This paper explores the practice of Islam among a relatively understudied group of Muslim migrants in France, the Halpulaaren, some of whom have been living in France for more than three decades.... Show moreThis paper explores the practice of Islam among a relatively understudied group of Muslim migrants in France, the Halpulaaren, some of whom have been living in France for more than three decades. Drawing on field research in Senegal, Mali and France, the author considers the contexts for Halpulaaren migration to France, including the West African background to such migration and the situation migrants face in France. The author focuses on a Halpulaaren Muslim religious leader from Senegal, Mansour Baro, who has a reputation as a living Muslim saint, and his followers in France. Tierno Mansour is one of a handful of the most esteemed leaders of the Tijaniyya Sufi order in Senegal. The appeal of this saint, who annually visits Europe, for his followers in France is examined in order to try and understand some of the ways of being Muslim in the shadow of the global city with both its promises and constraints. [Journal abstract] Show less
In Afrika bezuiden de Sahara heeft de islam een bijzonder complexe en rijke geschiedenis. De auteur schetst deze geschiedenis vanaf 615, wanneer de Profeet een groot deel van zijn volgelingen naar... Show moreIn Afrika bezuiden de Sahara heeft de islam een bijzonder complexe en rijke geschiedenis. De auteur schetst deze geschiedenis vanaf 615, wanneer de Profeet een groot deel van zijn volgelingen naar Ethiopi‰ stuurt, tot de hedendaagse periode van mondialisering, waarin de islam zich manifesteert als bron van religieuze en politieke identiteit tegenover 'het Westen' en de culturele, morele en technologische invloeden die daarmee worden geassocieerd. Hij zet een aantal kenmerken van de islam in Afrika uiteen en schenkt daarbij aandacht aan de spanning tussen het eigen culturele erfgoed en de aanspraken van de islamitische leer. [Samenvatting ASC Leiden] Show less
This dissertation addresses the question of what it means to remake everyday life in the shadow of disaster. Focusing on the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in the years after the devastating Indian... Show moreThis dissertation addresses the question of what it means to remake everyday life in the shadow of disaster. Focusing on the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in the years after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, it explores how tsunami survivors have been remaking the everyday ever since that moment. Based on ethnographic research in the post-disaster years, the five chapters of this dissertation discuss various dimensions of the remaking of everyday life that were important to the tsunami survivors, including the reconstruction of houses, interactions between survivors, international organizations and the state, the narrative experiences of the tsunami, the process of grieving and its entanglement with Islam, the creation of collective memory and forgetfulness in urban space, and ideas about the future that build on notions of moral and socio-economic improvement. In these chapters the concept of subjectivity is used to show how individuals creatively shape their lives in the context of tremendous social, economic, and political changes. The dissertation concludes that the anthropology of disaster, that has up to now predominantly focused on post-disaster social change and continuity and on structural historical patterns of vulnerability and resilience, can be enriched by ethnographic studies of subjectivity. Show less
The periodical al-Manar al-Jadid was first published in January 1998 in Cairo. In the words of its editor-inchief, Gamal Sultan, its aim is: 'To establish a civilized and authentic intellectual... Show moreThe periodical al-Manar al-Jadid was first published in January 1998 in Cairo. In the words of its editor-inchief, Gamal Sultan, its aim is: 'To establish a civilized and authentic intellectual forum, to combat the waves of westernization, arbitrariness and opportunism in the Islamic world.' The initiators of the publication include such prominent Islamists as Muhammad cImara, Tariq al-Bishri, Yusuf Qaradawi, and Rashid al-Ghanushi, as well as activists of the younger generation, like kamal habib, a leading member of the Jihad Group in the 1980s. The new periodical is obviously linked to the famous al-Manar issued in 1898 under the patronage of Rashid Rida. Show less
This book is a study of Dutch mosque designs, objects of heated public debate. Until now, studies of diaspora mosque designs have largely consisted of normative architectural critiques that reject... Show moreThis book is a study of Dutch mosque designs, objects of heated public debate. Until now, studies of diaspora mosque designs have largely consisted of normative architectural critiques that reject the ubiquitous ‘domes and minarets’ as hampering further Islamic-architectural evolution. The Architectural Representation of Islam: Muslim-Commissioned Mosque Design in The Netherlands represents a clear break with the architectural critical narrative, and meticulously analyzes twelve design processes for Dutch mosques. It shows that patrons, by consciously selecting, steering and replacing their architects, have much more influence on their mosques than has been generally assumed. Through the careful transformation of specific building elements from Islamic architectural history to a new context, they literally aim to ‘construct’ the ultimate Islam. Their designs thus evolve not in opposition to Dutch society, but to those versions of Islam that they hold to be false. 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
This book has been nominated for the Conover-Porter Award 2008 - This bibliography on Islam in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa has been prepared as part of the African Studies Centre/Centre d'Étude... Show moreThis book has been nominated for the Conover-Porter Award 2008 - This bibliography on Islam in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa has been prepared as part of the African Studies Centre/Centre d'Étude d'Afrique Noire project entitled "Islam, the Disengagement of the State, and Globalization in Sub-Saharan Africa" that was funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The present bibliography lists over 4,000 references to secondary literature in European languages about Islam in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. It supplements and updates two existing bibliographies, Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Partially Annotated Guide by Samir Zoghby and Islam in Africa South of the Sahara: A Select Bibliographic Guide by Patrick Ofori, both of which were compiled in the 1970s. Since then, there has been considerable academic interest in Islam in Africa and publications such as the Paris-based journal Islam et Sociétés au Sud du Sahara have regularly informed readers about new publications on Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main objective of the present work is to bring together bibliographical information that has been published in different publications and to provide individuals interested in the topic with a simple and practical research tool. 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
The Center for Islam & Science (CIS) is dedicated to a creative exploration of the Islamic view of science and to a renewal of links with the intellectual tradition of Islam. The CIS supports... Show moreThe Center for Islam & Science (CIS) is dedicated to a creative exploration of the Islamic view of science and to a renewal of links with the intellectual tradition of Islam. The CIS supports research and activities aimed at enhancing our Islamic and scientific understanding of nature and the human condition. Recognizing an underlying unity in all domains of knowledge, the CIS does not construe 'Islam' and 'science' as two unrelated entities that need to be artificially linked through an external methodology. This fundamental unity stems from tawhid (unicity of God), the foundation of Islamic epistemology. The CIS, therefore, recognizes, honours and builds its vision and strategy on this unifying principle. Accordingly, it considers the physical world (the subject matter of natural sciences) a part of the hierarchy of beings which must be studied in relation to other parts as well as to the greater whole. 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
This article provides an ethnographic exploration of a new religious movement in Nigeria that often goes by the name ‘Chrislam’. With a particular focus on the Ogbomoso Society of Chrislam, the... Show moreThis article provides an ethnographic exploration of a new religious movement in Nigeria that often goes by the name ‘Chrislam’. With a particular focus on the Ogbomoso Society of Chrislam, the article documents the group’s origins and practices, as well as its public reception. Founded on a claimed vision from God in 2005, the group teaches that Christianity, Islam and African Indigenous Religions come from the same source and should be reunited into a single religious movement. Core to their understanding is what they call ‘a spirit of accommodation’, which provides a divine directive to exceed mere tolerance or coexistence and combine these religions under one roof. With their mission of pursuing unity and commonality while dispelling differences, the group manages to creatively embed multiple complex religious traditions into their belief structures, liturgical practices and ritual ceremonies, in what can be described as a religious bricolage. Despite the group’s intention to promote peace and unity and act as a counterpoint to violent movements such as Boko Haram, the Ogbomoso Society of Chrislam finds itself at the centre of an ongoing debate about the politics of religious bricolage and the resulting cultural limits of acceptable forms of religious entanglements. Show less
Very few studies explicitly, let alone quantitatively, examine gaps in religious intolerance among individual Muslims based on affiliation with major Muslim organizations in Indonesia. Most... Show moreVery few studies explicitly, let alone quantitatively, examine gaps in religious intolerance among individual Muslims based on affiliation with major Muslim organizations in Indonesia. Most existing studies either focus on a single organization (non-comparative), are at the organizational policy level (not examining individual attitudes), or use a limited number of samples in their analysis. Against this backdrop, this study compares Indonesian Muslims’ levels of religious intolerance based on their affiliation with Muslim organizations or traditions: Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah, and other organizations. We utilize a large-scale household survey, the 2014 Indonesia Family Life Survey-5, and run an ordinal logistic regression to identify organizations’ rank on the religious intolerance scale. We find that Muslims without any affiliation with a Muslim organization (some 18 percent of Indonesian Muslims) are the most tolerant. Against this reference group, we find that NU followers are generally the most tolerant, followed by those affiliated with Muhammadiyah, and those affiliated with other Muslim organizations. This finding adds a stock of knowledge to our understanding of religion and society, especially regarding interfaith relations in Indonesia and in the Muslim world in general. Methodologically, this study also shows the benefit and feasibility of identifying the dynamic of religious intolerance using a quantitative approach at a micro level. Show less
The vocation of the IISMM (Institut d'Etudes de l'Islam et des Sociétés du Monde Musulman) is to make the contemporary world of Islam known and to stimulate the curiosity of a large audience while... Show moreThe vocation of the IISMM (Institut d'Etudes de l'Islam et des Sociétés du Monde Musulman) is to make the contemporary world of Islam known and to stimulate the curiosity of a large audience while developing various high-level research programmes, the duration of which ranges from two to four years. 'La création artistique contemporaine en pays d'Islam' (The contemporary artistic creation in Islamic regions), a programme run by Jocelyne Dakhlia, director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, adheres to this perspective. Show less
orms of representation and imagination of communities in the Indonesian audio-visual mediascape, and addresses the impact of discourses and film mediation practices on the production of collective... Show moreorms of representation and imagination of communities in the Indonesian audio-visual mediascape, and addresses the impact of discourses and film mediation practices on the production of collective identities and social realities. The account ranges from discourses on idealized Indonesian identities in television and film discourses under President Soeharto’s New Order regime, to a topsy-turvy heated debate about the representation of the Indonesian nation and the social and daily-lived realities of the people in film and on television during the era of Reform, up to 2007 Show less
Recent studies have pointed to the relationships between marabouts and power in West Africa. The present author argues that these studies should be broadened to include marabouts not necessarily... Show moreRecent studies have pointed to the relationships between marabouts and power in West Africa. The present author argues that these studies should be broadened to include marabouts not necessarily linked directly to particular regimes, but whose reputations and widespread popularity put them in a complex relationship to power. He presents a biographical note on the most influential marabouts in present-day Mali, Sidy Modibo Kane Diallo, born in 1925 in the town of Dilly, in the cercle of Nara which was then the French Sudan. In 1974 he became the official 'khalifa' of the Kane Diallo family. Today his reputation rests in large part on his efforts to spread Islam in Mali, particularly among the Bambara of Beledugu and Kaarta. Other factors which have served to enhance Sidy's reputation include the yearly 'ziyara' in Dilly and his role as a 'khalifa' of the Quadiriyya brotherhood. His circulation within Mali has been subject to authorization by the Malian State. Wherever he travels, he is received with great fanfare not only by villagers but also by representatives of the State who shower him with gifts and solicit him for blessings. The State cannot fail to recognize the potential benefits of its association with Sidy, and at times seems to act to exploit his influence, although he is not closely linked to the Traor‚ regime. Notes, ref Show less
This dissertation explores the causation of mass conversions to Islam in Bolaang-Mongondow and to Protestant Christianity in Sangir-Talaud and Minahasa (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) in the eighteenth... Show moreThis dissertation explores the causation of mass conversions to Islam in Bolaang-Mongondow and to Protestant Christianity in Sangir-Talaud and Minahasa (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It demonstrates that despite deviations in particularities, the mass conversions to world religions in these regions broadly shared similar causations. It places emphasis on particular periods in the nineteenth-century when the Dutch colonial state centralized political authority and imposed census-based monetary taxation with the aim of commercializing the economy. It points to these reforms as the immediate triggers that enabled both Dutch apical rulers and especially indigenous apical rulers to weaken the authority of subaltern chiefs. It illustrates that these reforms were weaved into the religious conversion agenda of rulers as a strategy to further consolidate authority by depriving the subaltern chiefs of their functionally undifferentiated and socially embedded authority. As such, this dissertation shows that the apical rulers could expand their political and economic reach while paving the way for their claimed subjects to access prestigious religious identities, which had hitherto been exclusive to the ruling elite. Show less
The visibility of converts to Islam in the media has recently undergone an exponential increase - mainly in the United States. There was the case of Jonny Walker, labelled 'Jonny the Taliban', born... Show moreThe visibility of converts to Islam in the media has recently undergone an exponential increase - mainly in the United States. There was the case of Jonny Walker, labelled 'Jonny the Taliban', born into the wasp upper class, who was apprehended as mujahid in Afghanistan. Then there was Jose Padilla, the would-be terrorist who was seized in an airport loaded with explosives. Finally, John Allen Williams came on the scene. Of Jamaican ancestry, born in Louisiana, this former American soldier in the Gulf War became the serial killer that terrorized Washington in October 2002 by killing 13 people in cold blood . These three tales have nothing in common, apart from the fact that all three protagonists are converts to Islam. Show less
Against what is perceived as a tacit agreement between Russia’s ‘traditional’ religions (Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism) not to engage in missionary work among each other’s faith... Show moreAgainst what is perceived as a tacit agreement between Russia’s ‘traditional’ religions (Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism) not to engage in missionary work among each other’s faith communities, Priest Daniil Sysoev (1974–2009) conducted assertive evangelism among Muslims. This article analyses Sysoev’s confrontational discourse on Islam, and his strategies for missionary work. The most important of these strategies were his use of Islamic vernaculars for Orthodox Christian preaching among Muslims, and his active engagement of Islamic authorities in public theological debates. The article argues that, in these strategies, he followed the model of the Kazan Theological Seminary in the nineteenth century, which conducted missionary work among Muslim Tatars; and, also like the Kazan missionaries, Sysoev developed a focus on the Kriashens (Christian Tatars), and even played a role in the elaboration of Tatar Christian terminologies. Sysoev’s assassination in 2009 raises many questions, including how far he was aiming at becoming a martyr. While his parish continues to call for Sysoev’s canonization, the official Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has been ambiguous about his rigorous and confrontational mission, although the sweeping political Orthodox activism of Sysoev’s followers seems to converge with the ROC’s aim to strengthen its position in Russian society. Show less
Dit artikel betoogt dat de term sektarisme een vertekenend beeld oplevert van de situatie in het Midden-Oosten. Deze conclusie wordt bereikt aan de hand van drie discussies. De eerste discussie is... Show moreDit artikel betoogt dat de term sektarisme een vertekenend beeld oplevert van de situatie in het Midden-Oosten. Deze conclusie wordt bereikt aan de hand van drie discussies. De eerste discussie is een hermeneutische analyse van het concept sektarisme, waaruit blijkt dat de term in haar huidige gebruik onvoldoende theoretische gronding heeft en uitgaat van vooronderstellingen. De tweede discussie is van praktische aard en gaat in op de veelvoorkomende aanname dat islam een belangrijke bron zou zijn van sektarische conflicten. Aan de hand van een historisch-comparatieve analyse zal blijken dat deze aanname niet juist is. Weliswaar speelt religie een belangrijke rol in de diverse spanningen en conflicten in het Midden-Oosten, maar – zo zal blijken uit de derde discussie – dat zegt meer over de sociaal-politieke dynamiek van deze tijd dan over de aard van religie zelf, en die van islam in het bijzonder. Show less
