment of an individual capable of discerning right from wrong that makes Islamic juridical rulings in biomedicine inconsonant with international standards of human dignity and autonomous moral agency.Less
The epilogue undertakes to assess the intellectual exchange between religious communities and medical researchers in the Muslim world for the development of biomedical ethics. The problem-solving method adopted by the prestigious Islamic Juridical Council of the World Muslim League in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is founded upon searching for normative responsa based on revealed sources only. The Council, represented by Sunni and Shi‘ite jurists, has deemphasized human dimension of medical enterprise by ignoring to evaluate human moral action and its ramifications for Islamic biomedical ethics. The classical juridical heritage, as demonstrated in this study, instead of functioning as a template for further moral reflection about critical human conditions and vulnerability in the context of modern healthcare institutions, has simply been retrieved to advance or obstruct legitimate advancements in biomedicine. Normative essentialism attached to evolving interhuman relationships has reduced Islamic jurisprudence to the search in the revealed texts rather than in theological ethics to estimate human nature and its ability to take the responsibility of actions performed cognitively and volitionally under variable circumstances. Religious and moral empowerment of average human person appears to be out of question for the Islamic religious establishment across Muslim world. It is this lack of empowerment of an individual capable of discerning right from wrong that makes Islamic juridical rulings in biomedicine inconsonant with international standards of human dignity and autonomous moral agency.
Marc Gopin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195146509
- eISBN:
- 9780199834235
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195146506.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In 1993, when Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin sealed the Oslo peace agreement, it was heralded as the beginning of a new era in the Middle East peace process. Instead, violence on both sides has ...
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In 1993, when Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin sealed the Oslo peace agreement, it was heralded as the beginning of a new era in the Middle East peace process. Instead, violence on both sides has continued to plague the region. The brutal facts on the ground have called into question the style of diplomacy that saw its greatest triumph with the Oslo Accords. This book asserts that the failure of the peace process stems in large part from its complete neglect of cultural and religious factors; attempted solutions have ignored the basic needs and values of average people. The author argues for a far greater integration of the religious communities of the region into peace‐building efforts. Drawing on his own personal experience with religion‐based peace initiatives in Israel and Palestine, he writes of the individuals and groups that are already attempting such reconciliations. He offers a detailed prescription for future negotiations using methods specifically designed to undermine the appeal of religious extremists by subtly incorporating religious values and symbols into the procedures of official and unofficial diplomacy, believing that a combination of secular and religious methods of peacemaking will yield a rich and creative model for conflict resolution. Any effort at peacemaking that fails to take into account the deep religious feelings of Muslims, Jews, and Christians is destined to fail. Only by including religion in the peace process can we move past fragile and superficial agreements and toward a deep and lasting solution. The book is arranged in two parts – Analysis, and Practical applications.Less
In 1993, when Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin sealed the Oslo peace agreement, it was heralded as the beginning of a new era in the Middle East peace process. Instead, violence on both sides has continued to plague the region. The brutal facts on the ground have called into question the style of diplomacy that saw its greatest triumph with the Oslo Accords. This book asserts that the failure of the peace process stems in large part from its complete neglect of cultural and religious factors; attempted solutions have ignored the basic needs and values of average people. The author argues for a far greater integration of the religious communities of the region into peace‐building efforts. Drawing on his own personal experience with religion‐based peace initiatives in Israel and Palestine, he writes of the individuals and groups that are already attempting such reconciliations. He offers a detailed prescription for future negotiations using methods specifically designed to undermine the appeal of religious extremists by subtly incorporating religious values and symbols into the procedures of official and unofficial diplomacy, believing that a combination of secular and religious methods of peacemaking will yield a rich and creative model for conflict resolution. Any effort at peacemaking that fails to take into account the deep religious feelings of Muslims, Jews, and Christians is destined to fail. Only by including religion in the peace process can we move past fragile and superficial agreements and toward a deep and lasting solution. The book is arranged in two parts – Analysis, and Practical applications.
Monique Deveaux
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199289790
- eISBN:
- 9780191711022
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289790.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter explores the ways in which particular liberal notions of personal autonomy sit uneasily with certain cultural practices, especially those of ‘traditional’ or nonliberal groups. It argues ...
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This chapter explores the ways in which particular liberal notions of personal autonomy sit uneasily with certain cultural practices, especially those of ‘traditional’ or nonliberal groups. It argues that idealized, substantive ideals of autonomy can impede attempts to understand, evaluate, and where necessary, reform cultural traditions. The particular example that provides the focus for this chapter is that of the public debate on arranged and forced marriages among some (mostly Muslim) South Asians in Briton, a practice which has in recent years attracted the attention of British media, politicians, and the public. By examining the ways in which arranged and forced marriage have been framed in public debates in Britain, this discussion sheds light both on the limitations of the liberal autonomy paradigm — with its emphasis on choice and consent — and demonstrates the importance of engaging minority communities in the evaluation and reform of their own traditions.Less
This chapter explores the ways in which particular liberal notions of personal autonomy sit uneasily with certain cultural practices, especially those of ‘traditional’ or nonliberal groups. It argues that idealized, substantive ideals of autonomy can impede attempts to understand, evaluate, and where necessary, reform cultural traditions. The particular example that provides the focus for this chapter is that of the public debate on arranged and forced marriages among some (mostly Muslim) South Asians in Briton, a practice which has in recent years attracted the attention of British media, politicians, and the public. By examining the ways in which arranged and forced marriage have been framed in public debates in Britain, this discussion sheds light both on the limitations of the liberal autonomy paradigm — with its emphasis on choice and consent — and demonstrates the importance of engaging minority communities in the evaluation and reform of their own traditions.
Asifa Hussain and William Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199280711
- eISBN:
- 9780191604102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199280711.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter reviews the definitions or types of nationalism, including the distinction between ‘ethnic’ and ‘civic’ nationalism, and the less common and apparently self-contradictory concept of ...
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This chapter reviews the definitions or types of nationalism, including the distinction between ‘ethnic’ and ‘civic’ nationalism, and the less common and apparently self-contradictory concept of ‘multicultural nationalism’. It argues that identities are not only chosen, multiple, and fluid, but also used for purposes, for integration, as well as for differentiation. This chapter also describes two key Scottish minorities: ethnic Pakistani Muslims and English immigrants, reviews the historical and political setting, and describes the plan of the book.Less
This chapter reviews the definitions or types of nationalism, including the distinction between ‘ethnic’ and ‘civic’ nationalism, and the less common and apparently self-contradictory concept of ‘multicultural nationalism’. It argues that identities are not only chosen, multiple, and fluid, but also used for purposes, for integration, as well as for differentiation. This chapter also describes two key Scottish minorities: ethnic Pakistani Muslims and English immigrants, reviews the historical and political setting, and describes the plan of the book.
Christopher A. Bail
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691159423
- eISBN:
- 9781400852628
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691159423.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
In July 2010, Terry Jones, the pastor of a small fundamentalist church in Florida, announced plans to burn two hundred Qur'ans on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Though he ended up ...
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In July 2010, Terry Jones, the pastor of a small fundamentalist church in Florida, announced plans to burn two hundred Qur'ans on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Though he ended up canceling the stunt in the face of widespread public backlash, his threat sparked violent protests across the Muslim world that left at least twenty people dead. This book demonstrates how the beliefs of fanatics like Jones are inspired by a rapidly expanding network of anti-Muslim organizations that exert profound influence on American understanding of Islam. The book traces how the anti-Muslim narrative of the political fringe has captivated large segments of the American media, government, and general public, validating the views of extremists who argue that the United States is at war with Islam and marginalizing mainstream Muslim-Americans who are uniquely positioned to discredit such claims. Drawing on cultural sociology, social network theory, and social psychology, the book shows how anti-Muslim organizations gained visibility in the public sphere, commandeered a sense of legitimacy, and redefined the contours of contemporary debate, shifting it ever outward toward the fringe. The book illustrates the author's pioneering theoretical argument through a big-data analysis of more than one hundred organizations struggling to shape public discourse about Islam, tracing their impact on hundreds of thousands of newspaper articles, television transcripts, legislative debates, and social media messages produced since the September 11 attacks. The book also features in-depth interviews with the leaders of these organizations, providing a rare look at how anti-Muslim organizations entered the American mainstream.Less
In July 2010, Terry Jones, the pastor of a small fundamentalist church in Florida, announced plans to burn two hundred Qur'ans on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Though he ended up canceling the stunt in the face of widespread public backlash, his threat sparked violent protests across the Muslim world that left at least twenty people dead. This book demonstrates how the beliefs of fanatics like Jones are inspired by a rapidly expanding network of anti-Muslim organizations that exert profound influence on American understanding of Islam. The book traces how the anti-Muslim narrative of the political fringe has captivated large segments of the American media, government, and general public, validating the views of extremists who argue that the United States is at war with Islam and marginalizing mainstream Muslim-Americans who are uniquely positioned to discredit such claims. Drawing on cultural sociology, social network theory, and social psychology, the book shows how anti-Muslim organizations gained visibility in the public sphere, commandeered a sense of legitimacy, and redefined the contours of contemporary debate, shifting it ever outward toward the fringe. The book illustrates the author's pioneering theoretical argument through a big-data analysis of more than one hundred organizations struggling to shape public discourse about Islam, tracing their impact on hundreds of thousands of newspaper articles, television transcripts, legislative debates, and social media messages produced since the September 11 attacks. The book also features in-depth interviews with the leaders of these organizations, providing a rare look at how anti-Muslim organizations entered the American mainstream.
Umar F. Abd-Allah
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195187281
- eISBN:
- 9780199784875
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195187288.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Conflicts and controversies at home and abroad have led Americans to focus on Islam more than ever before. Little is known about Islam in Victorian America. This book is a biography of Alexander ...
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Conflicts and controversies at home and abroad have led Americans to focus on Islam more than ever before. Little is known about Islam in Victorian America. This book is a biography of Alexander Russell Webb, one of the earliest American Muslims to achieve public renown. Webb was a central figure of American Islam during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A native of the Hudson Valley, he was a journalist, editor, and civil servant. Raised a Presbyterian, Webb early on began to cultivate an interest in other religions and became particularly fascinated by Islam. While serving as US consul to the Philippines in 1887, he took a greater interest in the faith and embraced it in 1888, one of the first Americans known to have done so. Within a few years, he began corresponding with important Muslims in India. Webb became an enthusiastic propagator of the faith, founding the first Islamic institution in the United States: the American Mission. He wrote numerous books intended to introduce Islam to Americans, started the first Islamic press in the United States, published a journal entitled The Moslem World, and served as the representative of Islam at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago. In 1901, he was appointed Honorary Turkish Consul General in New York and was invited to Turkey, where he received two Ottoman medals of merits.Less
Conflicts and controversies at home and abroad have led Americans to focus on Islam more than ever before. Little is known about Islam in Victorian America. This book is a biography of Alexander Russell Webb, one of the earliest American Muslims to achieve public renown. Webb was a central figure of American Islam during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A native of the Hudson Valley, he was a journalist, editor, and civil servant. Raised a Presbyterian, Webb early on began to cultivate an interest in other religions and became particularly fascinated by Islam. While serving as US consul to the Philippines in 1887, he took a greater interest in the faith and embraced it in 1888, one of the first Americans known to have done so. Within a few years, he began corresponding with important Muslims in India. Webb became an enthusiastic propagator of the faith, founding the first Islamic institution in the United States: the American Mission. He wrote numerous books intended to introduce Islam to Americans, started the first Islamic press in the United States, published a journal entitled The Moslem World, and served as the representative of Islam at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago. In 1901, he was appointed Honorary Turkish Consul General in New York and was invited to Turkey, where he received two Ottoman medals of merits.
Abdulaziz Sachedina
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195139914
- eISBN:
- 9780199848935
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195139914.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslims enter the 21st century, the book argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation—to ...
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This book tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslims enter the 21st century, the book argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation—to re-examine and correct false interpretations, replace outdated laws and formulate new doctrines that respond to changing social contexts. Always using the Quran as a yardstick, the book demonstrates how and why Islamic law came to reflect political and social influences, leading to regulations that violate the spirit and the letter of the Quran. It analyzes critically Muslim teachings on issues of pluralism, civil society, war and peace, violence and self-sacrifice, the status and role of non-Muslims, and capital punishment.Less
This book tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslims enter the 21st century, the book argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation—to re-examine and correct false interpretations, replace outdated laws and formulate new doctrines that respond to changing social contexts. Always using the Quran as a yardstick, the book demonstrates how and why Islamic law came to reflect political and social influences, leading to regulations that violate the spirit and the letter of the Quran. It analyzes critically Muslim teachings on issues of pluralism, civil society, war and peace, violence and self-sacrifice, the status and role of non-Muslims, and capital punishment.
Avi Max Spiegel
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691159843
- eISBN:
- 9781400866434
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691159843.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Today, two-thirds of all Arab Muslims are under the age of thirty. This book takes readers inside the evolving competition for their support—a competition not simply between Islamism and the secular ...
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Today, two-thirds of all Arab Muslims are under the age of thirty. This book takes readers inside the evolving competition for their support—a competition not simply between Islamism and the secular world, but between different and often conflicting visions of Islam itself. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research among rank-and-file activists in Morocco, the book shows how Islamist movements are encountering opposition from an unexpected source—each other. In vivid detail, the book describes the conflicts that arise as Islamist groups vie with one another for new recruits, and the unprecedented fragmentation that occurs as members wrangle over a shared urbanized base. Looking carefully at how political Islam is lived, expressed, and understood by young people, the book moves beyond the top-down focus of current research. Instead, it makes the compelling case that Islamist actors are shaped more by their relationships to each other than by their relationships to the state or even to religious ideology. By focusing not only on the texts of aging elites but also on the voices of diverse and sophisticated Muslim youths, the book exposes the shifting and contested nature of Islamist movements today—movements that are being reimagined from the bottom up by young Islam. This book, the first to shed light on this new and uncharted era of Islamist pluralism in the Middle East and North Africa, uncovers the rivalries that are redefining the next generation of political Islam.Less
Today, two-thirds of all Arab Muslims are under the age of thirty. This book takes readers inside the evolving competition for their support—a competition not simply between Islamism and the secular world, but between different and often conflicting visions of Islam itself. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research among rank-and-file activists in Morocco, the book shows how Islamist movements are encountering opposition from an unexpected source—each other. In vivid detail, the book describes the conflicts that arise as Islamist groups vie with one another for new recruits, and the unprecedented fragmentation that occurs as members wrangle over a shared urbanized base. Looking carefully at how political Islam is lived, expressed, and understood by young people, the book moves beyond the top-down focus of current research. Instead, it makes the compelling case that Islamist actors are shaped more by their relationships to each other than by their relationships to the state or even to religious ideology. By focusing not only on the texts of aging elites but also on the voices of diverse and sophisticated Muslim youths, the book exposes the shifting and contested nature of Islamist movements today—movements that are being reimagined from the bottom up by young Islam. This book, the first to shed light on this new and uncharted era of Islamist pluralism in the Middle East and North Africa, uncovers the rivalries that are redefining the next generation of political Islam.
Esra Özyürek
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162782
- eISBN:
- 9781400852710
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162782.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to 100,000 German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. ...
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Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to 100,000 German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. What stands out about recent conversions is that they take place at a time when Islam is increasingly seen as contrary to European values. This book explores how Germans come to Islam within this antagonistic climate, how they manage to balance their love for Islam with their society's fear of it, how they relate to immigrant Muslims, and how they shape debates about race, religion, and belonging in today's Europe. The book looks at how mainstream society marginalizes converts and questions their national loyalties. In turn, converts try to disassociate themselves from migrants of Muslim-majority countries and promote a denationalized Islam untainted by Turkish or Arab traditions. Some German Muslims believe that once cleansed of these accretions, the Islam that surfaces fits in well with German values and lifestyle. Others even argue that being a German Muslim is wholly compatible with the older values of the German Enlightenment. This book provides a fresh window into the connections and tensions stemming from a growing religious phenomenon in Germany and beyond.Less
Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to 100,000 German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. What stands out about recent conversions is that they take place at a time when Islam is increasingly seen as contrary to European values. This book explores how Germans come to Islam within this antagonistic climate, how they manage to balance their love for Islam with their society's fear of it, how they relate to immigrant Muslims, and how they shape debates about race, religion, and belonging in today's Europe. The book looks at how mainstream society marginalizes converts and questions their national loyalties. In turn, converts try to disassociate themselves from migrants of Muslim-majority countries and promote a denationalized Islam untainted by Turkish or Arab traditions. Some German Muslims believe that once cleansed of these accretions, the Islam that surfaces fits in well with German values and lifestyle. Others even argue that being a German Muslim is wholly compatible with the older values of the German Enlightenment. This book provides a fresh window into the connections and tensions stemming from a growing religious phenomenon in Germany and beyond.
Umar F. Abd‐Allah
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195187281
- eISBN:
- 9780199784875
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195187288.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter presents an introduction to the life of Alexander Russell Webb (1846-1916), who adopted Islam as a private faith and personal fulfillment of his identity as an American. He is considered ...
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This chapter presents an introduction to the life of Alexander Russell Webb (1846-1916), who adopted Islam as a private faith and personal fulfillment of his identity as an American. He is considered one of the outstanding figures in the early history of Islam in the United States, and his legacy constitutes a valuable point of reference for all Americans today, and especially for those in the growing Muslim community of the United States. Webb was born and raised in Hudson, New York. In 1887, President Cleveland, the first Democrat to be served elected president since the end of Reconstruction, appointed Webb as American consul to the Philippines; he served in Manila until 1892. The Philippines afforded Webb access to information about Islam that he had not had in the United States. Shortly after his arrival in Manila, he decided to embrace Islam. Webb returned to New York in February 1893 and set about establishing his mission in Manhattan, immediately attracting front-page headlines in the New York Times and other American newspapers.Less
This chapter presents an introduction to the life of Alexander Russell Webb (1846-1916), who adopted Islam as a private faith and personal fulfillment of his identity as an American. He is considered one of the outstanding figures in the early history of Islam in the United States, and his legacy constitutes a valuable point of reference for all Americans today, and especially for those in the growing Muslim community of the United States. Webb was born and raised in Hudson, New York. In 1887, President Cleveland, the first Democrat to be served elected president since the end of Reconstruction, appointed Webb as American consul to the Philippines; he served in Manila until 1892. The Philippines afforded Webb access to information about Islam that he had not had in the United States. Shortly after his arrival in Manila, he decided to embrace Islam. Webb returned to New York in February 1893 and set about establishing his mission in Manhattan, immediately attracting front-page headlines in the New York Times and other American newspapers.
Anshu Malhotra and Farina Mir (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198078012
- eISBN:
- 9780199080984
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198078012.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This interdisciplinary volume seeks to consider the notion of ‘Punjabiyat’, a loosely defined term often used to describe a sentiment of belonging or attachment to Punjab and/or the foundations of a ...
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This interdisciplinary volume seeks to consider the notion of ‘Punjabiyat’, a loosely defined term often used to describe a sentiment of belonging or attachment to Punjab and/or the foundations of a shared, cross-religious, cross-caste, cross-class culture. It takes as its starting point the question of whether, despite political, social, religious—indeed, historical—differences, there are notions of ‘Punjabiyat’/Punjabiness that constitute the Punjab as a region conceptually in history, culture, and practice. The essays in this volume each examine a different Punjabi culture—language-based and literary; religious and those that define a ‘community’; rural, urban, and middle class; historical, contemporary, and cosmopolitan. Together they point to the complex foundations of ‘Punjabiyat’, making this volume a major contribution to the cultural history of a region. The essays in this volume are based on a broad array of colonial and indigenous sources in Punjabi, Persian, Hindi, and Urdu. These sources range from poetry to prose, and from literary to political to religious texts (Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim). The authors draw from their expertise in the disciplines of history, religious studies, comparative literature, and architectural history to provide cogent analyses of aspects of Punjabi early modern, colonial, and post-colonial history, as well as its historiography.Less
This interdisciplinary volume seeks to consider the notion of ‘Punjabiyat’, a loosely defined term often used to describe a sentiment of belonging or attachment to Punjab and/or the foundations of a shared, cross-religious, cross-caste, cross-class culture. It takes as its starting point the question of whether, despite political, social, religious—indeed, historical—differences, there are notions of ‘Punjabiyat’/Punjabiness that constitute the Punjab as a region conceptually in history, culture, and practice. The essays in this volume each examine a different Punjabi culture—language-based and literary; religious and those that define a ‘community’; rural, urban, and middle class; historical, contemporary, and cosmopolitan. Together they point to the complex foundations of ‘Punjabiyat’, making this volume a major contribution to the cultural history of a region. The essays in this volume are based on a broad array of colonial and indigenous sources in Punjabi, Persian, Hindi, and Urdu. These sources range from poetry to prose, and from literary to political to religious texts (Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim). The authors draw from their expertise in the disciplines of history, religious studies, comparative literature, and architectural history to provide cogent analyses of aspects of Punjabi early modern, colonial, and post-colonial history, as well as its historiography.
Jeffrey T. Kenney
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195131697
- eISBN:
- 9780199785001
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513169X.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The evocation of Kharijism first occurred in connection with the activities and ideas of the Society of Muslim Brothers. On two separate occasions, in 1948 and 1954, the Muslim Brothers were accused ...
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The evocation of Kharijism first occurred in connection with the activities and ideas of the Society of Muslim Brothers. On two separate occasions, in 1948 and 1954, the Muslim Brothers were accused of being Kharijite. These isolated episodes adumbrate the trend toward accusations of Kharijism that came to inform a range of political and religious rival groups in Egypt — government, official al-Azhar, conservative, Islamist, and secular. This chapter examines the first wave of accusations of Kharijism as they were applied in general to the Society of Muslim Brothers, and in particular to the writing and figure of Sayyid Qutb, a one-time literary critic who became the voice of Islamist militancy.Less
The evocation of Kharijism first occurred in connection with the activities and ideas of the Society of Muslim Brothers. On two separate occasions, in 1948 and 1954, the Muslim Brothers were accused of being Kharijite. These isolated episodes adumbrate the trend toward accusations of Kharijism that came to inform a range of political and religious rival groups in Egypt — government, official al-Azhar, conservative, Islamist, and secular. This chapter examines the first wave of accusations of Kharijism as they were applied in general to the Society of Muslim Brothers, and in particular to the writing and figure of Sayyid Qutb, a one-time literary critic who became the voice of Islamist militancy.
Christopher Bail
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691159423
- eISBN:
- 9781400852628
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691159423.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter asks whether the influence of anti-Muslim organizations within the media and policy process extends toward the broader public and everyday life. Though public opinion of Muslims became ...
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This chapter asks whether the influence of anti-Muslim organizations within the media and policy process extends toward the broader public and everyday life. Though public opinion of Muslims became more favorable after the September 11 attacks, subsequent years witnessed a marked increase in anti-Muslim attitudes among the American public that mirrored the rise of anti-Muslim organizations within the public sphere. Data from popular social media sites suggest the surge in anti-Muslim civil society organizations was at least partly responsible for the transformation of the American public's understanding of Islam. Finally, the chapter details the growth of mosque controversies within the U.S. inspired by fringe activists—including the high-profile controversy about the construction of an Islamic center near the site of the September 11 attacks and the Qur'an burning controversy that followed.Less
This chapter asks whether the influence of anti-Muslim organizations within the media and policy process extends toward the broader public and everyday life. Though public opinion of Muslims became more favorable after the September 11 attacks, subsequent years witnessed a marked increase in anti-Muslim attitudes among the American public that mirrored the rise of anti-Muslim organizations within the public sphere. Data from popular social media sites suggest the surge in anti-Muslim civil society organizations was at least partly responsible for the transformation of the American public's understanding of Islam. Finally, the chapter details the growth of mosque controversies within the U.S. inspired by fringe activists—including the high-profile controversy about the construction of an Islamic center near the site of the September 11 attacks and the Qur'an burning controversy that followed.
Daniel A. Madigan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199827879
- eISBN:
- 9780199919451
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827879.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. Against the widespread perception in the West of Muslim responsibility for ethnic cleansing, this chapter cites statistics to the ...
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This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. Against the widespread perception in the West of Muslim responsibility for ethnic cleansing, this chapter cites statistics to the effect that the vast majority of people who died in the Bosnian War did so at the hands of Orthodox Christian Serbs. And in Rwanda, nearly a million Christians were killed by other Christians in three short months. It argues that these tragic statistics are conveniently forgotten in the West, a failure of memory that makes the Christian-Muslim dialogue difficult. The chapter also pleads for interreligious dialogues to be concerned not only for the marginalized of one’s own religion, but for all the marginalized of the world, regardless of religion.Less
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. Against the widespread perception in the West of Muslim responsibility for ethnic cleansing, this chapter cites statistics to the effect that the vast majority of people who died in the Bosnian War did so at the hands of Orthodox Christian Serbs. And in Rwanda, nearly a million Christians were killed by other Christians in three short months. It argues that these tragic statistics are conveniently forgotten in the West, a failure of memory that makes the Christian-Muslim dialogue difficult. The chapter also pleads for interreligious dialogues to be concerned not only for the marginalized of one’s own religion, but for all the marginalized of the world, regardless of religion.
Charles Kurzman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199766871
- eISBN:
- 9780199897414
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199766871.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Why are there so few Muslim terrorists? With more than a billion Muslims in the world—many of whom supposedly hate the West and ardently desire martyrdom—why don't we see terrorist attacks every day? ...
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Why are there so few Muslim terrorists? With more than a billion Muslims in the world—many of whom supposedly hate the West and ardently desire martyrdom—why don't we see terrorist attacks every day? Where are the missing martyrs? This counterintuitive book demonstrates that terrorist groups are thoroughly marginal in the Muslim world. Drawing on government sources, public opinion surveys, election results, and in-depth interviews with Muslims in the Middle East and around the world, the book finds that young Muslims are indeed angry with what they see as imperialism—and especially at Western support for local dictatorships. But revolutionary Islamists such as al-Qaida and the Taliban have failed to reach them, as can be seen from the terrorists' own websites and publications, which constantly bemoan the dearth of willing recruits. It takes only a small cadre of committed killers to wreak unspeakable havoc. But as easy as terrorism is to commit, few Muslims turn to violence. With each bombing, the terrorists lose support among Muslims. The threat of Islamist terrorism is real, but its dimensions are, so far, tightly confined.Less
Why are there so few Muslim terrorists? With more than a billion Muslims in the world—many of whom supposedly hate the West and ardently desire martyrdom—why don't we see terrorist attacks every day? Where are the missing martyrs? This counterintuitive book demonstrates that terrorist groups are thoroughly marginal in the Muslim world. Drawing on government sources, public opinion surveys, election results, and in-depth interviews with Muslims in the Middle East and around the world, the book finds that young Muslims are indeed angry with what they see as imperialism—and especially at Western support for local dictatorships. But revolutionary Islamists such as al-Qaida and the Taliban have failed to reach them, as can be seen from the terrorists' own websites and publications, which constantly bemoan the dearth of willing recruits. It takes only a small cadre of committed killers to wreak unspeakable havoc. But as easy as terrorism is to commit, few Muslims turn to violence. With each bombing, the terrorists lose support among Muslims. The threat of Islamist terrorism is real, but its dimensions are, so far, tightly confined.
Sanjeer Alam
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198076940
- eISBN:
- 9780199080946
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198076940.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
The debate over educational disparities across religious communities in India, especially those concerning the Muslims, is as old as the history of the modern education system in the country. This ...
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The debate over educational disparities across religious communities in India, especially those concerning the Muslims, is as old as the history of the modern education system in the country. This debate has yielded several explanations for educational backwardness among the Muslims which evoke a supposedly low value placed on modern education by Islamic theology, the status of Indian Muslims as a minority, and invidious discrimination against the Muslims in India. Largely cast in a polemical and impressionistic mode, this debate has long awaited empirical underpinnings. The recent upsurge in empirical studies on the topic requires an explanatory frame that admits of precision and complexity. Despite the renewed interest in this subject following the Sachar Committee Report, considerable knowledge gaps continue to exist in our understanding of the dynamics between religion and access to education. The present work brings to fore the spatially contextualized historical trajectories that have shaped educational development and various forms of disparities therein. It argues that religious communities, such as the Muslims, have to be seen as spatially and economically differentiated across regions rather than as homogeneous socio-cultural aggregates. This argument draws upon disaggregation of national-level secondary data and is supplemented by a primary fieldwork-based comparison of the educational status of Muslims in Patna and Purnia districts of Bihar. The relative educational backwardness of the Muslim community is thus seen to have underlying spatial and class patterns that are often overlooked.Less
The debate over educational disparities across religious communities in India, especially those concerning the Muslims, is as old as the history of the modern education system in the country. This debate has yielded several explanations for educational backwardness among the Muslims which evoke a supposedly low value placed on modern education by Islamic theology, the status of Indian Muslims as a minority, and invidious discrimination against the Muslims in India. Largely cast in a polemical and impressionistic mode, this debate has long awaited empirical underpinnings. The recent upsurge in empirical studies on the topic requires an explanatory frame that admits of precision and complexity. Despite the renewed interest in this subject following the Sachar Committee Report, considerable knowledge gaps continue to exist in our understanding of the dynamics between religion and access to education. The present work brings to fore the spatially contextualized historical trajectories that have shaped educational development and various forms of disparities therein. It argues that religious communities, such as the Muslims, have to be seen as spatially and economically differentiated across regions rather than as homogeneous socio-cultural aggregates. This argument draws upon disaggregation of national-level secondary data and is supplemented by a primary fieldwork-based comparison of the educational status of Muslims in Patna and Purnia districts of Bihar. The relative educational backwardness of the Muslim community is thus seen to have underlying spatial and class patterns that are often overlooked.
H. A. Hellyer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748639472
- eISBN:
- 9780748671342
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748639472.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The interchange between Muslims and Europe has a long and complicated history, dating back to before the idea of ‘Europe’ was born, and the earliest years of Islam. There has been a Muslim presence ...
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The interchange between Muslims and Europe has a long and complicated history, dating back to before the idea of ‘Europe’ was born, and the earliest years of Islam. There has been a Muslim presence on the European continent before, but never has it been so significant, particularly in Western Europe. With more Muslims in Europe than in many countries of the Muslim world, they have found themselves in the position of challenging what it means to be a European in a secular society of the twenty-first century. At the same time, the European context has caused many Muslims to re-think what is essential to them in religious terms in their new reality. This work analyses the prospects for a European future where pluralism is accepted within unified societies, and the presence of a Muslim community that is of Europe, not simply in it.Less
The interchange between Muslims and Europe has a long and complicated history, dating back to before the idea of ‘Europe’ was born, and the earliest years of Islam. There has been a Muslim presence on the European continent before, but never has it been so significant, particularly in Western Europe. With more Muslims in Europe than in many countries of the Muslim world, they have found themselves in the position of challenging what it means to be a European in a secular society of the twenty-first century. At the same time, the European context has caused many Muslims to re-think what is essential to them in religious terms in their new reality. This work analyses the prospects for a European future where pluralism is accepted within unified societies, and the presence of a Muslim community that is of Europe, not simply in it.
James W. Laine
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195141269
- eISBN:
- 9780199849543
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195141269.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Shivaji was a noble and virtuous hero from 17th-century western India. His legend is well known and has been retold, in several different versions, as it serves as an important part of Hindu ...
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Shivaji was a noble and virtuous hero from 17th-century western India. His legend is well known and has been retold, in several different versions, as it serves as an important part of Hindu nationalist ideology. His legend expresses deeply held convictions about what Hinduism is, and how it is opposed to Islam. Through presenting specific points about the similarities of themes and the contexts in which this legend has been set, this book traces the origin and development of the Shivaji legend, examining its meaning for those who have composed and read it, and paints a complex picture of the past four centuries of national identity, awareness of themes present during colonization, the influence of an author's experience in his narrations, and, most importantly, Hindu-Muslim relations.Less
Shivaji was a noble and virtuous hero from 17th-century western India. His legend is well known and has been retold, in several different versions, as it serves as an important part of Hindu nationalist ideology. His legend expresses deeply held convictions about what Hinduism is, and how it is opposed to Islam. Through presenting specific points about the similarities of themes and the contexts in which this legend has been set, this book traces the origin and development of the Shivaji legend, examining its meaning for those who have composed and read it, and paints a complex picture of the past four centuries of national identity, awareness of themes present during colonization, the influence of an author's experience in his narrations, and, most importantly, Hindu-Muslim relations.
