Researching »Muslim Worlds«: Regions and Disciplines

PROGRAMMATIC

textsNo. 6, 2013

Researching »Muslim Worlds«: regions and disciplines

Ulrike Freitag1

This programmatic paper addresses some of the means as well as in terms of their lifeworlds. The challenges facing researchers who are trying to investigation of these worlds, is at the centre of work on wider issues pertaining to the study of the the present enquiry. different worlds in which Muslims live. It looks at In geographic terms, a closer consideration re- the trajectories of various area studies and disci- veals that we are dealing with two distinct catego- plines, and at the often competing conceptual pre- rial approaches: The first, and perhaps more con- mises which more often than not arise from the ventional one, at least if one looks at wider area differing disciplinary traditions. In addition, diffe- studies beyond Islamic studies, is regional or, more rent national scholarly traditions (i.e. between the precisely, transregional, whereas the second one Anglo-, Arabo-, Franco- and Germanophone world, is based on the identification of certain people as to name but a few) further increase the difficul- Muslims, who are then considered to be the sub- ties of meaningful communication and overarching ject of enquiry. analysis. The paper describes and illustrates these To start with the transregional notion of what is difficulties. It also suggests a number of ways to commonly seen as »the World of Islam«: it is based mitigate (if not entirely overcome) such problems, on the empirical observation that a number of re- which also underly the present attempt at a wider gions in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South- conceptualisation of studying »Muslim Worlds – eastern Europe have Muslim majority populations. World of Islam?«, which is the aim of the ZMO re- Marshall Hodgson has argued that the spread of search programme 2008–2019. Islam between the 7th and the 18th century mould- ed these regions into what he calls the »Islamicate »Muslim Worlds« and Islam World«.2 By this, Hodgson meant the establish- Before approaching some of the methodological ment of Muslim political rule, and cultural influ- and practical problems, a major conceptual task ence, over parts of Asia and Africa, without, how- is at hand: What do we mean by »Muslim Worlds«, ever, referring exclusively to Muslims and Islam as and why this particular category? The plural is a a belief system. Rather he argues that a joint set conscious choice, pointing to the empirical fact of cultural practices developed which, although that, while Islam is a religion based on the Koran, grounded in Islam, encompassed also the non-Mus- which is recognised by all of its adherents, Mus- lim populations of these regions. Besides political lims nevertheless live in many different worlds, in rule, the emergence of transnational networks of terms of their understanding of what the religion trade and learning, which, of course, varied greatly over time, need to be mentioned as contribut- ing crucially to this joint culture which did not, 1 This programmatic paper results from intense discus- however, erase the continuity of significant local sions with, and the integration of, a large number of sug- variations. Thus, a study of the »Islamicate World« gestions and comments by colleagues from ZMO notably almost by necessity privileges a focus on what, between 2010 and 2012. Without their significant contributions, the paper would have a very different form. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Philipp Dehne for his comments and 2 Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and help in locating the materials used. History in a World Civilization, Chicago 1974, 57–60.

Kirchweg 33, D-14129 Berlin ©ZMO 2013 Telefon: 030-80307-0 Fax: 030-80307-210 Internet: www.zmo.de E-Mail: [email protected] for want of a better expression, might be termed a belief system. This may lead to categorial confu- South-South relations. As such, this contributes to sions: In the first instance, we are dealing with a the kind of decentering of the West from historical geographical area defined on grounds of cultural and political narratives which has been one of the history and inclusive of large population segments demands connected to a rethinking of history and which might have been influenced by Islamic cul- social sciences.3 ture, but not adhered to Islam as a religion, where- At the core of this »Islamicate World« was a as in the second instance of Muslim diasporas, we somewhat more tightly, religiously based ideational are focussing on Muslims, even if they may have system, which John Voll, referring to Wallerstein’s hugely varying positions regarding their religion economically based world system theory, has and, indeed, religiosity.8 termed an »Islamic World System« and to which Obviously, this imbalance, which might be ex- Muslims would refer as the »umma« or community pressed in terms of the investigation of Muslim ma- of believers.4 This essentially religious bias not- jority or minority societies, does not by itself im- withstanding, this system was at times also based pede concrete research, and can be mitigated by on political and economic dominance of Muslim the questions guiding individual enquiries. It rais- empires, but it continued to expand even after es the question of the extent Islam is the one or at the political hegemony of Muslim empires in large least a major defining factor in the life of communi- parts of Asia and Africa was challenged by the rise ties and societies, which must clearly be answered of Western empires.5 It would be interesting to differently according to the periods and places as compare and contrast this »Islamic World System« well as the phenomena we are considering. In order to the ways in which Catholicism was constructed to avoid the pitfall of the scientist finding what he during the European Middle Ages.6 or she is looking for, it is imperative to pay particu- Nowadays, this »world system« also includes lar attention to context and historicity on the one Muslim diasporas in the West, who can feel part hand, which might well imply a specific attention to of a »universalizing global culture«7. Given that interactions outside »Muslim Worlds«, and to com- Muslim members of migrant communities in non- parison with other contexts from both within and Muslim societies today can choose much more than without »Muslim Worlds« on the other.9 their 18th or 19th century predecessors to be both One example for this could be what has been members of their host communities and of their called the »Hadhrami awakening« in Southeast communities of origin, due to the new modes of Asia, namely the emergence of cultural (including speedy and real-time communication, and be in- religious), social and political awareness of Arab volved in global exchanges via electronic media, migrants to the region in the colonial context of the inclusion of these groups in a study of »Muslim the early 20th century. While historians focussed Worlds« clearly is called for. Thus, we are dealing on the Middle East and/or Islamic Studies might here with a second, distinct but related, category. easily attribute this to developments and debates It is based on the adherence – however defined – to within the Middle East, and refer to the circula- tion of notably the journal al-Manār in Southeast Asia, Mobini-Kesheh has convincingly shown that 3 A prominent example which sparked much debate is Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe. Postcolonial Chinese reformist influences, which had arrived in Thought and Historical Difference, Princeton, Oxford 2008 Java in the early 20th century, also played a major (reissue), cf. Natalie Zemon Davis, »Decentering History: role in shaping the form of this revival.10 In an even Local Stories and Cultural Crossings in a Global World«, wider perspective, global trends of cultural renew- History and Theory 50:2 (2011), 188–202. al in specific forms can be discerned, notably for 4 I will not discuss the vexed question of how to define religion, on this see Giovanni Filoramo, Che cos’è la religione. the period since the late 19th century, within which Temi metodi problemi, Torino 2004, 75–127. the specific »awakening« must be situated. Such an 5 John Obert Voll, »Islam as a Special World-System«, Jour- nal of World History 5:2 (1994), 213–226, Janet Abu Lughod, Before European Hegemony: The World System, A.D. 1250– 8 Hodgson’s choice of the term »Islamdom« does not, to 1350, New York 1989, Richard M. Eaton, »Islamic History as my mind, solve the problems of this distinction, as it also Global History«, in Michael Adas (ed.), Islamic & European involves the double meaning of adherents of a religion and/ Expansion. The Forging of a Global Order, Philadelphia 1993, or Muslim majority countries, at least if taken in analogy to 1–36; Leif Manger (ed.), Muslim Diversity: Local Islam in a Christendom. Global Context, Abingdon 1999. 9 Cf. in anthropology Andre Gingrich, Richard G. Fox, 6 E.g. Felicitas Schmieder, »Von der ›Christianitas‹ nach Anthropology, by Comparison, London 2010, Introduction by ›Europa‹«, in Angela Schottenhammer, Peter Feldbauer the editors, 1–26, and notably the chapters by Peacock, Mel- (eds.), Die Welt 1000–1250, Wien 2011, 213–238 and Bernd huus and Gingrich, and for history Margrit Pernau, Transna- Hausberger, »Das Reich, in dem die Sonne nicht unterging. tionale Geschichte, Göttingen 2011, notably 36–84. Die iberische Welt«, in Peter Feldbauer, Jean-Paul Lehners 10 William R. Roff, The Origins of Malay Nationalism, 2nd (eds.), Die Welt im 16. Jahrhundert, Wien 2008, 335–372. ed., Kuala Lumpur etc. 1994, Natalie Mobini-Kesheh, The 7 Leif Manger, The Hadrami Diaspora: Community-building Hadhrami Awakening: Community and Identity in the Nether- on the Indian Ocean Rim, New York/Oxford 2010, 13, c.f. lands East Indies, 1900–1942, Ithaca 1999 and Ulrike Freitag, Arjun Appadurai, Modernity at Large, Minneapolis/London Indian Ocean Migrants and State Formation in Hadhramaut, 1996, 22. Leiden 2003.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 2 approach which has global developments in mind The study of »Muslim Worlds«: allows for the distinction of multiple scales, be- a study of »the other«? tween certain emergent universal forms of social It is a well-known and much debated fact that the organisation and expression, in this case (i.e. asso- study of foreign cultures, albeit long part of a variety ciations and the press) and culturally and contex- of fields of knowledge, was boosted in the Western tually specific expressions of identity and social Age of Enlightenment. It took on a new form in the models, without falling into the pitfalls of models 19th century, not only because of the changing in- of cultural homogeneity.11 terests in such knowledge (notably the European ex- In addition, it seems useful to consider Islam ploration of and rule over vast sways of the world), not necessarily in strictly religious terms. Thus, but also because of the establishment of the mod- a major factor in the Islamisation of many cities ern university system within which a range of in- of the Indian Ocean rim, which were commercial creasingly specialised disciplines was canonised hubs, seems to have been the advantages of Islamic until the 20th century. In many ways, this is an (commercial) Law. Consequently, it makes sense ongoing and dynamic process.14 In a complex mix- to »take a more fuzzy and open-ended view of it ture of conscious adaptation, which formed part [that is, of Islam] as a grand scheme that is actively of the process of modernisation, and of simple imagined and debated by people and that can offer importation and/or imposition, both the Western various kinds of direction, meaning and guidance understanding of science and its organisation in in people’s lives.« Furthermore, such a perspec- universities was spread worldwide, a process that tive has to consider the connections of this »grand took well into the 20th century to be established, scheme« or worldview both to »everyday concerns often in conjunction with processes of decolonisa- and experiences; and second, in their relation to tion, and which can, to some extent, still be seen other compelling grand schemes that also promise to be ongoing.15 The current worldwide process of to provide meaning and direction to those every- the liberalisation of higher learning and research, day concerns and experiences.«12 which is particularly marked in formerly very con- Such an approach cannot and should not be limi- trolled contexts such as the former Soviet Union ted to phenomena which are likely to yield results or the Arab world, and which involves significant about the »Islamicity« of certain groups or cul- funding initiatives, has raised pertinent questions tural phenomena. It might well turn out that cer- about the relationship of »knowledge, power and tain individuals or groups, albeit stemming from capital at the global level«.16 »Muslim Worlds« as defined above, consider Islam Historically, the Western curiosity about mat- to be utterly irrelevant to their concerns or lives, ters non-Western, and its successful establishment and will need to be framed quite differently in or- in a scientific context, has been contrasted with der to do them justice in biographies, for example. Muslim societies who only »awoke« in the 19th Yet others, such as many Central Asian Muslims, century to the need not only to learn about others might (re)discover their Islamic heritage after it but also to the increasing expansion of Western had become irrelevant or had lain dormant for political power and – in time – the export of the some time.13 Similarly, the experience of different Western secular system of accumulating, organis- social worlds, some of which might be linked to ing and disseminating knowledge.17 Apart from the »«Islam« and others not, as well as the different only limited veracity of this view in terms of a lack ascriptions of identity form part of the richly tex- tured lifeworlds of Muslims and non-Muslims. Ne- 14 On the interest in non-Western cultures in the Age of vertheless, these experiences form as much part Enlightenment, see Jürgen Osterhammel, Die Entzauberung of life in Islamicate contexts as elsewhere, and are Asiens. Europa und die asiatischen Reiche im 18. Jahrhun- therefore significant in the context of a wider en- dert, München 1998, 15–37. quiry into »Muslim Worlds«. 15 For a concise overview in a global history perspective, see Jürgen Osterhammel, Die Verwandlung der Welt. Eine Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, München 2009, 1105–1171, more specifically about the humanities and social sciences 11 For examples of how such a perspective can be deve- in their relation to »the other« from 1155. A plea to enlarge loped see the contributions in Sebastian Conrad, Dominic the world’s scientific knowledge base can be found in Susan- Sachsenmaier (eds.), Competing Visions of World Order. Glo- tha Goonatilake, Toward a Global Science. Mining Civilizatio- bal Moments and Movements, 1880s–1930s, New York 2007. nal Knowledge, Bloomington 1998. 12 Samuli Schielke, »Second thoughts about the anthropo- 16 Sarah Amsler, The Politics of Knowledge in Central Asia. logy of Islam, or how to make sense of grand schemes in eve- Science between Marx and the Market, Basingstoke 2007, xi, ryday life«, ZMO Working Papers 2 (2010), 14 (http://d-nb. 4–8, on the relationship between funding and knowledge cf. info/1009590987/34/, access 25.8.2011), Bruce Lawrence, duz Akademie 07/11, Thema: Stiftungslehrstühle. »Afterword«, in Carl W. Ernst, Richard C. Martin (eds.), Re- 17 A still impressive, albeit somewhat dated and in some of thinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolita- its conclusions highly controversial exposition of this process nism, Columbia S.C. 2010, 302–323. is Bernard Lewis, The Muslim Discovery of Europe, London 13 Bakhtijar Babadžanov, Aširbek Muminov, Anke von Kü- 1994 (1982), for a substantial criticism of some of Lewis’ gelgen, Disputy musul’manskich religioznych avtoritetov v assumptions see the review by Richard Bulliet in American Central’noy Azii, Almaty 2007. Historical Review 88:2 (1983), 439f.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 3 of interest by Muslims in the world surrounding west, the process of scientification and the institu- them, one can discern fairly early voices cogni- tionalisation of knowledge did not mean their im- sant of Western positions and responding to them. mediate disappearance. Depending on the content, This developed, since the late 19th century, into a as well as on the regional context, they live on, veritable and increasing chorus from the societies but are often relegated to fields such as folklore thus observed. The initial aim was to defend basic or literature, and thus are (from the academic per- tenets of faith or local culture against what was spective) to the lesser field of non-academic know- seen as an imperialist onslaught. As a prominent ledge which might become itself a field for study.21 example, the pan-Islamic writer and activist Jamal In the case of history, this meant that, next to of- al-Din al-Afghani comes to mind, who challenged ten decidedly national historical traditions which the French philosopher and writer Ernest Renan’s were furthered in the context of the establishment views on Islam in Paris in 1883.18 Later, the more of nation states in Asia and Africa, older traditions systematic criticism of the discursive systems in of local history writing and transmission by poe- which Western scholarship was embedded came try and in other forms were kept and sometimes to be associated with the term »Orientalism«, the continued in a modernised form.22 A particularly title of Edward Said’s iconic study which sparked interesting transformation happened in the case of a lengthy debate branching far beyond the more the study of Islam as a religious system, since it was narrow field of Oriental and Islamic Studies into partly adapted to the modern university system enquiries including various regional and disciplin- and partly continued to be transmitted in madra- ary fields of study, as well as the arts.19 sas, mosques and study circles. However, Ousmane One of the major criticisms of »Orientalism« had Kane has shown convincingly for sub-Saharan in- been the fact that it was usually Westerners, or at tellectual history how theoreticians of the sociolo- least individuals completely absorbed in and inte- gy of knowledge hardly communicate with those grated into the Western system of knowledge pro- cognisant of the Islamic intellectual tradition of duction who studied non-Western societies. The this region, quite independent of the type of edu- dramatic increase in transnational migrations has, cation the latter have had. He ascribes this in part albeit in locally starkly varying ways, to some ex- to disciplinary, in part to linguistic reasons. This tent changed this landscape. Subaltern and post- has had an immense impact on how sub-Saharan colonial studies, indeed Edward Said himself, may African intellectual history has been understood be a good example of an increasing fusion of per- to date.23 This find can be translated to other regi- spectives by academics of different backgrounds. ons and topics. This notwithstanding, there remain real challenges of hegemony and hierarchy in academia and be- Can the internationalisation of academia yond, which have raised questions pertaining to resolve the problems? the epistemological bases of knowledge, its status The aforementioned broadening base of those who in different contexts as well as the uses to which it study non-Western societies has not and may not is being put.20 be able to resolve all the problems addressed by In addition, and as mentioned above, the acade- the critique of Orientalism, since the central is- mic study of non-Western societies has for some sue of the »situatedness of knowledge« remains. time now been no longer the exclusive domain of Its discussion in the following paragraphs iden- Western scholars. What has this meant for tradi- tifies some of the underlying structural reasons tions of knowledge and learning which did not fit the Western model? Obviously, and to some extent comparable to structural developments in the 21 Thus, the study of »fulklūr« became a fertile field of academic enquiry in Egypt. Katharina Lange, »Zurückho- len, was uns gehört.« Indigenisierungstendenzen in der ara- 18 Nikkie R. Keddie, An Islamic Response to Imperialism, bischen Ethnologie, Bielefeld 2005, 53–56. Political and Religious Writings of Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Af- 22 For Syria, this has been discussed by Ulrike Freitag, Ge- ghani, Bekeley 1983. schichtsschreibung in Syrien 1920–1990, Hamburg 1991, for 19 Edward Said, Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Jordan, see Andrew Shryock, Nationalism and the Genealogi- Orient, London 1979. A recent review of many of the debates cal Imagination. Oral History and Textual Authority in Tribal can be found in Burkhard Schnepel, Gunnar Brands, Hanne Jordan, Berkeley 1997, for India Georg Berkemer, »Banausia Schönig (eds.), Orient – Orientalistik – Orientalismus, Ge- and Endo-history: European Conceptions of Indian Histo- schichte und Aktualität einer Debatte, Bielefeld 2011, many rical Consciousness«, Internet publication series on South important texts are assembled in A.L Macfie, Orientalism. Asian history 3 (2007), http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ A Reader, Edinburgh 2000, for a discussion of the further savifadok/volltexte/2007/41/, for East Africa see Thomas development of Orientalism see Edmund Burke III and Da- Geider, »Die Schönheit der Kokospalme: Sheikh Nabhanys vid Prochaska, »Introduction: Orientalism from Postcolonial zweites Dokumentargedicht in einem Swahili-Schulbuch«, Theory to World History«, in Id. (eds.), Genealogies of Orien- Afrika und Übersee 75 (1992), 161–190 and Gudrun Miehe, talism: History, Theory, Politics, Lincoln/London 2008, 1–71. Katrin Bromber, Said Khamis, Ralf Groperhode (eds.), Kala 20 Edward Said, Representations of the Intellectual, New Shairi. German East Africa in Swahili Poems, Köln 2002. York 1994, 50–61, Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin White Masks, 23 Ousmane Kane, Intellectuels non europhones, Dakar London, New York 2011, Amsler, The Politics of Knowledge. (CODESRIA) 2003, 55.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 4 and points to some of the epistemological issues regional) contexts are focussed. Thus, the German involved. Much of this can be linked to the multiple tradition of Islamic Studies has been deeply in- ways in which academic knowledge is situated.24 fluenced by the original interest in theological issues in Germany (with notable exceptions such as The situatedness of scholars and of Becker, as shown above), whereas the emergence knowledge production of anthropological approaches in France and Brit- Some of these problems are linked to the still pre- ain can be seen in the context of the generation of vailing national organisation of knowledge, which colonial knowledge. Incidentally, such a reflection may or may not be linked to the (predominant) use on the origins of national traditions of the study of specific national languages for the production, of »Muslim Worlds« also helps to deconstruct the and even more so, the dissemination of this knowl- notion of a kind of unified »Western interest« or edge. This is particularly true for the humanities »Western knowledge« of »the« Muslim World. and social sciences, which are very closely linked Another interesting divide is the one between to questions such as national identity and the Western and Soviet – and to some extent Eastern generation of nationally useful knowledge (i.e. in European – approaches, most pertinent, perhaps, sociology or history).25 In the study of non-West- in the those fields of »Oriental Studies« which ern contexts such as »Muslim Worlds«, the con- dealt with the Muslims within the Soviet Union.27 struction of the »other« was an important factor Thus, Soviet Oriental Studies were characterised, in the development of one’s owns self-image and from the beginning, by the integration of schol- thus also linked to the national self-image, as is, ars from the regions who came into leading po- indeed, the study of the Muslim »other« within sitions.28 After Islam had been situated within a Western societies. Thus, the different histories of Marxist-Leninist approach as a feudal religion, Western powers with and in non-Western worlds the struggle against Islamic tradition took shape. often powerfully shape the agenda, consciously Using the argument of the group Ahl al-Ḥadīth or unconsciously, directly or indirectly and not- about a pure Islam, they struggled against what withstanding individual researchers’ orientations, they considered to be »harmful« or »backward« while the gaze at the Muslim other inside West- traditions.29 In general, and far beyond Central ern states is very much influenced by the differ- Asia, an increasing Arabocentrism with regard to ent ways in which nation-states are construed. the definition of matters »Islamic« can been noted This transpires already on the surface, where one over the past decades, which might extend beyond can observe specific regional orientations which mere theological debates and can also be linked can be traced back to imperial links, such as those to hegemonic struggles. In a more global perspec- between The Netherlands and Indonesia, Britain tive, this has sometimes obscured profound diffe- and India, Russia and Central Asia or France and rences between (and of course within) different the Maghreb. C.H. Becker’s investigations into Is- Arab Muslim states.30 Interestingly, the field of Is- lam in East Africa fall into the same fold of try- lamic Studies in the West to some extent mirrors ing to understand Islam in order to ease German this Arabocentrism among many Muslim scholars colonial rule.26 However, this conscious or uncon- by still privileging Arabic, and the study of Ara- scious agenda-setting also influences the kinds of bic texts on the basis of the same argument used topics on which debates in particular (national or by Muslim scholars, namely the importance of the language of the Koran. Furthermore, much scholarship on Islam and 24 Cf. Burke, Prochaska, »Introduction«, 18, the idea is al- Muslim societies has developed among scholars ready found in Reinhart Koselleck, »Standortbindung und Zeitlichkeit. Ein Beitrag zur historiographischen Erschlie- who identify themselves as Muslims, and once ßung der geschichtlichen Welt«, in Wolfgang J. Mommsen, Jörn Rüsen (eds.), Theorie der Geschichte. Beiträge zur His- torik, vol. 1, Munich 1997, 17–46. 27 Michael Kemper, »Introduction: Integrating Soviet 25 On the problems arising from this division of labour for Oriental Studies«, in Michael Kemper, Stephan Conermann sociology see Ulrich Beck, »Cosmopolitical Realism: On the (eds.), The Heritage of Soviet Oriental Studies, Routledge Distinction between Cosmopolitanism in Philosophy and the 2011, 1–26. Social Sciences«, Global Networks 4:2 (2004), 131–156; for 28 This became known as the politics of »korenizatsiia« history, see Pernau, Transnationale Geschichte, 7–19. How- (enrooting), cf. Kemper, »Introduction«. ever, it needs to be pointed out that there have been always 29 For a discussion of this issue, see Ashirbek Muminov, broader approaches, see the critique of Beck and others in Uvgun Gafurov, Rinat Shigabdinov, »Islamic education in Daniel Chernilo, Sociology and the Nation State: Beyond Me- Soviet and post-Soviet Uzbekistan«, in Michael Kemper, thodological Nationalism, PhD thesis, Univ. of Warwick 2004 Raoul Motika, Stefan Reichmuth (eds.), Islamic Education (http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/3656/1/WRAP_THESIS_Cherni- in the Soviet Union and its Successor States, London 2010, lo_2004.pdf, access 25.8.2011). 223–279. 26 C.H. Becker, »Materialien zur Kenntnis des Islam in 30 Lawrence, »Afterword«, 305–310, for an example from Deutsch-Ostafrika«, Der Islam, ii (1911), 1–48. The article Indonesia, cf. Martin van Bruinessen, »Najmuddin al-Kubra, was translated into English by B.G. Martin as »Materials for Jumadil Kubra and Jamaluddin al-Akbar. Traces of Kubrawi- the Understanding of Islam in German East Africa«, Tanza- yya Influence in Early Indonesian Islam«, Bijdragen tot de nia Notes and Records 68 (1968), 31–61. Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 150:2 (1994), 305–329.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 5 faith-related questions are discussed, major epis- used to distinguish the »native« anthropologist, temological problems can arise between believers who was seen as a cultural insider, from the outsi- and unbelievers when attempting to communi- der based typically somewhere in »the West« have cate.31 for some time reflected these issues.32 One example of how such different traditions and current positionings inform scholarship are Languages of scholarship the discussions about global and transnational Another issue regarding the internationalisa- history, a field quite en vogue in countries such tion of scholarship has to do with translation, both as the US, Britain or Germany, but with signifi- of concepts chosen to explain social phenomena, cant contributions from India and Japan. Notab- as well as with the choice of language in general.33 le by their absence in debates on global history Given the aforementioned function of social scienc- are historians from much of Southeast and Cen- es and humanities in different national (and other) tral Asia, the Middle East (with the exception of contexts, it is unsurprising that many publications historians of the Ottoman Empire) and Africa. The are written in the national languages. Communi- picture becomes clearer once we notice that the cation across the languages depends either on the current interest in global history (in the widest choice of English as the language of publication, on sense) can be linked in many ways to the wave of wide-ranging translations or on good knowledge of globalisation which set in with the fall of the Berlin a range of foreign languages.34 In each case, pro- wall and which affected some countries far more cesses of translation are required, which may or deeply than others. Furthermore, in countries may not render comprehensible the concepts em- such as China and India, which are new economic ployed by the authors.35 This can be observed even world powers, »globalisation« in its present and in discussions between British, French and Ger- past forms attracts more attention than in regions man scholars, for example, i.e. between countries which feel marginalised or even harmed by recent and scholars who are relatively close in geographi- developments, and which henceforth have other is- cal and cultural terms and have a long history of sues high on their agendas. academic exchange and cooperation. It might also Thus, apart from more institutional issues such involve the different usages which English, French as the academic system, which obviously influen- or Portuguese have taken on in various parts of ces to what extent different academics have access the former European Empires, a fact which has to and can partake and set the terms in internati- been acknowledged by linguists more than by so- onal debates, academics from some countries may cial scientists.36 have significantly greater stakes in participating The problem increases exponentially and poses in debates about a new imperial or postcolonial major epistemological and linguistic questions if history, in the history of entanglements and »glo- such processes involve scholars from very differ- bal moments« than those from other regions. By contrast, many Arab historians are far more en- meshed in issues of nation-building and rebuilding, 32 Kirin Narayan, »How Native is a ›Native‹ Anthropolo- gist?« American Anthropologist 95 (1993), 671–686; Lange, and preoccupied with regional issues such as the »Zurückholen, was uns gehört.«, 23–25, 28–34. Cf. Soraya question of Israel/Palestine, which is reflected in Altorki, Camillia F. El-Solh (eds.), Arab Women in the Field. the historiography. Obviously, there are studies of Studying your own society, New York 1988, Seteney Sha- issues such as the spread of Islam, but as the per- mi, Linda Herrera (eds.), Between Field and Text: Emerging spective is usually one which is not very concerned Voices in Egyptian Social Science, (Cairo Papers in Social Science 22:2), Cairo 1999. with issues of interactions in a wider setting, and 33 For a recent summary of the discussions about cultural as the dominant global history is anyhow usually translation, see Heike Liebau, »›Alle Dinge, die zu wissen more concerned with more modern issues, these nöthig sind.‹ Religiös-soziale Übersetzungsprozesse im ko- studies do not really engage with global history lonialen Indien«, Geschichte und Gesellschaft 38:2 (2012), but move within their own discursive framework. 243–271, cf. Monica Juneja, Margrit Pernau, »Lost in Trans- lation? Transcending Boundaries in Comparative History«, Clearly, issues of institutional and research fun- in Heinz-Gerhard Haupt, Jürgen Kocka (eds.), Comparative ding as much as different academic cultures and and Transnational History. Central European Approaches academic freedom or lack thereof contribute much and New Perspectives, New York 2009, 105–132. to such wider trends, even if these topics cannot 34 On the problems of relying exclusively on English as be discussed here in any great depth. an academic language, cf. Bettina Mittelstraß, »Englisch ist nicht alles. Mehrsprachigkeit in den Wissenschaften«, One caveat is, of course, obvious: The position DAAD-magazin.de 23.9.2009, http://www.daad.-magazin. of scholars within one or the other tradition is be- de/11661/print.html (accessed 20.3.2012), Leonie Loreck, coming increasingly difficult with the increasing »Mehrsprachigkeit ist das Ideal. Die Macht der Sprache«, globalisation of scholarship. Anthropologists, who DAAD-magazin.de 19.6.2007 (accessed 20.3.2012). 35 For a position from cognitive anthropology affirming the possibility of such translations, see Cristina Toren, »Compa- rison and ontogeny«, in Gingrich, Fox, Anthropology, by Com- 31 Leonhard Binder, Islamic Liberalism: A Critique of Deve- parison, 187–203. lopment Ideologies, Chicago, London 1988, 125f. 36 Kane, Intellectuels non europhones, 59.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 6 ent cultural and linguistic backgrounds, where publish material and ideas without due acknow- concepts of social organisation, for example, may ledgement of local researchers which are treated differ widely and warrant explanation, and etic as informants rather than colleagues.40 Obviously, categories might be needed in order to translate there is the added problem of the academic stan- different emic meanings.37 dards which differ greatly between countries and To what extent the use of etic terms and con- regions, and which also needs to be taken into cepts to describe and analyse phenomena is le- account, but the still wide-spread refusal to even gitimate remains a matter of debate. Given that I consider the equivalence of publications in certain have argued above that attention to both context non-Western languages will need to be reconside- and comparison is crucial to overcome the tempta- red if we are to speak of a true internationalisation tion to essentialise, I would argue that such terms of scholarship. What is needed is a good mix of pu- and concepts remain necessary in order to com- blications in local languages – not least to satisfy municate cross-culturally and to enable compari- the necessity of publishing knowledge for the local sons. However, this requires explicit reflection audience – and in English. about the meanings associated with these etic terms in order to allow readers across a variety Researching together of backgrounds to situate the emergent analyses Intensive collaboration between researchers of and to avoid the simple transposition of Western different origins and traditions has been celebra- concepts, taken to be objective and universal, onto ted variously as either the »internationalisation of a variety of different contexts.38 This should, how- academia« or, if this has been less successful than ever, be distinguished from the simple imposition in the furthering of collaboration between scho- of models, which is to be avoided. One success- lars of broadly Western academic background, ful example of how this could be done might be as a more or less heroic and ethically imperative the reflections which, based on the work of Talal effort of »conducting research with« scholars of Asad, have developed about the appropriateness of the regions under investigation.41 This is certainly the use of the term »secular« on Muslim societies an important impulse, notably if it surpasses the which were not influenced by the separation (and well established practice of relying on local »in- opposition) of »secular« and »religious« in the way formants«, research assistants and colleagues for it had occurred in the tradition of the Western en- access to »the field« (regardless of whether this lightenment.39 field is the classical anthropological field, an ar- Returning to the wider language question, it chival collection or a set of difficult manuscripts). should be noted that it is also intricately linked Rather, it is necessary to attempt a basis for seri- with that of publications as the visible output of ous collaboration and exchange on a more equal scholars. This pertains both to the accessibility of footing which involves serious academic collabo- scholarship across national boundaries and to the ration. Whether this is possible at all, however, recognition of works in non-hegemonic languages. given the aforementioned difficulties underlying Obviously, the availability of resources for access, scholarly endeavours, and, if so, under which cir- but also for translation proves a major obstacle. cumstances, remains a matter of debate which is However, unless a far wider variety of langua- often glossed over. ges becomes recognised as legitimate idioms of If such attempts are meant seriously, what does scholarship, and read internationally, this will this mean for the type of constellations outlined not really be sufficient. For example, as long as above? Certainly, an easy harmonisation of episte- an American publication in English is recognised mological problems is unrealistic, but the reflexive to be international, while one from Baku in Rus- approach to the difficulties encountered and the sian and published in Moscow is considered to be underlying problems involved may already help in more or less local, matters remain lopsided. In ad- the effort of translation and cooperation.42 Loo- dition, there is the not always unfounded fear that king back at the experience of such collaborative outside scholars may mine local publications and endeavours at Zentrum Moderner Orient, which have been a key element of its work, there are no easy conclusions to be drawn. Rather, a number of 37 Thomas N. Headland, »A Dialogue Between Kenneth pragmatic factors could be mentioned which cer- Pike and Marvin Harris on Emics and Etics« in Thomas N. Headland, Kenneth L. Pike, Marvin Harris (eds.), Emics and Etics: The Insider/Outsider Debate, Sage Publications 1990, 40 Amsler, The Politics of Knowledge, x. http://www.sil.org/~headlandt/ee-intro.htm (25.8.2011). 41 This strong moral and ethical impulse is evident in 38 This tension is discussed, for example, in Chakrabarty, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, »Collaborative Anthropology as Provincializing Europe, Kane, Intellectuels non europhones, Twenty-first-Century Ethical Anthropology«, Collaborative 53. Anthropologies 1 (2008), 175–182, cf. Luke Eric Lassiter, 39 Carl W. Ernst, Richard C. Martin, »Introduction«, in Id. »Editor’s Introduction«, ibid., vii–xii. See also Ulrike Frei- (eds.), Rethinking Islamic Studies, 1–19, Samira Haj, Reconfi- tag, »Cosmopolitanism in the Middle East as part of global guring Islamic Traditions: Reform, Rationality, and Moderni- history«, ZMO Programmatic Texts No. 4 (2010). ty, Stanford 2009, e.g. 18f. 42 Beck, »Cosmopolitical Realism«, 153f.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 7 tainly facilitate interactions, without promising ing, argues Kresse, can we truly understand the easy solutions. Prime among these is the factor of genuine development of specific traditions. This, time – not just time for research, discussion and re- he argues, is necessary to understand philosophi- flection, but time to acquaint oneself with different cal thought anywhere, except that we may be so fa- approaches, concepts and ways of working. While miliar with Western developments that we can do an added level of reflection is indispensable, the so intuitively, rather than explicitly. And, he adds, use of multiple languages in research and publica- in order to do so, we need the input of a variety of tions is another step towards an exchange which disciplines beyond philosophy, such as the social thematises differences but does not attempt to ig- sciences and humanities.46 However, practitioners nore them. In the end, the development of mutual of disciplines have started to be concerned about trust and respect is probably the key to the evolu- their disciplinary identity and fear the loss of aca- tion of common understandings, and thus as much demic substance.47 dependent on the individual researchers as on the It may actually be helpful to distinguish be- conditions within which they collaborate. tween teaching and disciplinary training, on the one hand, and between larger research projects Interdisciplinary and interregional which are approaching specific problems and approaches: chances and pitfalls questions, on the other. While, in the first context, Interdisciplinarity has for long been a major de- a certain core (which may be regularly adapted mand in the humanities and social sciences. This and restructured) of methods and a certain canon was partly in order to break out of the mold of dis- seem crucial in order to provide a solid academic ciplines which were seen as too rigid to be able to grounding, cooperation between academics from accommodate the rapidly changing world and thus different backgrounds may prove to be crucial in unable to grapple with new realities.43 The debate such research frameworks.48 However, interdisci- has been conducted in various disciplines and with plinary frameworks demand a higher level of re- various directions. Thus, in the case of Islamic flection and exchange about the methods employed Studies, both the limitations of a philological ap- to answer certain questions, and, perhaps more proach, on the one hand, and a (non-philological) importantly, about terminology than disciplinary social science approach have been criticised for cooperation – unless, of course, we are considering their limitations, although a »solid training in the interdisciplinarity as a mere addition of different languages, texts, and history of premodern Islam« disciplinary works on one subject.49 This can prove is usually still considered to be a sine qua non.44 disorienting notably for younger researchers who This has, however, not only met with some resis- are involved in such larger research projects. In tance, it has, perhaps more importantly, given rise addition, the disciplinary embeddedness of uni- to an unease and the feeling of loss of orientation. versity theses which such scholars might need to Which kinds of questions should or could be le- produce needs to be kept in mind, given that there gitimately asked? How is the relationship between have been a number of cases where theses were social sciences and philology? Should students criticised for their interdisciplinarity. In addition, and researchers simply mine existing disciplines interdisciplinary work can prove to be both an as- for concepts and methods and engage in a happy set and an obstacle to further career: A number of eclecticism? Given that the field of Islamic Stud- scholars have found it difficult to find university ies, similar to many area studies, has long been positions not for lack of qualification but rather be- accused of methodological underdevelopment in cause they did not fit easily into disciplinary jack- comparison to the »disciplines«, such concerns ets or fashions. Thus, empirically working econo- carry a heavy weight. 45 mists have been judged not contribute sufficiently The debate extends far beyond Islamic or area to abstract theory development, historians might studies, it has indeed reached core disciplines of be too narrow by »only« working on a non-Western the humanities such as history and literature. Us- ing the example of African philosophy, Kresse has 46 Kai Kresse, »Auf dem Weg zu mehr Interdisziplinarität made a compelling argument about the urgent und Zusammenarbeit bei der Erforschung der philosophi- need to be aware of the multiple linguistic, social, schen Traditionen in Afrika«, Polylog 25 (2011), 115–131. religious, cultural and political contexts in which 47 Peter-André Alt, »Oberflächliche Augenwischerei«, Süd- philosophical thinking takes place. Only by so do- deutsche Zeitung 21.12.2010 (www.sueddeutsche.de/karri- ere/interdisziplinaere-forschung-oberflaechliche-augenwischerei-1.1038630). 48 Ulrich Herbert, »Interdisziplinarität als Mode und Me- 43 This is one of the main arguments of Wolfgang Früh- thode«, FRIAS News 04 (2011), 8–11. wald, Hans R. Jauß, Reinhart Koselleck, Geisteswissen- 49 On the conditions of successful interdisciplinary work, schaften heute, 2nd ed. Frankfurt 1996. see Peter Weingart, »Interdisziplinarität – Zwischen wissen- 44 Ernst & Martin, »Introduction«, 13. schaftspolitischer Modefloskel und pragmatischem Förder- 45 This is reflected in many of the contributions in Abbas konzept«, in Volkswagenstiftung (ed.), Impulse geben – Wis- Poya, Maurus Reinkowski (eds.), Das Unbehagen in der Is- sen stiften. 40 Jahre Volkswagenstiftung, Göttingen 2002, lamwissenschaft, Bielefeld 2008, with further references. 159 –195, here 173–177.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 8 region (not a reproach commonly heard for those Hindu history, literature etc. The essentialisation concentrating on German history) etc.50 Another, of this religiously deterministic perspective, dating related issue for researchers in all stages of their back to the colonial perspective, has also led to career might be research funding and publication, what Metcalf has termed »too little« to understand as many grant-giving bodies and journals are still the complexities of Indian social formations.55 very much discipline-oriented and peer reviewers Furthermore, and even within one discipline, often do not take kindly to interdisciplinarity. the history (or anthropology) of different areas can An example for such interdisciplinary reflection have developed quite different approaches.56 Thus, may be the much-used term »agency«, once consid- certainly Middle Eastern history, but to some ex- ered from the vantage point of such different dis- tent also its anthropology are more text-based and ciplines as psychology, economics or politics.51 The philological than African history or anthropology, aim of such reflection does not necessarily need to where oral history (and missionary as well as co- be a merging or homogenisation of approaches or lonial archives) constitutes an important source. methods into a new transdisciplinarity.52 This not- In the case of India, subaltern history, often re- withstanding, intense debates – in the case of the searched in colonial archives, has developed as a study of »Muslim Worlds« mainly between differ- major approach, and caste as a major category of ent disciplines in the humanities and social scienc- investigation (in contrast, for example, to tribe or es – can result in new insights within and notably family in the Middle East and Africa). In different but on the edges of the respective disciplines.53 not dissimilar ways, a dialogue between disciplines Debates between historians and anthropologists and scholars working more inductively, and others of different regional expertises have proven to approaching their topics deductively, as well as one be particularly fruitful in research on »Muslim between those relying on quantitative and those Worlds«. While this does not and cannot lead to an working with qualitative data is urgently needed easy harmonisation, a joint reflection on the relati- instead of the currently common mutual scepticism ve role and importance of history and contemporary and at times outright rejection. If extended beyond developments, as well as an exchange about what area studies, where such dialogues are often prac- are considered to be major topics in both discipli- ticed, this might have consequences for what are nes have proven very fruitful and led to a signifi- accepted disciplinary practices in fields such as cant widening of perspectives. Similarly, a reflec- economy or political science. However fruitful in- tion on the different methodological assumptions terdisciplinarity can be, it does depend, as Haller has proven immensely productive.54 Work across has pointed out, on common research interests and regions – necessary if »Muslims Worlds« as outli- a basic understanding between researchers. Thus, ned above are to be taken seriously as an object of it is a useful exercise in trying to understand the enquiry – can also be fraught with difficulties. In larger »whole«, however, it should not be made a the case of the Indian subcontinent, for example, requirement in all research projects.57 there exists long history of division between those And, as mentioned earlier, national traditions dealing with »Muslim India« and those working on might come in strongly even in the study of one historical empire. A case in point is Ottoman history. Historians of the Empire often deal only with the 50 Experiences at ZMO, cf. Simone Lässig, »Theoria com Balkans, the territories of present-day Turkey (i.e. praxi. Das Georg-Eckert-Institut und sein Konzept anwen- mostly Anatolia) and/or the central administration, dungsorientierter Forschung«, in Eckert, Das Bulletin 09 or the Arab provinces, and to focus on the respec- (2011), 2–6, here 4f. tive archives. Linguistic as well as modern nati- 51 Laura M. Ahearn, »Language and Agency«, Annual Review of Anthropology 30 (2001), 109–137, Bruno Latour, onal boundaries thus seem to have created fron- Reassembling the Social. An Introduction to Actor-Network- tiers between researchers of one and the same Theory, Oxford 2005, 62–86, Walter Ötsch, »Ökonomische Empire, which has often barred from view pheno- Akteure. Kulturhistorische Beispiele zum Wandel von Sub- mena common to these different regions. jekt-Konzepten«, in Walter Ötsch, Stephan Panther (eds.), Politische Ökonomie als Spezialwissenschaften, Marburg 2002 and Alexej Leontjew, »Der allgemeine Tätigkeitsbe- griff«, in Alexej A. Leontjew et. al., Grundfragen einer Theo- 55 Barbara Metcalf, »Presidential Address: Too Little and rie der sprachlichen Tätigkeit, Stuttgart 1984, 13–30. Too Much: Reflections on Muslims in the History of India 52 On transdisciplinarity, see Werner Arber (ed.), Inter- Author(s)«, The Journal of Asian Studies, 54:4 (1995), 951– und Transdisziplinarität. Warum? – Wie?, Bern, Stuttgart, 967, here 956. Wien 1993 and Martin Scheringer, »Transdiziplinarität – 56 The following is based on Richard Fardon, »Localizing Leitbild oder Leerformel?«, GAIA 5:3–4 (1996), 126–128, Strategies: The Regionalization of Ethnographic Accounts«, Hansjörg Büchi, »Das Paradoxe mit der Transdisziplinari- in Richard Fardon (ed.), Localizing Strategies. Regional tät« and Scheringer’s »Replik«, GAIA 5:5, 205–208. Traditions of Ethnographic Writing, Edinburgh, Washing- 53 On this Weingart, »Interdisziplinarität«, 177. ton 1990, 1–35, notably 21–29 and nine years of participant 54 An interesting reflection regarding the approach to observation, so to speak, in the History Department of the sources is Kunal Parker, »Thinking inside the Box. A His- School of Oriental and African Studies. torian among the Anthropologists«, Law & Society Review 57 Dieter Haller, »Kommentar zum Beitrag von Birgitt 38:4 (2004), 851–860. Röttger-Rössler«, Sociologus 61:1, 123–126.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 9 Conclusion necessary to keep a comparative view on devel- This paper has shown some of the epistemologi- opments elsewhere in order to avoid a new essen- cal, theoretical, methodological and, last but not tialisation. The tension between the application of least, practical problems involved in what, at first seemingly categories and the supposedly specific sight, seems to be a fairly straightforward re- regional or local experiences, both within this par- search agenda. It has hinted at some of the ways ticular field of enquiry and in its relation to other in which a consciously self-reflexive, dialogical ap- comparable fields, can probably not be entirely proach combining methods used by different dis- resolved. However, regular reflections about the ciplines and integrating researchers of different possibilities and limits of comparisons, and a se- backgrounds might help to overcome some of the rious attempt to push the history of concepts be- traditional obstacles in the study of the different yond the Western context, will hopefully in the worlds Muslims inhabit. This does not suggest long term sharpen our perception of what may be that widened in such ways, the study of »Muslim specific to some or all Muslim contexts, and what Worlds« is a finite enterprise. As any empirical are universal phenomena. field, it will keep evolving, as will the sources we can use to explore the different questions which Ulrike Freitag is Director of the Zentrum Moderner Orient different scholars will ask. and Professor of Islamic Studies at the FU Berlin. Furthermore, it is crucial that this task is not carried out in isolation. While empirical work on We welcome academic comments. Please see a different questions pertaining to »Muslim Worlds« first by Professor Dr. Birgit Meyer, Utrecht Uni- might, in itself, already widen the horizon, it is versity.

The series ZMO Programmatic Texts publishes wider conceptual articles engaging with the interdisciplinary and inter-regional research conducted at ZMO. The series provides a platform for authors to present and discuss original and innovative contributions to current theoretical and comparative debates, in relation to ZMO’s programmatic research agenda. They are published online on the ZMO website.

The Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) is the only German research institute devoted to an interdisciplinary and comparative study of the Middle East, Africa, South, Southeast and Central Asia from a historical perspective. Current research focuses on the interaction between predominantly Muslim societies and their relations with non-Muslim neighbours. ZMO was founded in 1996 as one of six university-independent, non-profit research centres for research in the humanities.

This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be made to full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title of the programmatic text, the year and the publisher. For questions and comments please contact ZMO.

Programmatic Texts 6 · ZMO · U. Freitag: Researching »Muslim Worlds«· 2013 10