The last three decades of the 20th century witnessed a revival of Islam in Ethiopia, the genesis of which can be traced back to the 19th century. Since the early 1970s Islamic revival has... Show moreThe last three decades of the 20th century witnessed a revival of Islam in Ethiopia, the genesis of which can be traced back to the 19th century. Since the early 1970s Islamic revival has manifested itself in a growing awareness among Ethiopian Muslims of their collective identity, characterized by an intensified struggle to enhance the status of Islam at the national level, to establish a countrywide Islamic organization, and to participate actively in the public sphere. These aspirations were articulated through mass demonstrations, representations and publications, especially after the demise of the military regime that had ruled the country from 1974 to 1991. Show less
The limits of normality in Swedish public schools are defined by the majority society.1 Structures that are somewhat invisible to participants in the school system uphold a structural... Show moreThe limits of normality in Swedish public schools are defined by the majority society.1 Structures that are somewhat invisible to participants in the school system uphold a structural marginalization of Muslim pupils and exclude them from normality. This is not only a question about what is taught in class as subjects or how questions about diet are resolved, it is also about how symbolic Muslim identities are viewed. This can be seen in the light of how time and space are structured in school. Show less
Abdolkarim Soroush (b.1945) is an Iranian philosopher-thinker whose innovative ideas on religious reform are sure to win him a place among the most prominent Muslim reformers of this century. A... Show moreAbdolkarim Soroush (b.1945) is an Iranian philosopher-thinker whose innovative ideas on religious reform are sure to win him a place among the most prominent Muslim reformers of this century. A graduate of Tehran University in pharmacology, Soroush undertook postgraduate studies in history and the philosophy of science at the University of London in the early 1970s. His searching mind, already familiar with Islamic and Western classical philosophical traditions, was captivated by modern philosophy. Show less
The presence of large number of Muslims in Western Europe in the last thirty years has given rise to considerable challenges for Islamic law and Western legal systems. Can the legal rules and... Show moreThe presence of large number of Muslims in Western Europe in the last thirty years has given rise to considerable challenges for Islamic law and Western legal systems. Can the legal rules and institutions of Islamic law be applied to contemporary Western Europe where Muslims are a minority? How should liberal democracies accommodate Muslims who continue to grant authority to Islamic law in their daily lives and social practices? Do the two sources of legal norms conflict, and if so can this conflict be resolved or managed? The satisfactory resolution of these issues depends on developments in a system of Islamic law for Muslim minorities which is often termed minority fiqh (fiqh al-aqalliyat). It is also dependant on getting the general theory of Islamic law right. Show less
The European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), created in 1997, is one of the most remarkable initiatives in the developing field of jurisprudence for Muslim minorities living in the West.... Show moreThe European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), created in 1997, is one of the most remarkable initiatives in the developing field of jurisprudence for Muslim minorities living in the West. Unlike the Fiqh Council of North America, established a few years earlier, the ECFR includes scholars from the Middle East, a sign that this particular legal discourse also affects believers in Muslim majority countries. Many of the issues at hand go beyond the state of post-migration. Consequently, the ECFR has to find a balance amongst a variety of views and expectations in Europe and beyond. Show less
Is European advertising a mirror of the demographics of the European societies? The answer seems to be no. But is it? The limited number of cases where advertisers do promote their products and... Show moreIs European advertising a mirror of the demographics of the European societies? The answer seems to be no. But is it? The limited number of cases where advertisers do promote their products and services to Asian, Arab, African, or Latin American Europeans most probably reflects the importance that European nations attach to integrating these various ethnic communities in their societies. Show less
Their long beards often contrast their young faces; they wear traditional Pakistani garb (khamiss) or more generally white tunics (djellaba or gandoura) that flow to their ankles, a skull-cap ... Show moreTheir long beards often contrast their young faces; they wear traditional Pakistani garb (khamiss) or more generally white tunics (djellaba or gandoura) that flow to their ankles, a skull-cap (taguilla), and perhaps a pair of Nikes or Reeboks. Rain or shine, they untiringly cross mountains and valleys throughout France and the entire world in small groups of three or five, rarely more, to propagate the message of Allah. For the most part they are French, mainly of Moroccan origin or more broadly of Maghrebi or African origin, and are called Mohamed, Rachid, Amadou, or Moustafa, but also Eric, Thomas, Patrick, or Didier. They are male, but are increasingly accompanied by young women proudly wearing headscarves and participating in the effort of propagating their faith. They are mostly between 18 and 35 years of age and live essentially in the French suburbs, where the cumulated difficulties of unemployment, exclusion, and racism are predominant. They are the new converts or 'reconverts' (voluntary return to the religion of their parents) to Islam, the knights of conversion and of pietism, according to the expression of the Moroccan sociologist Mohamed Tozy. These new 'flag bearers' of an apostolic and ostentatious Islam are all religious militants of the Tabligh movement in France. Show less
Take a stroll in the 'exotic' district of Grønland in 'east-end' Oslo, and read the signs at the entrances of anonymous apartment buildings or old warehouses. You are bound to discover that within... Show moreTake a stroll in the 'exotic' district of Grønland in 'east-end' Oslo, and read the signs at the entrances of anonymous apartment buildings or old warehouses. You are bound to discover that within their premises several of these places accommodate mosques. What makes these places mosques is not their actual shape, but their interior design and decoration. Show less
From 15-18 June 2000, more than 200 persons participated in an international conference entitled, 'Afghanistan - Country Without State?', organized by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Afghanistan (AGA) and... Show moreFrom 15-18 June 2000, more than 200 persons participated in an international conference entitled, 'Afghanistan - Country Without State?', organized by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Afghanistan (AGA) and the Mediothek für Afghanistan e.V. in Munich. In the almost 30 presentations given, researchers as well as representatives of NGOs and political institutions addressed the central question of whether Afghanistan is a failed or failing state. Show less
Afghanistan: Tree of Life and Kalashnikov is an exhibition (14 July 2001 - 27 January 2002) at the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. More than 20 years of war, civil war, displacement of people,... Show moreAfghanistan: Tree of Life and Kalashnikov is an exhibition (14 July 2001 - 27 January 2002) at the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. More than 20 years of war, civil war, displacement of people, and the Taliban's iconoclasm have led to immense losses of cultural treasures. At the same time the brutalities of war have inspired a new form of popular art. Baluch and Turkmen tribal women and those from other western Afghan groups weave carpets that depict automatic guns, tanks, helicopters and other motives. The exhibition exemplifies important periods of the region's culture from the Bronze Age to today, and displays a selection of these modern war carpets from a private German collection with photo documents. Show less
The ISIM atelier, 'Africa and Islam: moral discourses on Islam and the construction of identities in local, national and transnational perspectives', will take place from February to May 2001. The... Show moreThe ISIM atelier, 'Africa and Islam: moral discourses on Islam and the construction of identities in local, national and transnational perspectives', will take place from February to May 2001. The focus will be on the dynamic relationship between supposedly global processes like Islamic resurgence, seemingly uniform Islamic and Islamist discourses, and the construction of local identities and transformations from the perspectives of local groups and communities. Show less
Events in Africa over the last two decades have puzzled many. Worsening poverty, corruption, as well as the repeated occurrence of coups or extreme civil violence, all conspire to give a cheerless,... Show moreEvents in Africa over the last two decades have puzzled many. Worsening poverty, corruption, as well as the repeated occurrence of coups or extreme civil violence, all conspire to give a cheerless, if not downright frightening, image of the continent. Are the causes of this crisis to be found in Africa's place in the world economy or in the continual disorder which afflicts the continent? Is the present turmoil a temporary setback or has it become a permanent condition? Why is there such breakdown of society? Will the present efforts for democratization ensure an improvement in the living conditions of the vast majority or merely benefit the elites? Has the continent been 'left behind by the rest of the world', as some have argued? Taken together, these issues raise the more general question of modernization. Show less
Postcolonial Africa has witnessed problematic processes of nation and state building, but in general the state structures as designed in late-colonial and early independence endure, including their... Show morePostcolonial Africa has witnessed problematic processes of nation and state building, but in general the state structures as designed in late-colonial and early independence endure, including their secular orientation. A major challenge for the state in Africa is to advance its respect for devotional diversity, because the secular state has an interest in religious diversity. Show less
There are many varieties of traditionalism in the West, but only one that really deserves a capital 'T', and only one that modified the understanding of both Islam in the West and modernity in the... Show moreThere are many varieties of traditionalism in the West, but only one that really deserves a capital 'T', and only one that modified the understanding of both Islam in the West and modernity in the Islamic world. This is 'Guénonian' Traditionalism, the fruit of the marriage of 19th-century oriental scholarship with the Western esoteric tradition, a movement established by the work of the French religious philosopher René Guénon (1886-1951). Born in the provincial French city of Blois, Gunon lived the last twenty years of his life in Egypt, where he died a Muslim and an Egyptian citizen just before the 1952 Revolution. Despite this, his books and articles draw far more heavily on Hinduism than Islam, and were all written in French and published in Paris. At first, Traditionalists were all Europeans, mostly converts to Islam; today, their number includes born Muslims in the Islamic world and the West. Show less
On 5 January 2001 the Japanese Asahi Shinbun newspaper reported that the Indonesian Department of Health had ordered P.T. Ajinomoto-Indonesia to withdraw its product, Ajinomoto, an artificial... Show moreOn 5 January 2001 the Japanese Asahi Shinbun newspaper reported that the Indonesian Department of Health had ordered P.T. Ajinomoto-Indonesia to withdraw its product, Ajinomoto, an artificial seasoning of monosodium glutamate (MSG), from the market because it contained pork. A few days later, the then Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, also an expert on fiqh, expressed to the Japanese Minister of Justice that he believed the Ajinomoto seasoning could indeed be consumed by Muslims. This seemingly trivial occurrence nonetheless became intertwined in the religious and political issues of Indonesia under the Wahid government. Show less
Al-Azhar University projects an image of a thousand year old institution that has symbolized the authority and reference point for Sunni Islam and has been involved in struggles for national... Show moreAl-Azhar University projects an image of a thousand year old institution that has symbolized the authority and reference point for Sunni Islam and has been involved in struggles for national independence. A jealous guardian of the Arabic language and its culture, al-Azhar has the pretension of exerting its influence throughout the entire Islamic world. Nevertheless, the idealized image that it projects is quite far from the complex reality al-Azhar actually faces, and the post 11 September 2001 period has made evident the challenges this institution is confronting. Show less
