Images have low priority in the study of Islam, despite their ubiquitous proximity to lived experience. This chapter argues for an exploration of images in contemporary Islam. It proposes a dynamic... Show moreImages have low priority in the study of Islam, despite their ubiquitous proximity to lived experience. This chapter argues for an exploration of images in contemporary Islam. It proposes a dynamic approach towards the relationship between Islam and the image by engaging with the concept of provocation. The chapter proposes that provocation helps us to draw attention to a multiplicity of emotions that images may engender, from feelings of joy and enlightenment to terror and rage, and from mixed feelings and feelings of indifference to a sense of shame. The chapter suggests that provocation helps to map how Muslims navigate and make sense of the overwhelming abundance and multiplicity of sounds and images in the religious public sphere today. Show less
This contribution aims to approach the theme of a traveling Islam by starting frommoving people and considering how their religious “luggage”—in terms of beliefs,ideas, and practices—travels with... Show moreThis contribution aims to approach the theme of a traveling Islam by starting frommoving people and considering how their religious “luggage”—in terms of beliefs,ideas, and practices—travels with them and what this means for the circulation ofreligious ideas in Africa and beyond. The paper focuses particularly on Senegalesemigrants of the Murid Sufi order residing in Italy and the Netherlands; it investigateshow their religious luggage is important to them in the migration context and maycirculate further from there. In addition, it explores how their religious luggage ismoulded in, and through, their migration experiences: for instance, its meaning maychange, or another layer may be added. Finally, ideas on (the force of) the Muridiyyamay travel back to Senegal, adding other layers to the meaning of religion there as well. Show less
This contribution aims to approach the theme of a traveling Islam by starting from moving people and considering how their religious “luggage”—in terms of beliefs, ideas, and practices—travels with... Show moreThis contribution aims to approach the theme of a traveling Islam by starting from moving people and considering how their religious “luggage”—in terms of beliefs, ideas, and practices—travels with them and what this means for the circulation of religious ideas in Africa and beyond. The paper focuses particularly on Senegalese migrants of the Murid Sufi order residing in Italy and the Netherlands; it investigates how their religious luggage is important to them in the migration context and may circulate further from there. In addition, it explores how their religious luggage is moulded in, and through, their migration experiences: for instance, its meaning may change, or another layer may be added. Finally, ideas on (the force of) the Muridiyya may travel back to Senegal, adding other layers to the meaning of religion there as well. Show less
In Senegal, questions of gender, notably the regulation of marital relations, are hotly debated, and pit Islamic authorities against the government. While the Family Code of 1972 promotes women’s... Show moreIn Senegal, questions of gender, notably the regulation of marital relations, are hotly debated, and pit Islamic authorities against the government. While the Family Code of 1972 promotes women’s rights to get a divorce in court, local social realities are different. This study explores the public debate about family law and provides an ethnography of family law practice. It shows how women navigate thecontested spaces of family law as they try to change the terms their marriages or obtain divorce. The role of family is key. Women must work their kin to mobilize support. They may also interact with local authorities – the imam, the chef de quartier, the House of Justice, and the judge. This study shows that women draw on multiple and overlapping sets of norms and tend to invoke the state only as last resort. Behind the polarized debate hides a practice that is fluid. This is reflected in the relations between local authorities, who recognize and respect each other’s roles, even if they work from competing claims to authority. Show less
This ethnographic book deals with the emergence of the Wali Pitu (seven saints) tradition and Muslim pilgrimage in Bali, Indonesia. It touches upon the issues of translocal connectivity between... Show moreThis ethnographic book deals with the emergence of the Wali Pitu (seven saints) tradition and Muslim pilgrimage in Bali, Indonesia. It touches upon the issues of translocal connectivity between Java and Bali, Islam-Hindu relationship, relations between Muslim groups, and questions of authority and authenticity of saint worship tradition. It offers a new perspective on Bali, seeing the island as a site of cultural motion straddling in between Islam and Hinduism with complexities of local figurations, and belongings of ‘Muslim Balinese’. The study also urges the intricate relationship between religion and tourism, between devotion and economy, and shows that the Wali Pitu tradition has facilitated the transgression of spatial and cultural boundaries. Show less
How Muslims in Indonesia consider their religious practices, politics and culture as Islamic is described in this volume. By examining the various ways Bima Muslims constitute their Islamic... Show moreHow Muslims in Indonesia consider their religious practices, politics and culture as Islamic is described in this volume. By examining the various ways Bima Muslims constitute their Islamic identities and agencies through rituals and festivals, this book argues that religious practice is still vigorous in present Bima. It explores the reproduction of religious meanings among various local Muslims and the differences between social groups. Islam is represented as divided between the traditionalist Muslims and the reformist Muslims, between the royal family and the ordinary Muslims, and between Muslim clerics and lay people. Consequently, there is no single picture of Islam. As Bima Muslims construe their Islam in response to their surroundings, what it means to be a Muslim is constantly being negotiated. The complexity of religious life has been a result of the duality of socio-political settings in Bima which stems from the early period of the Islamization of Bima to the present. Show less
At the crossroads of major trade routes and characterised by intense human circulations, the area that encompasses northern Nigeria and southern Niger is a privileged space to study transnational... Show moreAt the crossroads of major trade routes and characterised by intense human circulations, the area that encompasses northern Nigeria and southern Niger is a privileged space to study transnational religious dynamics. Islam is, indeed, an essential feature of this region assuming today new forms in terms of discourses, practices, and modes of dissemination. In order to capture their changing complexity and diversity, regional Islamic dynamics need to be observed from both sides of the Niger-Nigeria border, where religious patterns echo each other but also obey different socio-political injunctions. While studying the processes of religious renewal and mutation, it is necessary to pay attention to the varied forms these processes take, to their direct and indirect effects and to the channels of transmission used. An interdisciplinary team of seven researchers from Niger, Nigeria, France and the United Kingdom was set up to conduct this transnational study; all authors carried out ethnographic fieldwork in both countries while constantly exchanging, comparing and discussing their respective findings with each other. Thus, this book provides first-hand material collected in the field, that contributes to enrich the reflexion on contemporary transformation dynamics in the Islamic landscapes of Niger and Nigeria, but also reflects the relevance of a transnational and comparative approach of these phenomena. Finally, it showcases the collaborative work of African and European scholars from Francophone and Anglophone countries - a type of scientific partnership unprecedented in this field. Show less
Situated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about... Show moreSituated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about conventional ethnic, regional and religious identities. This volume adds a new global perspective to the history of the Philippines by juxtaposing Iberian, Chinese and Islamic perspectives. By navigating various underexplored archival resources, senior and junior scholars from Asia, Europe and the Americas explore the diverse cultural, religious, and economic flows that shaped the early modern Philippine milieu. By zooming in from the global to the local, this book offers eleven fascinating Philippine case studies of early modern globalization. Show less
By way of retracing the 1935 Shahidganj mosque dispute, this article explores how Indian Muslims transformed their vision of community from one seeking moral legitimacy within colonial law to a... Show moreBy way of retracing the 1935 Shahidganj mosque dispute, this article explores how Indian Muslims transformed their vision of community from one seeking moral legitimacy within colonial law to a vision geared towards political action outside of the colonial legal order. This represented a radical departure from Muslim politics of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century where liberalism—while circulating around ideas of mysticism and moral community – remained largely the domain of polite petititoning. By piecing together the legal micro-his-tory of the Shahidganj mosque dispute and by mapping native responses to colonial law, I show how Indian Muslims, under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, located and shaped their political identity by moving beyond colonial prescriptions of legal pacts based on interests. Show less
This article introduces the special issue ‘Online Publics in Muslim Southeast Asia: In Between Religious Politics and Popular Pious Practices’ by discussing prominent ap- proaches in the study... Show moreThis article introduces the special issue ‘Online Publics in Muslim Southeast Asia: In Between Religious Politics and Popular Pious Practices’ by discussing prominent ap- proaches in the study of media and the public sphere in light of the specific history of digital media’s rise in Muslim Southeast Asia. It focuses on earlier and current expres- sions of mobile and Islamic modernity as well as on changing moralities and forms of Islamic authority. Referencing the other contributions to this special issue, it particu- larly emphasizes the (discursive and visual) contestations and social dramas that take place in the region’s media spaces providing for a variety of Islamic forms, practices, and socialities that can best be grasped, the authors argue, by considering politics, the pious, and the popular not as separate, but as mutually constitutive domains. Show less
After violent protests across the country had forced President Suharto to step down in 1998, Indonesia successfully made the transition from an authoritarian state to a democracy. For the first... Show moreAfter violent protests across the country had forced President Suharto to step down in 1998, Indonesia successfully made the transition from an authoritarian state to a democracy. For the first time in forty years Islamic parties and organizations – including some inspired by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood – were free to propagate their ways of thinking. The new government also succeeded in negotiating an end to a separatist rebellion in Aceh, making the province the only region in Indonesia permitted to draft its own Islamic legislation. In this book Indonesian scholars affiliated with Islamic universities as well as Dutch researchers investigate what has happened since the transition. They explore what the consequences are of the growing influence of orthodoxy and radicalism, which – while already visible prior to 1998 – has only grown stronger. How did political and religious relations change? How were the lives of women and their legal position affected? Furthermore, what are the ramifications for religious minorities? Show less
Er zijn vijf modellen voor de relatie tussen staat en religie. Deze zijn: 1) Politieke atheïsme; 2) Politieke agnosticisme; 3) Multiculturalisme; 4) Staatskerk en 5) Theocratie. Het model van het... Show moreEr zijn vijf modellen voor de relatie tussen staat en religie. Deze zijn: 1) Politieke atheïsme; 2) Politieke agnosticisme; 3) Multiculturalisme; 4) Staatskerk en 5) Theocratie. Het model van het politieke agnosticisme staat voor de behandeling van - of negeren van - alle religies en niet-religies op gelijke voet: de staat neemt uit principe geen standpunt in vóór of tegen religie en (on)gelovigen. Multiculturalisme, daarentegen, richt zich op een positieve behandeling van minderheden. Het proefschrift richt zich op het tweede model, multiculturalisme, en op het vijfde model, theocratie. De onderzoeksvraag is: wat zijn de implicaties van de politieke ideologieën van het multiculturalisme en Islamitisch fundamentalisme? En, meer in het bijzonder, wat is de verhouding tussen deze ideologieën als het gaat om het debat over de legitimiteit van Shariaraden in het Verenigd Koninkrijk? Show less
As a result of increasing globalisation the public sphere has expanded over the recent decades. Consequently Qur'an translations exhibit a highly pluralised concept of religious authority,... Show moreAs a result of increasing globalisation the public sphere has expanded over the recent decades. Consequently Qur'an translations exhibit a highly pluralised concept of religious authority, demonstrating an eclectic use of sources as authors respond simultaneously to local and global discourses. This paper shows how the commentary in a popularising Swahili tafsir by the preacher Said Moosa al-Kindy on two particular Qur'an verses, Q. 2:185 and Q. 2:189, cannot be understood as the outcome of theological and linguistic considerations only, but rather as a multi-epistemic, socially embedded product. Q. 2:185 and Q. 2:189 are often used to endorse particular viewpoints in East African moon sighting debates. This discourse revolves about the question of whether to accept a crescent sighting report from anywhere in the world to determine the beginning of the lunar month or to wait for a visible moon from a more restricted locality. This paper situates al-Kindy's translation within the wider field of Swahili Qur'an commentaries, and compares his treatment of these verses to that in two scholarly products from outside the established genre of tafsir. One is the polemical discourse on this subject by an Ibadi intellectual writing in Swahili and the second is the lunar calendar and website produced by a Tanzanian book trader. In all three of these works Qur'anic authority is paramount, but if we want to understand the diverse mediations of the Qur'anic message in a specific milieu we should not only look at the influence of exegetical traditions but also focus on social actors and their very personal, localised experiences. Show less
This study presents a re-evaluation of Malay adventure stories. These narratives were found in a large part of Southeast Asia for at least three centuries until the beginning of the twentieth... Show moreThis study presents a re-evaluation of Malay adventure stories. These narratives were found in a large part of Southeast Asia for at least three centuries until the beginning of the twentieth century. By adopting a cross-disciplinary approach, it aims to show that Malay adventure stories were not the meaningless fairy tales that Western collectors and scholars have previously held them for. It is argued that instead, they were greatly connected, in various ways, to the socieyt they have sprung from. The second part of the study comprises an annotated edition and translation of the Malay adventure story, 'Story of Bahram Syah' Show less
Dit proefschrift onderzoekt de juridische, religieuze en praktische mogelijkheden voor moslims om begraven te worden in Nederland en België. Het behandelt nationale regelgevingen, opvattingen van... Show moreDit proefschrift onderzoekt de juridische, religieuze en praktische mogelijkheden voor moslims om begraven te worden in Nederland en België. Het behandelt nationale regelgevingen, opvattingen van islamitische schriftgeleerden en de ideeën en wensen van moslims in Nederland en België met betrekking tot islamitisch begraven en de keuze voor begraaflocatie. Show less
The leading questions in discussing the role of the Islam in Europe are: how and in what ways did Europeans and Muslims interact, and what is the role of religion therein? And for those Europeans... Show moreThe leading questions in discussing the role of the Islam in Europe are: how and in what ways did Europeans and Muslims interact, and what is the role of religion therein? And for those Europeans who had never met a Muslim: what was their image of Islam, and how did they study the Muslim? This book shows that in the course of thirteen centuries the Muslim as well as Islam have undergone many metamorphoses. The Muslim has entered the European stage as a conqueror, antichrist, scholar, benign ruler, corsair, tradesman and fellow citizen. The image of Islam has meandered accordingly, as a religion that was feared as an enemy or embraced as a partner against heretical Christians, despised as an abomination or admired as a civilization, and studied for missionary, academic, colonial or security purpose. Show less
