Circulation 8,000 September 2001 4 0 p a g e s N e w s l e t t e r 8

postal address t e l e p h o n e e - m a i l P.O. Box 11 0 8 9 +31-(0)71-527 79 05 i s i m @ l e t . l e i d e n u n i v . n l 2301 EB Leiden t e l e f a x u r l The Netherlands +31-(0)71-527 79 06 w w w . i s i m . n l

7 1 0 2 1 2 6 Sophie Bava Mohamed Abusabib Forough Jahanbakhsh Abdel Wedoud Ould Cheikh The Mouride Dahira between Political Islam and the Arts: Abdolkarim Soroush: Brotherhoods and Gender Relations Marseille and Touba The Sudanese Experience New ‘Revival of Religious Sciences’ i n M a u r i t a n i a

AMIR HASSANPOUR

Millions of Iranians left their country after the coming to power of the Islamic Republic in February 1979. Homeland and Some twenty years later, the urge to leave the country is as strong as it was in the early post-revolutionary years. In a world that is less hospitable to refugees, some Iranians risk their lives in search of a hostland. For many emigrating Iranians, the hostland does not H o s t l a n d readily turn into a new homeland. In fact, Iran is often present, or rather reproduced, in the memory, lan- guage, way of life, and the network of relationships that remain in place despite physical distance. Iranian Press in Canada

More than ever, new communication tech- Where is the homeland? message continue to be Christian Iranians nologies contribute to the collapse of time The following newspapers, mostly week- rather than the entire Christian population and space. Round-the-clock television and lies, were published in Toronto in 2000: Ira- n of Canada. The editorial of the quoted paper radio programming in Persian is available to E sta- r (Iran Star), Ira- n - e J ava- n (Young Iran), ends by writing: ‘In a couple of months, the diasporic communities around the world via Iran Tribune, Ira- n P o s t, J avan- a- n (Youth), S a- new Iranian year [N o w r u z, March 21], too, satellite and the internet. Print journalism is la- m T o r o n t o (Hello Toronto), S a rma- y e ( C a p i- will arrive. And why should not we turn also extensive in major urban centres. tal), S e p ida- r (White Poplar), and S h a h r v a n d every day into a day of housecleaning of our (Citizen). All are secular, privately owned, fi- spirit?’ – housecleaning being a practice of Be hich y¯ar mad-e kh¯ater o be hich diy¯ar nanced primarily through advertising in- preparing for the new year. Ke barr-o bahr far¯akh ast o¯adami besyar come, and distributed free of charge in Equally noteworthy is the treatment of the Do not dedicate yourself to any companion places frequented by the targeted reader- indigenous population of Canada. Since the and any land, ship (grocery stores, restaurants, video and 1 9t h century, Iranian perceptions of Canada Because lands and seas are vast and human b o o k s t o r e s ) . and the United States have been shaped by beings numerous. Browsing through these papers, one notes colonialist politics and discourses. Thus (Sa’di of Shiraz, Persian poet, 1184-1292 AD) immediately that the coverage of Canadian many Iranian Canadians continue to label news is minimal. Although interest in the aboriginal peoples collectively as s o r k h p u s t Quoted out of context, Sa’di’s couplet seems country of origin is to be expected in the (i.e. redskin) and refer to the Inuit people of to be a call for detaching oneself from com- ‘ethnic media’ of all immigrant communities, the Arctic region as e s k i m o; these derogato- munity and place of birth. Later in the poem, most of the cited papers are sharply focused ry labels are not used in Canada today. however, he celebrates the ties that bind on Iran. The limited space devoted to the Even in the civic nation of Canada, extra- people together and asks: ‘Who will shy Canadian-Iranian community is also centred legal dynamics of inequality – racial, cultur- away from the affection of a friend. Which on issues and activities related to Iran and al, economic, social, and political – reinforce lover will turn away from the intimacy of a being Iranian. the attachment of new citizens to their eth- b e l o v e d ? ’1 Sa’di was probably not contra- The over-representation of Iran in the press nic, religious, racial, and national roots.7 dicting himself if we see detachment and at- is matched by similar preoccupations in face- Some Iranian Canadians use the word tachment not in isolation but as constituents to-face communication. Many Iranian Cana- g h a r i b - e (stranger) to describe themselves. of a dialectical relationship. dians refer to the majority (i.e. the white pop- The author of a series of articles dealing ulation of European origin) as kha- r e j i (i.e. for- with the census data about Iranian Canadi- The Iranian diaspora eigner). The word means ‘external, outer, ex- ans chose the title ‘Stranger in the land of o f C a n a d a terior, foreigner, outsider, stranger, alien’4 s t r a n g e r s ’ .8 In spite of these linguistic and The number of Iranian immigrants in and has been used in Iran to refer to non-citi- discursive reproductions of the country of Canada was approximately 100 in 1961 and zens, especially European travellers or resi- origin, characteristic of the first generation, increased to 660 by 1970.2 According to the dents. The label is not intended to treat Euro- many Iranians integrate into their new 1996 census figures, Persian, the official or Canadians as ‘foreigners’; its use indicates h o m e l a n d . state language of Iran, was the ‘mother deep-rooted ties – linguistic and political – to tongue’ of 60,275 Canadians (out of a popu- the country of origin, Iran. Struggle for control lation of 28,846,261).3 It ranked 17t h a m o n g In a similar vein, the words hamvatan and o f t h e d i a s p o r a some 110 non-official languages of the hammihan, both meaning ‘compatriots’, are If Iranian Canadians continue to be at- country (English and French being the only used to refer to Iranian Canadians only. The tached to their first homeland, the Islamic official languages). synonyms vatan and mihan mean ‘homeland, state too continues to regard them as Iranian Canada is a country of the ideal ‘civic na- country, motherland, fatherland’. The word citizens. Initially Tehran’s policy was the rejec- tion’ system in which citizenship is not ham means ‘also, too, likewise, even, both, tion of emigrants as ‘counter-revolutionaries’ based on relations of blood, ethnicity, lan- homo-, co-, con-, com-, sym-, iso-, equi-, syn-’, who had betrayed both Islam and Iran. A guage, religion, or national origin. The over- and as a prefix it means ‘fellow’ as in hamkeläs more tolerant approach was adopted in the whelming majority of Iranian-born Canadi- (classmate), or hamkar- (fellow worker).5 early 1990s in order to encourage their return ans acquired Canadian citizenship without The treatment of Iranian Canadians of to Iran and to stem the exodus. Although this rejecting their previous citizenship. Iranian Christian faith shows a similar trend of at- policy failed, it has allowed many refugees to presence can already be felt in the major tachment to Iran. Like the papers published travel to Iran and return again to their diaspo- urban centres. There are Iranian grocery in Iran, the Persian language press of Cana- ras. It also contributed to Western govern- stores, mosques, restaurants, travel agen- da writes: ‘We congratulate the new Christ- ments’ adoption of policies to restrict the ad- cies, driving schools, bookstores, and Per- ian [sa- l - e m ila- di] year to our Christian com- mission of Iranian refugees. sian language sections in public libraries. patriots’ (front page headline in red, M e h r - e While Iranian exiles have established stable Persian signs can be seen in some business Ira- n, Toronto, Vol. 1, No. 3, January 1991).6 I n diasporas in the West, the instability of the Is- q u a r t e r s . Canada, however, the addressees of this lamic state together with its policies of re-

Continued on page 34 2 ISIM I S I M N E W S L E T T E R 8 / 0 1

Over the last year, a heated debate about the position of Muslims in the Nether- ideals of the imam as expressed in his preaching. The claims of many Moroccans lands has evolved around the idea that Islam hampers the integration of Muslim and Turks that their Islamic identity is important to them, even if outward signs of migrants and their children. It was basically argued that Islamic ideology does not religiosity seem to be absent, is confusing to many non-Muslims in the Nether- accept the separation of state and religion, and fails to confer equal rights to l a n d s . women, making it unfit for a modern European society and a danger to the ideal A remarkable aspect of the discussions is that the degree of ‘integratedness’ was of multiculturalism (see Meuleman, p.33). The fierceness of the debate must have measured by the (post-)migrants’ stances on gay and female rights. As was previ- taken most Muslims in the Netherlands by surprise. Problems that were until re- ously the case in the United Kingdom, a paradoxical situation was constructed in cently explained in terms of relative poverty, or failing parental, educational and which people of Muslim background are asked to publicly accept the right of, for other institutional support were now being linked to religion. In addition, debates instance, gay people to be different, while at the same time their own right to be about the high degree of juvenile crime among Moroccans in the large cities were different is being questioned. They are pressured to denounce at least certain Is- now pointing to religious background as a possible cause. A Moroccan imam ex- lamic codes and to openly criticize traditionalist or Islamist points of view. A num- ISIM Newsletter 8 acerbated the debate by a homophobic remark on Dutch ber of intellectuals and politicians expressed their regret that September 2001 television. His views were used to explain violence against the voice of Muslim intellectuals was hardly heard in the de- 40 pages gay people by – again – some Moroccan youth gangs. How- E d i t o r i a l bate. Nonetheless, the events forced the Islamic community ever, the fact that such youths clearly frequent discos and to openly discuss the issue of homosexuality, and representa- ISSN 1 388-9788 coffeeshops rather than mosques – thus unfamiliar with the DICK DOUWES E d i t o r tives of a Gay Muslim organization (Yusuf Foundation) met Editorial Office imam’s views – was simply ignored. with local Muslim leaders. This summer people of Muslim Visiting Address The imam’s remarks caused public outrage and within just days, gay pride had background participated in the public events that have become part of Dutch gay Rapenburg 71, Leiden Postal Address become a national pride – naively implying that public demonstrations of homo- culture over the last decade, like the annual Pink Saturday and the Gay Parade. ISIM, P.O. Box 11089 sexuality are fully accepted in Dutch society. Very few pointed to the fact that the The participation in the debates of an organization of practising Muslim gays 2301 EB Leiden, The Netherlands T e l e p h o n e violence against gays was not motivated by the queer-bashers’ religious beliefs, who argue that the Qur’an and h a d i t h do not speak out against homosexuality, il- +31-71-527 7905 nor was it limited to a particular ethnic group. lustrates the dynamic nature of religious discourse in the context of post-migra- T e l e f a x +31-71-527 7906 The discussion was complicated by various misconceptions about Islamic insti- tion. Of course, this example may not be representative for the religious produc- E - m a i l tutions. In particular, the position of the imam and his authority over the Muslim tion among Muslim communities in Western Europe, but it is part of the emer- i s i m n e w s @ l e t . l e i d e n u n i v . n l U R L community are generally construed as being greater than they actually are. This gence of local forms and adaptations of Islam in Europe. Over the last decade this w w w . i s i m . n l stems from religion, albeit in a post-Christian society, still being understood in complex process has attracted increased scholarly attention. The ISIM has recent-

E d i t o r Christian terms. Most people, including policy makers, associate mosque with ly launched a project on ‘The production of Islamic knowledge in Western Eu- Dick Douwes church, and imam with priest or minister. A formal, church-like structure is pro- rope’, in cooperation with a number of European partners (Van Bruinessen, p. 3). Copy and language editor Gabrielle Constant jected upon the Muslim communities, which inevitably fails to reflect reality. The settings of new scripturalist trends in Europe occupy an important place in Desk editor Combined with the misapprehension of expressions of religiosity and identity this project. In this ISIM Newsletter the articles by Bava (p. 7), Jonker (p. 8) and Kehl Noël Lambert D e s i g n among migrants, the debate was highly erratic at times. For instance, the fact that (p. 9) were produced to inaugurate the project. Of course, these discourses in di- De Kreeft, Amsterdam the great majority of youths of Muslim background are hesitant to embarrass asporas are linked to the developments in the home countries and the u m m a as a P r i n t i n g Dijkman Offset, Diemen their parents and their community by denouncing (certain) practices and beliefs whole. Both Islamist and liberal intellectual debates in Muslim countries (Salva- was contrasted with the autochthonous youths’ common behaviour of openly tore, p. 20; Jahanbakhsh, p. 21; Hamzawy, p. 22) impact the discourses in Europe, Coming issues ISIM Newsletter 9 criticizing the beliefs of their parents or grandparents. Declaring oneself a Mus- although the writings of the latter are less readily available in the West and less Deadline: 1 November 2001 lim, a believer, is associated with mosque attendance and conformity with the known among Muslims in Europe. Published: January 2002 ISIM Newsletter 10 Deadline: 1 February 2002 A N N O U N C E M E N T S Published: May 2002 ISIM Newsletter 11 Deadline: June 2002 Published: September 2002 The ISIM solicits your response to the ISIM Newslet- ISIM Annual Lecture New ISIM P h . D . F e l l o w s ISIM Fellowships t e r. If you wish to contribute to the ISIM Newsletter, style sheets may be obtained upon request from the ISIM Secretariat or on the ISIM website. In order Professor Barbara Metcalf will deliver this year’s Two new Ph.D. fellows joined the ISIM on 1 Sep- The ISIM invites applications and research propos- to offer updated information on activities concern- ing the study of Islam and Muslim societies, along ISIM Annual Lecture on ‘Piety and Persuasion in the tember 2001: als for various programmes. Applications from can- with news on vacancies, grants, and fellowships, Modern Islamic World’. The lecture will be held in – Mujiburrahman (Indonesia): Muslim Christian didates in the social sciences, humanities, and reli- the ISIM relies on its readers. The information will be made available on the ISIM website. Amsterdam (Agnietenkapel) on 23 November 2001 Relations in Indonesia (1967–1998). gious studies will be considered. Applicants should at 16:00. For further information, please contact Mujiburrahman aims to analyse Muslim and be competent in academic English. The ISIM fellow- The ISIM Newsletter is published three times per year by the International Institute for the Study of the ISIM secretariat. Christian responses to the government policy on ships and their respective application deadlines in- Islam in the Modern World (ISIM). Responsibility for (1) the Pancasila as the sole basis for all social orga- clude the following: the facts and opinions expressed in this publication rests solely with the authors. Their views do not nizations; (2) the application of Muslim personal – Ph.D. fellowships necessarily reflect those of the Institute or its sup- law and religious education in public schools; (3) (1 March 2002 and 1 September 2002) porters. The ISIM Newsletter is free of charge. ISIM Seminar mission; and (4) interreligious dialogue. This study – Post-doctoral fellowships is based, among other things, on documents on (1 March 2002 and 1 September 2002) Staff ISIM Key Texts in the government policy, writings of, and interviews – Visiting fellowships • Muhammad Khalid Masud with, Muslim and Christian intellectuals and (1 March 2002 and 1 September 2002) Academic Director • Peter van der Veer Anthropology of preachers, and newspapers and magazines. – Sabbatical fellowships C o - D i r e c t o r – Joska Samuli Schielke (Finland): Mawlid Festivals (1 March 2002 and 1 September 2002) • Dick Douwes Academic Affairs Islamic Law in Egypt: A Study on the Description, Assessment, and • Mary Bakker Categorization of a Controversial Tradition. For more information on the various fellowships, Administrative Affairs t h • Nathal Dessing In recent years, anthropologists have shown a Throughout the 20 century, m a w l i d f e s t i v a l s p l e a s e consult the ISIM website: E d u c a t i o n renewed interest in Islamic law. New themes, such have represented an epistemic as well as ideologi- h t t p : / / w w w . i s i m . n l / i s i m / f e l l o w s h i p s / • Noël Lambert Newsletter & Website as the social life of Islamic texts and the relations cal challenge to Islamic reformist and modernist • Sandra de Winter between law, gender, and property have emerged. thought. Samuli Schielke intends to analyse the Application forms may be downloaded from the website Administrative Assistant • Laila Al-Zwaini This interest in the anthropological study of Islamic rhetorical conventions, central assumptions, histor- o r obtained upon request from the ISIM secretariat. Projects Officer law calls for an attempt at a more systematic ical roots, and popular reception of this controver- B o a r d overview of the field. This seminar aims to present sy on m a w l i ds in contemporary Egypt. Based on • Drs J.G.F. Veldhuis (Chairperson) such an overview by discussing basic texts on the written sources and interviews, this study can pro- President of Utrecht University • Dr S.J. Noorda anthropological study of Islamic law. vide important insight into the nature, common- ISIM Senior Fellows President of University of Amsterdam This seminar is intended for advanced M.A. places, and reception of cultural criticism in mod- • Dr J.R.T.M. Peters Vice President of University of Nijmegen students, Ph.D. students, and faculty in the fields ern Islamic societies. From September 2001, Michael Gilsenan (until De- • Drs L.E.H. Vredevoogd o f Islamic studies, anthropology, history, and law. cember 2001) and Rudolph Peters (until February President of Leiden University T h e seminar also constitutes an introduction to 2002) will join the ISIM as senior fellows with a Academic Committee t h e ISIM workshop on ‘Current Research in the view to furthering their current research: • Prof. Léon Buskens (Chairperson) Utrecht University Anthropology of Islamic Law’ to be held in April ISIM Publications – Michael Gilsenan (Department of Middle Eastern • Prof. Mamadou Diouf 2 0 0 2 . Studies, New York) is working on Hadhrami fami- CODESRIA, Dakar • Prof. Dale Eickelman The ISIM has launched its ISIM Papers Series with lies’ links around the Indian Ocean in the colonial Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire D a t e s : the publication of Islam, Islamists, and the Electoral and post-colonial periods. This research includes • Prof. Gudrun Krämer Free University Berlin Fridays from 2 November to 7 December 2001 Principle in the Middle East, by James Piscatori, and following a particular family from South Yemen to • Prof. R. Kruk T i m e : 10:00 to 12:00 Thinking about Secularism and Law in Egypt, by Talal countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Leiden University • Prof. Jean-François Leguil-Bayart V e n u e : L e i d e n Asad. The third of this series, John Bowen’s S h a r ica, areas of East Africa, so as to establish individual tra- CERI, Paris State and Social Norms in France and Indonesia, is jectories and networks. • Prof. Frits Staal University of California at Berkeley Should you wish to attend, please contact the ISIM forthcoming. The ISIM has also published the inau- – Rudolph Peters (University of Amsterdam) is writ- • Prof. Kees Versteegh secretariat. The final programme of the seminar gural lecture for the ISIM Chair at Leiden University ing a volume on Islamic criminal law (ICL) as part of University of Nijmegen • Sami Zubeida a s well as a list of participants will be sent to all by Muhammad Khalid Masud: Muslim Jurists’ Quest a seven-volume series edited by Wael Hallaq Birkbeck College, University of London registered participants by 5 October 2001. for the Normative Basis of S h a rica. (McGill University) to be published by Cambridge ISIM Chairs A provisional programme is available at the These publications are available at the ISIM and University Press. Apart from a survey of doctrine of • Prof. Muhammad Khalid Masud ISIM Chair, Leiden University following web address: can be ordered through the ISIM secretariat. the f i q h, this project includes an analysis of the en- • Prof. Martin van Bruinessen forcement of ICL in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt ISIM Chair, Utrecht University • Prof. Annelies Moors h t t p : / / w w w . i s i m . n l / i s i m / a c t i v i t i e s / s e m i n a r . h t m l and the present-day relevance of ICL, particularly ISIM Chair, University of Amsterdam its reintroduction in various Muslim countries. I S I M N E W S L E T T E R 8 / 0 1 ISIM 3

Research Programme MARTIN VAN BRUINESSEN The Production of

The ISIM is setting up a research programme on ‘The Production of Islamic Knowledge in Western Europe’, coordinated by Professor Martin van Bruinessen in cooperation with Dr Nico Landman of Utrecht Uni- Islamic Knowledge versity. The ISIM has organized a series of lectures (summer 2001 and forthcoming in autumn 2001) on the state of the art in this research area – to be pub- lished either in the ISIM Newsletter or separately as ISIM Papers. An annotated bibliography prepared in Western Europe through the concerted efforts of the ISIM, CNRS- Strasbourg, the University of Louvain-la-Neuve and other institutions, will soon be made available on- l i n e . or Malay to English and other European lan- of sermons or fatwas specifically issued at the movements, from the puritan and fundamen- guages as vehicles of Islamic discourse is request of Muslims in Europe, to debates in talist to the tasawwuf oriented, are propagat- In order to develop comparative research likely to be reflected in changing patterns of Muslim media or public controversies con- ing rival versions of allegedly universal Islam- on the production of Islamic knowledge, co- religious authority as well as considerable cerning Islam. ic messages to audiences irrespective of eth- operation with other research institutes in changes in the discourses themselves. – The contexts within which Islamic knowledge nicity and nationality. Europe is actively being sought. The I S I M During the last few decades, Muslims in Eu- is being produced: comparative analysis of the – The ethnic dimension: the major fault lines N e w s l e t t e r and website are made available rope have produced a considerable amount ways in which local contexts condition the cutting through the Muslim communities in for communication between researchers in of material on Islam in the forms of media production of Islamic knowledge. European Western Europe are those of country of origin this field. The ISIM especially invites applica- (from newsletters to the internet). There is a countries have different policies concerning and ethnicity. (These two factors should not tions for Ph.D. and post-doctoral research multiplicity of voices, not only due to a variety Islamic education, the admission of imams be superimposed, as the examples of Turkish- grants that fit within the programme. Appli- of origins (different home countries as well as and preachers, Muslim media, associations of Kurdish relations and Arab-Berber relations cations are reviewed by the selection com- different currents within, for example, Turkish Muslims, etc., and different conceptions of indicate.) One would expect these factors to mittee in October and March (see the web- Islam) and variations in the legal and cultural the degree to which Muslim immigrants are gradually decline in importance. Associations, site for further details). contexts in the countries of residence, but expected to integrate and assimilate them- networks and authority figures that attract also to complex patterns of social interaction. selves. members and followers across ethnic and na- Local versus ‘universal’ Islam Although Turkish, Moroccan and Pakistani – Islamic institutions: a third important per- tional boundaries deserve special attention, In all parts of the globe where it has taken Muslims interact for the most part with Mus- spective is that of the institutions in and by for this is where European forms of Islam are root, Islam has developed local forms. This is lims of the same national origins, there is an which Islamic knowledge is being produced likely to emerge. not uniquely due to the retention of local increasing number of Muslim spokespersons or reproduced. These obviously include the – The new media: these and some of the pre-Islamic practices, which may gradually and thinkers whose authority transcends eth- mosque and Qur’an courses and institutes of ‘older’ media as well play a crucial part in the be purged by reform movements. Different nic and national boundaries. Terms such as formal or informal Islamic education, but also production of Islamic knowledge in Europe. regions may have their distinctive practices, ‘Turkish Islam’ or ‘Moroccan Islam’ do as little state schools. Muslim associations, broadcast- Due attention should therefore be paid to the the various Islamic institutions may play dif- justice to the complexity of the developing ing corporations and other media, and em- role of print and electronic media in produc- ferent roles, education and adjudication may discourses as ‘Dutch Islam’ or ‘French Islam’. bassies of Muslim countries are to be consid- ing Islamic knowledge. It is also important to be organized differently, and the interaction ered. Since istifta, the requesting of an au- discover to what extent the new media usher between the u l a m a and the state may pro- The production of local thoritative opinion, is such a central process in new types and modalities of communica- ceed according to different patterns. Even k n o w l e d g e in the development of Islamic knowledge tion, and what this means for the contents of within ‘scripturalist’ Islam, there is an undeni- There are several interesting aspects to the everywhere, special attention should be paid communication. Materials to be studied in- able regional variation, notwithstanding the processes under consideration that call for to the various institutions that issue fatwas clude fatwas and sermons (in all forms of claims of certain Western scholars as well as serious study. One of these concerns the (including the electronic media). media), discussion lists, chat boxes and web- Muslim fundamentalists. production of local knowledge – a process – The establishment of religious authority: Who sites on the internet, films or television pro- The Muslim communities of Western Eu- that inevitably occurred wherever Islam was are considered as authorities whose counsel grammes with religious themes, popular nov- rope constitute – with the exception of a rel- established outside its original heartlands. is heeded, and why? How do they establish els, soap operas and documentaries. atively small number of European converts Islam emerged in a specific cultural and his- their authority, and what are the means by – Production, reception and reproduction of Is- – diasporic communities, maintaining vari- torical context of Arabia. When it spread to which they attempt to consolidate it? Is a shift lamic knowledge in Western Europe: the pro- ous types of links with their countries of ori- other societies and cultures, it underwent a occurring from dependence on authorities in duction of new Islamic discourses is only rele- gin and with similar communities in other dual process of u n i v e r s a l i z a t i o n and l o c a l i z a- the countries of origin to reliance on authori- vant insofar as these discourses also find ac- countries. The social, economic and political t i o n. In order to adapt it to local contexts, the ties based in Western Europe? Mosque imams ceptance by the Muslim communities in Eu- situation of these communities differs sig- producers (and brokers) of Islamic knowl- appear to be far more influential in the dias- rope. The reception of Islamic knowledge is a nificantly from that of co-religionists in their edge had to first decide which elements of pora than in the home countries, at least in subject deserving serious research in itself. home countries. In daily life they encounter Islam as it existed in the original context part because of the pastoral role and authori- What does the second generation of Muslim a whole range of new and different prob- were specifically Arabian and could be dis- ty attributed to them by local governments immigrants learn about Islam, and what do lems that demand an Islamic answer. The carded, while retaining those elements that and other institutions, and in part because of the European converts learn? Where and how various ‘host’ countries provide different were considered essential and non-nego- the different functions the mosque fulfils in do they seek knowledge, which questions do constraints and possibilities for the devel- tiable. This could be called the process of the diaspora. What strategies are used to es- they ask, and what answers do they find? opment of Muslim institutions, Islamic u n i v e r s a l i z a t i o n, the separation of what was tablish or to de-legitimatize the authority of – Islam as the living praxis of Muslims: in- thought and Islamic practices. Inevitably Eu- considered universal in the Islamic message certain imams? How and by whom can their evitably new practices are developing among ropean forms of Islam will develop, ground- from what was contingent. The second step, authority be overruled? How authoritative are Muslims in Western Europe in the fields of ed in locally acquired knowledge of Islam. that of l o c a l i z a t i o n, meant adapting the uni- the Muslim thinkers who publish books and marriage and the family, economic enter- Initially the sources for most of this knowl- versalized message to local customs and articles in European languages, and how in- prise, inter-religious relations, political em- edge were located elsewhere, either in the needs. This process of production of local Is- fluential are their writings? powerment, social security, and the relations home countries of the Muslim immigrant lamic knowledge continues as local tradi- – Transnationalism: another important per- with the state. Insofar as those concerned be- communities or in other Muslim countries tions of Islamic knowledge develop. spective is the transnational dimension of the lieve that these practices are in some sense Is- or transnational networks claiming to repre- The Muslim migrants who came to West- processes concerned. It is useful to distin- lamic or part of a Muslim culture with which sent a purer, universal interpretation of ern Europe brought Islam with them in guish the transnational relations of migrant they identify, they represent a practical Islam. Among the mediators we find imams, many different local forms, including local- communities and their homeland from those knowledge of Islam, even though some of teachers and preachers visiting Western Eu- ized popular religious practices and local- amongst migrants of the same cultural back- these practices may be at odds with scrip- rope, and u l a m a, intellectuals and journal- ized references to scriptural authority. They ground living in various European countries, turalist Islam as defined by the ulama. ists in the ‘home’ countries reaching out to too have to decide which aspects are nego- and even from the relations transcending the immigrant communities by mail and tiable and which have to be retained intact. ethnic or national boundaries as well as state through print and electronic media. Sec- Islamic knowledge in Western Europe is pro- boundaries. ond- and third-generation immigrants, duced on the basis of ‘universalized’ ver- States such as Turkey and Morocco are however, tend to understand the language sions of the local Islamic knowledge of the making great efforts to keep their (former) of the country of residence better than the home countries and other prestigious cen- subjects under control, and they are actively languages of their parents or grandparents. tres. It is this process of abstraction as well promoting their respective official versions of The gradual shift from Turkish, Arabic, Urdu, as the process of adaptation of discourse to Islam among the European Muslim communi- local conditions that constitute the focus of ties. Oppositional religious movements from the present research programme. these countries use the relative freedom of This issue of the ISIM Newsletter contains a special sec- Individual research projects within the Western Europe to spread dissenting mes- tion, ‘Features’, which deals specifically with the pro- programme may concentrate on the follow- sages among the migrant communities in For further information, please contact the ISIM duction of Islamic knowledge in Western Europe. Bava ing aspects: various European countries in the hope of secretariat or consult the ISIM website: (p.7), Jonker (p.8) and Kehl (p.9) offer additional insight – The development of European Muslim dis- using these as a stepping stone for political h t t p : / / w w w . i s i m . n l / i s i m / r e s e a r c h / into this dynamic field of research. courses: projects may range from an analysis action at home. A wide variety of dacwa p r o g r a m m e s / I s l a m k n o w l e d g e . h t m 4 ISIM I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Conference Announcement Religion, Media From 6 to 8 December 2001 the ISIM, together with the Research Centre Religion and Society, will hold an and the Public Sphere international conference on ‘Religion, Media and the Public Sphere’ at the University of Amsterdam. Since the 1990s, three themes have featured prominently in If the nexus of media and the nation-state colonial contexts, anthropologists and other relationships between media, religion and debates in the social sciences and cultural studies: the stood central in recent debates, the role of social scientists recently have ventured into the state? Topics to be discussed include the crisis of the post-colonial nation-state, the increasing religion in the transformation of the public an empirical study of these dynamics. role of media and religion in transforming global accessibility and proliferation of electronic sphere has received much less attention. The The central issue to be addressed during the public sphere, the changes which reli- media, and the rise of religious movements. decline of religion in the public sphere has this conference pertains to transformations gious organizations and individual experi- been taken for granted as an intrinsic feature in the public sphere, and the ways in which ences undergo through processes of mass Taking as a point of departure that the na- of modernity. The limitations of this stance these relate to the proliferation of media and mediation, and the ways in which different tion-state no longer features as the privi- came to the fore, of course, with the global the liberalization of media policies, the up- forms of mass mediation impact debates leged space for the imagination of identity, rise of religious movements such as political surge of religion, and the crisis of the post- about the public-private relation. scholars have paid much attention to the Islam, Hindu nationalism and Pentecostal- colonial state. Important in this context is crucial role that electronic media play in the ism. Driven by their will to make sense of the the question of the usefulness and limits of imagination and constitution of new links marked articulation of religious movements the notion of the public sphere: How can this For additional information, please contact the ISIM between people and the emergence of new in, and their contribution to, the transforma- notion be made productive for a better un- secretariat or see the ISIM website: arenas of public debate. tion of state-society relationships in post- derstanding of the dynamics of the complex h t t p : / / i s i m . n l / i s i m / a c t i v i t i e s / s e m i n a r s c o n f . h t m l Workshop Announcement Islam, Women’s Rights From 9 to 11 November 2001 the ISIM will hold a workshop on ‘Islam, Women’s Rights and Islamic and Islamic Feminism Feminism: Making Connections between Different Perspectives’. Some consider ‘Islamic’ and ‘feminist’ perspectives as mutually exclusive or deny the need positions of religious authority. Debating and family law on the one hand and movements and structures of religious au- for an Islamic feminism with the argument that Islam gender, Islamist women activists relate to women’s changed lifestyles and realities on thority? Thirdly, how has globalization, both as it is has already given women all their rights. An women’s daily-lived realities. the other? Secondly, what is the impact of in the form of movements of people and im- investigation of women’s activism in Muslim soci- For this workshop a number of women specific relations between Islam and the ages, impacted Islamic women’s activism? eties through the prism of ‘Islamic feminism’ takes a scholars and activists have been invited who state on women’s activism? What are the ef- Have international links of Islamic move- different point of departure. may describe themselves as Islamic femi- fects of the fact that Iran has had an Islamic ments also created a particular space for nists, as Islamic scholars adopting a women’s revolution in terms of enabling or disabling women activists, and if so what have been Rather than contrasting these terms, it perspective, or as women’s rights activists in particular forms of women’s activism, and the effects? How have Islamist women en- points to the possibility of connecting per- Muslim societies. Three sets of questions what has been the impact of the shift from gaged with possibilities for international spectives grounded in feminism and Islam. have been proposed as topics for debate. revolutionary fervour to reformism for de- networking and in which ways have they Yet, simultaneously, it also brings to the fore First, how does Islamic feminism relate to velopments in Islamic feminism? Similarly, dealt with the proliferation of means of com- that such a linkage does not come about au- women’s daily lives? What has been the im- what are the effects of Islamism being an op- munication and the development of new tomatically. Being involved in politics, Is- pact of changes in women’s position, such as positional movement in most other Muslim m e d i a ? lamist women need to take a position v i s - à - women’s growing access to education and countries (and its transformations through v i s state policy and oppositional move- formal employment, for the development of time) for Islamic women’s activism? In what For more information, please contact the ISIM ments. Arguing in terms of Islamic concepts, Islamic feminism? How do Islamic feminists ways may Islamic feminism be considered a s e c r e t a r i a t . they engage in debates with those claiming deal with the possible tensions between f i q h transformative force that impacts political h t t p : / / i s i m . n l / i s i m / a c t i v i t i e s / s e m i n a r s c o n f . h t m l

C O N F E R E N C E R E P O R T

Forum of Social Research MAREIKE JULE WINKELMANN The Construction of Female

On 29 and 30 June 2001 nine young female scholars Identity in Muslim Modernity met at the University of Constance (Germany) to dis- cuss how female identity is constructed in various contemporary Muslim societies, and what constitutes community in India, as very similar develop- among female students in Turkey. The issue One of the recurring topics of discussion this female Muslim identity. Sponsored by a special ments appeared to have taken place in the of body weight and the ways in which young was the tension between tradition and university programme aimed at the encouragement German Catholic church at that time. Hodah Turkish women regulate their weight initiat- modernity, as it became evident that even if a of academic research by women (Anreizsystem zur Salah (Mainz) then brought into view the ed a discussion about self and other, as the certain group of actors within a particular Frauenförderung) and in cooperation with the Forum women activists of the Islamist movements in physical ideal these young women strive for is context makes a claim to tradition, the mean- of Social Research (www.socialresearch.de), Schirin Egypt. She argued that the discourse and influenced by the (Western) media and by ing attached to such (re)interpretations Amir-Moazami (Department of Political and Social daily lives of the women she interviewed re- ideas of the self that are linked with upward might actually represent a break with tradi- Sciences, Florence) and Wiebke Ernst (Department of flected their empowerment through Islam, as social mobility. tion. A second recurring topic was the plurali- History and Sociology, Constance) organized the they negotiate and re-define the traditional The afternoon sessions dealt with the chal- ty of meanings, interpretations, and identi- workshop to give a panel of young scholars the op- role models. Wiebke Ernst (Constance) pre- lenges and strategies of incorporation of ties, some of which the programme and par- portunity to discuss their respective research pro- sented the final paper of the day, shedding Muslim immigrants in Germany. Kirsten ticipants in the workshop themselves reflect, jects with a view to this topic. light on the very particular situation of the Wiese (Berlin) tackled this issue from the legal but also with regard to the geographical Xinjiang Muslims in China as a Muslim com- perspective. She showed what the possible spread of the topics chosen by the partici- The papers that were presented and dis- munity that many would define as peripheral outcomes of the debate on the wearing of pants. The aims of the workshop, namely to cussed during the two-day workshop ad- in terms of their cultural and geographical headscarves by teachers in German schools sketch a differentiated picture of the complex dressed the theme of female Muslim identity context. could lead to. Schirin Amir-Moazami (Flo- forms and constructions of female identity in from various angles. The main focus of the The morning sessions of the second day rence) presented some of the data gathered modern Muslim societies, which is a picture first day was religion and the challenge of were dedicated to education and the chal- during interviews with young Muslim women that displays antithetical dichotomies, and modernity. Within this framework Margrit lenge of public representation. Linda Herrera in Germany, and Berlin in particular. In these the attempt to scrutinize common stereo- Pernau (Delhi) drew a fascinating comparison (Oxford) presented her findings with a view to interviews she asked when and why young types, were therefore accomplished. between the Muslim community in India and Islamic and secular education of Muslim girls Muslim women begin donning the headscarf, the Catholic milieu in 19th-century Germany. in Egypt (see also ISIM Newsletter, 6, p. 1), and in how far their form of veiling differs This comparison raised the question of how showing how crucial the veil, and even more those from that of the earlier generations of The workshop was supported by the pious women, and their influence on the re- so ‘downveiling’ are as indicators of the con- their mothers and grandmothers. Finally, ‘Anreizprogramm’ in cooperation with Forum of spective communities, could be viewed as an stant struggle of women to gain greater free- Sigrid Nökel (Bielefeld) discussed the con- Social Research: http://www.socialresearch.de answer to the emergence of modernity in ei- dom within the public space in Egypt. Follow- struction of female Muslim identity in Ger- ther (Indian or German) context. At the same ing the author’s paper on the emergence of many. The life stories she presented focused time, by drawing this comparison between Muslim women’s education in late 19th-centu- on how this particular identity is shaped by Mareike Jule Winkelmann is a Ph.D. candidate at Germany and India, emphasis was also laid on ry India, Daniella Kuzmanovic (Copenhagen) the affirmation of the self as well as through t h eI S I M . the not so radical otherness of the Muslim introduced the cultivation of bodily ideals public policy in Germany. E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 ISIM 5 Workshop Report Family, State, and Civil Society The workshop on ‘Family, State, and Civil Society in Islamic Communities: Legal and Sociological Per- in Islamic Communities spectives’, held in Florence, Italy, from 21 to 25 March 2001, was a follow-up of a previous workshop held in Berlin (see ISIM Newsletter, 6, p. 3). Both com- www.law.emory.edu.ifl), and as such aims at Papers presented: Social Class: Family Law Reform in Post- prise part of a series of meetings, organized by the clarifying the basic concepts, actors and – A n - N acim, Abdullahi A. (Emory University, Unification Yemen ISIM and the AKMI, which is devoted to relations be- processes of improving respect for human Atlanta) & al-Zwaini, Laila (ISIM), Rights at tween family, state and civil society in Islamic com- rights in this field, in addition to beginning Home: An Approach to the Internalization A full report of the workshop has been munities in the Islamic world and Europe. The ‘Fami- to develop the contacts and resources need- of Human Rights in Family Relations in drawn up by Nahda Y. Sh’hada (Internation- ly, State, and Civil Society’ workshop was hosted by ed for the practical implementation of the Islamic Communities al Institute of Social Studies, The Hague) and the Robert Schuman Centre at the European Univer- project. The ISIM/AKMI workshops on Family – Bargach, Jamila (Ecole Nationale will be published by ZED Publications, Lon- sity Institute in Florence as part of the 2n d M e d i t e r- Law now constitute a forum of scholars from d’Architecture, Rabat), A b a n d o n e d don. Apart from the contents of the papers, ranean Social and Political Research Meeting. T h e various disciplines together with practition- Children as a Human Rights Issue the publication will include a detailed ac- workshop directors were Abdullahi A. A n - N aci m ers, all of whom are involved in the latest de- – Buskens, Léon (Leiden University), count of the discussion, demonstrating the (Emory University, Atlanta, Visiting Professor at velopments in the reformulation of family Debates on the Reform of the Moroccan difficulty for an observer to distinguish dur- ISIM) and Laila al-Zwaini (ISIM). Muhammad Khalid law, the negotiation processes between Code of Personal Status ing the debates whether activism or acade- Masud opened the workshop. state and civil society, the implementation – Fawzi al-Ghamri, Mohammed Essam micism was being voiced. The enthusiasm of family law cases in courts, and informal (Alternative Development Studies Center, and devotion of the participants, the chal- Family law constitutes – next to penal law – practices of solving family matters, with spe- Cairo), Family Law in Egypt: Current lenging realities they revealed, and the rig- the most controversial area of law in the cial emphasis on the position and rights of Situation and Prospects of Further orous analyses they advanced, highlighted modern Islamic world. Considering the women and children. D e v e l o p m e n t ( p a p e r presented by Ivesa the fact that activism is a necessary conjunct salience of this topic, relatively little has The workshop was subdivided into three Luebben, Berlin) to academia in this particular field. The par- been published in this field in Western lan- themes. The first was ‘The anatomy and in- – Hamzawy, Amr (Free University of Berlin), ticipants were aware of the complexity of guages. Comparative literature on family law ternal dynamics of family, state, and civil so- The Arab Discussion on Civil Society: the subject matter, which prompted them developments, both in legislative texts and ciety’, devoted to outlining a comparative- Between the Search for a New Paradigm of to address new theoretical and method- as applied by Islamic and secular courts, is theoretical framework of the three key con- Democratisation and the Controversy on ological issues. With respect to issues such scant. Furthermore, law in general – family cepts (family, state, civil society) with regard the Political Role of Religion as the negotiation processes between state law being no exception – is often left to stu- to their nature, context, and transformation – Moors, Annelies (ISIM), Debating the and civil society, the implementation of dents of law, and is thus not usually subject in a local and global setting. The second Family: On Marriage, Materiality and family law cases in courts, and informal to social science approaches. With this in theme, ‘Tripartite interaction between fami- M o d e r n i t y practices of solving family matters, the dis- mind, the first ISIM/AKMI workshop on Is- ly, state, and civil society’, involved an analy- – Murshid, Tazeen M. (Brussels), V i o l e n c e cussion moved forward the analytical lamic family law, entitled ‘Family and Family sis of the power relations, actors, determina- Against Women: Sexual Misdemeanours, frames of the papers discussed. At another Law in Asia and the Middle East’, was aimed tion and implementation of social policy, Village Shalish and Shariah Courts in Post- level, the workshop demonstrated a notice- at creating a network of scholars currently and dynamics of processes between the Colonial South Asia able advancement in analysing the con- based in Europe, who employ social science three ‘social fields’. On the basis of a com- – Rutten, Susan W.E. (University of cepts used. It concerned changes in the methodologies in the study of family law, its bined scholarly-practitioner’s methodology, Maastricht), Islamic Family Law in Europe broader context and conditions under historical and regional developments and its the last theme, ‘Strategies for an internalized – Schulz, Dorothea (Free University of which the discussion is frequently conduct- interpretation by the courts. human rights approach to family relations’, Berlin), New Muslim Movements and the ed – in other words, the workshop did not The ‘Family, State, and Civil Society’ work- was aimed at drafting a frame of reference Struggle over the Reform of Family Law in view the family, the state and civil society as shop proceeded towards a scholarly-practi- and strategy for the implementation of an Democratic Mali predefined given units. tioner’s approach to the subject, with partic- internalized human rights approach to fami- – Welchman, Lynn (CIMEL/SOAS, London), The third meeting of this series will con- ipants both from the West and from various ly relations in Islamic communities today, re- Staking out the Territory: Family Law vene in January 2002 in Morocco. Further Islamic communities. The workshop also garding issues such as equality and autono- Debates in Transitional Palestine details on this meeting will be made avail- forms the overture to the second phase of my for women, protection of women against – Wuerth, Anna (Human Rights Watch, able on the ISIM website. the Islamic Family Law (IFL) Project (see also: domestic violence, and children’s rights. W a s h i n g t o n ) , The State, Activism and

Seminar Report KAREN WILLEMSE Muslim Communities, From 18 to 20 April 2001 a number of scholars from Africa, Europe and the United States convened at the Globalization, and Identities in Africa ISIM to present papers for the seminar on ‘Muslim Communities, Globalization, and Identities in Africa’. The event ended an ISIM atelier that had commenced were sent out to an international panel of ‘preacher’, Malam Awal, in a small town in been for the state, especially in Senegal, while in February 2001 with four scholars: José van Santen speakers for the April seminar. Niger. also pointing out that several tariqas with (Leiden), Karin Willemse (Rotterdam), Cheikh Guèye Given the limited time – from the end of Under the theme of ‘texts and/in contexts’ West African origins have found roots in the (Dakar) and Shamil Jeppie (Cape Town).* February to the middle of April – in which the there was an analysis and performance of So- United States. He ended with a plea for more seminar was to be organized, it still managed mali women’s poetry in colonial and post- studies on reformism and African Muslim During the week-long meeting of the atelier to bring together a distinguished selection of colonial contexts (Lidwien Kapteijns, Welles- communities, and asked a more general in February, the four-member working both younger and senior scholars. Under the ley College) and a compelling film about a question about the discourses in which Islam group discussed various theoretical and theme of the ‘public sphere’ speakers ad- Muslim capitalist in Cameroun (produced by in Africa is conceived. The language of analy- methodological questions that could fur- dressed, for example, the place of African Is- Lisbet Holtedahl, Tromso/Ngaoundere). sis needs to more closely reflect the realities ther enrich their own study of Muslim com- lamic scholarship (O’Fahey, Northwestern/- The papers under the theme of ‘spatial and of the actors, Kane argued. munities in Africa. This resulted in an ex- Bergen) or attempted a phenomenological imaginary frontiers’ dealt largely with the re- The seminar produced a great deal of in- change of ideas and debates on the uses of reading of Islam in Senegal (Oumar Sy, Dakar). cent history and impact of the Mouride tariqa sight into modern African Muslim communi- self-reflexivity (while also being self-reflex- Hussein Ahmed (Addis Ababa) delivered a (Cheikh Babou, Michigan) in its place of ori- ties. It also exposed the areas that are in need ive), the role of memory, transnationalism paper which looked at the development of gin, Senegal, and beyond in places like Mar- of more research. Both the atelier and the and the meanings of space, and new ways the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in seille, Tenerife, and New York. Papers dealt seminar, however, were exploratory and cre- of presenting academic research. The di- Ethiopia. The lives of women students at the with the role of Mouride women traders (Eva ated opportunities for discussion about the verse regional and disciplinary orientations University of Ngaoundere were presented Rosander, Uppsala), innovative ways of mak- state of the field. Future research activities of of the individual members enabled discus- through the medium of film by Habi (Tromso). ing financial transfers between countries by the ISIM will certainly include a focus on sions that were both revealing and animat- Film was the medium for three presenta- members of the tariqa (Mansour Tall, Dakar), Africa. e d . tions during the seminar. In the session under and the transformation of religious practice in From this first week together the group the theme of ‘identities’ a video on the Baye the context of migration (Sophie Bava, EHESS, N o t e arrived at four themes that they considered Fall sect within the Mouride tariqa in Senegal Marseille). Gendered frontiers were consid- * See the ISIM website and ISIM Newsletter, 6, p.6 to serve as a basis for the subsequent semi- was shown by Tshikala Biaya (Addis Ababa). ered in the case of the relations between mas- f o r an outline of the atelier. nar with a larger group of scholars. The This theme was also more or less directly ad- ter and disciple in the Qadiriyya and Tijaniyya themes were as follows: spatial and imagi- dressed in the papers of three other speakers. tariqas in Mauritania (Abdel Wedoud Ould This report was jointly produced by Karen Willemse, nary frontiers, the public sphere, identities, Karim Dahou (ENDA-Dakar) compared re- Cheikh, Metz/Nouakchott). The concluding Shamil Jeppie, José van Santen, and Cheikh Guèye. and texts and/in contexts. These were ad- formism and Islam-state relations in Algeria, paper was presented by Ousmane Kane dressed in terms of current processes of Senegal and Nigeria, while Nafissatou Tall (Yale/St Louis, Senegal), who addressed the Karen Willemse is lecturer of the History of African globalization, the latter term being prob- (Nouakchott-Mauritania) focused on Qur’anic question of the relations between tariqas and Societies / Islamic Processes at the Erasmus lematized as well. Within each theme a texts favouring the position of women in the state in West Africa. He examined the long University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. number of more detailed issues were enu- Islam. Adeline Masquelier (New Orleans) history of relations between these formations E-mail: [email protected] merated. To address these issues invitations analysed the impact of the arrival of a new and showed how important the tariqas have 6 ISIM I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

B o o k s GERARD C. VAN DE BRUINHORST Islamic Literature

In January 2000, a trip was made to Tanzania to make an inventory of the locally produced Islamic literature. Through the financial support of ISIM, 500 titles were collected for the ISIM library. In October 2000, a 6- in Tanzania and Kenya month fieldwork period was embarked upon, which al- lowed for the gathering of another 700 books, pam- contains only two Swahili tracts with practical bic books which were sold for up to 3000 Tan- prayer times there are usually one or more phlets, newspapers, magazines and ephemera in Tan- advice on an Islamic ruqya in case of a jinn zanian shillings (2.5 US dollars) were pur- book vendors opposite the entrance. These zania and Kenya. In both countries some 30 bookshops possession. Devotional literature is widely chased. The bulk of this collection consists of merchants were often most willing to indicate (excluding the street vendors) were visited in 10 urban available and is mostly bi-lingual – Arabic and prayer manuals, devotional and madrassa lit- the location of bigger shops. Although get- centres. The items in the collection are written in Swahili. At least six books explain how to use erature. ting information about petty traders was Swahili (approximately 50%), Arabic (30%) and English the 99 names of Allah most profitably. Be- much more difficult, tracing them down was (20%). Apart from Gujarati and Urdu, which are sparse- cause Swahili is the mode of instruction in E n g l i s h usually very much worthwhile. Old material, ly used in East African Islamic publications, other lan- Tanzanian primary schools and part of the The third important language in East African sold out in the ordinary shops, was often avail- guages seem to be of no importance at all. curriculum in the secondary schools, the ma- Islamic publishing is English, especially in able on the streets and in smaller towns out- terial used for ‘Islamic Knowledge’ (Maarifa ya Kenya. Here the official language of formal ed- side the capitals. Uislam) is entirely in Swahili. The 10th edition ucation is English, so all the books written for Staying in a bookshop resulted in valuable of the authoritative tafsir by Shaykh Abdallah the subject of Islamic Religious Education are information. Not only were other researchers Saleh al-Farsy (1912-1982), Kurani Takatifu, obliged to use this medium. Also, the Nairobi encountered, but also teachers from madras- contains for the first time a transcription of branch of the Islamic Foundation publishes sas, individual scholars, and representatives of the Arabic text in Latin script. books and magazines in English. The situation the main publishing agencies. Businessmen in Tanzania is quite different. English publica- from Mozambique shopping in Dar es Salaam A r a b i c tions from Tanzanian authors are mainly writ- indicate that the spread of Swahili Islamic Nowadays the local production of Arabic lit- ten for an international audience. Dr Mo- books is not limited to Uganda, Tanzania or erature in Tanzania and Kenya is very limited. hammed Said, for example, wrote a book on Kenya. Remarkable is an evaluation report of the Is- Abdulwahid Sykes and the role of Muslims in Publications outside the mainstream of lamic dacwa in Kenya. This 80-page account of the struggle for independence. Likewise, the Islam have their own distribution system. An the current state of Islam is apparently writ- university lecturer, Hamza Mustafa Njozi, pro- excellent place for Shica material is the Bilal ten for an educated audience in the Muslim duced a work on the Mwembechai murders of Muslim Mission in Dar es Salaam (more than world. There is an Arabic book on Islamic and 1998, when soldiers killed at least four Mus- 100 books and two magazines) as well as the Christian relations (sirac, struggle is used) in lims in Dar es Salaam. Selling or even quoting Iranian cultural centres in the capitals. At the Eastern Africa, published in 1999. Also in Ara- the book in Tanzania is forbidden. From the different branches of the Ahmadiya sects the A bookshop S w a h i l i bic, but still extremely popular, is Hidayatul- non-local English works, a small selection was first Swahili translation of the Qur’an and i n Dar es Salaam. During the fieldwork process a collection atfal, written by Mazrui from Mombasa. This made, mainly of works printed in India. This many other books can be obtained, although was made of both local productions and book on fiqh and other general Islamic topics category is therefore far from representative. very few written by local scholars. Their news- works translated into Swahili. Polemical and has been introduced in the madrassas both in It is not easy to find bookshops. After clos- paper, Mapenzi ya Mungu, contains interest- apologetic works were abundantly available Kenya and Tanzania and is extensively quoted ing time, they can hardly be recognized be- ing data, especially on religious polemics. in this language. Also the works on sexuality by many Muslims. In footnotes the author hind their iron gates. Even during opening and biographies of prophets are very popular. refers frequently to local, ‘incorrect’ practices. hours there is no sign indicating the com- Gerard C. van de Bruinhorst is currently a Ph.D. Books on magic, however, are still published In order to gain more insight into the inex- modities that are sold inside. The mosque candidate at the ISIM. (and apparently sold) in Arabic. The collection pensive popular literature, the imported Ara- turned out to be a good place to start. During E-mail: [email protected]

A D V E R T I S E M E N T I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Features 7

Production of Knowledge SOPHIE BAVA The Mouride Dahira

Mouridism is a contemporary Sufi religious move- ment originating in Senegal at the end of the 19t h century. Its founder, Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba, was exiled several times by the colonizers, who saw the between Marseille movement as a danger to their enterprise. Initially trained in prayer and in working in the fields in the d a a r a1 and pioneers in the cultivation and sale of groundnuts in Senegal, the Mouride t a a l i b é s ( d i s c i- ples) became great merchants. The drought of the and Touba 1970s led them to organize new economic activities, notably those related to commerce, initially in Dakar The Mouride religious practices (recitations of the k h a s s a ï d e s, z i k h r Marseille and with the future of their chil- and later in the cities to which they migrated. e n t e r p r i s e sessions, organization of Mouride events dren. For them, the d a h i r a must provide a The Mouride economic enterprise that such as the m a g a l festival, receiving sheikhs, means through which their children can re- Today Mouride migrants, found all over the was organized in various countries is the etc.), towards social monitoring of the Sene- main informed about Mouridism and world, lead a transnational commercial net- point of departure of yet another enterprise galese in France and towards the possibility through which they can maintain ties with work that is linked to the brotherhood net- – a religious one – which de-localized and of having a place to meet and exchange their culture – thus a simultaneously reli- work (Mouridiyya) they transport to each city recomposed itself according to the fluidity goods, the d a h i r a today – while maintaining gious and cultural space that will remain of migration. The latter is executed by the of migrants and their migratory routes. their original functions – are increasingly should they (the parents) return to Touba. founding of d a h i r a.2 Circulating amongst These Mouride merchants in migration becoming cultural places: places where one They know many people in the local society several territories, these migrants transport stimulated both the constitution of places can transmit the history of Mouridism and and have always maintained links between knowledge and religious experience. A vital of worship abroad and the elaboration of the translated texts of Sheikh Ahmadou the Mouride d a h i r a and the local authorities question to be dealt with is how this knowl- decentralized (i.e. with respect to Touba) rit- Bamba to younger generations born in when the Mourides organize events. They edge actually circulates and how it is recom- uals. While the central authority of the France, to converts or to non-Mourides. In reproached the ‘old’ Mourides for not hav- posed between the local societies of the brotherhood is constantly called upon, the this framework, the youth (students in ing done so and for always speaking in places of migration and the holy city of initial initiative came from the migrants France) often take charge in debates on Wolof. They feel that in the face of this new T o u b a . themselves and from their need to maintain Mouridism and politics, Mouridism and sec- mission sent from Touba, the words of the a bond (spiritual and material) with the holy ularism, the commentaries of the k h a s s a ï d e s future president of the federation best ex- The birth of an economic city of Touba. Today the migrants readily of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba, Mouridism on press their views: ‘We should not fight Mouride territory transmit the religious and social knowledge the internet and other social issues, allow- against one another, that is what I told them The history of Marseille and the Sene- proper to Mouride migrants in Marseille to ing for the transmission and popularization [the ‘old’ Mourides]. Now we have to unite galese migrants is a very old one, dating their children and to the new t a a l i b é s. of Mouride religious thought. for an international cause and especially for back to the Senegalese infantrymen and sea- In recent years, only the major events have the children who are their future’. men who were generally recruited by mar- Evolution of the Marseille- remained a unifying force for the Mouride For the t a a l i b é migrants of Marseille, even itime companies during World War II. The T o u b a d a h i r a migrants in Marseille. The influx and number if they are capable of being here and there central quarters of Marseille were where the The Marseille-Touba d a h i r a ,3 found at the of Senegalese migrants have decreased, and at the same time, those who have their fam- Mouride Senegalese merchants were to set- centre of the small islet of Belsunce, was re- a power struggle between generations and ilies with them are more or less anchored in tle in the 1960s and 1970s. Here they joined ferred to by the Senegalese in the 1980s as over social and religious status has begun to France, mainly because of their children. the retired seaman and infantrymen, and the the ‘Darou Salam’ of Marseille.4 This d a h i r a play a role. According to the initiators of the The question is one of adapting the Mouride recently arrived African labourers, a situation was the result of one group of Mouride mer- d a h i r a, who are younger but more educated: religious system in such a way that the mi- that offered the merchants a base for their chants anxious to have one central place for ‘The elders only dealt with the prayers and grants are accepted as much by the Mou- c o m m e r c e . p r a y e r ,5 a place at which they could also the readings of the k h a s s a ï d e s,8 but the rest ride hierarchy as by the mayor of Marseille. The majority of the Senegalese migrants gather to organize debates, meetings, and was not well organized.’ The current problem of the migrants is the arriving in Marseille during this period were dhikr s e s s i o n s ,6 host passing marabouts, After an incident in the organization of a difficulty in giving sense to their migration, merchants who alternated between ambu- hold the m a g a l ,7 and exchange both mater- visit by Sérigne Mourtada Mbacké in Sep- that is, in integrating the global Mouride re- lating sales during the tourist season and ial and spiritual goods. The d a h i r a, a simple tember 2000, the members of the d a h i r a ligious project with the migrant culture and labouring in the textile factories of Marseille room in an apartment, was created in the found themselves mandated by the brother- their dynamic, mobile way of living their re- during the low season. These merchants, liv- early 1980s. Every Sunday evening the mer- hood to provide better organization. If this ligion with their local reality. ing between a mobile and sedentary exis- chants ritually united for prayer. The young was not obeyed, the sheikh would never tence, comprised the great majority. During merchants who had initiated the project come again. Sérigne Mourtada is the son of the 1980s some of them became whole- conferred the management of the d a h i r a, Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba and brother of the salers or (immobile) merchants, furnishing after a few generation-conflicts but also be- current caliph, and the fact that he circulates N o t e s their more mobile colleagues with merchan- cause they were too mobile, to the eldest of between the different cities of migration 1 . A d a a r a is a Maraboutic agricultural community in dise. It is thus that a network was organized the Mourides, who considered themselves makes him a sort of guarantor of the conti- which one learns the Qu’ran in addition to amongst cities in Europe, Africa, and later the most legitimate for the task. nuity and legitimacy of the various spaces working in the fields. America and Asia. Within these economic During the last 30 years in France, these invested by members of the brotherhood. 2 . The dahira is an association that groups Mouride networks, in addition to the common affilia- structures of hosting t a a l i b é s (the d a h i r a) disciples either on the basis of Marabout tion to the brotherhood, a logic can be deci- have changed. Not only have the spaces From the d a h i r a t o allegiances or on the basis of the location at which Taalibés a w a i t i n g phered in the circulation, the inter-relational been transformed, expanded, and modern- t h e f e d e r a t i o n they are found. Sérigne Mourtada and transnational network, and the relation- ized, their very functions have also evolved. Following these events, those who had 3 . In Marseille there is a central d a h i r a, the Marseille- at the train station ship between territories, juridical systems, While their services were originally directed created the d a h i r a decided to take affairs Touba d a h i r a, and other d a h i r a formed on the in Marseille. and other non-Mouride individuals. towards perpetuating the Mouride religious back into their own hands and to found a basis of Marabout allegiances. federation of all the d a h i r a in the south of 4 . Considered the most important Mouride village France. This implied 24 d a h i r a, which meant (outside of Africa) after Touba. The very fact that approximately 3000 people, the seat of this name is used indicates a way of expanding which would be in Marseille. The setting up Mouride territory by conferring a sacred meaning of the federation is very interesting to ob- to it. serve as we can witness negotiations be- 5 . In general, the Mourides prefer to pray amongst tween Mouride merchants and students, themselves at the d a h i r a rather than at the alone or with their families in France: in m o s q u e . short, groups that have neither similar plans 6 . D h i k r: lit. r e c o l l e c t i o n . for the future nor the same understanding 7 . M a g a l: festival that celebrates an important event of the brotherhood. in the brotherhood. The most important m a g a l The first are the oldest merchants, who commemorates the departure into exile of the live alone in Marseille and for whom the brotherhood’s founder, Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba, d a h i r a is a place that above all should allow and is accompanied annually by a pilgrimage. for the development of Sheikh Ahmadou 8 . K h a s s a ï d e s: poems authored by Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba’s work abroad and comprise a link B a m b a . with the holy city of Touba, but should also be a place worthy of hosting Mouride This article is an extract of a paper given at the ISIM events. For them, leaving a legacy in France in April 2000. is of utmost importance, even if they focus strongly on Touba. Sophie Bava is a Ph.D. candidate in the religious The others are those at the origin of the anthropology of urban migration at the EHESS of d a h i r a who brought their families over, and Marseille, France. who are preoccupied today with settling in E-mail: [email protected] 8 Features I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Production of Knowledge GERDIEN JONKER Connecting Muslim

Germany is becoming a multi-faith society at a rapid pace. The influx of foreign workers and a liberal poli- cy towards fugitives and asylum-seekers made Islam the third religious force of the country. As immigrants K n o w l e d g e become citizens, the Muslim faith is slowly being in- stitutionalized. In public discourse arguments flare up, exposing a deeply felt contrariety between the Christian and Muslim faiths. On the part of the Ger- man general public, Muslim claims to particularity to the German School (places for prayer in schools, separation for biology instruction) meet with resistance, as Muslim activity is suspected of serving political, not religious aims. Questions are being publicly raised as to whether Muslim communities should be forced to adopt cul- S y s t e m tural ideals such as gender equality. The educational system offers a stage on which this battle over differ- Muslim communities who wish to play a gether. In the light of the German legisla- plans and discusses particulars with those ence is acted out. part in public schooling have to adapt to tion, all Muslim communities have remained present. Core issues comprise inter-reli- this legal frame. This is accelerated by the underdeveloped in terms of religious orga- gious co-existence, flexibility in gender is- way legislation is put into practice. As state nization. The law expects religious commu- sues, individual rights and abstinence from money and responsibility is involved, the or- nities to develop interior differentiation and political goals. As the Federation continues ganizational model and educational con- to form expert groups, this being the only to cooperate with Milli Görüsh, doubts of its tent are heavily scrutinized by the court. way in which state institutions are able to ability to solve these issues slow down pro- Judges pose questions to determine cooperate on educational designs. c e d u r e s . whether an organization is really a religious In November 1998, the Berlin court decid- In this way, a proposal for religious in- community, whether it is able to cooperate ed upon nominal inclusion of the local Islam- struction – the outcome of internal religious with institutions of the state, and whether ic Federation into the school system. The Is- considerations – is being put to test by edu- the content is genuinely a product of reli- lamic Federation is a single-purpose organi- cational and religious experts, politicians gious tradition (and not a result of political zation with the aim of providing the means and administrators who do not necessarily or ideological indoctrination). Particularly for collective religiosity. It lays claim to rep- belong to the religious community in- the last question shows a bias, one that has resenting all Berlin Muslims. As in other Mus- volved. Of course other candidates, Jews, prevented Muslim organizations from en- lim organizations, individual membership is Mormons, Unitarians, and Humanists, now tering the educational system to this day. rather low but the board of the Federation teaching in state schools were also ques- In fact, the intricacies of German jurisdic- mirrors a wide spectrum of Muslim religiosi- tioned prior to admission. Questions aim to tion on the freedom of religion present only ty in this city. Out of the 71 mosques, 53 – in- connect the school teachings of a particular part of the picture, the ongoing process of cluding the Shi’ite and the Kurdish Shafi’i – religious tradition to the mainstream of Ger- secularization comprising the other. Be- gave written testimony to the fact that they many – including its secular tradition, em- tween 1965 and 1999 the percentage of feel well represented by the Federation. The phasis on individual rights, or gender equal- churchgoers among the population of the Alevis of Berlin, however, deny the Federa- ity – which in itself comprises abstractions C a r d i n a l For Germany’s schools religious privatiza- former Bundesrepublik (West Germany) tion’s claim, as do all the Turkish citizen or- of diverse religious and ideological tradi- C z e r z i n s k i tion, as signalled by American scholars, dropped from 75% to less than 30%. And, as ganizations whose members as a rule do not tions and tendencies. As a consequence the receives different seems to be the only way to make Muslim the population of socialist Eastern Germany participate in mosque community life. How- predominantly Christian and secular mem- faith communities particularity socially acceptable. Some thirty had been discouraged from religion for two ever, the Islamic Federation does cooperate bers are in the position to define the main for tea, Berlin, years ago, Peter Berger observed in America entire generations, the total of non-practis- with the Milli Görüsh, a Turkish organization goals and methods. And where Muslims are February 2000. that the pluralization of religion inevitably ing Germans duly increased after re-unifica- that claims to sustain Muslim life in general concerned, non-Muslims often demonstrate led to the privatization of all religions.1 T h e tion. This development decreases the coun- and for that purpose has set up youth and a high degree of subjectivity. mechanism behind this societal re-adjust- try’s ability to speak about or even recog- women’s organizations within the Federa- For the representatives of the Islamic Fed- ment seemed to be motored by the wish to nize religious matters at hand. tion mosques. It also offers sustenance in eration, proceedings in the working group live together in peace. When speaking In public discourse, teachers unions, economic networking and organizes sum- bear the consequence that they are obliged about core religious questions in public, media and the majority of scholars as a rule mer schools and religious festivals. Kemal- to make adjustments in the educational plan people from different religious faiths have express distrust of religious communities ists, Alevis and the general German public and also in places where their following ex- begun to remodel their speech in order not and sometimes declare religiosity a form of demonstrate a strong distrust of the Milli pects clear religious instruction. To solve this to be offensive. Religious judgements have ignorance. When Muslim religiosity is at Görüsh because of its (former) association problem, the proposal now sometimes re- been transposed to a more abstract level, issue, many tend to see it as politics in dis- with the Islamist parties in Turkey. sorts to ‘humanist’ reasoning. Those respon- leaving the explicit religious component guise. Of course, there is a xenophobic com- As yet, the court decision has not yet been sible now distinguish between what is com- out. In public discourse, ‘hot’ topics like ponent in their distrust of Islam. This is rein- turned into practice. Because of its connec- municated to the community and what is abortion, pre-marital sex, and homosexuali- forced by representatives of various mi- tions to Milli Görüsh, the Federation has not communicated to ‘the outside world’, in- ty nowadays appear to be less under attack grant organizations that promote laicist been able to gain access to any of the Berlin cluding the public schools. Thus, whenever a on religious grounds. Rather, their legitima- views. Kemalists, Alevis and others continue schools. Moreover, it is still in the process of topic appears to be very sensitive – different cy is increasingly questioned with argu- to stress that Muslim religious organizations preparing teachers and schedules. Nonethe- treatment of the sexes, or headscarves – it ments that touch upon the supposed needs are a threat to democracy. Not surprisingly, less, the 1998 court decision was an incentive dissociates from strictly religious arguments of society as a whole.2 most Muslim religious organizations, but es- for Muslims all over the country to develop and points to the responsibility of the indi- pecially those that are involved in political educational plans and for local administra- vidual believer instead. A shift to the privati- The conditions issues in the home country – in this case tions to develop tools for communication. zation of religion can thus be seen taking its In the German Federal Republic the state Turkey – are suspected of serving the inter- Muslim organizations in Berlin, Hessen, course. In the long run, this shift may well maintains the lead in educational matters, est of Turkish political groups and conse- Northrhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden- connect Islamic knowledge to the German seeking cooperation with those religious quently are accused of being dishonest in Würthemberg, all agreeing upon the so- educational system, and through this to the communities that it acknowledges. In this their motives for teaching religion in school. called ‘Four plus One’ formula (Four Sunni acceptance of Islam. legislative arrangement, religious communi- Part of the media accuses them of under- law schools plus one Shi’a) but excluding ties are only responsible for religious con- cover extremism and indoctrination.3 Alevis and Ahmadiyya, now have produced tent. Everything else remains the responsibil- Churches, on the contrary, increasingly seek proposals for educational programmes. Fur- ity of the state. Bremen and Berlin are excep- contact with Muslim organizations, seeing thermore, administrations of these states N o t e s tions as these two states have taken steps to them as natural allies in presenting religious organized informal working groups as fu- 1 . Berger, Peter (1969), A Rumour of Angels: Modern confer religious communities the full respon- viewpoints in the public sphere. ture instruments for cooperation. In Berlin, Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural, sibility for religious instruction in state proceedings seem to be well under way. Its Garden City NY: Doubleday, p. 153. schools including the organization of teacher The Berlin case law on freedom of religion, being different 2 . Hammond, Phillip E. (2000), The Dynamics of training and the development of pedagogi- Germany counts 3.2 million Muslims, the from that of other states, allowed more Religious Organisations, Oxford: Oxford University cal methods. The state supplies material and majority of which are of Turkish descent room for religious partners. Press, p. 6. financial support by providing buildings, (75%), predominantly adhering to the Sun- The Berlin Working Group (of which the 3 . The dominant positions are presented in heating and electricity and pays 80% of the nite (Hanifi rite) school. Due to a high con- author is part) was established early in 2000 Schreiner, Peter and Wulff, Karen (eds) (2001), teachers’ salaries. After re-unification, most centration of immigrants from southeast and consists of members of the Islamic Fed- Islamischer Religionsunterricht. Ein Lesebuch, former socialist states decided that religious Anatolia, in Berlin the picture differs. As a eration, representatives of Christian and Münster: Comenius Institut. instruction should be once more the respon- rule Kurds follow the Shafi’i rite and approx- Jewish teacher training programmes, repre- sibility of the state, with the exception of imately 30% of all Kurds and Turks living in sentatives of the State School Authority, Dr Gerdien Jonker, Philipps University, Marburg, Brandenburg where religious instruction was this city adhere to the Alevi rite, which is a politicians and scholars. In its meetings the G e r m a n y . banished from public schools altogether. different brand of Muslim religiosity alto- Islamic Federation explains its educational E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Features 9

Production of Knowledge KRISZTINA KEHL-BODROGI Alevis in Germany

In the past decade, Alevis in Germany have stressed their distinctness mainly in terms of culture when ne- gotiating with the majority society. Since recently, however, an increased emphasis on religion can be On the Way to observed, which is not so much due to a regained strength of religiosity. It is rather a response to changed public discourses and an adjustment to the prevailing legal and institutional conditions. In Ger- many, the issue of immigration has been treated in Public Recognition? terms of cultural difference since long ago, the reli- gious identity of the mainly Muslim immigrants hav- the demand for religious instruction may In the diaspora, there is a strong tendency ment of religious issues. ‘Listening to them, ing nearly no impact on integration policy. Yet since appear surprising. to situate Alevism outside of Islam and even we become only more confused’, is a fre- the end of the 1990s, when attention was drawn to Indeed, the generating spirit behind the to underestimate its character as a r e l i g i o u s quent complaint. In this situation, members fundamentalist tendencies among the Muslim youth, current mobilization appears to be the de- community. In an inquiry on the most impor- of the highly secularized ‘laity’ are taking on the religious dimension of immigration has been sire for the recognition of their collective tant features of Alevism recently made by the job of creating a new Alevi theology. brought to the fore. identity, stigmatized under the Ottomans the AABF, the majority voted for social as- However, due to ideological and political di- and officially denied in the Turkish Republic. pects; the ‘fight against injustice’, ‘high es- vergences among the associations, reach- Public debates on the implications of the Is- Of equal importance is the will to delimitate teem for Man’ and ‘gender equality’ ranking ing a consensus remains a difficult task. lamic presence in Germany gained a new themselves from, and to not be placed at a foremost. Religious issues such as the image Nonetheless, the joint struggle for recogni- impetus when – for the first time – a high disadvantage with respect to, their Sunni of the Deity or rituals came far behind. The tion has already managed to bring together court decision in February 2000 granted an co-immigrants. An observation recently inferior role of religion corresponds with the competing organizations: It lead to the Islamic organization (Islamic Federation made during a podium discussion orga- lack of religious education in the associa- putting aside of internal debates in order to Berlin) legal recognition as a religious com- nized by an Alevi association in Duisburg tions, with the consequence that the youth reach an agreement on outward represen- munity. According to the regulations, this may illustrate the prevailing attitude: While is highly ignorant of the traditional belief tation of Alevism as a branch of Islam. An organization now retains the right to give the opinion that religion should be kept out system. Yet the Alevis increasingly recognize agreement has yet to be reached concern- religious instruction at public schools. Since of school was met with great approval, all that religion – as the smallest common de- ing the contents of this future religious in- then, Islamic instruction has become a cen- those present stressed that if Sunnis are nominator – is the only bracket with which s t r u c t i o n . tral issue of the integration policy. granted the right to religious instruction, the community can be kept together. Lack- In the meantime, a textbook on Alevism the Alevis should strive for it as well. Fur- ing knowledge of the ‘path’, it is feared, the has been published in Germany, co-pro- Alevi response thermore, recognition of the Alevi commu- youth could experience a loss of identity as duced by an immigrant teacher and a promi- The Alevis reacted promptly to this high nity in Germany could also have an impact they find it difficult to maintain distinctness nent Alevi writer in Turkey.* As it circum- court decision. Already three months later, within Turkey. As one of the diaspora cadres in a secular society in which they define vents awkward themes such as the deifica- the largest Alevi association in Berlin had put it: ‘Our most urgent duty is to fight for themselves merely in terms of the Enlighten- tion of Ali or the widespread Alevi denial of applied for recognition as a religious com- legalization. Alevi religious instruction is a ment. Regarding the lack of transmission of the divine nature of the Qur’an, the book munity and for the establishment of lessons first step. If we succeed, Turkey can not con- knowledge within the community, it is presents a picture of Alevism denuded of its in Alevism at school. Since then, on behalf of tinue to deny our distinctness.’ Yet the new hoped that religious instruction at school most heterodox features. But even then, the associated organizations, the Federation of emphasis on religion is not merely strategic; will fill the gap left behind by the breakdown book provoked the protest of the Turkish au- Alevi Communities in Germany (AABF) it refers to inter-community developments of traditional institutions. thorities, claiming that it shows Alevis to be made similar applications to the ministries as well. of an ‘other belief’ (than Islam). This inter- in four other federal states. If Islamic instruc- How to teach Alevism? vention pointed to the political dimension of tion is introduced, Alevis argue, the inter- Alevism in the diaspora There is no tradition of institutionalized the possible recognition of Alevism in Ger- ests of their children too must be taken into Though since the 1960s Alevis are present learning in Alevism. In the past, the teach- many. Kurdish Alevis, on the other hand, crit- account. Analogous to denominational in large numbers in Germany, until the end ings were handed down orally within differ- icized the book’s strong Turkish nationalist Christian instruction, there should not be of the 1980s they did not appear in the pub- ent Holy Lineages and passed on to the dis- attitude. These debates may be a foretaste only one type of Islamic instruction. In fact, lic eye as a distinct community. They were ciples in special ceremonies held a few of the future clashes over the syllabus to be separate instruction should exist for Sun- organized on the basis of political affiliation, times per year. Due to the orality and the presented to the German authorities in nism and Alevism. ranging from social democracy to the radi- often divergent traditions held by the Holy order to gain formal recognition. In this reasoning, Alevism clearly appears cal left. The lack of community-based orga- Lineages, it is difficult to speak of a single Due to the legal and institutional condi- as an Islamic denomination. Considering nizations reflected the decline of Alevism as and coherent system of beliefs in Alevism. tions of the host society – particularly state the unsettled debates in the Alevi diaspora a result of migration to the urban centres of Yet this is exactly what is required today. In recognition of religions – the Alevi politics A first Alevi over such a classification, as well as the Turkey – and subsequently to the West. The order to gain recognition as a religious com- of identity gained a new impetus in Ger- textbook for rather secular attitude of the majority of its decline was also accelerated by a state poli- munity, the Alevis have to furnish proof of a many. Yet as the requirements for recogni- c h i l d r e n . members, the unanimous Alevi support of cy unfavourable to the maintenance of het- binding religious authority, and a consensus tion are basically derived from the Christian erodox traditions. The outcome has been a in dogma and belief. So as to succeed in the tradition of Germany, adjustment to them nearly complete breakdown of the social-re- current negotiations over religious instruc- will undoubtedly cause further transforma- ligious structures and a halt to the transmis- tion, a syllabus has to be presented: A first tions in Alevism, the results of which are at sion of the esoteric teachings from one gen- draft, prepared by the Commission for Reli- the moment unforeseeable. Until now eration to the next. Highly influenced by gious Instruction of the AABF, was declared Turkey has been the intellectual centre of Marxism, the generation of the 1960s reject- inadequate by the authorities and was negotiations over Alevism. Thus not even ed religion, the guardians of which, the Holy given back for further specifications. De- half a per cent of the hundreds of books Men, thus lost their function and authority. spite setbacks, the production of a basic written by Alevis on Alevism in the last 15 The rediscovery of Alevi identity began in textbook of Alevism is breaking new years is the product of the diaspora. But be- the mid-1980s as a result of the worldwide ground. Until now there has not been any cause the teaching of Alevism at school in decline of the Left and the emergence of Is- conscious and organized effort to system- Germany is nearly at hand – in Turkey it is lamism, which aggravated the historical atize and unify the diverse traditions of the still out of sight – the focus could very well Sunni-Alevi tensions in Turkey as well as community. Diasporic Alevism is thus be shifted to the diaspora. abroad. The foundation of the first commu- putting itself under pressure to develop a nity-based association in 1989 in Hamburg teachable religion in order to meet the legal was the prelude to Alevi organizations all r e q u i r e m e n t s . over Turkey and Europe, which have be- One of the problems to be solved refers to come the backbone of an ethno-political that of authority. The AABF Commission movement striving for public recognition. consists of secular-oriented former leftists, Today, in Germany alone there are some all but one belonging to the ‘laity’. As it can 150 associations, the majority being com- be concluded from the references given in bined in the AABF. Only a few of the associ- the above-mentioned syllabus, they tend to ations show a clear religious orientation, depend on works written by Western schol- most having preserved their indifference to- ars on Alevism, rather than on personal ex- wards religion. Among the latter, the pre- periences or the knowledge of the Holy N o t e dominating view is that of Alevism as a ‘cul- Men. The latter, though nowadays increas- * Celal Aydemir/CemalS ¸ e n e r (2000), Alevilik Dersleri, ture’, based on democracy, humanism, and ingly demanding a greater say in the affairs H ü c k e l h o v e n . equality of men and women. The term ‘cul- of the associations, are not likely to regain ture’ is understood here as being in opposi- their former influence. They are often seen Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi is a lecturer at the tion to religion, which is associated with as old-fashioned, dealing with issues alien Department of Comparative Religion, University of backwardness and fundamentalism, and to the youth. In addition, the Holy Men have Bremen, Germany. particularly with orthodox Islam. maintained the divergence in their treat- E-mail: [email protected] 1 0 Art & Literature I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Islamist Discourse MOHAMED ABUSABIB Political Islam

The place and definition of art as a human practice have proved to be a thorny problem – in theory and in practice – for Muslim thinkers, old and new, mod- erates and fanatics alike. The views of both parties a n d the Arts are well known, but two features of the problem are of special concern to this essay: the relationship be- tween Islamic teachings and the actual human in- volvement with the arts as an integral cultural activi- ty; and the practical political move taken by the Is- The Sudanese Experience lamists to tackle this problem. Here, the Sudanese case is significant in two respects. It is the first time risprudence, as he perceives it, is what he society to values of religiousness to be direct- personalities is now quite frequent. Another that the Islamist movement has seized power in a terms the ‘method of jurisprudence princi- ed towards the grace of God in the here- version of vandalism is that some brain- dominantly Sunnite, Arab League member state, and ples’, in the sense that the jurisconsults a f t e r .3 washed singers declared their ‘repentance for it is also an African country that exhibits in its politi- should not build on absolute legal opinions This constitutional formulation is, in fact, a singing’ and sought to recover and destroy cal, social and cultural texture all that has rightly ac- about special cases. He exemplifies this by codification of administrative measures that their previous records. Even more serious is quired it the description of African microcosm.1 the following principles: were already put into effect by the regime in the type of official vandalism practised by the its first years. The appointment of loyalists to Islamist authorities. The director of the cultur- leading positions in art institutions, universi- al section of Sudan television has stated that ties and the mass media, the banning of liter- ‘[t]he banning of some songs is in accordance ary and art unions such as The Sudanese Writ- with the general policy of the state to estab- ers Association, and the formation of an alter- lish genuine creative works of art and culture native organization expected to play a central and purge them of all blemish.’4 role in promoting religious art, are some ex- Finally, terrifying rumours were widespread amples of these measures. The outcome in- in the mid-1980s that the Islamist establish- cludes a sharp decline in the quantity and ment, in collaboration with the Minister of quality of artistic production in the country, Culture and Information in the Cabinet of and the voluntary or forced immigration of Sadiq al-Mahdi of the Ansar sect, was consid- artists to other countries. According to estima- ering the elimination of the Sudanese archae- tions of the Musicians Union, more than 200 ological heritage assembled in the National singers and professional musicians left the Museum. He backed down only after local Sudan in the first years of the regime. The ma- and international bodies started to move. jority of qualified teaching staff in art institu- tions either were dismissed or forced into early The aesthetic dimension retirement, or chose to resign instead of toler- The Islamist discourse on art reflects a kind ating unacceptable educational policies of the of epistemological arrogance. The vast knowl- so-called Islamization of the arts. In general, edge accumulated by the humanities and so- the culture of parasitism with its sophisticated cial sciences in this area is simply ignored. The politics, which is now deeply rooted in Su- Islamists so easily abstract culture into religion danese political life, has already tainted the and then accommodate art to it after having it artistic field, and mediocre artists of every kind ‘purged of non-religious stuff’; hence taking a are now dominating the artistic scene. major risk as they hinge the whole project on a bid to transform art into a religious pursuit. The ideological dimension And while as predicted they failed to create The ideological aspect of this Islamist pro- the ‘religious artist’, they did not anticipate The vampire. Sudanese societies, under the present Is- – The making of beauty is sanctioned by the gramme is significant in many respects. Firstly, the consequences of their policies. lamist rule, have come to experience an ex- Sharica. the place of Al-Turabi in the Islamist move- It follows that the role of art as a multi-pur- treme form of entanglement of the three – The creation of beauty should be directed ment is likely to turn his vision on art into a pose component of culture deeply rooted in major components of culture: politics, reli- to the worship of God. ‘classical’ reference for political Islam not only the social realities of the people is irrelevant gion and the arts. In the early 1980s Dr Has- – Whatever distracts from the worship of God in the Sudan, but in other Muslim societies as to the Islamist paradigm. In the African con- san al-Turabi, the Islamist ideologue and is nullity and if it contradicts worshipping it is well, particularly in Africa given the relations text, the question of art simply transcends a leader of the National Islamic Front (NIF), laid forbidden. and contacts the Sudanese movement has al- wearisome jurisprudential wrangling over the theoretical foundation and suggested – The greatest sins in Islam are polytheism, ready established with them. Secondly, it is Qur’anic texts and Prophetic Tradition on art. the practical guidelines for what he con- worship of idols and embodiment of glorifica- the first time that a fundamentalist jurispru- As manifested in the practices of Muslim and strued as true Islamic involvement in the tion, such as statues of leaders and prominent dential opinion is unequivocally incorporated non-Muslim Sudanese, art is an integral part artistic phenomenon.2 Those guidelines personalities. by the Islamist movement into a comprehen- of a cosmological outlook. It is instrumental in were put into practice by the present gov- Then Al-Turabi suggests some guidelines for sive political agenda. Hence it enables the the preservation, promotion and enrichment ernment after the military coup of 1989, how these principles can be implemented: state to try to use the artistic medium in its of the life of the community, as well as in re- which brought the NIF to power. – It is possible to unite and blend religious strategy to impose a pan-Islamic identity on solving delicate socio-cultural and psycho- The baseline in Al-Turabi’s discourse on and artistic practices because both of them the multicultural and multi-religious Su- logical situations, thus helping both the art is the doctrine of unicity, t a w h i d, a s t h e are symbolic practices aiming at transcend- danese society. Thirdly, the Khatmiyya and the group and individuals maintain a healthy and main Islamic principle that determines the ing world realities to reach a higher ideal. Ansar sects, which form part of the Sudanese balanced way of life. place and meaning of beauty and art. Citing – Art can be deployed as an effective ideo- religious institution and still play a major role the Qur’anic verse, ‘We have decked the logical vehicle. in Sudanese politics, never attempted this N o t e s earth with all manner of ornaments to test – In the first stages of Islamic jihad and revo- kind of theorization on art. They are Sufi or- 1 . Sudan is home to more than 500 ethnic groups, mankind and to see who would acquit him- lution all artistic resources must be deployed ders that turned into political sectarianism speaking about 132 languages. The country self best’ (18: 7), he describes beauty and art for the sake of God. and adopted conservative visions and rightist comprises a mixture of Muslims, Christians and as seductive and distracting from God, and – Inherited jurisprudence on art is to be re- policies without having any elaborate political followers of African religions. states that we either indulge in them or considered. or cultural programme, something that has 2 . Al-Turabi, Hasan (1983), ‘Hiwar al-Din wa al-Fan’ transcend them. He regards art as a sensu- – The present traditional and modern artistic made it possible for a more intellectual Is- (Dialogue of Religion and Art), Majallat al-Fikr al- ous reaction incompatible with rationality practices are to be re-evaluated because they lamist movement to try to fill in the gap in re- I s l a m i, No. 1, Khartoum: The Islamic Culture Group, and conscious devoutness to God; like rule, carry pre-Islamic (jahili) values as well as ills of ligious discourse on art. And, the very nature pp. 41-64. economy and sex it is lustful; it is free, unruly Western civilization. and history of the Sudanese Sufi institution do 3 . Draft constitution of the Republic of the Sudan, and far from being an objective system or a – There should be a creation of the religious not allow for such jurisprudential interference the authenticated English translation of the Arabic social function that serves the general wel- artist who would be able to produce ‘true Is- in such delicate cultural matters. version (1998), p. 2. f a r e . lamic art’. Another ideological aspect is that the initial 4 . From an interview with the director of the cultural But art, as he puts it, occupies a wide space tying of artistic creation to the Islamic princi- section, Al-Fajr Newspaper, No. 1, 14 May 1997, in modern society and thus should not be ig- Practical measures ple of unicity is designed to curb its capacity L o n d o n . nored. If it is handled properly, he maintains, The Islamist strategy is to have the entire as an effective critical tool. Also, if art is to be it can open a door for religiousness en- artistic enterprise monopolized, manipulat- based on this principle then any opposition Dr Mohamed Abusabib is a practising artist and hanced by the magnetic effect of beauty. ed and transformed into a religious practice. to measures associated with this conception former teacher of art and aesthetics at Sudan To solve this problem, Al-Turabi adopts a In part one, article 12, under ‘Sciences, Art must eventually lead to its antithesis – that is, University of Sciences and Technology, Sudan. pragmatist approach. He criticizes the lega- and Culture’ and article 18 under ‘Religious- heresy. He is currently a researcher at the Department of cy of Islamic jurisprudence on art for being ness’, the constitution of 1998 affirms the But one serious ideological consequence is Aesthetics and Cultural Studies at Uppsala indolent, negative, and tending to repel the commitment of the state to encourage all the phenomenon of vandalism. Destruction University, Sweden. artist from religion. The alternative to this ju- forms of art and strenuously seek to elevate of sculptural works and statues of historical E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Art & Literature 11

C o u n t e r - d i s c o u r s e s CHRISTÈLE DEDEBANT ’Mughal Mania’

As the first nation created as a religious asylum, Pak- istan has a short but tormented history of fifty-four years, half of which was controlled by a military regime. Founded in the name of ‘Islam in danger’ by under Zia ul-Haq Muhammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), Pakistan official- ly elected Islam as the religion of the state in 1973, Pakistani society responded to the state nudes is compulsory as a part of the curricu- questions the state’s propaganda, became during the tenure of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928-1979), Islamization process at different levels. lum, the NCA was considered to be at the an extremely powerful force during Zia’s the first popularly elected Prime minister of the coun- Some – extremely vocal – women’s groups, forefront of ‘westernization’. Hence the im- t i m e . try. Bhutto was arrested and hanged by general Zia intellectuals and journalists spoke out portance of this concept of ‘endangered Is- It is ironic that more than 150 years after the ul-Haq (1928-1988). While the Islamization rhetoric of against the policies, but among them were lamic tradition of miniature art’ vocally pro- collapse of Muslim rule, the empire or (the Bhutto was characterized by its mixture of socialism, also animators of the media scene (dancers, moted by the teachers from the 1980s on- vestiges of the empire) struck back in certain nationalism and populism, the discourse of Zia ul- painters, music bands, fashion designers, wards. However, the students, especially the Pakistani media. Now, this consumption and Haq appeared to be of a much more straightforward etc.). The latter is a universe which, as a mat- current generation of graduates, are more reconstruction of the past is in accordance military-Islamist type. In opposition to his rule, a ter of fact, cannot do much without women than keen to shake the model of reference. with what Hobsbawm has described as the counter-discourse developed in which Mughal her- or the image of women. It was in the 1980s, While portraits of the ‘Great Mughals’ (Je- ‘invention of tradition’. Admittedly these me- itage was revived. at the zenith of Zia’s dictatorship, that the hangir, Shah Jahan, etc.) are still produced, diatic spheres were – consciously or uncon- trope of the Mughal Empire, or rather a spe- exhibited and sold, and the production tech- sciously – bypassing the censorship board Without going deep into details of the selec- cific reflection of the lost Mughal splendour, nique is as close as possible to the original, (which the Islamists successfully invested in tive brand of Islamization the state promot- became a kind of passage obligé for a certain the graduates from the miniature depart- the 1980s) by using a historically defined, pro- ed, let us say that the regime was above all a section of the media. ment have also produced a great deal of fane, mundane, but nonetheless resolutely Is- dictatorship: eleven years of military rule It should be noted here that the Timurid avant-garde or engagé work. For example, the lamicate register. The concept of Islamicate, (1977-1988) that ended only with Zia ul- dynasty, widely known as the ‘Mughal’ dy- miniature entitled ‘Stitched to Order’ (Sadir as coined by Hodgson, implies a repertoire Haq’s death. Zia’s Islamization programme nasty, founded by Babur in the mid-16t h Amin, 2000) reads as a critique of develop- ‘referring not directly to the religion, Islam it- was mainly twofold: Firstly, it comprised a century, dominated India politically until ment programmes for women, which identi- self, but to the social and cultural complex deliberate attempt at reforming selective as- the 18t h century and culturally up to 1857 fied the sewing machine as the key to eman- historically associated with Islam and Mus- pects of the penal code inherited from the (which marked the Sepoy Mutiny). But by cipation. lims, both among Muslims themselves and British through the Hudood Ordinances the second half of the 19t h century, effective even when found among non-Muslims’. As he (1979), the Law of Evidence (1984) and the Mughal power was no more than a memory. The empire strikes back rightly puts it, ‘[…] much of what […] Muslims Blasphemy Law (1986). It was then a kind of What is now considered Pakistan was then During the Zia years, the fashion scene have done as a part of the “Islamic” civiliza- juridical b r i c o l a g e that tended to harm at the periphery of Mughal India, the heart went through a tremendous change as well. tion can only be characterized as “un-Islamic” above all women and religious minorities. of which was Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra If ‘truly Islamic’ calligraphy was the regime’s in the […] religious sense of the word’.3 And Secondly, it used propaganda through the (located in present-day India). The flamboy- motto in the art scene, the anti-sari campaign indeed, against the constant criticisms of media (television, radio, and schoolbooks) in ant exception was Lahore, which for 13 (the sari being seen as Hindu and non-Islam- westernization and violation of tradition, the favour of religious education, Arabization years (1585-1598) was the main seat of the ic in origin) as well as anti-Western dress pro- strategy displayed by the animators of the (Zia ul-Haq himself put on an Arabic accent 1 6t h-century Great Moghul Akbar (1542- paganda (Western dress being seen as re- media scene paid off (and to a certain extent when he was speaking in Urdu), sanctity of 1605) and one of the major imperial cities pugnant to tradition) were very active in the still does). the mosque, canonical Islam, and women’s during the Mughal period. 1980s. In the glamorous fashion scene, the Beyond the fear of the censor’s scissors, in modesty (veiling, restriction of the image of glittering splendours of the lost empire were a young nation like Pakistan (the r a i s o n women in commercials and cinema). During The ‘Mughal miniature’ particularly revived, but not of course with- d ’ ê t r e of which is still a matter of polemic) the 1980s, Pakistan’s national television was The most prestigious art school in Pak- out a heavy dose of eclecticism. In a country this inventive derivation of a prestigious notorious for John Wayne movies: a ho- istan, the National College of Arts (NCA, a where the vestiges of Muslim grandeur are Muslim grandeur et décadence allows, in mosocial universe where, except for the sa- 1 9t h-century institution built by the British), more likely to be found next door (in India), Hobsbawm’s words again, ‘to establish con- Stitched to Order. loons, women were virtually absent. became one of the centres for the revival of Pakistani fashion designers created a fantas- tinuity with a suitable historic past’.4 T h e the Mughal nostalgia dur- tic repertoire where the intricate, so-called strategy has also become a quest. Through ing Zia ul-Haq’s era (when ‘Mughal’ embroidery (brocade, gold and silk) the media and artistic space, Pakistani cre- non-figurative art and cal- coexisted with a kind of pastoral evocation ators seem to have presented a more plural- ligraphy became the domi- and pseudo-mystical inspiration: colourful istic view of what being a Muslim and a Pak- nant ideological style). Mi- cotton peasant dress, ethnic jewellery and istani could mean. niature painting was the even the accessories of religious mendicants epitome of this attempt at (such as amulets ‘recycled’ as necklaces). In revival – not, of course, that short, at a time when, following (or compet- the reproduction and mer- ing with) the government rhetoric, Arab- chandising of the so-called style ca b a y a a n d h ija- b, Iranian-style cha- d a r, ‘Mughal miniature’ were and the South Asian tight and covering d u p- entirely new. In the 1970s, p ata- (veiling) became more and more visible for instance, under Zulfikar in public spheres, the urban fashion scene Ali Bhutto the reclamation was celebrating the flamboyance of the of traditional Mughal style Mughal court, the colours of the countryside became a part of the na- and the mystical light of the Sufi saints. Such tionalist rhetoric and the an outcome would be fruitfully evaluated N o t e s miniature was regarded as through the problematic of hybridization, or 1 . Whiles, Virginia, ‘Miniature Painting in Pakistan the perfect gift for visiting m é t i s s a g e as it recently has been developed T o d a y ’, lecture at the EHESS, Paris, 10 January d i g n i t a r i e s .1 But it was defi- in contemporary research.2 2 0 0 1 . nitely under the regime of Cosmetic though it may seem, this selec- 2 . See for example, Amselle, Jean-Loup (1990), Zia ul-Haq that ‘Mughal tive appropriation of the ‘ethnico-mystical- Logiques métisses, Anthropologie de l´identité en mania’ really took off at the historical’ register was very much in accor- Afrique et ailleurs, Paris: Payot; and Gruzinsky, NCA, where art was pro- dance with the strategy of certain oppo- Serge (1999), La pensée métisse, Paris: Fayard. moted as a major study, a nents to Zia’s regime. Against the central- 3 . Hodgson, Marshall G. S. (1974), The Venture of department in its own right. ized state-sponsored Islamization, many in- Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, The NCA, which is a semi- tellectuals opposed to Zia ul-Haq’s dictator- Vol: I, Chicago, pp. 57-59. See also Mukul Kesavan governmental institution, al- ship used the Sufi poets of the Sind and (1996), ‘Urdu, Awadh and the Tawaif: The ways stood as a bastion Punjab as a political device to show how Islamicate Roots of Hindi Cinema’, in Zoya Hassan of liberalism (or objection- much these figures of traditional Islam (or (ed.), Forging identities: Community, State and able laissez-faire, according traditional religiosity) had been the champi- Muslim Women, Karachi: Oxford University Press, to one’s convictions). It is a ons of the people’s cause and the adver- pp. 244-257. co-educational institution saries of tyranny. That this interpretation 4 . Hobsbawn, E. J and Ranger, T. (eds) (1983), T h e where the golden youth of might be somehow anachronistic and his- Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge the country mix freely, fe- torically inaccurate is not of concern here. University Press, p. 1. male students and teachers The purpose is to show how a kind of never donned the veil (even counter-discourse – advocating the periph- Christèle Dedebant wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on at the peak of Zia ul-Haq’s ery rather than the centre, pluralism rather the figureheads of the women’s condition in Pakistan regime); short hair (for girls), than a singular dogma, traditional mystical (EHESS, Paris). She is currently (2000-2001) a post- tight t-shirts and cigarettes poetry rather than universalist s h arı-ca – an doctoral fellow in the Working Group Modernity and are commonplace. In short, alternative way of presenting ‘authenticity’ Islam (AKMI), Berlin, Germany. in a milieu where study of which does not necessarily deny but rather E-mail: [email protected] 1 2 Art & Literature I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Orientalist Imagery REINA LEWIS C r o s s - c u l t u r a l

Cross-cultural dressing is usually seen as a Western activity, but elite Ottomans would have been by the end of the empire perfectly accustomed to wearing Western clothes – something which challenges cur- Dressing in the Late rent theories about cross-cultural dressing. The fol- lowing considers photographs of cross-cultural dressing in books written by two friends: the Ot- toman Zeyneb Hanum, who with her sister, Melek Hanum, collaborated with Pierre Loti on his novel, Ottoman Empire Les Désenchantées, and the English feminist and Turkophile, Grace Ellison. Zeyneb Hanum’s episto- Within Orientalism’s fantasy logic about the ‘native’ dress – her hair covered by a t c h a r- fects of their sojourn in Europe these pho- lary account, A Turkish Woman’s European Impres- forbidden harem, women writers could c h a f f, her face unveiled. The Ottoman clothes tographs work to maintain a sense of the au- s i o n s (1913), was edited by Ellison, whose own story claim an insider’s knowledge prohibited to are identified as ‘costume’, rendering ‘native’ thor’s Turkishness. It is, after all, the racialized of visits to Turkey, An Englishwoman in a Turkish Western men. But, as Ellison knew, associat- clothing as timeless and archaic rather than specificity of her gendered gaze on Europe H a r e m, appeared two years later in 1915. In both ing oneself with a realm so relentlessly sexu- as modern fashion, further endorsing the sit- which supports the rationale of the whole books the authors appear cross-culturally dressed, alized in the minds of the West was also ter’s racialized identification. book. So when we turn to photographs like yet the images register very differently. risky: ‘To the Western ear, to be staying in a Grace Ellison is identified as ‘the author’ at ‘Zeyneb in her Paris drawing room’ (see Turkish harem sounds alarming, and not a the head of the book, yet in another plate, photo), we have a mixture of the two – a visi- little – yes, let us confess it – improper’ (Elli- ‘An Englishwoman wearing a Yashmak’ (see bly Turkish woman in her Turkified room in son 1915, p. 2). Although this closeness to photo), the identity of the woman as well as the French capital. If the frontispiece to Elli- the object of study might prohibit a mode her face is allegedly veiled. But it is clearly son’s book, featuring her in ‘Turkish cos- of detached scientific neutrality otherwise Ellison and her face is still clearly visible, tume’, is designed to testify to the actuality desired by European women, Ellison wel- being only partly obscured by the y a s h m a k. of her visits to Turkish harems, the photo- comes the proximity permitted by cross-cul- If the logic of the veil is that one cannot graph which fronts Zeyneb Hanum’s book tural dressing when the privileges of pass- identify the wearer, why does the caption to shows her bringing the harem with her. ing gain her access to religious sites: ‘An Englishwoman wearing a Yashmak’ Being seen wearing a y a s h m a k in Paris identify the nationality or race of the subject proves her authenticity as a Turkish woman … now I am wearing a veil who can tell but not her name? Passing only makes in the way most easily recognizable to the whether I am Muslim or Christian?… [But] sense if it can be based on the transgression West. Unlike Ellison, who can leave it to cap- how could I, even as a veiled women, take my of clearly fixed boundaries of racial and cul- tions to distinguish her racialized identity, place amongst the women … I was just a lit- tural difference. So Ellison, secure in her po- Zeyneb Hanum’s book cannot start with any tle frightened; my action might be mistaken sition as an ‘Englishwoman’, can be thrilled hint of unreliability in its narrator. for irreverence. when she hoodwinks people into thinking Zeyneb Hanum’s identifications need to (Ellison 1915, pp.162-4) that she is Turkish, just as she plans to hood- be seen as performative, as identifications wink her readers who open the book ex- which, rather than being natural or innate, But she is all laughter at having fooled some pecting one thing (disreputable ‘smoking are constructed and understood through E u r o p e a n s . room’ tales of polygamy) and get another. the reiteration of socially and culturally rec- By presenting herself though photographs ognizable signs of difference. The com- Just before we reached our carriage I saw a and prose as willingly acculturated to Turk- pletely unnecessary wearing of the y a s h m a k dear friend… escorting some English visitors ish life, Ellison suggests the positive aspects in the frontispiece makes sense if we allow round… She recognised my voice, and I was of haremization and keys into a mode of sur- that the veil (in all its versions) is the ulti- introduced as a Turkish lady to my compatri- veillance based on invisible voyeurism. mate sign by which the Western consumer o t s . Whilst the book pictures elite Ottoman can distinguish the ‘Oriental’ woman from I felt just a little guilty at their delight in women’s adoption of Western fashions, Elli- the Occidental. Her knowing deployment of meeting a r e a l Turkish woman, but it was too son herself only appears à la turque. Her Orientalist imagery suggests a self-con- ▲ dangerous to undeceive them in those fanati- presence in English dress would be too anti- scious manipulation of Western cultural ’An Englishwoman cal surroundings. “And how well you speak exoticizing, would too much trouble the codes, since cross-cultural dressing would wearing a y a s h m a k English too!” they said. “English was the first transculturating drive of the book. have had a very different meaning for her in (veil)’, in Ellison language I spoke,” I answered truthfully. I an Ottoman context. There, Western com- 1915. By p e r m i s s i o n ’Zeyneb in her wonder whether Miss A. ever told them who I European harems modities were seen as part of a continuum of the British Library Paris Drawing- r e a l l y w a s ? The reverse side of cross-cultural dressing of goods, the value of which was concerned (shelfmark 10125 room’, in Zeyneb (Ellison 1915, p.169, my emphasis) is illustrated by Zeyneb Hanum. Offering a as much with rarity as with ideas of cultural b b 3 2 ) . Hanum 1913. cogent criticism of the limitations of West- difference. So whereas the cross-dressing of ▼ Yet though Ellison delights in being mistak- ern ‘freedom’, she finds the harem in Europe: the English Ellison in Turkey works to en- en for a Turk, the narrative also marks out dorse the racialized boundaries she trans- her distance from her Oriental objects of What a curious harem!… [This] Ladies’ Club gresses, the excessive theatricality of study, often by referencing her attempts to [where she is staying in London] is not a big Zeyneb Hanum’s attempt to dress as a Turk ‘capture’ Oriental women in photographs. enough reward for having broken away from in Europe reveals the non-naturalness of an Eastern harem… A club… is after all an- those apparently absolute differentiating There is a beautiful old woman in the house- other kind of harem, but it has none of the terms. Rather than transmit the Orient to hold whom I long to “Kodak”. Once I thought I mystery and charm of the Harem of the East. Europe it reveals the inventedness of tradi- “had” her… but she noticed me, alas! then (Zeyneb Hanum 1913, pp.182-6) tions of cultural difference. cursed, screamed, and buried her head in her roomy pantaloons. I shall not try to repeat the Zeyneb Hanum exerts a haremizing gaze on A longer version of this article previously appeared as e x p e r i m e n t . the West that makes strange its familiar divi- ‘On Veiling, Vision and Voyage: Cross-Cultural (Ellison 1915, p.183) sion of space and organization of sexuality, Dressing and Narratives of Identity’, I n t e r v e n t i o n s , relocating Orientalism’s sexualized projec- Vol. 1, no. 4, 1999, pp. 500-520. Not only did the new technology of photog- tions back to their Western point of origin: raphy develop coterminously with the new investigative social sciences of anthropology But, my dear [Grace], why have you never told and ethnography, it also became an estab- me that the Ladies’ Gallery [in the Houses of lished part of the fieldwork process – classify- Parliament] is …the harem of the Govern- R e f e r e n c e s ing, conceptualizing and visualizing ‘other’ ment!… You send your women out unpro- – Ellison, Grace (1915), An Englishwoman in a Turkish peoples. For Ellison, the Orient’s enchanting tected all over the world, and here in the Harem, London: Methuen. distinctiveness becomes exasperating when workshop where your laws are made, you – Zeyneb Hanum (1913), A Turkish Woman’s it thwarts her ethnographic and scopophilic cover them with a symbol of protection. European Impressions, London: Seeley, Service Co. desire to gather photographic evidence: she (Zeyneb Hanum 1913, p.194) finds members of her hostess’s entourage to Dr Reina Lewis is senior lecturer at the Department of be ‘most fanatical’ in their insistence that Clearly Zeyneb Hanum had European clothes Cultural Studies at the University of East London, UK. photography is forbidden by Islam (though and even in Turkey, like many elite women, She is author of Gendering Orientalism: photography was, in fact, increasingly avail- would have habitually worn Paris fashions – R a c e , Representation, Femininity (Routledge, 1996). able in Istanbul by this period). Defiantly en- but remarkably in this book about her time in H e r current research on representation of and by titling her book An Englishwoman in a Turkish Europe we see the sisters wearing Turkish Ottoman women, Feminism in the Harem, will be H a r e m, Ellison fronts it with a photograph of clothes in all but one of the illustrations. In published by IB Tauris in 2002. herself, ‘The author in Turkish costume’, in the face of the potentially acculturating ef- E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Art & Literature 13

Punjabi Literature PERVAIZ NAZIR Modernity,

The colonization of the Punjab by the British ushered in economic, social, cultural and legal conditions in which Islamic identity came to assume new forms. In pre-modern times, Waris Shah’s epic, H e e r, was an in- R e - I s l a m i z a t i o n tegral part of everyday life; it was recited at social and literary gatherings. But the text had not yet be- come the object of intellectual critique. Rather, the critique embedded in the text suffused everyday conflicts and pleasure. In the modern period, howev- and Waris Shah’s er, the text was dis-embedded from the life-world. It became a site for the contestation of pre-modern and modern forms of Islamic identity. H e e r

The reading of H e e r during the period of must obey their parents. So how was this ex- sidered Islamic. The educational system, modernity presented an enormous dilem- tremely popular text to be reconciled with newspapers, and reform societies all consti- ma for Muslims (in ways it did not for the new forms of Muslim sentiments and identi- tuted such public arenas. For example, one Hindus and Sikhs in the Punjab) because ty that emerged during modernity? There of the first ‘modern’ Islamic societies in the here was an extremely popular text among were two main responses among Muslim Punjab, the Anjuman Islamiyah, was formed all classes of Punjabi Muslims, in which the scholars of H e e r in the Punjab. These may be in 1869 to promote the interests of Muslims. main characters (Heer and Ranjha) were en- termed as those belonging to the ‘modern’ The attempt to make Waris Shah’s H e e r a c- gaged in conduct that transgressed South and the ‘traditional’ literary circles. It should ceptable was made by relating the narrative Asian and especially Muslim norms, but who be noted, however, that the ‘traditional’ in the text to Islamic tradition in general and vindicated their conduct by seeking justifi- scholars were also the product of moderni- to the S h a r ica in particular. Thus the Kash- cation in the same sources – such as the ty, and their presence and their intellectual miri bazaar editions contain extensive notes S h a r ica – as did their antagonists (the Qazis concerns with regard to H e e r are nowhere and commentary relating the narrative in and Heer’s family). For example, Heer says to be found prior to the period of moderni- H e e r to Islamic tradition. In fact, Sialkoti’s in- to the Qazi after her forced marriage: ‘You ty. In fact, the latter undertook the task of troduction to his edition asks the question: have performed my n i k a h without my con- reconciling this text with re-Islamization; a ‘Was Ranjha a pious person?’ The answer is sent. Your act and fatwa are not in accor- task far more difficult than that undertaken in the affirmative because Ranjha goes dance with the Qur’an.’ Later another Qazi by the ‘modern’ literary circles. The term through trials and tribulations which many declares this marriage null and void be- ‘traditional’ here means those informal liter- pious persons in Islamic tradition have had cause it was contracted without Heer’s con- ary societies that were not self-consciously to go through, and analogy is drawn with s e n t . modelled on institutions introduced by the Yusuf and Zuleikha. There is scarcely any ev- ‘Re-Islamization’ rather than ‘Islamization’ British, with written rules and regulations, idence to suggest that Waris Shah’s master- is emphasized because the period of British formal membership and admissions proce- piece was read in any way other than as en- rule (1849 onwards) is considered by many dures, and so on. To this could be added tertainment, and that concerns about its scholars to be the time when the Islamiza- knowledge of the English language and par- moral standing in relation to Islamic tradi- tion of Muslims in the Punjab took place. ticipation in the institutions introduced by tion can only be observed after the onset of These scholars assume that Islamic tradition the British such as colleges, schools, and for- modernity – in spite of Waris Shah’s com- was either non-existent or poorly devel- mally organized workplaces. ment on his own work: ‘Ahe maine Quran oped in the Punjab prior to British rule. For the modern literary circles that devel- kareem dhey nain, jaire shair mian Waris Waris Shah, from The re-Islamization that emerged during the What in fact happened was the re-interpre- oped during British rule (the Punjabi Adabi Shah dhey nain’ (These verses by Waris Shah Heer Waris Shah colonial period had distinctive modern fea- tation of the Muslim tradition in the context Academy and other a n j u m a ns), the main are an interpretation of the Qur’an). by Sharif Sabir. tures. During this period both communal- of new conditions that emerged during preoccupation with H e e r was the editing The point to be stressed here is that a based (Muslim, Hindu and Sikh) and multi- British rule. out of what were considered indecent pas- Muslim Punjabi modernity was not merely a communal organizations appeared in the In this context newer forms of religious sages from the text and the bringing of bal- repetition or a derivative of European Punjab. In the first category these included identities were developed which were rec- ance and symmetry to the verses. But most modernity. Rather, it was a modern forma- the Muslim a n j u m a ns, and the s a b h as of the ognized by the colonial state and embodied of all they were concerned with the authen- tion with its own specificity which fed into a Hindus and Sikhs; in the second category in legislation, law courts and so on. The ticity of the verses: they wanted to purge all European modernity. were the various academies, circles and so- reading of H e e r was far more problematic verses which they suspected were not Waris cieties. Both types developed as a result of for the Muslims than for the Hindus and Shah’s own, i.e. included into the text after British rule, and were the precursors of a Sikhs, among whom this text was and is his death. Thus the 1863 edition of H e e r separate, developing national conscious- popular also, but they read it differently published by the Punjabi Adabi Academy is ness among Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in from the Muslims by omitting or de-empha- entitled (in Punjabi) Heer Waris Shah, Au- the Punjab. sizing the Muslim aspects. In fact, during the thentic and Purged of all Fake Verses. Even today, more copies of Waris Shah’s period under discussion the Hindus and The traditional literary circles published H e e r are sold in Pakistan than any other Sikhs began to write their own H e e r w i t h the so-called Kashmiri Bazaar editions, such book – except the Qur’an. Waris Shah’s clas- Hindus and Sikhs as the main characters in as those by Mian Hidayatullah, Nawab sic Punjabi text (completed in AH 1180; AD the text. This was because Waris Shah’s H e e r Sialkoti, Piran Ditta, and Maula Buksh Kush- 1766) is considered by many familiar with began to be construed as a ‘Muslim’ text ta. In contrast to the modern editions cited the work to be the greatest work in Punjabi, since it uses Islamic concepts and language above, Sialkoti’s edition, also published in and one of the greatest classical literatures – references to Islamic history and tradi- the 19t h century, is entitled (in Punjabi) H e e r of the world.* Ostensibly a story of tragic tions, the Qur’an, S h a r ica, etc. – and the Waris Shah, The Original and Largest Edition love between Heer Sial, who is poisoned by main characters are Muslim. It describes with S h a r ica S h a r i f. her parents for wanting to marry Thidho love which is both h a q i q i (spiritual) and m a- For the traditional scholars of H e e r t h e Ranjha against their wishes, H e e r is an ex- j a z i (physical); the latter being prohibited to main problem was to make the transgres- tremely complex text which narrates the those not married. Similarly, H e e r c o n t a i n s sions of the text acceptable to Muslim read- economic, social, political and religious con- definite notions of attire and conduct which ers, something which no one felt was neces- ditions in the Punjab during the decline of either conform to, or deviate from, Muslim sary prior to the period of modernity. This N o t e Muslim rule. After about a hundred years of norms. The text also describes certain prac- was for two reasons. Firstly, the absence of a * The main portion of Punjabi literature prior to rule (1766-1849) by the Sikhs, the British an- tices from which Muslims refrained in the ‘modern consciousness’ lacking in pre-mod- British rule was written by Muslims in Persian nexed the Punjab in 1849, and this period 1 8t h century, as for example the use of all- ern times meant that H e e r did not have to script. Most of the sacred Sikh literature was marks the beginning of modernity, during silk cloth, whilst silk mixed with cotton or be defended on ‘modern’ lines. But now the written in Braj (western Hindi) using Gurmukhi which this immensely popular work began wool, called m a s h r u, was permitted (this heightened consciousness of what was ‘Is- script. Of course sacred texts need not be judged to be read differently from the pre-British practice is no longer adhered to in contem- lamic’ or ‘non-Islamic’ made such a defence on their literary merit, but according to the era. The work became ‘Islamized’ within the porary Pakistani Punjab). necessary. Secondly, during Sikh rule, Islam- message they attempt to convey. context of Islamization of other aspects of ic tradition was weakened in public spaces life for the Punjabi Muslims. British rule thus ’Modern’ and ‘traditional’ and became more privatized. For example, Pervaiz Nazir teaches at the Centre for Development witnessed the formation of newer forms of r e s p o n s e s the a z a a n was banned during this period. Studies, University of Cambridge, UK. His current Muslim identity, which were defined in a Heer and Ranjha’s behaviour ostensibly British rule created the conditions for the research interests include policies relating to the more systematic and self-conscious manner both conforms to and contradicts Muslim development of civic institutions whereby development of capital goods industries in Pakistan, than before, and in relation to the new insti- tradition in that it permits a person to refuse Muslims could publicly debate, dispute, and nationalism in South Asia and globalization. tutions established by the British. marriage, but also stipulates that children propagate what might or might not be con- E-mail: [email protected] 1 4 General Issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Legal Debate ANH NGA LONGVA Apostasy and

In 1994, Husayn Ali Qambar, a Kuwaiti S h ici, aban- doned Islam and joined the Evangelical Church. The news of his conversion caused quite a sensation in Kuwait, as such an event is practically unheard of in t h e L i b e r a l the Arabian Peninsula. Instead of keeping a low pro- file, as is the custom amongst converts in the Middle East, Qambar self-confidently stood up to the storm of reactions. He agreed to meet with the press and appeared in photos wearing a small silver cross P r e d i c a m e n t around his neck and holding a Bible in his hand. To the question of why he had decided to become Chris- to the association of liberalism with secular- found guilty of treason by stripping them of problem. In my opinion, the severity of the tian, Qambar candidly answered ‘I have found God ism, politically expressed through the sepa- their freedom, and/or citizenship rights; in law justifies both concern and criticism. It is e l s e w h e r e ’ . ration of religion and state. case of high treason, they may even be sen- meanwhile important to bear in mind that In the Kuwaiti context liberalism is primar- tenced to death. neither the rationale behind the law nor the When it became clear that he would not ily understood in the latter sense. While reluctance of Muslim liberals to put an end withdraw his decision, Qambar was sued for rights and liberties are also important, it is The politics of recognition to its implementation is unique and peculiar apostasy. The case was tried in the S h ici not their embracement per se that makes a A further parallel can be drawn if we ap- to Islam or Muslim societies. Rather, it illus- Court of First Instance, and in May 1996 Kuwaiti liberal. Rather, it is the embrace- proach apostasy within the framework of the trates a predicament common to all political Qambar was officially declared an apostate. ment of the third tenet, the separation be- politics of recognition. The most remarkable communities. If we wish to argue against By then, he had already lost his family, his tween d i n and d a w l a. As the term is used feature of the case under study is not Qam- the law, we should start from this common- home and his income. Qambar appealed here, a liberal is a person who looks upon re- bar’s conversion in itself, but the self-confi- ality of dilemmas and concerns and not against the ruling, but shortly before the ap- ligion as a personal matter and the public dence with which he faced his society’s criti- from the rhetoric of difference between a peal was to be reviewed, he was granted a sphere as a religiously neutral space. ‘Liber- cism. Qambar publicly defended his decision liberal (read: morally superior) West and an visa to the USA and was flown out of Kuwait. al’ is therefore commonly used in opposi- by invoking the Kuwaiti constitution and the illiberal Muslim world. I r t i d a d or conversion from Islam, also tion to ‘Islamist’, the latter term referring to UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. known as apostasy, has always been a seri- people for whom religion pervades and From insights gained through interviews ous offence in the Middle East.1 A c c o r d i n g shapes every aspect of social life. Every- with the convert, the conclusion can be to tradition, the apostate is to be executed; where in the Middle East these days, Is- drawn that he sought to assert not only his pending execution, he/she is deprived of lamists and liberals differ in their views on right to choose his own faith but also his the right to remain married to his/her Mus- the relationship between religion, public right to be accepted for who he is and be- lim spouse, to retain guardianship over life and politics. Kuwait is no exception. long in the Kuwaiti community on his own his/her Muslim-born children and to inherit When it comes to apostasy, however, a terms. In other words, Qambar was seeking or hold possessions. Within the personal strong consensus can be found across the not merely toleration but recognition. status laws of several Middle Eastern coun- liberal/Islamist divide. Most people reacted Anyone familiar with developments in tries, these civil sanctions are codified and with anger and dismay at Qambar’s conver- Western societies within the past two to spelled out explicitly. The apostasy law thus sion; even local human rights activists per- three decades realizes that this is the same strips the apostates of their most basic ceived it as an offence that called for some demand that lies at the core of the multicul- r i g h t s . form of punishment. While there were only turalism debate, which is raging these days The scientific literature on apostasy is lim- few demands for the death penalty, most on both sides of the Atlantic. In this debate, ited. Discussions centre almost exclusively people accepted unquestioningly the im- which has split the liberal camp, more than on whether the death penalty is required by plementation of the civil sanctions.3 one Western liberal have rejected the cul- the Qur’an. While of great scholarly interest, tural minorities’ right to difference on the they have no practical relevance since in Protecting the significant grounds that such recognition would frag- most Muslim countries today conversion is c o m m u n i t y ment the national community and under- no longer punishable by death. What re- It may be tempting for Westerners to see mine its value consensus. On the opposite mains in force are the civil sanctions, which in the apostasy law yet another instance of side, liberal defenders of minority groups do violate several basic rights and freedoms. the incompatibility between the illiberal not hesitate to assert the primacy of certain Yet there is a perceptible reluctance in Mid- Muslim East and the liberal West, or indeed collective rights at the expense of important dle Eastern societies, including within liber- the ultimate vindication of the orientalist individual rights. For example, Charles Tay- al circles, to discuss this form of punish- ‘absences’ thesis. To assess the situation in l o r4 has argued in favour of the Quebec lan- ment. What are the reasons behind this re- such terms is to miss the point. What we are guage legislation, which among other l u c t a n c e ? dealing with here is not so much the clash things forbids French-speaking Quebecois between liberal and illiberal cultures as a to send their children to English-language Liberalism East and West political and ethical challenge common to schools. Although this law clearly infringes According to Bryan S.Turner,2 o r i e n t a l i s t s , all modern societies: How can the political on the parents’ freedom of choice, Taylor in their attempt to imagine the Muslim community be protected against real or per- finds it justifiable because it guarantees the world as the radical Other of the West, de- ceived threats while infringing as little as continued existence of the French-speaking pict Islam as a ‘cluster of absences’. Possibly possible on basic individual rights? From minority of Canada. Taylor and other West- the deficiency most widely and persistently this perspective, the difference between ern political philosophers question not only associated with Islam in the Western imagi- Muslim and Western societies lies in the de- the classical liberal tendency to defend indi- nation is the absence of liberal thinking. finition of the community under threat vidual rights at all costs, but also the liberal Within the past two centuries, liberalism rather than in the measures they evolve to Kantian conception of justice that does not has acquired a wide range of meanings, all thwart this threat. presuppose any particular conception of of which do not necessarily correspond to All communities – whether ethnically, reli- the good life. As Michael Sandel5 puts it: the ideas of the doctrine’s founding fathers. giously or nationally defined – depend for ‘The fundamental question is whether the Liberalism is increasingly understood as the their existence on the allegiance of their right is prior to the good.’ I believe Sandel equivalent of democracy. Indeed, many members; they are therefore keen to watch articulates here the concern of the majority Westerners would argue that liberalism is their boundaries and the movements across of Kuwaiti liberals for whom rights may not, N o t e s found only in the West, and they would dis- such boundaries. Not all large-scale com- or not always, be an end in themselves. The 1 . Elsewhere in the Muslim world, e.g. Southeast agree with talk of liberalism in the Middle munities achieve the same degree of signif- reason that liberal informants could not Asia, apostasy is treated with greater leniency. East, let alone the Arabian Peninsula. A dis- icance, nor are they all mutually exclusive. bring themselves to support Qambar’s free- 2 . Turner, Bryan S. (1994), Orientalism, Postmodernism cussion of this view would have to be car- To many in the Middle East, the most signif- dom to convert may be seen as related to and Globalism, London: Routledge. ried out elsewhere. What is important to icant large-scale community is the u m m a. their conviction that the virtue of rights lies 3 . I have given a detailed account of some of the point out here is that as a philosophical doc- Elsewhere, for example in Europe, it is the in the fact that they promote an end pre- liberals’ reactions in my article entitled ‘Apostasy, trine liberalism contains several basic nation-state. As a universal spiritual com- sumed to be good. Islam being in their eyes civil death and the liberal predicament’ tenets, not all of which are equally focused munity, the u m m a throws its doors wide the ultimate religion, they regard the apos- ( f o r t h c o m i n g ) . upon in practice. Different societies choose open to incoming members but severely re- tasy law, which prevents Muslims from mak- 4 . Taylor, Charles (1994), ‘The Politics of Recognition’, to define liberalism by laying stress on one stricts the right to exit. By contrast, nation- ing the mistake of leaving the community’s in Multiculturalism: A Critical Reader, T h e o or some particular tenet(s). Among the prin- states generally tend to be lenient on the fold, as a good law. The end it promotes is Goldberg (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 75-106. ciples that liberal thought characteristically right to exit while keeping a particularly vig- more important than the restrictions it 5 . Sandel, Michael (1988), Liberalism and the Limits of emphasizes are autonomy of choice, the pri- ilant eye on the admission of new members. places on freedom of choice, which if exer- J u s t i c e, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. macy of the individual over the collective, When confronted with acts construed as be- cised may lead Muslims astray. and reason over faith. The first two tenets trayal of the significant community, reac- The implementation of the apostasy law Anh Nga Longva is associate professor of social have given rise to the centrality of individ- tions everywhere tend to be rather similar. in several Middle Eastern countries is anthropology at the University of Bergen, Norway. ual rights and liberties; the third one has led Thus nation-states deal with individuals viewed by human rights experts as a major E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Media 15

Satellite TV NAJIB GHADBIAN A l - J a z e e r a ’ s

Satellite television stations are subtly challenging the state’s monopoly over the means of persuasion and information in the Arab world. A Qatari-based television channel, Al-Jazeera’s coverage of Syrian Coverage of politics exemplifies how satellite television is chang- ing the conditions of communication between citi- zens and states in the Arab world and increasing the space for civil society, creating more moments in television that are not as controlled by states. The S y r i a n P o l i t i c s significance of the Syrian case lies in the fact that the Syrian regime is highly authoritarian and still main- Al-Jazeera’s contesting stall Asad’s son, Bashar. Another recent exam- ter of information criticized the performance tains near total control of information and communi- c o v e r a g e ple is Al-Jazeera’s distinguished coverage of of the Syrian media, using harsh language to cation. The following examines Al-Jazeera’s report- Al-Jazeera’s coverage of Syrian politics has Monzer al-Mouseli, an independent member describe his predecessor and claiming that ing of several issues considered highly sensitive ac- moved toward progressively more assertive of the People’s Assembly, who dared to raise Syria did not have a true ‘media policy’.8 cording to the censorship policies of Syria’s Min- coverage of Syrian politics, pushing the lim- an objection to the formality of the infamous After his inauguration, Bashar issued two istries of Information and Culture and Guidance: po- its with each report. The coverage has in- constitutional amendment. Syrian television directives pertaining to the development of a litical opposition in Syria, succession, and the impact cluded three types of issues: indirect refer- discontinued broadcasting during his daring ‘new media discourse’. The first directive of the peace process on the regime’s survival ability. ence to Syria under topics such as democra- remarks, transmitting instead the comments asked chief editors of print and broadcast cy, human rights and Islamic fundamental- of the Speaker who censured Mouseli and media to embark on a ‘calm, logical, and bal- Since the 1963 military coup, the Syrian au- ism in the Arab world; direct discussion of made a statement on his behalf, affirming anced media address’, which would ‘respect thority closed down all independent newspa- the Syrian-Israeli peace process; and report- that ‘the respected member’s sinful part of his the intelligence of the audience’.9 The sec- pers. It passed several restrictive articles ing on Syrian domestic developments. soul led him into error, and he has realized his ond instruction was to stop printing and under the State of Emergency that gave the Over the last three years, programmes mistake and repented.’ Al-Jazeera had a full posting new pictures of him, and to stop the state the right to control newspapers, books, such as al-Itijah a l - M uca k i s (Opposite Direc- report of what had happened and then inter- use of the phrase a l-Ra’is al-Khaled (the im- broadcasting, advertising, and visual arts, tions) and Akthar min Ra’i (More than One viewed Mouseli to get his side of the story, mortal President). Such immortality, he said which might be threatening the security of Opinion) and Bila Hudud (Without Bounds), which was totally suppressed by the Speak- with remarkable insight, is only for God. The the state.1 Starting in 1974, the Syrian media have debated democracy and human rights er’s comments. The interview was followed ministry of information reshuffled the heads became a vehicle to promote the cult of Asad. with a tone condemning authoritarianism by another discussion with Mustapha Ab- of its major departments, newspaper editors, and human rights violations. Another offen- dulcal, the director of the Centre for Pluralism, and the heads of the Syrian radio and televi- Syria’s style of sive topic for the Syrian regime is the issue who was very sarcastic about the session and sion agency to reflect the new openness. c o m m u n i c a t i o n of Islamic opposition. Having confronted an the obvious lack of freedom of expression in The third important indication that change The Syrian government has developed a armed Islamic movement in the late 1970s the Syrian Assembly.5 is afoot in Syria came from journalists and in- long list of taboo topics. For example, it and early 1980s, the Syrian government tellectuals who demanded more freedom of does not allow criticism of the following considers this topic taboo. Al-Jazeera fea- Response and effects speech and accountability. Ninety-nine Syri- topics: the president and his family, the rul- tured an interview with the leader of the Al-Jazeera soon became a major contend- an writers issued a statement demanding ing B act h Party, the military, the legitimacy banned Syrian Muslim Brothers for two ing source of news for many Syrians. Some freedom of expression, freedom of the press, of the regime, the sectarian question, the hours on the programme Without Bounds. Syrian viewers, however, have complained and an end to one-party rule. 1 0 government’s human rights record, Islamic Both the Syrian and general Arab audiences that Al-Jazeera’s programmes are more con- While Al-Jazeera cannot claim full responsi- opposition, involvement of Syrian troops in had the opportunity to hear a very moder- fusing than illuminating. Some viewers in bility for all these positive changes, it can be Lebanon, graphic descriptions of sex, and ate voice advocating democracy, demand- Damascus say that Syrian audiences are credited with forcing the media in Syria – as materials unfavourable to the Arab cause in ing an end to marshal law rule, and insisting alarmed at hearing vehement contradictory elsewhere in the Arab world – to redefine the Arab-Israeli conflict.2 that his party be legalized.3 views about such basic issues, being used to their discourse so as not to lose what is left of The government also has not tolerated any The second category of coverage concerns hearing only one correct version of the their audiences. Despite the success of chan- independent source of information consid- the Syrian role in the peace process. While ‘ t r u t h ’ .6 nels such as Al-Jazeera in expanding the com- ered threatening to, or critical of, the regime. the overall coverage is somewhat sympa- As for Syrian officials, the rise of Al-Jazeera munication and dissemination of informa- A case in point is the crackdown on indepen- thetic, discussions of the domestic impera- coincided with the ascendance of Bashar al- tion, it is clear that they cannot topple author- dent Lebanese newspapers in Lebanon im- tives and implications of the peace process Asad to power. Officials have attempted to itarian regimes. As the Syrian case demon- mediately following the Syrian military inter- for the Syrian regime and society have not engage this medium rather than to boycott strates, authoritarian regimes are capable of vention there. Moreover, human rights orga- always been appreciated by the Syrian gov- it. They express approval of Al-Jazeera as coping with the new technology and expand- nizations documented the arrest, expulsion, ernment. On More than One Opinion, Najib long as it does not step on what they con- ed public sphere. Another limitation on Al- and even assassination of prominent journal- Ghadbian – the author of this article – being sider sensitive topics or violate what they Jazeera’s ability to continue its contest with ists by Syrian security forces. Nonetheless, the one of the guests, questioned the lack of consider ‘objective’ reporting. authoritarian media has to do with its ability Syrian government has not succeeded in democracy in Syria and how this affects the The participation of Syrian officials in Al- to maintain its independence. Nonetheless, maintaining total control over the dissemina- peace process. Syrians do not get the chance Jazeera’s programmes has revealed their in- Al-Jazeera has become a phenomenon, and tion of information. Syrian citizens turned, be- to debate their government’s policies in ability to communicate effectively with au- owes this as much to its own approach as to fore the age of satellite television, to Western their press or their rubberstamp parliament.4 diences outside Syria. One example of Syri- the failure of the official Arab media. radio stations such as the BBC, Monte Carlo, The third contest over the dissemination of an officials’ attempts to take advantage of and to a lesser extent the Voice of America. information between Al-Jazeera and the Syri- the newly popular channel is the appear- Occasionally, Syrian media, especially an regime is in the area of reporting and ance of the Riyadh N acs a n Agha, head of the newspapers, have been allowed and some- analysing significant domestic political devel- Political Office of the President, on W i t h o u t times encouraged to criticize corrupt offi- opments. When the Syrian President Asad Bounds just after the death of Asad.7 A g h a N o t e s cials in the bureaucracy. While the Syrian died, Al-Jazeera played a leading role in the immediately clashed with the host and lost 1 . Middle East Watch (1991), Syria Unmasked. government has strived to maintain its strict coverage of the domestic and regional impli- the sympathy of most Arab viewers when he New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 109. control over the dissemination of informa- cations of the departure of Asad. It was on this tried to assert that the succession of Bashar 2 . For a good summary of censorship in Syria, More than tion, it has been less successful in control- station that several Arab commentators ex- Asad to power was not a command from see Chapter 9 of Syria Unmasked. O n eO p i n i o n, ling the receiving satellite dishes than in re- pressed their outrage over the speedy above but an overwhelmingly popular 3 . Without Bounds, Al-Jazeera, aired on 7 July 1999. A l-J a z e e r a . stricting the internet. amendment of the Constitution in order to in- choice. He had real difficulties communicat- 4 . More Than One Opinion, Al-Jazeera, aired on ing with viewers from other Arab countries 7 January 2000. who were shocked by his logic – or lack 5 . Hasad al-Yawm (Today’s Harvest), Al-Jazeera’s thereof. One viewer from Egypt described nightly news programme, aired on 26 June 2000. Agha’s argument as ‘an insult to the intelli- 6 . A conversation between the author of this article gence of the audience.’ and viewers who watched the interview with the Lately, there has been some evidence that leader of the Syrian Muslim Brothers from the Syrian government is relaxing its control D a m a s c u s . over media. This retreat could be attributed 7 . Aired on 14 June 2000. to two factors. Firstly, many Syrian channels 8 . A l - H a y a t (London), 18 June 2000, p. 3. are losing audiences to other channels (e.g. 9 . Ibid., 16 July 2000, p. 1. Al-Jazeera) or types of media; and secondly, 10 . The statement was published in the two Lebanese more recently the new leader seems to want dailies, A l - N a h a r and A l - S a f i r, 26 September 2000. to lead the country into the information age. A number of measures have been taken Najib Ghadbian is assistant professor of political which indicate real efforts by the Syrian gov- science and Middle East Studies at the University of ernment to modify its media policy in re- Arkansas. He is author of Democratization and the sponse to the competition. During the 9t h Islamist Challenge in the Arab World. Congress of the B act h Party, the new minis- E-mail: [email protected] 1 6 Media I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Media Respresentations T. DENIZ ERKMEN Construction of

On 22 September 1999 the dead body of an 18-year- old girl was found in a cemetery in Istanbul, Turkey. Massive media coverage was launched when the po- lice discovered that she had been killed by two S a t a n i s m young men and a young woman, who, claiming to be Satanists, testified that one of them had orders from Satan to perform the sacrifice. When the public pros- ecutor used the description of Satanism in the formal charges brought against the accused, Satanism en- in Turkish Secularist and tered the legal documents as a new crime for the first time in Turkish legal history. The three perpetrators were judged guilty of murder and were sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison. Islamist Newspapers

Although since the youths were imprisoned mon among youths between the ages of 14 tember 1999). The youth, with proper Islam- to be modest; if not, one falls into decaden- media interest in Satanism has died down, and 25’ (22 September 1999). ic culture, would not ‘use drugs, murder, [or] cy. Thus, both groups agree on setting all newspapers had covered the issue ex- This basic stereotype of the Satanist as drink blood’ (Ibid., 24 September 1999). boundaries on excessive individualization. tensively in the period leading up to and in- being young, long haired, clad in black with Some of these arguments have a harsh, Despite Islamists’ and secularists’ seem- cluding their trial. There were conferences, tattoos and earrings, looking untidy and lis- even accusing tone towards the secularists ingly different reasons for the existence of talk shows and heated debates on various tening to ‘perverse’ music is repeated over for being the cause. Satanists, there is a unifying activity: both television channels where important public and over in all the papers – always with Secularist newspapers, on the other hand, groups conjoin in not accepting a different figures voiced their opinions on the issue. some mention of alcohol, drugs, bars, clubs picture the problem more as one related to mode of living, a different type of youth. The police declared Satanism an organized and nightlife. Names of places that they fre- adolescence, in which the identity-search- They both exclude those who do not fit the terrorist group and began arresting youths quent and magazines they read are also ing youth somehow fall in to the hands of patriarchal norms. Furthermore, in both in- who were considered to be connected. mentioned. Along with these descriptions those waiting to impart their dangerous be- stances, the constructed stereotype is vague Places suspected of being hangouts of Sa- are vivid accounts of what they do, which liefs. Not only ‘mystic’ groups like that of the and thus potentially targets anyone who is tanists were raided, and bars and clubs ac- being generally very much against legal and Satanists, but ‘other materialist totalitarian part of a larger hard rock/heavy metal sub- cused of being frequented by adherents to ethical conventions of Turkish society, help groups’ can also captivate the youth by of- c u l t u r e . the movement were shut down. to define the group as a social problem. fering them a sense of belonging and iden- Youth subcultures represent symbolic vio- This new, marginal issue of Satanism was These accounts are similar in both groups of tity (M i l l i y e t, 22 September 1999). This crisis lations of social order and can be seen as appropriated by different sectors of Turkish papers. Accordingly, the Satanists ‘worship of identity is emerging from a system that provoking the dominant culture. Groups society and placed into existing matrices. Satan and conduct rituals in which they sac- lacks meaning and is related to the traumas differentiate themselves through construct- However, before commencing with the dis- rifice virgins. They drink animal blood, […] of modernization. Hence, the cause is not lo- ing unique styles that define an identity and cussion, the following brief overview of they conduct activities that go beyond all cated in Turkey in another group, but is offer particularity. They are collective articu- constructionist theories offers useful tools borders, and they carry out horrifying mur- rather a global issue of modernity. The solu- lations of a cultural critique that establishes for understanding the Satanic hype. ders […]’ (Z a m a n, 22 September 1999). tion also comes from the globe, especially and maintains a new self-concept and sym- Social problems are, according to con- ‘They sacrifice their own children, have sex the West. It has been indicated that Western bolically challenges the dominant culture’s structionists, socially constructed. Instead with a newly killed corpse, kill their father societies encourage healthy communities value system. of concentrating on the analysis of actual and mutilate his body without showing any and voluntary organizations against illness- In accordance with constructionist expla- practitioners as was done in early sociolog- signs of guilty conscience, use young es such as these, thus implying that Turkey nations of Satanic hype, it can be seen that ical literature, constructionists argued that women maliciously to drink their blood and should do the same. in the context of growing tension between there was no significant Satanist danger, al- eat their internal organs. […] They enter Islamists and secularists a trigger event – though it has been defined as a social prob- into cemeteries at night, choose a girl Points of convergence the murder story – leads to an explosion in lem. Concentrating on the portrayal and among themselves, cut her up with a knife, The above findings reveal that even one of the areas of contestation in Turkish representation of Satanism, they under- smear her with animal blood and satisfy the though both liberal/secular and Islamist society, revealing dissatisfaction with the lined social mechanisms such as ‘scape- Satan by having intercourse with the muti- newspapers present Satanism as a ‘belief moral order. Nonetheless, the two groups goating’ and stereotyping in public re- lated girl. They are against all religions and system’, there is never an indication that are united in their establishing of an enemy sponses to Satanism. Accordingly, the holy books’ (M i l l i y e t, 22 September 1999). people can actually choose to believe in it. that incarnates all the negative virtues to forming of a stereotype involves the cre- As the Satanists begin to be characterized The Satanists are depicted as sick, atomized, which both aim to put an end. By overreact- ation of a ‘reverse mirror image of one’s so- as ‘sick’, ‘perverted’, ‘psychologically unbal- deviant or part of a terrorist group. They are ing and depicting this subculture’s mem- ciety’ in which the ‘evil enemy’ is depicted anced’, and ‘lunatic’, or as ‘alienated’, ‘de- deceived, seized and captivated by danger- bers as deviants or terrorists, both sides as having all those unflattering qualities tached’ and ‘lost’, interpretations and moral ous forces or are coerced by the corrupt sys- downplay the possibility that Satanism may that contrast with the virtues of that soci- judgements about their existence and solu- tem into the situation in which they find be presenting a social critique in the form of ety. This activity aims at restoring an ideal- tions for preventing them come to the fore. t h e m s e l v e s . symbolic violations of social order. Howev- ized society and serves the function of ‘uni- The accounts of both sides emphasize the Both secularists and Islamists have made er, in both groups of newspapers as well as fying the conflicting elements within a soci- moral void of the youth that leads to a attempts to control the youth – which has in the accounts in this article, what is lacking ety, by imposing unity on something that is search for identity. However, a discrepancy become an area of contestation, just as is the voice of the Satanists, both those who fragmented’ (Jeffrey S. Victor: Satanic Panic: emerges between the secular and Islamist ‘women’ – since they are the perpetuators call themselves such and those who are sim- The Creation of a Contemporary Legend, newspapers in their primary line of argu- of society and symbols of its ideals. Al- ply perceived as such. Without this, our un- Chicago and La Salle: Open Court Press, mentation. The majority of comments in the though the Kemalist regime paid special at- derstanding of the dynamics of this subcul- 1993, p.41). It enables rising collective anxi- Islamist newspapers explain the situation tention to gender roles and gender equality, ture and whether it presents a social cri- ety to be released, especially in times of in- not as a problem with the youth, but with it did not change the patriarchal order but tique is limited and undoubtedly deserves creased tension. society and social life in general. The youth rather maintained the basic cultural conser- greater attention. If the ‘scapegoating’ is about construct- is only one part of the whole in which the vatism of gender relations. These patriar- ing an ideal society, is it possible to find problem is manifested. According to those chal norms of morality are, however, not shared ideals between Islamic and secular accounts, Turkish social life is becoming only hierarchical in terms of gender but also groups in Turkey? Indeed, there is a unify- alienated from its traditional cultural roots, in terms of age. Both Islamists and secular- ing activity occurring as a result of the moral tradition and national/traditional val- ists share this patriarchal norm regarding shared patriarchal norms of both groups.* ues (Yeni Safak, 26 and 27 September 1999). the role and position of the youth. They There is no longer a moral unity, national both see young people not as responsible Reading the newspapers culture or totality within Turkish society individuals, but as a group to be shaped for Both liberal/secular and Islamic newspa- (Milli Gazete, 24 September 1999). All this is the future. They postpone the present – a pers depict a Satanist stereotype and tell us due to the severance of the nation from reli- situation in which young individuals are not N o t e that the Satanists can be detected by their gion. Once religion, which is ‘the most im- supposed to participate or to speak up, but * The arguments in this article are based on the physical appearance and behaviour. For in- portant factor in shaping a society’s moral need to be educated, follow rules, obey, and author’s close reading of three liberal/secular and stance, M i l l i y e t states that Satanists ‘mostly values’, is removed, the ensuing moral void only realize themselves in the future. Both three Islamic newspapers, namely Milliyet, Hurriyet, come from richer families and live in better in society leaves the youth prey to all kinds groups also underline values such as obedi- Sabah, Yeni Safak, Zaman and Milli Gazete, for a neighbourhoods of the cities. They are in- of marginal and perverse beliefs (Ibid.). It is ence, education, loyalty, devoutness, seri- 15-day period following the event. terested in perverse music types such as the system that pushes the youth to where ousness, decency, and modesty in outlook heavy metal and black metal. They have they end up, by not teaching them their reli- and lifestyles – and not creativity, individual long hair and they wear black t-shirts with gion properly, closing down the schools choice or criticism. While secularists aspire T. Deniz Erkmen is a Ph.D. student in political science Satan and skull prints on them. They look that teach religion, and replacing them with to westernization and modernization, they at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. unkempt and grungy. [Satanism] is com- ‘materialist’ education (Ibid., 25 and 26 Sep- nevertheless place limits on these. One has E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Media 17

I n t e r n e t MATTHIAS BRÜCKNER I s l a m i C i t y

Since the mid-1990s, Islamic webcontent has grown considerably. The distribution of fatwas, one of the most booming components of Islamic webcontent, is becoming a must for any Islamic website. In 1999 at Creating an Islamic least 10,000 fatwas were to be found online. In the year 2000 the number rose to at least 14,000 fatwas, and this year thousands more are sure to be added to the score. Since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, the provision of fatwas has been an important social C y b e r s o c i e t y barometer. The interactive component of the internet has made online fatwa services not only possible, but oxygen and this always produces ethyl alco- be the best way to explain it: hyper-reality tion, which means that even in the Wahhabi easy and accessible as well. Such virtual services, hol. The thing is, t a p a i might be a common means that the signs no longer hide reality, school consensus does not exist. however, impact certain Islamic beliefs and practices. dish in Malaysia, and a mufti based else- but hide the absence of reality.5 This is ex- A multitude of competing Islamic opin- where can only abstractly solve the prob- pressed by the view of the questioner, who ions are distributed via internet. In one of its The distribution of fatwas via internet can lem. He may not know anything about living would like to replace reality by virtual reali- responses, IslamiCity points out that the dy- be divided into two major groups: the first in Malaysia. To avoid this type of rice might ty. According to his question, not only the namic change of websites is a limiting factor group comprises the so-called ‘fatwa cause serious nutritional problems for Mus- sermon, but also the Friday itself should be to the verification of the authenticity of in- archives’, which are simply compilations of lims there. Who knows? The following an- replaced. In this way, a symbiosis between formation, stating that IslamiCity does not fatwas that are already published in books. swer to a similar type of question shows Islam and internet is possible. In the mufti’s act as a watchdog over all material (No. The second group, ‘fatwa services’, involves more sensibility in terms of local differences answer, while the revolutionary component 2055). With the possibilities of the internet, the process of creating fatwas online. There (No. 4063): of the internet is acknowledged, he insists IslamiCity builds not only an Islamic institu- is usually an online form provided, where ‘In certain countries, Coca Cola does (or on having mosques in physical space. His tion but also creates a community of virtual- users can pose their questions. Through used to) include alcohol and in this case, the answer to this question is all the more deli- ly connected Muslims. these forms, information is also obtained drink is considered Haram. In many Muslim cate because the questioner is obviously fa- about the users. The fatwas are then deter- countries, there are Islamic establishments miliar with new media. The mufti has to mined by muftis and subsequently pub- (like Dar al-Fatwa or the highest religious prove that he can adequately respond, lished on the website. authority) that monitor such drinks and demonstrating his mastery of the specific I s l a m i C i t y1 (based in the USA) is one of the foods to make sure they don’t contain alco- vocabulary and its meanings. two main Wahhabi players on the internet – hol, in which case the drink becomes per- Another question raised involves whether the other being Islam – Question & Answer.2 IslamiCity has already published about 5,000 fatwas on the internet, while the Dar al-Ifta al-misriyya,3 for example, has pub- lished but 300 fatwas online. The massive interest in IslamiCity’s fatwa service, howev- er, has led the founders of the site to slow down the services so as to search for funds to finance the site in the future. In the mean- missible. We don’t know the situation in the internet itself is h a r a m (No. 1474). Islam- time, fatwas from the Saudi daily, A r a b Australia and we suggest that you contact iCity’s opinion is that the internet is a tool N e w s, have been added to the IslamiCity Coca Cola itself to find out about the alcohol that can be used for good or for bad purpos- d a t a b a s e . content in their drinks. The same should es (No. 294, 492, 3252, 3468, 3495). This IslamiCity is more than just a fatwa ser- apply with Pepsi Cola. Please update us.’ means that the internet in itself is not vice. It provides information on the Qur’an, IslamiCity is also faced with problems of h a r a m. Nonetheless, it is understandable the Sunna, the Hajj, and other Islamic topics. intercultural settings within the USA itself. that some question this since, for example, It offers radio and television channels, chat- There was a case involving a Japanese computer images do not fall under the Is- rooms, Islamic screensavers and electronic neighbour who adamantly tried to give a lamic prohibition of images (No. 829). Thus, greeting cards. It also offers space for adver- box of liquor to a Muslim as a Christmas pre- developers of computer games are allowed tising. Users are offered the possibility to sent. The Muslim got the impression his to draw pictures (No. 3606). play an Islamic quiz, donate z a k a t online, or Japanese neighbour’s English was so bad The aim of using the internet for good Is- even order flowers. All services are guided that it was impossible to explain to him that lamic purposes has resulted in some new by an Islamic etiquette. In this sense, such Is- alcohol is not allowed in Islam. Finally, the topics for fatwas. For example, before read- lamic web-programming could be consid- Japanese left the liquor at the doorstep of ing a digital Qur’an one should perform the ered comparable to the concept of Islamic the Muslim’s house. IslamiCity’s solution ablution, but does not need to (No. 1101, b a n k i n g . was to empty the bottles of alcohol into the 1880); the recitation in the background of a sink (No. 351). webpage is not allowed (No. 3343); and Intercultural settings d acw a via internet is possible (No. 2078). As IslamiCity is based in the USA and the C y b e r f a t w a s IslamiCity offers its own chatrooms, it is im- muftis Muhammed Musri, Dr Ahmed H. Sakr, It seems that some users are confused as portant to know how to use them: chatroom Dr Muzammil Siddiqui and Dr Yahia Abdul to whether IslamiCity actually exists in real discussions are allowed as long as Islamic Rahman, currently working and living in the geographic space. Though the answers to etiquette is taken into account and useful Is- USA, and Dr Dani Doueiri and his ‘Imam questions do clarify that it is in cyberspace, lamic topics are being discussed (No. 223). Team’ from Beirut handle the fatwa ques- they nonetheless call the guests ‘tourists’ For example, one may take a valid s h a h a d a tions. This demonstrates that virtual fatwas and not ‘surfers’ (No. 3203, 3677). Other in the chatroom (No. 752, 2873, 3699). As N o t e s are different from ‘normal’ fatwas. In cyber- users are obviously more than aware of the there is a physical distance, the chatrooms 1 . IslamiCity: http://islam.org space, it makes no difference where the cyber-location of the site, as one reader offer an opportunity for conversation with 2 . Islam – Question & Answer: mufti and the m u s t a f t i are located. Ques- even asked (No. 1754): the opposite sex. If people should happen h t t p : / / w w w . i s l a m - q a . c o m tions from all around the world can be, and ‘Dearest virtual imam of the esteemed to fall in love as a result, it is not wrong, but 3 . Dar al-Ifta al-misriyya: indeed are, posted to IslamiCity. The techni- cyber-city, I attended jummah salat t o d a y , they should not from the beginning have h t t p : / / w w w . h a n e e n . c o m . e g / f a t w a / f a t w a p a g e . h t m l cal management of the website distributes and wanted to merely inquire that since we the intention to meet someone in cyber- 4 . Numbers refer to those given by IslamiCity. the questions to the muftis, for example in are living in this hectic hussle bussle life, space with a view to marriage (No. 1983). T h e fatwas can also be found in the forthcoming Beirut. So, i f t a becomes abstract. The mufti would it be possible to attend your virtual Muftis warn of disappointments when peo- CD-ROM: Brückner, Matthias (ed.) (2001), no longer sees the m u s t a f t i , and the m u s t a f t i k h u t b a s and maybe even on a virtual Friday, ple, who have only chatted on the internet, Fatwaindex zum Alkoholverbot, neuen Medien u.a., no longer hears his voice. In such a context, and skip the live Friday sermon. This would meet in reality. Therefore, the intention to Würzburg, Ergon-Verlag. Further information on the mufti cannot determine the background greatly aid the conservation of time and en- marry should be a true and sincere one, es- the topic can be obtained at information of a question, and cannot per- ergy in our lives. Dearest imam, please write pecially when the two people concerned http://www.cyberfatwa.de or in Brückner, Matthias ceive the potential dubious aspects of a back soon as you can see that I’m desper- communicate privately over the internet (2001), Fatwas zum Alkohol unter dem Einfluss neuer question. He is bound by its textual form. ately in need of guidance. And I feel that (No. 824, 1221, 1724, 2774, 3099). In such a Medien im 20. Jhdt., Würzburg: Ergon-Verlag. This was the case, for example, for a ques- your virtual hand will virtually correct my case, it is even allowed to exchange photos 5 . Gane, Mike (1993), Baudrillard Live, London: tion (No. 1301)4 about t a p a i, a Malaysian ways. Eagerly awaiting your reply is your (No. 1092). It should be noted, however, Routledge, p. 143. dish with fermented cooked rice, which brother Abdullah (but my friends call me that Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih a l - consists of 5-10% alcohol. A religious C h a r l i e ) . ’ cU t h a y m e e n issued a fatwa via internet in Matthias Brückner is currently working on the teacher had told the questioner that it was To answer this question is a delicate task. which he forbade the sending of photos to development of an Arabic database (OMAR, Oriental halal, since the alcohol does not come from Considering its formulation, one might even an ‘internet fiancée’ (Islam – Question & An- Manuscripts Resource) at the University of Freiburg, grapes. But according to IslamiCity’s mufti it doubt the sincerity of the questioner. Jean swer, No. 4027). There are thus two contra- G e r m a n y . is h a r a m, because it is fermented without Baudrillard’s theory of hyper-reality might dictory Wahhabi viewpoints on this ques- E-mail: [email protected] 1 8 Historical Approaches I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Rendering Traditions CHARLES HIRSCHKIND Tradition, Myth,

Within scholarship on contemporary Islam, one of the issues that has generated considerable discus- sion (and often perplexity) concerns the accuracy or validity of Muslim historical claims. Many authors and Historical Fact have pointed to a discrepancy between what Muslim activists today invoke as belonging to the traditions of Islam and the actual historical record of Islamic so- cieties. It is argued that historical reality is ignored or rejected, while a false, distorted, or selective version in Contemporary Islam of the past is affirmed in its place. In attempting to characterize and explain this use (or misuse) of histo- tion of the historicity of meaning as subject them so as to reveal patterns and process- tutional location remain extremely impor- ry, scholars have had recourse to a variety of con- to the political, economic, and cultural es more extensive than the sources them- tant to contemporary relations of power cepts, some of which merit a re-examination, espe- metamorphoses of society… The Muslim selves. It is by embedding source materials and knowledge. This point seems to be in- cially in light of recent work within historiography. A cognitive system is essentially mythical.’4 within a theoretical construct of history sufficiently appreciated by those scholars brief review of these concepts suggests a need for ‘It is in the myth of the complete and Per- that a particular kind of historical knowl- who rush to chastise Muslims for unfaith- new analytical approaches to the styles of historical fect Man, and not in the corpus or in Histo- edge is produced. Moreover, it is not the fully rendering their own traditions. argumentation prevalent within Islam today. ry, that one can read the universal, that all sources themselves that determine which knowledge adds up and that the return to construct is to be applied (e.g. economic, A common current argument is that the the golden age – the time of the prophet – social, theological); that decision precedes Islam invoked by contemporary activists is is foreshadowed. It is with this mystical the analysis, and to some degree condi- an ‘invented tradition’, in the sense that it conception of knowledge that the new [Is- tions which sources will be relevant, capa- is founded by a sort of historical sleight-of- lamist] intellectual completes his home- ble of providing evidence. As not every his- hand, positing ancient roots while actually made construction.’5 torical detail can be presented, this process being of recent origin. In many ways, Hobs- There is often a slide in such arguments always involves a certain selectivity: within bawm and Ranger1 provided the re- from the simple charge that Islamists cheat any narrative, certain objects of discourse spectability of a concept for a phenome- in representing history to the more compli- are excluded while others are foreground- non that had long been central to the defi- cated claim that they are incapable of ed. Importantly, this selection and arrange- nition of fundamentalist Islam: namely, the grasping reality. The latter claim resembles ment reflects the use to which that narra- duplicitous (or in sympathetic accounts, the long-since discarded anthropological tive is put, the institutional forms (political, naive) misrepresentation of history. Addi- theory, associated primarily with the early theological, scientific) which that historical tionally, Benedict Anderson’s work,2 i n Levy-Bruhl, that primitives were possessed practice upholds, legitimates, and extends. showing how a similar creative historiogra- of a mythical consciousness. This pejora- Historical writing, in other words, is always phy undergirded modern nationalism, en- tive sense of myth is particularly surprising shaped by the historian’s location at a par- couraged scholars to interpret Islamist his- in light of the large body of literature ex- ticular time and place, and by the commit- torical claims within the framework of na- ploring the importance of myth within ments that he or she holds. It is odd, there- tionalist politics. Accordingly, arguments modern societies, its foundational role fore, that we fault Islamist historical narra- for the traditional Islamic status of the within our individual psychologies, nation- tives for presenting the past from a limited headscarf, democratic political forms, or al politics, social customs and other areas. perspective, as this is a feature of a l l h i s t o r- the idea of an Islamic state are unmasked The assertion that Muslim historical ical works. as strategic moves within a modern politics claims involve a kind of mythical reasoning This does not mean to imply, of course, of cultural authenticity, and thus as not re- is frequently coupled with the idea that that we need to interpret Muslim history ally – historically – authentic. One paradox- such claims ignore or deny ‘real history’. ‘Islamically’ (or theologically, for that mat- ical aspect of this argument, it might be Gilles Kepel, for example, notes: ‘What dis- ter), but that to the extent that Muslims do noted, is that while cultural authenticity is tinguishes the extremist Islamist move- so, that choice will impact their societies in often criticized as a reactionary form of ment from the bulk of Muslims as far as ref- ways that (secular) historical work must modern politics, it is assumed that there is erence to the golden age is concerned is take into account. Thus, the goal should an a u t h e n t i c relation to the past (not in- that the former blot out history in favor of not be to unmask the error of Muslim his- vented, mythological, etc.), and that Is- the reactivation of the founding myth, torical practices from the standpoint of a lamists are in some sense living falsely not while the latter accommodate themselves set of supposedly universal criteria, but to to acknowledge it and adjust to its de- to the history of Muslim societies.’6 T h e ask what their presuppositions, modes of m a n d s . claim being made is not that Muslim ac- constructing and arguing from sources, tivists offer no accounts of the past; on the and methods of verification are, and how Anthropologies of error contrary, they are generally accused of ex- these practices have been transformed Scholars have also frequently drawn on aggerating its importance. Rather, it is not under current conditions in Muslim soci- the resources of 19t h-century anthropology history as an account of past events which eties. This entails greater attention to the in their attempts to grasp the mode of his- Islamists erase, but history understood as kinds of historical objects which Muslim torical reasoning employed by contempo- the sole ground of present reality, as the historical practices presuppose and the rary Muslims. Note, for example, Aziz al- real (material) conditions of their lives. purposes and projects those practices sus- Azmeh’s use of the notion of the f e t i s h i n Kepel implies that by not ‘accomodat[ing] t a i n . his complaint that ‘their [Arab society’s] ex- themselves’ properly to these conditions, To say this is to acknowledge that a tradi- N o t e s aggerated attachment to what is past and Islamists take up a false or distorted rela- tion is more than a mere record of facts 1 . Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence (eds.) (1988), what they fetishize as “Heritage” means tion to their actual historical situation. He which the researcher (with proper academ- The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge that they are effectively forbidden to per- assumes, in other words, that there is a sin- ic training) can scrutinize and re-describe. University Press. ceive reality for what it is or acquire the gle correct relationship to the past: when As J.L. Austin noted long ago, arguments 2 . Anderson, Benedict (1991), Imagined Communities: means to evolve.’3 As developed within Muslims do not acknowledge its dictates, it about history always entail a performative Reflections on the Origins and Spread of colonial anthropology, fetishism referred is they, and not the analyst’s concept of aspect: any assessment of their validity N a t i o n a l i s m, London: Verso. to the false attribution of objective value history, that are at fault. must take into consideration the context of 3 . Al-Azmeh, Aziz (1996), Islams and Modernities, by non-Europeans, the sacralization of ob- goals, practices, and assumptions within N e w York: Verso, p. 57. jects that European Christians recognized Sources and selectivity which they are embedded.7 For this reason, 4 . Arkoun, Mohammed (1994), Rethinking Islam: as actually profane. Al-Azmeh’s reference Let us look more closely at the issue of we need to recognize that the institutional Common Questions, Uncommon Answers, B o u l d e r , to the incapacitating effects of a historical historical accuracy, since it seems to ani- goals, standards, and competencies (both Colo.: Westview Press, p. 99. vision clouded by religious passion testi- mate much of the scholarly critique of Is- moral and intellectual) involved in Western 5 . Roy, Olivier (1996), The Failure of Political Islam, fies to the ongoing impact of this scholarly lamist arguments. What all of these views academic practice may be distinct in cer- Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, p. 148. t r a d i t i o n . have in common is the assertion that Is- tain aspects from those undergirding Is- 6 . Kepel, Gilles (1993), Muslim Extremism in Egypt: Colonial anthropology also bequeathed lamist claims are not supported by histori- lamic knowledges. The statements made T h e Prophet and the Pharaoh, Berkeley: University to students of religion a particular elabora- cal facts. But is this claim valid? Historical by a professor at a Western university, for of California Press, p. 228. tion of the concept of myth, one to which facts, in the sense of the documentary or example, and those of an ca l i m in Saudi 7 . Austin, John L. (1962), How to Do Things with scholars of Islam have frequently had re- archaeological remnants that constitute Arabia are embedded in very different W o r d s, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, course. Take, for instance, the following the historian’s sources, provide evidence kinds of social-historical projects. This dif- p. 143-145. two well-known authors’ suggestions that but are not equivalent to ‘history’. Were ference conditions the kinds of engagement Muslims have a ‘mythical’ or ‘mystical’ rela- this not the case, then the historian’s task each will have with Islamic tradition, the tion to knowledge: would be to simply collect and display status of their respective claims. Despite Charles Hirschkind is an assistant professor at ‘The historian and the sociologist must these remnants. Historical narratives, how- the increasing scope and speed of global t h e Department of Anthropology, University of call attention to the anachronism inherent ever, are produced by interrogating the interaction and movement (‘globaliza- Wisconsin, Madison, USA. in [the Islamists’] approach and its nullifica- sources, asking particular questions of tion’), such differences in societal and insti- E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Historical Approaches 19

Articulating Difference USSAMA MAKDISI U n d e r s t a n d i n g

The civil war in Lebanon is over. Sectarianism is not. This simple observation should make all scholars who analyse sectarianism (or communalism) pause and re- flect on the nature of the problem that they are so S e c t a r i a n i s m often called upon to explain. In Lebanon and else- where – in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the trol of, and the limits to, these communities Balkans – religious violence and sectarian political dis- consistently overwhelm every attempt to course have not diminished in the modern world, and build a national platform. The articulation of in fact, in many instances have been exacerbated in it. a broad, national, and secular Lebanese citi- zenship will always be sacrificed on the altar The dominant paradigm to explain sectari- of narrower communal interests because it anism has long insisted that modernity is was upon these communal interests that one thing – invariably defined as secular the state was founded and it is these inter- and Western – and sectarianism another. ests that continue to dominate the state. This secularist paradigm insists that reli- Rather, while it is important to reject sectar- gious feelings, beliefs, culture, and passions ian history, which can interpret the past are insidiously persistent and immutable. only in light of supposedly unchanging Sectarianism, therefore, is almost always Muslim, Christian or Jewish communal iden- identified as a problem affecting less devel- tities, it is also important to realize that the oped countries, or those peripheral regions simplistic equation of sectarianism with of Europe such as the Balkans or Northern atavism indicates the poverty of secularist Ireland. The destruction by Hindus of a imagination. It is also not adequate to un- mosque in the late 20t h-century India is derstand sectarianism simply as a colonial often comprehended in light of a long histo- construction. In the case of Mount Lebanon, ry of antagonism between Hindus and Mus- sectarianism represented the transition R e c o n s t r u c t i n g lims in South Asia. The Maronite conflict from a pre-colonial and pre-reform Ot- downtown Beirut. with Druzes in Lebanon is similarly under- toman history to a post-reform history dom- stood against the backdrop of an age-old inated by the West. clash of civilizations in the eastern Mediter- sis of age-old sectarianism. Other historians communities into political communities, In the final analysis, what makes sectarian- ranean. The power of such a paradigm is have stressed social and economic pres- while also preserving a hierarchical social ism so tenacious in Lebanon today is that it rooted in a simple observation: that the dis- sures and dislocations caused by the impact order. On another level, communal politics is a profoundly problematic component of course accompanying and justifying sectari- of European industrialization on, and the inadvertently democratized politics as non- the modern nation: it represents conflicting an violence is itself expressed in a language consequent decline of, the Syrian textile in- elites forced themselves to the forefront of interpretations of a discourse of equality that leaves little room for historical nuance. dustry. And still other historians have sectarian mobilizations which, in turn, often which, because of a 19t h-century history that More often than not, this language evokes a claimed that European rivalries played a de- violated traditional hierarchies. For exam- brought together European ‘humanitarian’ longue durée of antagonisms that mark Mus- cisive role in fomenting sectarian divisions. ple, Maronite commoners interpreted Ot- intervention, Ottoman reform and local as- lims, Hindus, Jews, or Christians as irrecon- Historians, in short, have sought to explain toman reform to mean social as well as reli- pirations, made the religious synonymous cilably different, as inherently violent, and the secular context of sectarianism; few gious equality, whereas the Maronite with the communal, and the communal par- as incorrigibly hostile to a particular group’s have ever seriously grappled with sectarian- church interpreted Ottoman reform to allel to the individual. In the social context collective identity. Moreover, such a reas- ism itself except to treat it as an easily mean a ‘restoration’ of an imagined Ma- of Mount Lebanon, sectarianism allowed suringly simple paradigm of age-old hostili- grasped phenomenon, a cultural essence, a ronite Christian emirate in Mount Lebanon non-elites to involve themselves in politics ty is constantly reinforced by every act of vi- tribal will, a primordial religiosity that is an- (which had never existed as such). Both in- to an unprecedented degree precisely be- olence that occurs between religious com- tithetical to a liberal, egalitarian and secular terpretations of reform constituted visions cause politics was defined along communal munities in the modern world, regardless of m o d e r n i t y . of liberation. Both either entirely excluded rather than exclusively elite lines. In the con- the specific historical context. or subordinated the Druze inhabitants of text of the Ottoman Empire as a whole, and Interpretation of Ottoman Mount Lebanon. The religiously mixed na- against the backdrop of several hundred Historians’ constructions of r e f o r m ture of the region and the growing interven- years of Muslim rule over Christian minori- s e c t a r i a n i s m To the extent that sectarianism in modern tion of European powers who insisted on ties, sectarianism represented no less a pro- For many observers, the case of Lebanon Lebanon is religious in articulation it is in- partitioning Mount Lebanon into pure found change: the state no longer had a ma- has bolstered the notion that sectarianism is deed antithetical to a Western-style secular- Christian and Druze districts only exacerbat- jority and several minorities defined in ex- an age-old problem. Because the recent civil ism which ostensibly separates religion ed communal tensions. clusionary religious terms, but a series of in- war (which ostensibly ended in 1990) mim- from politics. But to the extent that sectari- Ultimately, it was conflicting interpreta- terdependent religious communities whose icked many of the aspects of an earlier 19t h- anism emerged out of a 19t h-century inter- tions over the meaning of Ottoman reform – members were granted equal social and po- century conflict between Druzes and Ma- section of Ottoman reformation and West- not age-old religious antagonisms – that led litical status before the law. That this sectar- ronites that devastated the region in 1860, ern intervention, it should not be classified directly to the sectarian violence in Mount ian revolution was radically distorted by Lebanon has been written about as if its re- as antithetical to modernity. Before the Lebanon in the 1840s and culminated in the French colonialism during the post-Ot- ligious antagonisms stemmed from ancient 1860 massacres, social status, not religious massacres of 1860. And it was an attempted toman era to favour the Maronites (which grievances that would forever rob it of an affiliation, defined politics in Mount Leba- solution to this ‘age-old’ problem that led ultimately led to two civil wars to redress opportunity to ‘become’ modern. Book after non. While in the Ottoman Empire as a Ottomans and Europeans to construct a sys- this imbalance) should not obscure its cru- book, speech after speech, and article after whole, and in urban areas in particular, Mus- tem of local administration and politics ex- cial break with an Ottoman history that priv- article have repeated this so often that few lims enjoyed political and cultural primacy plicitly defined on a narrow communal ileged Muslim over non-Muslim and elite bother to look to closely into the origins of over non-Muslims, the operative social and basis. Indeed the emergence of an explicitly over commoner. Without recognizing the sectarianism in Lebanon. Most Lebanese political distinction in rural Mount Lebanon sectarian political practice in Mount historical, social and political complexity of themselves are convinced that sectarianism was between knowledgeable elites and ig- Lebanon can be dated precisely to the early sectarianism, the secular criticism of it will is endemic in Lebanese history. Prominent norant commoners regardless of religious 1840s. It was reinforced after 1860 when the continue to be little more than indignant Western historians have claimed that sectar- affiliation. Both Christian and Druze reli- Ottoman government created the religious- sound and fury – as impotent as it is misdi- ianism represents a Muslim reaction, indeed gious authorities legitimized the traditional ly balanced Administrative Council to aid rected. It will continue to miss the point, the a rage, against the modernization policies secular political and social order. It was the the non-native Christian Ottoman governor intensity and the persistence of sectarian al- advanced by the Ottoman reform move- Europeans, who insisted on saving the ‘sub- appointed by the Sublime Porte in consulta- legiances and antipathies. Sectarianism is ment which declared the equality of Muslim jugated’ Christians of the Orient, that sin- tion with the European powers. And it not a disease but a modern reality that must and non-Muslim and which began a whole- gled out religion in Mount Lebanon as the reached its most complex and theoretically be understood before it can be dismantled. sale administrative, cultural and military basis for, and sign of, modern reform. In the sophisticated form in the modern Lebanese transformation of the Ottoman Empire. The m i d - 1 9t h century, European powers inter- state which divides power on a supposedly polemical implication of this argument as- vened in the region on an explicitly sectari- proportional (hence theoretically equitable) sumes that the Muslim majority could not an basis. The French championed the Ma- basis exclusively amongst the major reli- be really modern – that is to say, Muslims ronites and the British protected the Druzes. gious communities of Lebanon. could never accept Jews or Christians as In an effort to resist European encroach- To be clear, this is not to say that sectari- equals, but had to be cajoled into a Western ment and to construct a notion of a secular- anism is ‘good’ because it is ‘modern’. It is and presumably alien modernity by author- ized Ottoman subject-citizen, the Ottomans not being suggested that sectarianism is the Ussama Makdisi is an assistant professor of Arab and itarian regimes. Invariably the only evidence in Mount Lebanon guaranteed Muslim (and only kind of modernity, as sectarian ideo- Ottoman history at Rice University, USA. presented to support this interpretation is Druze) and non-Muslim (Maronite) commu- logues would have it. Nor is it suggested He is the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: the testimony of contemporary European nities equal political representation and tax- that sectarianism is an ideal system. Clearly Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth- sources or the fact of the violence itself as if ation. At one level, the problem facing Euro- it is not: it is chronically unstable because Century Ottoman Lebanon (Berkeley: University of the outbreak of religious hostilities in 1860 pean powers, Ottoman authorities, and constant struggles between and within reli- California Press, 2000). in and of itself was sufficient to prove a the- local elites was how to transform religious gious communities to define political con- E-mail: [email protected] 2 0 Intellectual Debates I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Religious Reform ARMANDO SALVATORE ’Public Islam’ and

A growing body of scholarly work is devoting atten- tion to how Muslim traditions articulate notions that might fit the standards of a modern polity.1 This re- search focus calls into question the extent to which the Nation-State such notions become ingrained in the norms of mod- ern public spheres, which represent the communica- tive and legitimizing basis of potentially democratic political systems. The reconfiguration of the norma- tive discourses and the institutional footing of Islam- in Egypt ic ‘reform’ movements in the framework of public spheres can be termed ‘public Islam’.

Even in times of burgeoning forms of social mitted to the collective goals of the commu- citizenship within a civil law setting, but were tinuity from the early stages of public Islam association and mobilization carried under nity. Therefore, it should not be surprising seen as rooted in s h a r ica. This notion, more in the late 19t h-century Egypt till today, the Islamic banners, which are based on local that reformed religious traditions play a role than ‘Islamic law’, signifies something like ‘Is- state is not the source of authorization of (sub-national) and (global) transnational in the process. It would be impossible to un- lamic normativity’ or ‘Islamic normative rea- even state-friendly forms of public Islam. levels, it should be acknowledged that the derstand the political and legal philosophy son’ (at least as used and implemented in the nation-state framework has been historical- of Locke outside of the framework of Calvin- discourse of modern Muslim reformers). A balanced notion of ly the major platform for the rise of such ist reform theology. p u b l i c I s l a m norms of public Islam. Egyptian society and In a comparable vein, from the 1870s on- Mustafa Mahmud The Habermasian claim that the public its history present an interesting case for re- wards, Muslim reformers in Egypt, acting This pattern of disjunction and partial con- sphere creates social cohesion through locating the notion of the public sphere not only as writers but also as editors, pub- vergence between nation-state building and mechanisms alternative to state coercion within nation-state building. The specific in- lishers and sponsors of new and largely au- public Islam that we meet in the reform dis- and market interest is still basically valid, terest in analysing public Islam relates to tonomous press organs, expanded the area course of CA b d a l l a h al-Nadim is still found a and also applies to public Islam. More than how the self-reforming impetus of religious of Islamic normative discourse into issues of century later – under modified circum- that, this force of cohesion is exactly what traditions impacts notions of social justice, collective concern like state law, distribu- stances of the state-society relationship – in religious-civilizing traditions, as major welfare and governance as well as ‘social tion of wealth, and work ethics, which are of the work of Mustafa Mahmud, probably the sources of collective identities, have been health’, and on the political process at large. vital significance for any modernizing soci- main personality of public Islam in Egypt. In capable of doing since times long prior to ety. As shown by Michael Gasper, the Islam- the period of his ascent to public moral au- the rise of modern nation-states. Therefore, The public sphere and ic reform movement (i s l a h) established the thority in the 1970s and 1980s, the cleavage in the rise and transformation of public ‘ p u b l i c I s l a m ’ conceptual frame defining the external between state-loyal vs. oppositional, or ‘in- Islam one can find instances of how reli- That Muslim reformers were the hub of the boundaries of the ‘society’ on the basis of tegrationist’ vs. ‘isolationist’ Islam, not un- gious traditions justify claims of member- public sphere at the stage of its emergence which the nation-state was defined, includ- problematic if applied to the period be- ship within the community that articulate in the second half of the 19t h century and for ing the lines of exclusion and inclusion. The- tween the 1920s and 1960s, becomes ever the tense relationship between individual several decades thereafter, might seem to orizing about ‘social ills’, they saw in proper- less capable of capturing the reconfigura- salvation and social order. clash with Habermasian presuppositions ly intended Islamic traditions the cure at tion of public Islam v i s - à - v i s the nation-state. If the Habermas framework is too narrow to that see a modern public sphere as free from hand. A contemporary of Muhammad CA b- The principal generator of public moral au- capture the way public Islam is rooted in Is- the allegedly ritualistic and ‘representation- d u h, CA b d a l l a h al-Nadim (1845-1896), de- thority in Islamic terms that Mustafa Mah- lamic traditions and their ongoing reform, di- al’ features of traditional notions of public- fined virtue not just in terms of the canoni- mud was able to play upon was the idea of a luting public Islam into a ‘post-modern’ kind ness. Several other scholars have, however, cal injunction al-amr b i - l - m acr u f wa al-nahi continuity between personal excellence and of politics of subjectivity, visibility and im- stressed that also in Western societies the ca n a l - m u n k a r (enjoining good and forbid- rectitude on the one hand, and commitment agery does not do justice to how reformed Is- role of puritan and pietistic socio-religious ding evil), but as tied to economic develop- to the welfare of the community on the lamic traditions authorize views of social jus- movements and reformers has not been the ment and ‘industriousness’.2 other. Mustafa Mahmud impersonated this tice and practices of social welfare. By linking exception, but the rule. The public sphere is However, we cannot assume that the pub- script of public virtue as the founder of the collective identity to forms of subjectivity the site where contests take place over the lic intellectuals of the Islamic reform were most famous new Islamic j a mci y y a ( w e l f a r e that might prove difficult to ascertain, or to a definition not only of the ‘common good’, just playing into the hands of the nation- association) in Cairo, and as the author and plainly staged visibility as a ‘politics of dis- but also of the catalogue of virtues, obliga- state. They influenced state educational and moderator of a very popular television docu- play’ of signs, post-modern accounts of pub- tions, and rights required of the members of legal policies, and initiated autonomous mentary series on a l -ci l m w a - l - i m a n ( s c i e n c e lic Islam fail to duly link Muslim identity to society (in due time citizens of the nation- projects within the associational life of the and faith), where he has proven capable of welfare and justice, and also fail to focus on state). The emergent sense of public goes main urban centres, whilst backing up both swaying Islamic discourse back and forth the mechanisms of recognition that autho- Cover of a l - i s l a m hand in hand with the diffusion of norms activities with a public discourse that across the thin border between the edifying rize identity and legitimize visibility. The pos- fi khandaq, whereby a member of the community is de- brought to bear a distinctive view of the and the entertaining. Through this television sible usefulness of a transculturally feasible, b y M u s t a p h a fined as an autonomous moral-social agent, Muslim moral being. From that historical programme that he set up from scratch in post-Habermasian notion of the public M a h m u d . and is simultaneously expected to be com- moment on, a whole spectrum of differenti- the early 1970s, Mustafa Mahmud belongs sphere that can be applied to the transforma- ated attitudes of personalities, groups and to the pioneers of Egyptian television, a tion of religious traditions and the emer- movements of public Islam has developed medium that rapidly spread into middle gence of a vast array of socio-religious move- as to how to manage the state and its ambi- class households. In the post-Nasser political ments, is in helping to frame the platform tion to normalize and incorporate public context – where the repressive capacities of where nation-state projects on identity, jus- Islam into the normative standards of the the state with respect to its citizens are tech- tice and welfare intersect and overlap with – nation-state framework (first and foremost nically intact or even refined, although they and sometimes are challenged by – move- ‘citizenship’, and a culturalization of Islam no longer enjoy a solid legitimacy – the pub- ments and projects grounded on (often con- into a major factor of national identity also lic styling of self-correctness and its rooting sciously reformed) religious traditions. acceptable to non-Muslim minorities). in religious credibility and authority have The reformers’ intervention in Muslim tra- been crucial conditions for the efficacy of ditions in the context of the formation of a discourse, as the success story of Mustafa modern public sphere did not collapse tra- Mahmud shows. This credibility is also sup- ditional notions of personhood, community ported by the social work of the j a mci y y a N o t e s and authority into the modern model of Mustafa Mahmud founded in 1975: growing 1 . Cf. Eickelman, Dale and Piscatori, James (1996), personal responsibility and loyalty to the in size and range of (mainly medical) services Muslim Politics, New Jersey: Princeton University nation-state. On the other hand, state poli- up to the present (see photo). Press; Krämer, Gudrun (1999), Gottes Staat als cies could only gain coherence in an episte- As also shown by the path of Mustafa R e p u b l i k, Baden-Baden: Nomos. mological terrain that the emergent ‘public Mahmud, the acquisition of credentials of 2 . Gasper, Michael (2001), ‘Abdallah Nadim, Islamic Islam’ foregrounded no less than colonial public Islamic authority is subject to increas- Reform, and “Ignorant” Peasants: State-Building in policies did. The bottom line is that it would ing differentiation: v i s - à - v i s the state, public Egypt?’, in Salvatore, Armando (ed), M u s l i m be very difficult to prove that the emer- Islam might be in a relation of collaboration, Traditions and Modern Techniques of Power, gence of public Islam was either purely complicity, indifference, suspicion, hostility Yearbook of the Sociology of Islam, 3, Hamburg: functional or merely reactive to the process and outward opposition to terrorism (at the L i t Verlag, and New Brunswick and London: of nation-state formation. level where Islam eclipses from public visi- Transaction Publishers. If the normative framework associated bility). Moreover, the success of one or the with public Islam does not perfectly fit na- other new Islamic spokesmen is certainly Armando Salvatore is Jean Monet Fellow at tion-state building, this is because the virtues dependent on an increasing degree of ca- t h e Robert Schuman Centre, European University propagated by the reformers, whilst indeed pacity to match the needs and orientations Institute, Florence, and is the founder and favouring social mobilization and disciplin- of a composite public. This makes the state’s m o d e r a t o r of the Forum of Social Research. ing in the framework of the nation-state, task of controlling public Islam ever more E-mail: [email protected] were not conceived in terms of formulas of difficult. More generally, and in a line of con- URL: www.socialresearch.de I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Intellectual Debates 21

Religious Reform FOROUGH JAHANBAKHSH Abdolkarim Soroush Abdolkarim Soroush (b.1945) is an Iranian philoso- pher-thinker whose innovative ideas on religious re- form are sure to win him a place among the most prominent Muslim reformers of this century. A grad- uate of Tehran University in pharmacology, Soroush New ‘Revival of 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 tra- ditions, was captivated by modern philosophy. Religious Sciences’

Soroush’s goal goes beyond unsystematic Muctazilite rationalism and resonating with ception from duty-bearing to right-bearing. reforms in certain selected, mostly legal, the pleas of Muhammad Abduh and Muham- Equally critical of the shortcomings of the matters and his plan is multidimensional. Of mad Iqbal. past duty-oriented mentality and the current its two major aspects, one is to prune ele- A ‘maximalist’ view of religion affirms that right-oriented mentality, Soroush proposes a ments and understandings that are consid- what Muslims need to solve their problems or third paradigm in which elements of rational- ered superfluous and stagnant and have administer their public and personal lives is all ity and rights are tempered by a form of reli- often obscured the essence of religion. The provided in Islam as if religion were a reposi- giosity that prevents human beings from as- other is to equip religion with extra-religious tory of pre-packaged solutions for all prob- suming God-like characteristics and obliges means and values, chiefly in reconciling rea- lems at all times. This deprives Muslims of the them to God. However, the nature and defini- son and revelation. intellectual challenge and benefit of other tion of this religiosity and obligation differ means and values. In practice, it recedes to radically from conventional notions that are Reason and revelation fiqh, which, in its most lively manifestation, primarily geared to external behaviour. His pathology of contemporary Islam sur- ijtihad, is ironically the most in need of extra- Far from inviting secularism, Soroush ad- faces numerous ills. Although post-revolu- religious knowledge. A ‘maximalist’ view of vances a learned and examined kind of reli- tionary conditions in Iran are central to his di- religion is perhaps best exemplified in the giosity. This dimension of his project deals, agnosis, Soroush has no difficulty identifying prevailing discourse on Islam and politics. It one might say, with reviving a higher mystical these problems all over the Muslim world. teaches that sharicah is an all-comprehensive type of religiosity. It is an ‘experiential reli- First, he sees the ideologizing of Islam, the system of law that provides for political giosity’ based on the love of God, the proto- prevalent mode of Islamic resurgence since needs. This juridical approach to politics not type of which is the ‘prophetic experience’ of the 1960s, as detrimental to the essence of re- only disregards the very nature of the matter, Muhammad. What the demystified modern ligion. Among other things, it makes religion it ends in some un-resolvable contradictions. world is in need of is an ‘experiential’ not ‘ex- an instrument for attaining goals. It promotes pediental’ religiosity where God is experi- a dogmatic understanding of religion con- Islam and democracy enced as a gracious Beloved, not as a stern A b o l k a r i m Prior to postgraduate work, Soroush was cerned with exoteric, accidental aspects, ig- Soroush argues that discussion about Islam Law-giver. His commands are observed not Soroush at the long preoccupied with textual interpreta- noring deeper meanings and resulting in in- and politics should be approached from out- out of obligation to legal duties but out of ISIM Muslim tion – a product of his extensive, systematic tellectual rigidity and exclusivism. It fixes one side of religion. Reconciling religion and compulsion of love. I n t e l l e c t u a l s study of Qur’anic exegesis, and classical the- understanding of religion as final, absolute, democracy is of the same nature as reconcil- Soroush’s reform plan targets the short- C o n f e r e n c e , ological, mystical and philosophical works official, and beyond criticism. Demanding its ing reason and revelation; both involve extra- comings of both tradition and modernity. A p r i l2 0 0 0 . such as Rumi and Al-Ghazali. These joined official interpreters, it entrusts the clergy with religious values and means. In essence, the While advocating adoption of certain modern with new insights to draw him into a vortex a priori privileges and gives access to reli- nature of the state and values and methods of elements to strengthen the tradition, it of intellectual activity aimed at re-evaluat- gious totalitarianism at societal and political governance are not matters of religious ju- searches the deep layers of tradition to offer a ing traditional metaphysics in order to find a levels. Soroush calls this the ‘Islam of identity’. risprudence but belong to political philoso- remedy for the spiritual impoverishment of convincing solution to the relationship be- At best, it is an ideological means that may phy. With regard to religion, they should be the modern age. In order to become function- tween science and metaphysics/reason and help Muslims overcome their modernity-in- addressed in kalam (theology). Human be- al in the modern world, religion needs to in- revelation. Context has also contributed to spired ‘crisis of identity’; whereas the ‘Islam of ings qua human beings are entitled to a priori teract meaningfully with modern concepts, Soroush’s intellectual fruition as a Muslim truth’, understood as the essential truths to rights, including political ones. Pivotal values outlooks and institutions. To this end, reformer. In the 1960s, as a religiously com- which prophets have invited humankind, is of democracy – justice and freedom – are Soroush moves reform from the plane of fiqh mitted and socio-politically concerned stu- only remotely related to this ‘expediental’ extra-religious, though upheld by religious to deeper levels of theology and philosophy dent, he pondered revivalist literature from Islam. systems. Methods of governance are also where essential concepts of God, humankind Al-Afghani to Ali S h a r ica t i. Since returning to A second problem is the undue emphasis non-religious. Administering public life is a ra- and religiosity are to be redefined. This is Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution, he has given to legal aspects of Islam (sharicah and tional matter that should benefit from mod- predicated on the recognition of the need for experienced the rule of an Islamic govern- fiqh) at the cost of ethics and theology. ern social sciences, economics and adminis- a dialogical pluralism between inside and ment, the supremacy of an ideologized Soroush’s critique of this imbalance targets tration. Fiqh is neither a science of administra- outside of religious intellectual fields. The Islam, and the implementation of a jurispru- traditionalists and some modernists alike, the tion nor a government platform. Anything complementarity of Soroush’s project lies in dential understanding of Islam. former for reducing Islam to fiqh. The latter, found in religion in this respect is ‘minimal’ the fact that it invigorates the intellectual ra- trapped in this short-sightedness, have lost and ‘accidental’; it is not ‘essential’ to religion. tional tradition of Islam and at the same time Contraction and expansion their ability to recognize ills at a deeper level Arguing for the possibility of a religious de- accentuates its spiritual richness. The effect is His turbulent yet rewarding intellectual and have thus reduced reform to partial and mocratic state, Soroush believes that if to restrain the arrogance and self-centred- journey culminated in the development of unsystematic legal solutions. Soroush does democracy is irreconcilable with the norma- ness of modern humankind. his epistemological/hermeneutical ‘Theory not underestimate the significance of fiqh tive legal reading of Islam, it can be compati- of Contraction and Expansion of Religious and sharicah. What he argues against is ascrib- ble with another understanding that accords Knowledge’. This theory, constituting the ing to it primacy, comprehensiveness and fi- primacy to human values such as rationality, foundation stone of Soroush’s reform plan, nality. Inspired by his ‘mentor’ Al-Ghazali, he justice, freedom and human rights. Therefore, B i b l i o g r a p h y distinguishes him from other revivalists. believes that fiqh is neither the core of Islam democracy can work in a religious society – Soroush, Abdolkarim (2000), Reason, Freedom and Notwithstanding his deep appreciation of nor its totality and should thus be confined to only if the respective theoretical foundations Democracy in Islam, translation by Mahmood Sadri their endeavours, Soroush believes that his its own sphere. Moreover, a fiqh-based under- are harmonized. and Ahmad Sadri, Oxford. theory provides a hitherto absent but vital standing of Islam puts a premium on camal – Soroush, Abdolkarim (1998), ‘The Evolution and contribution, that is, an epistemological (outward practices) rather than iman (inner Islam and modernity Devolution of Religious Knowledge’, in Kurzman, structure. To reconcile the immutable (reli- faith). It envisions a society wherein the en- Acutely aware of an epistemological break Charles (ed.) Liberal Islam, O x f o r d . gion) with change (dynamic world) it is nec- forcement of the sharicah, ritualism and uni- between the old and modern worlds, Soroush – Jahanbakhsh, Forough (2001), Islam, Democracy essary to distinguish between religion and formity in religious experience prevail. This believes that any serious attempt at Islamic and Religious Modernism in Iran: From Bazargan religious knowledge. Religion is divine, eter- absence of plurality leads to hypocrisy and modernism should begin by equipping itself to Soroush, Leiden: Brill. nal, immutable and sacred, while human un- monopoly on truth. with modern concepts, perceptual outlooks – Vakili, Valla (2001), ‘Abdolkarim Soroush and Critical derstanding of it is in constant exchange These two ills have not only caused a stag- and intellectual means. Of the several issues Discourse in Iran’, in Esposito, John, and Voll, John with every field of human knowledge. As nation in religious thought, they have pro- addressed by Soroush, two are modern: criti- (eds.), The Makers of Contemporary Islam, O x f o r d . such, religious knowledge is in flux, relative, moted a ‘maximalist’ view of religion. They cal reason vs. traditional hermeneutical rea- and time-bound. This recognition means have prevented a dialogue among Islamic re- son, and rights vs. duties. Those technical terms in quotation (e.g. ‘maximalist’, that issues of reform can be addressed with- ligious sciences and between Islam and the Modern Muslim thought needs to adopt ‘experiential religiosity’, etc.) are taken from Soroush’s out compromising the sacredness of reli- human sciences, necessary components to a critical reasoning, a tool that not only involves own works hitherto in Persian. For the sake of space gion. Revivalists’ neglect of this foundation revitalization of Islamic thought. Only a critical historical approach to traditional reli- limitation no individual reference is given here. has diverted their attention from fundamen- through such recognition and willingness to gious paradigms but can also suggest alter- tal questions. Consequently, solutions, enter into a give-and-take process will Islamic natives. One of the most decisive paradigmat- Forough Jahanbakhsh, Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from though valuable, have been provisional. thought break the shackles of rigidity and ab- ic changes of the modern world is that most McGill University, is assistant professor in Islamic Nevertheless, Soroush claims neither perfec- solutism. This is a summons to the invigorat- of its concepts and institutions are right- Studies at Queen’s University, Canada. tion nor finality for his approach. ing role of reason, a call deeply aligned with based, reflecting the shift in human self-per- E-mail: [email protected] 2 2 Intellectual Debates I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

R e - I s l a m i z a t i o n AMR HAMZAWY al-Manar al-Jadid

The periodical al-Manar al-Jadid was first published in January 1998 in Cairo. In the words of its editor-in- chief, Gamal S u l t a n, its aim is: ‘To establish a civilized and authentic intellectual forum, to combat the Changes in the waves of westernization, arbitrariness and oppor- tunism in the Islamic world.’1 The initiators of the publication include such prominent Islamists as M u h a m m a d cI m a r a, T a r i q al-Bishri, Yusuf Q a r a d a w i, and Rashid al-Ghanushi, as well as activists of the Contemporary Islamist younger generation, like kamal h a b i b, a leading member of the Jihad Group in the 1980s. The new pe- riodical is obviously linked to the famous a l - M a n a r issued in 1898 under the patronage of Rashid R i d a. D i s c o u r s e

By constructing a historical continuum from u m m a has remained in a state of stagnation spheres of life by means of legal and educa- past three decades. While since the 1970s the situation of the u m m a at the end of the reveals a one-sided understanding of devel- tional reforms. Thus they make it possible to such negative evaluations have been a 1 9t h century to the state of the Islamic world opments in the 20t h century, depicted as a realize a model of society and politics based prime feature of the secular criticism of Is- at the threshold of the 21s t century, a l - history of decadence. As is frequently en- on the authentic principles of s h u r a ( c o n s u l- lamism, the fact that they are adopted in Manar al-Jadid emphasizes its lineal ties countered in the modern Islamist historiog- tation) and s i y a s a s h a rci y y a (rule of Islamic current Islamist discourses indicates a fun- with R i d a and his initial goals. ‘R i d a a l r e a d y raphy, he explains this history as a depar- law). The relevance of contemporary Is- damental change. The inclusion of historical understood that the u m m a required a step ture from the fundamentals of a Golden lamism is felt by Al-Ghanushi to lie in the vi- and contemporary processes of change in forward into the future […]. A new future, at Age, the original state of grace of the com- tality and uniqueness of its role. In his argu- determining the societal goals and strate- which horizon it would free itself from the munity at the time of the Prophet. The same mentation the transformations of the 20t h gies of Islamism means a reversal of the rad- heavy burden of stagnation, technological understanding of history informs his evalua- century constituted a break within Islamic ical assumption that social structures must and scientific backwardness, and civilizatory tion of transitions in contemporary Islamic history. The rise of modern nation-states be (re-)formed according to a(n) – essential- sloth […]. Today, at the end of the 20t h c e n- thought, which he explains as an internal put an end to the old separation of power ized – religious world-view and by political tury, these hopes and fears are still on the fall from a correctly guided tradition (i s l a h) – between rulers and religious scholars, means. This gives relevance to the question agenda of most Arabic and Islamic soci- a situation that is to be redressed with the which was based on a functional distinction of the social plausibility of certain religious e t i e s . ’2 In light of this analogy, the leading help of al-Manar al-Jadid. between the spheres of politics and society. contents and the form in which they are me- article written by R i d a in 1898 and repub- The notions of continuity and change in In his view, the traditional role of the cu l a m a’ diated in the public sphere. The primacy of lished in the first issue of al-Manar al-Jadid, the discussions found in al-Manar al-Jadid was to sanction political power and to pro- adapting to ‘changeable’ social conditions entitled ‘Risalat al-Manar’ (The Message of have two central themes: the persistence of tect people against despotic rule. However, becomes a central element of the discourse. al-Manar), stands as a policy statement for decadence as a general tendency of human this lost its significance within the context The persistence of the notions of ‘return’ the new periodical. In addition to the revival societies and the desirable return to an ide- of the nation-state. New authoritarian elites and ‘beginnings’ justifies the adaptation to of umma thought, it also intends to provide alized moment in history. The notion of rejected the participation of any forces the present by emphasizing a conceptual new impulses to the tradition of i s l a h ( r e- change is only relevant as an embodiment other than their own in the formation of the and symbolic affinity to the old reform tradi- form) and tajdid (renewal) and to bring the of the transition from the current deca- new national society. They degraded reli- tion and, moreover, to the dominant, back- century-old aims of a l - M a n a r to the centre dence to the restoration of the Golden Age gious institutions to state instruments serv- ward-looking paradigm of Islamist thought of contemporary attention. and of the rediscovery of a religiously ap- ing to preserve their own power and even during the last decades. The call to rediscov- propriate approach to the needs of the adopted religious contents and symbols for er the ethical-moral dimensions of Islamism Revival of a religious u m m a. This highly retrogressive aspect of their own secular goals. According to Al- represents a response to the immanent ten- t r a d i t i o n the continuity-change dichotomy means Ghanushi, the cu l a m a’ had the option to ei- sion between continuity and change in reli- With his motto, tajdid al-tajdid3 ( r e n e w a l that some of the writings in al-Manar al- ther obey the rulers and thus ensure a mini- gious discourses. By restoring the separa- of the renewal), M u h a m m a d cI m a r a is repre- J a d i d lose their future-oriented substance. mum amount of freedom (in the education- tion between timeless (ethical-moral) and sentative of the way in which historical However, the revival of the ideal of reform al sphere in particular) or to inspire opposi- changing (society-related) elements in analogies are constructed and arguments works against the backward-looking limita- tion in order to free religion and society Islam and by taking the former out of the relevant to the present times are articulated tions in the contemporary Islamist discourse from secular nationalist rule. The Egyptian sphere of politics, the religious ideals are re- i n al-Manar al-Jadid. Apart from R i d a, cI m a r a and extends the limits of what is change- Muslim Brotherhood was a typical result of sacralized and freed from the secular con- refers to the writings of Jamal al-Din al- able in Islamist thought. the latter option, and with the works of Al- straints of social reality. Afghani and M u h a m m a d cA b d u h. He sees The contributions of the ‘new reformers’ in Banna and Sayyid Q u t b it paved the way for The review in al-Manar al-Jadid of the Is- the efforts of these reformers as an attempt al-Manar al-Jadid reveal two approaches. numerous other movements aimed at re-Is- lamist experience over the past three to develop the fundamentals of a civilizato- Firstly, the strategies and approaches of Is- lamizing the state and society. decades has led to a renewal of the reli- ry societal project that is in harmony with lamist efforts since the 1970s are subjected Although Al-Ghanushi continues to see giously influenced understanding of politics Islam and contemporaneity and that calls to critical scrutiny. Secondly, on the basis of this goal as essential, he emphasizes that and society. The backward-looking notion into question both the blind copying of the the so-called ‘teachings of the past’ there is a the ‘painful experiences’ of the past three of change should not obscure the signifi- West and the uncritical following of the first debate on the prospects of theoretical and decades make it necessary to reassess the cance of the reform proposals originating generation of Muslims. He argues that the programmatic change in the Islamist spec- strategies used and to examine their confor- from the discussions in the periodical. Re- main goals of the early reform were: oppos- trum. Within this framework, the process of mity to Islamic values as well as their politi- verting to authentic experiences (early-Is- ing the ‘harmful’ Western influence; formu- rethinking is legitimized by emphasizing the cal efficacy. The radical and violent ap- lamic period) and traditions (reform tradi- lating an authentic understanding of overall societal changes and the diversity of proach characteristic of many attempts to tion of the early a l - M a n a r) is re-valued and progress on the basis of the totality of Islam experiences in the Islamic world. In other bring about change in the 1980s and 1990s, reduced to the functionality of stabilizing as religion, society and state; liberating words, the primacy of continuity, which is he argues, is in stark contrast to the authen- the sacral reference system and the legit- Islam from the b i dca (innovations); promot- central to the revival of the reform tradition, tic concept of gradual change in Islamic imization of renewal. Thus a new scope is ing contemporary interpretations of the is substituted by a dynamic perception of thought. These attempts damaged the provided for discourse in which, by taking s h a r ica; and mobilizing the forces of renewal the realities of modern Arabic-Islamic soci- credibility of the Islamists, the majority of account of religious ideals and historical in the u m m a. Finally, he emphasizes the eties. Subsequently, the phenomenon of Is- whom have come to see in recent years that transformations, answers can be formulated gradual nature of reform in the Islamic tradi- lamism becomes a matter of pragmatic ap- neither violence nor a complete rejection of to the tensions generated by the demands tion, contrasting it to the secular idea of the proach. This marks a shift of focus in the dis- modern social structures offers prospects of continuity and the need for change. necessity of a radical break with the past. cussion of future-oriented reforms. While for the future. He therefore pleads for turn- cI m a r a sees a continuity of history and con- the link to the past remains the main legit- ing away from the militant paradigm of tent from the old reform tradition to the imizing paradigm of the Islamist thought, it Q u t b and for a ‘return’ to the reform tradi- Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which he re- is qualified by a link to contemporary mat- tion of Al-Afghani, cAbduh, and R i d a, and gards as the first modern embodiment of t e r s . above all to the pacifist, ethical-moral prin- the Islamist tendency. In fact, its founder, ciples of Al-Banna. By emphasizing gradual N o t e s H a s a n al-Banna, took over the publication of On the fallibility of change and relevance to the present as the 1 . al-Manar al-Jadid, 1 (1998), p. 4. This article is a l - M a n a r after the death of R i d a in 1939. In contemporary Islamism main criteria for evaluating social activity, based on an analysis of the first seven issues. cI m a r a ’ s opinion, the initial goals of a l - The Tunisian scholar Rashid al-Ghanushi Al-Ghanushi opens the way for a critique of 2 . Ibid., p. 5. M a n a r remain of importance, given the un- sees Islamism as a mass movement, as the the central principles of contemporary Is- 3 . Ibid., p. 14-20. broken dominance of the West, the contin- ‘[…] sum of the individual and collective ef- lamist practice. 4 . Ibid., 2 (1998), p. 64. ued stagnation of the Arabic-Islamic soci- forts of numerous faithful men and women The plea for an appropriate return to the eties, and the marginalization of authentic in order to lead Muslims back to their merci- gradual reform tradition and the ethical be- Amr Hamzawy is a researcher at the Middle Eastern Islamic thought. ful God’.4 Islam being the only true source of ginnings of modern Islamism indeed marks Studies Section, Department of Political and Social The analysis of cI m a r a provides an essen- orientation, the Islamists have the duty to a break with the dominant radical under- Sciences, Free University of Berlin, Germany. tialist discourse. His argument that the start a process of re-Islamization in all standing of politics and society over the E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Regional Issues 23

South Asia PETER GOTTSCHALK The Problem of Defining

An annual religious procession makes its way along darkened brick-paved and packed-earth streets through the various neighbourhoods of Arampur, a village in Bihar, India. Young men chant formulaic Islam in Arampur slogans while ritually clashing in shows of weapon- handling. Women, men, and children stand in the and Hindus among the watching, if not ty. The third assumption is that not only do practices. Because identity is more than night or sit on string beds outside their homes watch- cheering, crowd problematizes efforts at the personal identities and cultural spheres how one thinks – it is perhaps even more ing the lively action come and go on their otherwise exact labelling. of Hindus and Muslims not overlap, they how one communes bodily – we must more non-eventful street. Occasionally they shout their stand in binary opposition to one another extensively explore the fuller range of inter- support for the prancing adolescents. In this village Problems of definition (e.g. cow veneration versus beef consump- relations among Muslims and those living in with nearly equal numbers of Hindus and Muslims, is Efforts to label such rituals as ‘Islamic’ or tion, iconic representation versus strident the broader cultural realm along with them. this procession Hindu or Islamic? ‘Hindu’ often rely on unclear definitions and iconoclasm). Despite the professed secular- So perhaps, for example, one of the audi- thus overlook the often shared identities and ism of India’s democracy, scholars expect ence members who watches the Muharram Scholars have become increasingly aware of participation in each other’s lives. Three op- most social and cultural phenomena to be procession pass by her house and identifies how political interests have depicted tions for determining the religious character uniformly Hindu, Muslim, or – when neither herself as a Hindu will think about Au- ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ identities as artificially of each ritual come to mind: historical origin term fits – modern. The current spate of rangzeb’s infamous deprivations against singular to suit their own agendas, whether of the ritual, essence of the ritual, and identi- Hindu nationalist language that has been Hindus and wonder whether any of the of the colonial state, Pakistan movement, or ty of the participants. We might label the the focus of ample Indian and Western cheering young men would be a future Hindutva cause. Despite their disapproval of Muharram procession as Islamic and not scholarship has only intensified the expec- iconoclast. Can Muslims ever truly be loyal militant attempts to both equate ‘Indian’ Hindu (or Sikh or Christian) because it origi- tations among many that Hindus and Mus- Indians like she and her family are? But with ‘Hindu’ and denigrate Muslims, schol- nated as a commemoration of the martyr- lims live in irreconcilably different cultures. while such thoughts may prompt her to ars demonstrate far less cognizance of their dom of Husain. Yet, if the historical origin Trapped by secular presumptions that reli- ponder Hindu-Muslim differences, they may own acceptance of a monolithic under- alone determined the assessment of a gion can and should be safely isolated from not come to mind as she prays at any of the standing that suffuses post-colonial West- memorial day’s character, would All Souls the public sphere for the preservation of so- local d a r g a hs for the intervention of a Sufi in ern scholarship regarding South Asian cul- Day then be defined as pagan instead of cial order, scholars often deride the political her life. Or a boy, who identifies himself as tures. This is to say, Western scholars may Catholic based on the primacy of its begin- use of communalist language while accept- Muslim, takes part in the procession and recognize the socio-political ramifications nings? Secondly, Muharram might be de- ing its underlying assumptions regarding feels encouraged by hearing the narrative of of essentialized religious identities but do fined as Islamic simply because it is accepted, the social divergence of Hindus and Mus- Husain’s sacrifice. He is following a very de- not often enough practise scholarship in assumedly, as essentially Islamic by Muslims l i m s .2 liberate path through the village – a path ways that challenge problematic categories. in Arampur. In fact, however, some Muslims In fact, the terms ‘Islamic’ and ‘Hindu’ are along which he and many others – Hindus The example of the procession described in the Arampur area, not to mention else- inherently multivalent. This is because reli- and Muslims alike – use their bodies to af- above demonstrates a crisis in identification where in the world, disparage such rituals as gions in India (and in much of the West) are firm that they all belong to the village, not for religious studies, the import of identity counter to Islamic principles as they under- not purely self-contained systems which re- unlike his local cricket team. In these two politics on the national level, and the dy- stand them. Finally, the Durga Puja proces- side neatly behind definite boundaries. imagined but not impossible moments, namics of identity practices on the local sion might be labelled Hindu because those Rather, religious symbols, terminology, and identities of Hindu and Muslim mingle with l e v e l . processing identify themselves as Hindu. Yet behaviour permeate the public cultures those of nation and village, family and team. The description could accurately portray can the event be so narrowly described as to within which they thrive and a wide variety Part of the answer to this crisis in religious two different annual processions in Aram- define participation solely based on the pro- of phenomena can be ‘Islamic’ or ‘Hindu’ in studies lies in expanding the contextualiza- pur: one which occurs on Muharram and an- cession? The audience, which includes Hin- myriad ways. Further, what these terms de- tion of religious traditions, not only in the other on Durga Puja. Attempts to categorize dus and Muslims for both events, does in- fine – what practices, beliefs, dispositions, multi-religious cultures in which most Indi- these events as Muslim or Hindu demon- deed participate in each procession, if only emotions, and physical manifestations they ans live, but also in the socio-economic en- strate both the multiple meanings each by attendance. To label it as ‘Hindu’ disre- include – vary so greatly even among the vironments in which they thrive as individu- term allows and the uncertainty which com- gards the presence, support, and involve- residents of a single village that, were Hin- als with multiple identities, shared and not monly accompanies their use. With equal vi- ment of many Muslims. Overall, then, no sin- duism and Islam to exist within tangible and shared, in varying combinations among tality and energy for the proclamation of gle criteria exists for the application of the mutually exclusive limits, their internal vari- t h e m . their heroes, the boys and young men of descriptors ‘Islamic’ and ‘Hindu’. Rather, the ation would challenge any notion of consis- each procession brandish long, hardened use of either term can refer to any of the t e n c y . bamboo staves and differ only by the he- three criteria given above (if not others) and These problems may impel some, like Wil- roes they memorialize: Muslims commemo- thus the meaning remains unclear. fred Cantwell Smith, to declare that religion M u h a r r a m rate Husain and Hindus celebrate Durga. In contrast with the elusive definitions of is too ill-defined to be an adequate concept. s w o r dp l a y . However, the participation of both Muslims ‘Islamic’ and ‘Hindu’, the term ‘communal’ But increasingly people perceive these reli- conveys a very specific meaning in South gions as objective systems within which Asian studies. The Anglophonic use of ‘com- they involve themselves and so their acade- munal’ has come to commonly assume mic rejection would be naïve.3 Smith also nothing less than acrimonious relations be- called for a study of believers in context; that tween antagonistic religious groups. The we must look through their eyes at the uni- pervasive dominance of this expectation re- verse and see what they see.4 Issues of the garding community in South Asia demon- limits of this ideal aside, Smith is right insofar strates the degree to which scholarship has as this universe also includes the broad been shaped by a focus on religious com- socio-cultural world of believers. The reli- munities imagined to be monolithic in com- gious lives of Hindus and Muslims are in- position, exclusionary in principle, and hos- formed by the relationships of diffusion and tile in practice. When the term ‘communal- antagonism with other religious and non-re- ism’ is used in an Indian context, the burden ligious cultural traditions. When scholars of anticipated religious exclusivity prohibits imagine that they see the world through the N o t e s the imagining of any shared community eyes of believers, they too frequently suffer a 1 . Asad, Talal (1999), ‘Religion, Nation-State, among Muslims and Hindus. far-sightedness that overlooks neighbours, Secularism’, in Van der Veer, Peter (ed.), Nation and classmates, and teammates who may share Religion: Perspectives on Europe and Asia, P r i n c e t o n : Hindu, Muslim or modern in any dimension of life except religion. Princeton University Press, p. 181. Caught between secular expectations and We must be sure to recognize that few 2 . Chandra, Bipan (1984), Communalism in Modern communalist rhetoric, scholarship often Muslims and Hindus understand themselves I n d i a , New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, p. 12. struggles against three contingent, essen- solely as such. They not only see differences 3 . Smith, Wilfred Cantwell (1962), The Meaning and tializing assumptions: firstly, that Islam and among the members of their own religious End of Religion, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, p. 137. Hinduism in India (if not elsewhere) are not communities broadly construed, but they 4 . Ibid., p. 38. ‘just’ religions, but lifestyles. That is, the first also understand themselves as members of assumes that most Muslims and Hindus es- communities without an explicit religious Peter Gottschalk is assistant professor of religion chew the possibility of a shared secular pub- character. Each resident of Arampur recog- a t Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, lic sphere because they allow their respec- nizes not a single identity but multiple iden- and adjunct assistant professor in the Asian Studies tive religious traditions to pervade com- tities with which they navigate through the Department at the University of Texas at Austin. pletely their lives.1 Too often the additional multiple social interactions and associations H e has recently published Beyond Hindu and assumption follows that, this being the case as they live their lives. As they consider pub- Muslim: Multiple Identity in Narratives from and because Hindus and Muslims embrace licly and privately their own meaning of V i l l a g e India (Oxford University Press, 2000) practices and beliefs entirely apart from the ‘Islam’ or ‘Hinduism’, they do so within a a n di s co-designing a ‘virtual village’ other community, they are either Hindus or web of conversations and interactions ( w w w . c o l l e g e s . o r g / ~ v i l l a g e ) . Muslims and seldom, if ever, share an identi- which shape their thinking and identity E-mail: [email protected] 2 4 Regional Issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 South Asia c FRANCIS ROBINSON The Ulama o f

The Farangi Mahall family of learned and holy men is remarkable in the history of India. Indeed, it would be in any society. Claiming descent from Ayyub Farangi Mahall Ansari, the host of the Prophet at Medina, through the 11t h-century saint cAbd Allah Ansari of Herat, their ancestors migrated to India in the early years of the Delhi sultanate. One branch settled around Pani- pat, close to Delhi, and in recent times produced: and Islamic Culture Altaf Husayn Hali, the great poet of the Aligarh movement; Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, the progressive writer; and Dr M.A. Ansari, the pan-Islamic leader in 1695, the family occupied. Over the years foundation of the Jamiyat a l -cUlama-i H i n d lization, and not least of the role of cu l a m a and president both of the Indian National Congress they came to occupy a considerable m u h a l- and the All-India Khilafat Committee, as well and Sufis as guardians, interpreters and and of the all-India Muslim League. l a, which was named Farangi Mahall. as a host of smaller activist organizations. transmitters of the central messages of Is- We know something of the lives of almost Finally, the Farangi Mahallis are of impor- lamic culture. This understanding profound- every male descendant of Qutb al-Din from tance simply as a family. We can see how ly influenced my approach to subsequent the early 18t h century to the mid-20t h c e n t u- they responded to the challenges of work, for instance, my Atlas of Islam since ry. They are important in four main ways. Mughal, Nawabi and British rule, and subse- 1 5 0 0 (Oxford, 1982) and the Cambridge Illus- They were scholars and teachers, the great quently to partition and independence. In trated History of the Islamic World ( C a m- consolidators on Indian soil of the rational- the 18t hand 19t h centuries we can trace their bridge, 1996). ist traditions of Islamic scholarship derived movements as they sought service in the All but one of the essays in the cUlama o f from Iran. These they encapsulated in their courts of Lucknow, Rampur Farrukhabad, Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South dars-i nizamiyya curriculum, which became Buhar (in Bengal), Arcot and Hyderabad. In A s i a have been published over the past the dominant system of education for Indi- the 19t h and 20t h centuries the princely twenty years in different places, most of an Muslims until it was overcome by the states remained a haven, in particular Hy- which are not particularly accessible. The twin forces of Islamic reform and Western derabad, but many also found employment aim of publishing them together is to en- education in the 20t h c e n t u r y . in British India as cu l a m a, hakims, publish- able an understanding of the achievement Such men of learning were also religious ers, newspaper editors, and administrators and importance of the family to be per- leaders. They offered guidance to society in government and commercial concerns. ceived more readily. Three of the essays – through their commentaries on the great Throughout the family, education – ‘Perso-Islamic Culture in India from the Sev- books in the m a d r a s a curriculum, through whether traditionally Islamic or Western – enteenth to the Early Twentieth Century’, the f a t a w a they issued and through the has remained highly valued. Now they are ‘Scholarship and Mysticism in Early Eigh- counsel they gave, both public and private. spread throughout the world: from Aus- teenth-Century Awadh’ and ‘Ottomans- Those with spiritual vocations, moreover, tralia, through South Asia, the Middle East, Safawids-Mughals: Shared Knowledge and were models of right behaviour, their deeds Europe and North America. A good number, Connective Systems’ – illustrate the role of and sayings being passed on by word of now joined by their womenfolk, maintain the Farangi Mahallis as the consolidators mouth and on occasion in written form, as the family traditions of scholarship, but and the defenders both of rationalist tradi- guidance for their own time and for future more often than not in universities. tions of scholarship and of Ibn al-cA r a b i ’ s generations. Two great Sufi lines ran Sufi understandings in northern India. The through the family: the Chishti-Sabiri from Research concerns last of the above-mentioned places their Shah Muhibb Allah of Allahabad (d. 1648), I first encountered the Farangi Mahallis in achievement in the context of the wider Is- spiritual confidant of Dara Shikoh and de- the mid-1960s as I began the research lamic world and the movement of ideas fender of Ibn cArabi, and the Qadiri line from which was published as Separatism Among from the 17t h century onwards. Two essays – Sayyid Shah cAbd al-Razzaq of Bansa Indian Muslims: the Politics of the United ‘The cUlama of Farangi Mahall and their (d.1724), spiritual guide of Mulla Nizam al- Provinces’ Muslims 1860-1923 ( C a m b r i d g e , Adab’ and ‘cAbd al-Bari and the Events of Din of Farangi Mahall and reviver of the 1974). I was much puzzled that they figured January 1926’ – set out to evoke what it was Qadiri s i l s i l a in northern India. prominently in the imperial record but not to be a learned and holy man in the Farangi Such religious leaders were, of course, de- in the historiography then current. S e p a- Mahalli tradition. Of particular value here is fenders in the public sphere of their under- r a t i s m established their central role in the the way in which the m a l f u z a t literature and A second branch established itself in standing of Islam. Up to the mid-19t h c e n t u- Khilafat movement. The book itself led the private correspondence enables Farangi Awadh. Documentary evidence of its exis- ry this largely involved, apart from the odd head of the family, Mawlana Jamal Miyan, to Mahallis to speak for themselves. Four es- tence begins with the first known farman of exchange with a Christian missionary, con- come to London from Karachi in 1976. He says – ‘Problems in the History of the Faran- the Emperor Akbar which made a revenue- testing the claims of S h ica cu l a m a or of re- told me that the records available for the gi Mahall Family of Learned and Holy Men’, free grant to one Mulla Hafiz in 1559. The formist Sunnis. From the mid-19t h c e n t u r y study of his family were much richer than ‘Al-Nizamiyya: A Group of Lucknow Intellec- family can be traced through such docu- their prime concerns were the threats to what I had been able to consult in Lucknow. tuals in the Early Twentieth Century’, ‘cU l a- ments down to the time in 1692 when the Islam presented by British power in India There followed several years of research in ma, Sufis and Colonial Rule in North India Mulla’s great-great-grandson, Qutb al-Din, and elsewhere. In the 20t h century these Karachi and Lucknow, but also in Hyderabad and Indonesia’, and again ‘cAbd al-Bari and was murdered in a squabble over land. In came to a head in a wave of protests and or- and Madras. Throughout, family members the Events of January 1926’ – all deal with consequence the Emperor Awrangzeb ganizational developments reaching from were teachers and guides of great kindness the family’s responses to British rule. We see granted his family the sequestered property the first decade through to the mid-1920s. and generosity. This research led to a deep- them responding as jurists, as educators, as of a European merchant in Lucknow which, Farangi Mahallis were at the heart of the ening of my understanding of Islamic civi- spiritual leaders and as young intellectuals, and in doing so for the most part we sense the moderate and balanced judgement A N N O U N C E M E N T which was the hallmark of their rationalist tradition. In the cAbd al-Bari essay we wit- Degree in Eastern European and Mediterranean Civilizations ness the life and ideas of a man who epito- mized the Farangi Mahalli tradition in his The opening of the EU to Eastern Europe economic, political, social and historical omy of Eastern Europe/the Mediterranean time, but whose death in January 1926 and Mediterranean countries facilitates aspects – so that it will be possible to region; history of Islamic countries; inter- brought with it the end of the tradition’s the widening of international relations and analyse and understand the political, eco- national law; EU law; sociology of cultural g r e a t n e s s . at the same time exacerbates the need for nomic and social systems of Eastern Eu- processes; history of religions; Arabic lan- It is to be hoped that the publication of people who have profound knowledge of rope and the Mediterranean region, or the guage and literature; history and institu- these essays as a book will establish the sig- these areas, which constitute the ‘Europe ‘enlarged Mediterranean’ of the Barcelona tions of Africa; and history and institutions nificance of the Farangi Mahall family of of the future’. With contemporary society Euroconference. The graduates will be of Asia. Language courses such as English, Lucknow alongside that of the Wali Allah becoming increasingly multicultural, ex- equipped with the knowledge necessary Russian and Arabic are also part of the pro- family of Delhi in the Islamic history of India. perts who can solve the problems deriving to operate in an efficient way in the coun- g r a m m e . They are but a starting point; there is more from the coexistence of citizens from dif- tries of the chosen area (either Eastern Eu- research on this family to be done. ferent social and cultural backgrounds will rope or the Mediterranean region) and to Duration of the degree programme: 3 years be indispensable. find suitable employment either in private Language of instruction: Italian organizations, public administrations, or The University of Bologna at Ravenna’s non-profit organizations. For further information, please contact: Francis Robinson is professor of the History of South Faculty for the Preservation of Cultural Prof. Gustavo Gozzi Asia at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Property is now offering a degree in ‘East- The main course subjects of the degree Dipartimento di Politica, Istituzioni e Storia H e is the author of The cUlama of Farangi Mahall ern European and Mediterranean Civiliza- programme are as follows: contemporary Strada Maggiore 45, Bologna, Italy and Islamic Culture in South Asia tions’, aimed at offering students a solid history; history and institutions of Eastern E-mail: [email protected] London: Hurst & Co, 2001 basic knowledge – comprising juridical, Europe; history of political doctrines; econ- URL: www.cbc.unibo.it ISBN: 1-85065-475-1 E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Regional Issues 25

South Asia REHANA GHADIALLY Women Pilgrims

The religious life of the Daudi Bohras – an Ismaili sect of South Asian Shici Muslims – comprises a rich pat- tern of beliefs and rituals. Its members adhere to seven pillars of Islam. Besides the well-known five, Boons and Bonds in the other two include w a l a y a, or devotion to the Prophet and his relations, and obedience to the twenty-first hidden imam. Visits to tomb shrines con- stitute a significant expression of devotional obser- vances. Distinct from the Hajj, this type of pilgrimage a n Ismaili Sect is known as z i y a r e t in Bohra usage. The following concentrates on domestic pilgrimages or visits to Pilgrims, sacred journeys, Whereas visits to shrines of d a is are moti- job market, women are predisposed to tombs of d a is* (leaders of the missionary effort) and a n d other trips vated by respect and the hope to have a re- structure their status within the convention- other functionaries in India. Love for the prophet and his relations is in- quest fulfilled, pilgrimages to shrines of holy al framework. Piety is a source of protection cumbent on all believers and in the spirit of men known for their service and sacrifice to women providing opportunities for The Daudi Bohras are an endogamous Gu- this obligation, the faithful – irrespective of are motivated by the taking of vows. The agency and action. A woman’s ability to jarati-speaking group, numbering a million class, gender, age, educational background frequency and nature of vows vary with communicate with the d a is and to evoke and scattered across fifty countries, the and geographic location – undertake the sa- gender and age. Women take more vows their favour is the same as that of a man. largest concentration being in South Asia. cred journeys to tomb shrines (ziyaret). How- than men, older and middle-aged women Given the primacy of traditional gender They are urban-based, the majority living in ever, women more than men (middle-aged doing so more than younger women. Unlike roles it is not surprising that women seek their ethnic enclaves, and are small shop- and older women more than younger Hindu women’s fasting vows, which focus control over sexuality and reproduction. keepers, with professionals among their women) and the orthodox take this journey. on the well-being of sons and husbands, Through the popular vow taken with a view youth. As a sect, the Daudi Bohras are rela- On the occasion of the saint’s day a substan- Bohra women take vows for their own con- to economic sustenance, women’s centrali- tively prosperous. The religious life is over- tial presence of men can be witnessed. The cerns, followed by vows taken for the bene- ty in (the success of) their family businesses seen by a hierarchically organized, exclu- older men come to sponsor meals and the fit of their children and the family as a unit. is symbolically assured, and by implication sively male class of clerics headquartered in younger to serve the influx of pilgrims. Pil- The content of women’s requests and vows their role in the sustenance of the sect is ac- Mumbai city. The spiritual leader is variously grimages are never solitary journeys. Women reflects traditional life cycle concerns. Vows k n o w l e d g e d . known as d a i, s y e d n a or m a u l a. The s y e d n a i s travel with their families or with their hus- related to children centre on their health By portraying saints as androgynous – the custodian of all shrines and under him bands, but more importantly in all women’s and safety. A popular vow is one taken with having male qualities but more importantly the religious establishment works like a cor- groups. They travel by train, hired vehicles, a view to the economic sustenance (r o z i) of female qualities such as service and sacrifice porate structure, offering spiritual services and state-run or private buses and taxis. A the family. Men’s vows are generally related – the pilgrimage ritual is an occasion to cele- in exchange for cash or kind. Although common method is to travel by train to a to (un)employment and success in business. brate femininity. Through devotional en- women may be more visible at shrines than major shrine centre and hire a vehicle to com- Vows may be fulfilled by a variety of acts gagements women have assured control men, they play no role in their management. plete a selected circuit. By far the most popu- or gifts. Acts may include undertaking a pil- over personal time and surplus family in- The missionary effort of the sect was lar circuit is the density of shrines in the state grimage for a stipulated number of days or a come. As one male noted: ‘When women ask transferred from Yemen to India in the 16t h of Gujarat, popularly referred to as Kathiawar pilgrimage on saint’s day; or sponsoring a to go to z i y a r e t, men immediately open their century and thereafter d a is of Indian origin ni ziyaret, which takes eight to ten days. sweet dish, a meal tray for eight, or a reli- pockets.’ Sacred journeys widen women’s graced the leadership. The tombs of the In addition to the common practice of trav- gious gathering followed by a meal for all. horizons and offer valuable lessons in nego- twenty-seven d a is (numbers 25 to 51) and elling for ziyaret, women also travel for do- Occasionally a ritual sacrifice of a goat may tiating with the world on their own. their deputies constitute the sacred space in mestic, social, leisure, and business purposes constitute the fulfilment of a vow. All meal- Besides being a pious exercise, the pil- India. This space stretches across four states making practised Islam indistinguishable related offerings involve cash payment to grimage is a significant part of women’s so- in northwestern India, including fifty sacred from other aspects of their lives. In short, the clerics. Gifts may include a bed of flow- cial life. On the road in a mini-bus, women spots, the highest density of which is found shrines provide vital links to what is central to ers (c h a d d a r) or richly embroidered silk and pray in unison, roll the t a s b i (strung beads), in the state of Gujarat, home to the largest a woman’s world. Given the expansion of velvet tomb covers (g h a l e f). More common- talk, joke, munch on snacks and stop by the concentration of the Bohras. While Bohras women’s motives to travel, shrines have ly, dates or other fruits and sweets are wayside to eat and drink. The marble plat- previously travelled annually on saint’s day evolved from being exclusive centres of de- blessed at the tomb and distributed among form (s e n) around the tomb and the bench- for z i y a r e t, the post-independence spurt in votion to being refuges from domestic and those present. Vow-related offerings must es outside the rooms provide space for in- year round travel may be attributed to the urban life, serving as picnic spots or even hol- be construed as the giving of thanks for the teracting, sharing common concerns and s y e d n a ’ s agenda to modernize the facilities iday resorts that provide inexpensive lodging saint’s blessing and intercession, thus not as exchanging news about the happenings in as well as the prosperity of the community facilities. an exchange for boons delivered, for even the community. Bonds are fostered as A shrine in from migration and expansion of road and in the absence of boons these must be hon- women mix with (female) strangers in the G a l i a k o t . rail connections. Devotion and earthly boons oured. Lastly, women undertake pilgrim- (segregated) activities of prayer at the The devotional expression of the Daudi ages as an act of piety with the intent to ac- shrine mosque, religious gatherings and Bohras is simple and requires no presence of cumulate merit. communal meals. Despite the vibrant char- a cleric. Unlike the mosque and the commu- acter of the women’s sub-culture, it is not nity hall, space is not gendered inside the Status quo or emancipation? aimed at revolutionizing the power struc- shrine. Women do need to be ritually clean The pilgrimage ritual may be conceptual- ture maintained in the (male-dominated) and the covering dress (r i d a) is mandatory. ized as serving a political and social pur- economic and religious spheres. It is rather Men may be in traditional attire or Western pose. Women’s hegemony over popular aimed at extracting greater freedom and clothes. The pilgrims enter the mausoleum Islam can be seen as their having strategi- improvement of the status of Bohra women. (r o z a ) barefooted and with their heads cov- cally hijacked a ritual to suit their own needs Since these devotional practices do not ered. They bend from the waist, moving the and concerns. Secondly, through a tripartite challenge the primary duties of women as right hand rapidly between the floor and division of labour, women counteract the homemakers and the wider culture remains the forehead, signifying greeting. As a mark economic control of the men and the ideo- indifferent to their aspirations, a genuine of respect they half prostrate before the logical hold of the religious establishment transformation of their status remains prob- tomb. They then press their forehead and maintaining a power balance within the l e m a t i c . kiss the sides of the tomb. Additional devo- family and the sect. The spheres are unequal tional expression may include an offering of in status and prestige, but each is vital and flowers or cash, and prayer. These are usual- all are strongly interdependent. Women ly accompanied by a small request. cherish the gender roles prescribed within The Bohra worldview gives insight into Islam. At the same time, within the bounds women’s motivation for undertaking the of a traditional setting, they increasingly ne- pilgrimage. One such motivation is the be- gotiate the distribution of power and re- lief that every earthly possession is a gift sources within the household and the com- from God and that piety thus enhances the m u n i t y . possibility of material provisioning. Further- It is important to contextualize what con- more, one can accumulate religious merit stitutes emancipation. At the micro-level, (s e v a b) from devotional acts, which can off- education, control over personal property, N o t e set the weight of minor sins. Although the assistance in family business and power * The plural for d a i is dai duat. I have used d a is primary intention of the women is to ex- within kinship networks have given women f o r smoother reading. press devotion and reaffirm their faith in space to enhance their status. At the macro- their spiritual leaders, it is quite clear that no level, the economy must allow for jobs that Rehana Ghadially is professor at the Department woman leaves the shrine without making a provide enough pay and status to make o f Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian request. The most powerful method is to them worthwhile. With limited opportuni- Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India. She was pray, express one’s wishes, and express ties for well-paid employment, coupled with a visiting fellow at the ISIM in spring 2001. hopes for an earthly boon. perceived discrimination of Muslims in the E-mail: [email protected] 2 6 Regional Issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

North Africa ABDEL WEDOUD OULD CHEIKH Brotherhoods and

The expansion of Islam in northwest Africa has been very much associated with the spread of brotherhood movements (t u r u q). Religious and educational prac- tices as well as collective rules of conduct carry the Gender Relations imprints of these movements, the political and eco- nomic influence of which has been – and remains – de- cisive in vast regions from Mauritania to Nigeria, from the Sudan to Senegal. Recent developments, howev- er, indicate an increase in power of a neo-fundamen- in Mauritania talist inspirational Islam originating in the Middle East, which presents itself as a rival to the ideas and which in the Moorish territory and its confines der relations in Moorish space. The context precedented swelling of the urban popula- practices developed by the local versions of t a s a w w u f is accredited especially to Al-Shaykh Muhamd of the polemic that this incited should be tion, substantial progress of elementary reli- (Muslim mysticism) organized as brotherhoods. al-Ha¯fiz al-cAlawı¯ (d.1830/ 31). An e n t a n g l e d briefly reiterated here: a polemic that illus- gious education, etc.) tend to modify the network of ramifications emerged f r o m trates in particular the opposition evoked very foundations of the rules of life in collec- The following proposes to underline more these main brotherhoods, associating indi- earlier in this article between the local Islam tivity on which it is based. In the context of particularly the ‘gender’ dimension of local vidual initiatives, inheritance quarrels, tribal of the brotherhoods and the new global the nomads, the residential unities (en- Muslim practices as it manifests itself both in ca s a b i y y a (group solidarity), and even politi- Islam of neo-fundamentalist influence. campments), generally small in size, were ‘tradition’ and in certain recent challenges to cal allegiances. The search for autonomy In order to correctly perceive the stakes of constituted, above all, based on tribal kin- it. The focus is limited to the Moorish society manifests itself most notably in the creation the controversy incited by the position ship. The tent was not very conducive to of Mauritania, although it is most likely that of centres that often become places of in- taken by the movement’s s h a y k h, Wuld keeping women inside. In fact their pres- the transformations experienced by this so- struction, agricultural production, and com- S i d¯ı n a, it is appropriate to underline the fact ence in the public sphere, although it has a ciety have affected its neighbouring soci- mercial exchange. that in Moorish society, all physical contact, certain sense in this type of context, did not eties in an analogous way. Formally, the t u r u q appear as miniature and notably the salutatory handshake, is pose a particular problem. The statutory Although it is not necessary to offer a gen- reproductions or ‘clones’ of their mother re- traditionally prohibited between people of parity and the genealogy offered the safe- eral presentation of Muslim brotherhoods ligion: they reduplicate the initial messen- the opposite sex unless they belong to the guard necessary to govern the contacts be- or the t a s a w w u f as such,1 it should be noted ger (the Prophet Muhammad) with a second class of those who may have physical con- tween individuals and between the two that the brotherhoods are religious organi- messenger who ‘descends’ from him – ei- tact between sexes (m a ha¯ r i m) – a class de- sexes. With the exception of the marginal zations centred on the person of the s h a y k h: ther doctrinally, by the s i l s i l a, or ‘biological- fined by blood or milk kinship, and within cases previously mentioned, the brother- a master and educator par excellence (m u- ly’, by the sharifi n a s a b, to whom a number which marriage is prohibited. Wuld S i d¯ı n a hood movements’ management of commu- r a b bı¯) whose authority is part of a chain (s i l- of brotherhood founders/transmitters are was to publicly rise up against this tradition nity affairs was part and parcel of a tradition s i l a) of authorities leading back to the linked – and often ‘repeats’ the key traits of that organized the separation of men from marked by monogamy and by a certain Prophet of Islam. He is perceived by his dis- his biography. This is essentially a male af- women by designating amongst them who women’s ‘liberty’ that belonged to the prac- ciples (t a la¯mı¯d h, m urı¯du¯n) as a guide, an in- fair: the founders and their ‘chains’, the could touch one another and who could tices and collective representations of tercessor who must be served and obeyed m u q a d d a mı¯n, and the successors counting n o t . Moorish society. The social upheavals men- without reserve until he leads them, his dis- no women amongst them. He takes the pretext of an interview for tioned here planted the seeds of new re- ciples, through the chosen trials to the point Nonetheless, women are not absent from the unofficial journal a l - S h acb on 21 Novem- compositions. The rural communitarism of mastering ‘the way’ (t arı¯q a). They can the brotherhood movements. Islam extract- ber 1989 of two Sudanese academicians vis- that served as the substance for the forming then, after a rite of enthronement, leave the ed from the common basis of the two pre- iting Mauritania, under the title: ‘The Su- of brotherhoods gave way to anomy, or at ‘guide’ as they now hold their own title of existing monotheisms the theme of the fe- danese woman is at parity with man as least the threat of anomy, in the new cities. ‘master’ (s h a y k h) or ‘licensed’ (m u q a d d a m) male temptress and it tends to regulate with much in rights as in duties. A Sudanese The b a r a k a of the s h a y k h was progressively and are authorized to guide others. In prac- a certain rigour the contacts and relations scholar offers his opinions on the issues of effaced before the individual adhesion to a tice, the transmission of material and sym- between men and women. In addition, speaking to a woman or shaking her hand.’ ‘reinvented’ Islam – that of neo-fundamen- bolic capital (b a r a k a) associated with the di- Islam is profoundly suspicious of celibacy. In substance, one amongst them declared talism. And the grand villas of the new pious rection of the t arı¯q a is generally carried out Albeit in vain, the mystical propaedeutic ex- that there is no harm in a man and a woman bourgeoisie offer from then on the possibil- by the descendants of the founding s h a y k h, alts the refusal of all pleasures of the flesh; shaking hands a ja¯ n i b, that is to say non- ity to separate the female space from public but not without competition and dissent rarely has it arrived at a definitive separation m a ha¯ r i m, as a salutation. Basing himself on space and from masculine space. It is to be amongst the various candidates of the in- of men and women. Inversely, certain broth- this declaration, Wuld S i dı¯na pronounced a feared that in this precise context, the for- h e r i t a n c e . erhood movements in the Saharan region j a wa¯ b, disseminated in the form of a tract, in mula of Max Weber, according to which ‘the In the Moorish territory, which has often arouse rumours and concern over the which he declared that it is licit for a man city liberates’, is not to be verified. constituted a place of transit and transmis- promiscuity these movements supposedly and a woman, no matter who they are, to sion of Maghrebi or Middle Eastern brother- authorize, meaning the male-female con- shake hands. He thus publicly opposed tra- hood organizations heading for Sub-Saha- t a c t s . ditional rules of male-female contact in ran Africa, the principal t u r u q comprise the Moorish society, founded on kinship rela- following: the s ha¯d h i l i y y a in its na¯s i r i y y a Extreme variations on t i o n s . variant, inaugurated by the Moroccan t h e gender issue This position taken by the t i ja¯ nı¯ s h a y k h, Muhammad b. Na¯s i ra l - D i rc ı¯at the end of the Two communities, belonging increasingly whose community already had a reputation N o t e s 1 7t h century; the qa¯d i r i y y a, associated prin- to the same tribe (I d a y b u sa¯t) and cohabit- of non-conformism with respect to male-fe- 1 . For a historical overview, see. Jenkins, R. G. (1979), cipally with the legacy of Al-Shaykh Sı¯ d a l - ing in the same space (within the confines male relations, incited a unanimous con- ‘The evolution of Religious Brotherhoods in North M u k h ta¯r a l - K u n tı¯(d. 1811), the movement’s of Tagant and Assaba), serve to illustrate demnation by the Mauritanian religious es- and Northwest Africa 1523-1900’, in Willis, J. R. great Saharan renewer of the 18t h c e n t u r y ; contrasting positions. On the one hand is tablishment. This position has also recently (ed.), The Cultivators of Islam, London: Frank Cass. and finally the t i ja¯n i y y a, the dissemination of the branch known as the g h u z f i y y a of the fed the stigmatizing discourse of certain for- For the Mauritano-Senegalese territory, see s ha¯d h i l i y y a, founded by Al-Shaykh Muham- mer members of Wuld S i dı¯na ’s community Robinson, D. (2000), Paths of Accommodation, mad al-Aghzaf a l - Da¯wu¯dı¯(d. 1801), to which criticizing it adamantly for, amongst other Athens: Ohio University Press; Robinson, D. and diverse accounts, notably colonial,2 a t- things, the promiscuity (in their eyes scan- Triaud, J.-L. (eds.) (2000), La t ija- n i y y a, Paris: tribute orgiastic practices leading at times dalous) instituted among men and women. Karthala; Ould Cheikh, A. W. (2001), ‘La généalogie to births out of wedlock, these children Wuld S i d¯ı n a and his disciples did not re- et les capitaux flottants. Al-Shaykh Sid a l - M u k hta- r being baptized a w la¯ d a l -nu¯r (sons of the main without reaction in the face of these (m. 1811) et les Kunta’, in Bonte, P. et al. (eds.),

light). On the other hand is a scion branch of attacks. They themselves engaged a vigor- Emirs et Présidents, Paris: CNRS. the qa¯ d i r i y y a initiated at the end of the ous polemic, specifically against their for- 2 . See especially Beyriès, J. (1935), ‘Note sur les 1930s by Al-Shaykh Muhammad cAbd Alla¯h mer companions that had renounced them Ghoudf’, in Rev. Et. Isl., I, and Du Puigaudeau, O.

wuld Adda (d. 1963), who went as far as to and that they accused of being in the pay of (1993), T a g a n t, Paris: Phébus.

3 initiate celibacy amongst his adherents, W a h h a b i s m . 3 . An entire file has been made with tracts signed by thus engendering a small community of What can be concluded from the above- members of the community where this position is monk farmers at a place called Bu¯ m d a y d, in mentioned observations in terms of the expressed openly and without nuance. central Mauritania. evolution of gender relations amidst the Another group, this one originating from brotherhood movements and in a larger Abdel Wedoud Ould Cheikh, Ph.D. in sociology

the Ibrahimian t i ja¯ n i y y a of Kaolack (Senegal) sense within Moorish society in its entirety? a n d anthropology (University of Paris V and EHESS), made itself known in the 1950s by a co-gen- Even if the communities mentioned are de- is professor of sociology at the University of dered existence considered suspect by the mographically small, it is appropriate to un- Nouakchott and is former director of the vox populi of the region in which it emerged: derline the diversity and the non-conformi- Mauritanian Institute of Scientific Research. its adherents were conferred the sobriquet ty to a certain representation of Sunni ‘or- Specialist in Saharan Islam and brotherhoods of

ahl al-gazra, i.e ‘the unsubdued’, ‘margin- thodoxy’ that they bring into the gender re- northwest Africa, he is currently working on Arab als’. The group recently recalled the origi- lations in Moorish society. The recent up- manuscripts of the qa- d i r i y y a K u n t a . nality proclaimed by certain brotherhood heavals experienced by this society (mas- E-mail: [email protected]

movements in treating the question of gen- sive sedentarization of former nomads, un- y c t c @ c l u b - i n t e r n e t . f r I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Regional Issues 27

North Africa MOHAMMED HAMDOUNI ALAMI The Fiction of

On 14 January 1986, H.M. Hassan II, the late King of Morocco, delivered a speech on architecture. The speech was addressed to a small gathering of archi- tects selected by the Ministry of the Interior as repre- Architectural Identity sentatives of their profession. The King of Morocco, unlike Prince Charles, was a true ruler and his speech was not meant as an art critique. Rather, it was in- tended to clarify a new incipient politics of urban de- sign. This new politics, which intended to promote a in Contemporary Morocco return to ‘traditional’ architectural culture, was in open contradiction to the former official discourse of uses space to ‘regulate’ the economy and clearly both a discursive entity created by nar- porting it, or by not publicly taking any critical modernization. How can one understand this return grant financial opportunities and subsidies to rativity (Homi Bhabha 1990) and marked by a position. Building on Foucault’s view (1997) to traditional forms? Was this an index of failure in targeted groups obscures a much deeper po- distinction between the political realm of na- that power is productive of knowledge, it can the process of modernization initiated by the state litical process in the construction of urban tionalism, which is influenced by metropoli- be argued that the architect’s political in- after Independence, or rather an issue of strong soci- space: the maintenance of social control and tan precedents, and the cultural realm, where volvement was the opportunity to promote etal resistance towards modernization, calling for a coercion not only through a Haussmannian different ‘nationalist’ patterns are perpetuat- the profession of architect and to re-create a new politics of urban design? conception of space (Walter Benjamin) but ed (Partha Chatterjee 1986 and 1993). More- professional knowledge. over, the implementation of that politics – Architectural conservation and the negation does not rely only on narrativity, it also calls of history: Conservation of historic buildings in different institutional and legal strategies and urban sites was first introduced to Moroc- and tactics, rituals and economic practices. In co by Maréchal Lyautey, the Résident Général a word, it is a complex power strategy in per- of the French Protectorate. In the 1970s, after petual adaptation (Foucault 1979). This strat- a long period of neglect, the Moroccan gov- egy aims to maintain social control through ernment with the help of UNESCO turned the fiction of an architectural identity. back to that politics.But this politics has had By deconstructing the ideological fiction of little effect in the field. Interestingly the few architectural identity in contemporary Mo- works of conservation which took place do rocco, a space can be created for architectur- not respect the international norms: the al and urban criticism: lifting the taboos im- buildings are reconstructed anew with the posed on architectural style and urban de- pretext that ‘Moroccan architectural tradition bates. It is therefore necessary to discern the has never died.’ many components of this architectural refor- The claim of continuity of that tradition mulation, pointing out their intricacies: used as a metaphor of cultural perennial is in – The construction and ritualization of an offi- fact a pure denial of history. cial discourse on architecture: Le Discours sur – The fiction of architectural identity: The actu- l’Architecture. To commemorate the signifi- al development of Moroccan architecture cance of the King’s 1986 speech, ‘Le Jour de suggests that the new politics of urban de- l’Architecture’ (Architecture Day) was official- sign is mainly a fiction. Indeed, the first official ly declared by the Minister of the Interior in urban project of independent Morocco is 1992. It is celebrated each year by the Min- strikingly modernist: the city of Agadir, which istry of Urbanism in collaboration with the was rebuilt after its destruction in the earth- Ordre National des Architectes (National quake of 1960. On the other hand, there is a Ait Ourir The question of the political use of architec- also more subtly through the construction of Order of Architects). The commemoration has great architectural diversity. Children’s S.O.S. ture and urban design as a means to create a politics of cultural identity embodied in been constructed as a ritual. The ceremony Here the hypothesis is that the fiction of ar- Village, Morocco. and promote cultural identities through urban design. starts with a Qur’anic recitation and a show- chitectural identity functions as a Freudian which social control and coercion are imple- While colonial architecture and urbanism ing of His Majesty’s 1986 Speech on Architec- negation, adenial of the actual hybridization mented is of great political and academic in- have received substantial scholarly attention ture. Nothing could be more telling since any of contemporary Moroccan architecture. terest. It has generated a wealth of literature in the last two decades, post-colonial urban religious ceremony begins with a Qur’anic – Refashioning the urban landscape: A deliri- and heated debates. Yet it has mainly been design has yet to be seriously studied. Stu- recitation. ous reshaping of the urban landscape took addressed within Western and colonial con- dents of the colonial period have generally – Institutional strategies, and reformation of place after the royal speech on architecture of texts, and largely ignored with reference to shared the assumption that a politics of urban laws: The second important effect of the royal 1986. Soon this refashioning resulted in a dis- the post-colonial period. In the context of a design shaped colonial architecture and city speech comprises the reform of the law on ur- astrous uniformity of the urban landscape. developing country such as Morocco, marked planning. They all suggest that colonial archi- banism and the creation of new institutions of Through the analysis of the architectural re- by the perception of architecture and urban tecture and urban design were a medium for city planning. After the 1981 urban riots in fashioning projects it is possible to point out design as a formative dimension of cultural the production of images of cultural identity Casablanca, urbanism strongly attracted the that despite the promotion of narratives identity, the intervention of international or- and otherness. strategic attention of the state. The political about Moroccan architectural identity, the ganizations in development and housing pro- The question of traditional architecture and reaction to these riots was to reform the ad- implementation of that politics was practical- grammes is often perceived as biased and ne- its relevance for contemporary practices in Is- ministrative organisms of that city and to cre- ly mimicking the French colonial politics of glectful of basic cultural phenomena. For in- lamic countries was addressed by the pro- ate a state agency specialized in urbanism. urban design. It is also possible to realize that stance, relying on a fundamentalist discourse gramme of the Aga Khan Award of Architec- Following the royal speech, with its diverse the creation of a fiction of architectural identi- on authentic traditional Moroccan family life ture through many seminars and publica- guidelines for architecture and urbanism, it ty functions as a Freudian denial of the objec- style, government officials oppose the eco- tions. was considered time to reform the law on ur- tive stakes of urban development (housing nomic standards of international organiza- banism, which was inherited from the French. problems, spatial control, and hidden distrib- tions and their disregard for the Moroccan The Moroccan case The reformation of law and the institutional ution of subsidies). This could function only cultural requirement for specific forms of The galloping urbanization of the last changes functioned as complementary de- because many patterns of cultural national- space and ownership. No matter whether the decades and the ensuing social and housing vices of denial of the failure of the national ism were available in the political nationalist claim is contradicted by the informal and for- problems have attracted the attention of policy and of coercion in the management of realm. mal practices of urban production, the official many academics and international organiza- urban development. discourse stands as political defence of na- tions. Unfortunately the literature concerning – The share of the professionals: One of the R e f e r e n c e s tional cultural identity. these issues is extremely limited. But the poli- strategies of the new politics was related to – Bhabha, Homi (ed.) (1990), Nation and Narration, The forms of urbanization and the spread of tics of urban design did not receive much at- the need to mobilize all the actors involved in London, New York: Routledge. shanty towns and informal housing in the tention from scholars in the field. Despite the architectural production. The professional as- – Foucault, Michel (1979), Discipline and Punish, new urban landscape, along with a succes- consistent and conspicuous involvement of sociations, and in particular that of the archi- T h e Birth of the Prison, New York: Vintage Books. sion of spectacular urban riots (1981, 1984, the state in defining a new architectural cul- tects, were called to play a major role in the – Partha, Chatterjee (1986), Nationalist Thought and 1990) have been reflected upon in different ture, and its claim of initiating a revival of au- policy of the style. However, most of the reac- the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? ways by national and international scholars. thentic national identity, scholarly works con- tions remained unspoken. Why is it that, in a London: Zed; and (1993), The Nation and its But the problem with existing approaches is tinued to view urbanism as limited to its role country where democratization is supposed Fragments: Colonial and Post-colonial Histories, that they are dominated by concerns of pop- in the regulation of economy and regional to be progressing, and where architectural Princeton: Princeton University Press. ulation, urban geography, and academic planning. production is far from being uniform, such an compartmentalization. To address this lacu- It is vital to study the implementation of important debate has to be avoided? N o t e na, at one level, it is crucial to remember that that politics and to show how and why, de- It can be hypothesized that because of the * Theme of the author’s current research. the urban context is not simply a reflection of spite its alleged rejection, the colonial archi- weaknesses of their professional status, the the demographic and economic evolution of tectural legacy has been a main source of in- controversies about their knowledge, and the Mohammed Hamdouni Alami is professor at the society. Indeed, the well-documented and spiration to the foundation of a nationalist competition with other professionals, most Ecole Nationale d’Architecture, Rabat, Morocco. frequently researched notion that urbanism discourse on architecture.* This nationalism is architects became part of the game by sup- E-mail: [email protected] 2 8 Regional Issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Central Asia TAIR FARADOV Religiosity in Post-

The religious situation in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan has been dramatically changing in recent years. Unlike in the Soviet times of total state control over religion, ‘scientific atheism’, suppression, and intolerance of Soviet Azerbaijan believers, religion is currently enjoying conditions of relative freedom. Indeed, the constitution guarantees the freedom of religion as a right. Religious views and information have been very rapidly spreading among the population. Public interest in Islam, which has A Sociological Survey very deep historical and cultural roots and a rich spir- itual tradition in Azerbaijan, has considerably in- spheres of the social life which, in their opin- creased in recent years, particularly among intellec- ion, are to function according to religious tuals and the youth. In fact, religion is becoming one regulations and norms. Religious influence is of the most important factors of public life. supposed to be distributed, in the respon- dents’ views, over such spheres as ‘public A number of vital theoretical and practical morality’ (83.9%), ‘culture’ (70.6%) and ‘fami- questions arise from the current circum- ly’ (71.2%). Most consider religion not to be a stances of religion in Azerbaijan: What are the factor in economic or political life in Azerbai- factors preconditioning the growing popular- jan, and a large majority suggested that nei- ity of religious views among citizens? What is ther economics (74.1%) nor politics (90.7%) Participants of the degree and level of adherence to Islam should be influenced by religion on any ac- the public and other religions? What is the concept of count. This confirms the assumption that the lectures on Islam ‘religion’ in mass consciousness? How do concept of ‘religion’ at the level of public for Russian- people view the place and role of religion in consciousness is predominantly considered s p e a k i n g public and private life? Finding answers to in moral terms, having an ethical content. i n t e l l i g e n t s i a . these questions led to the organizing and Religion is primarily regarded as a main and conducting of a large-scale sociological sur- effective regulator of the everyday life and vey.* A tenth of the respondents (10.4%) said that miliar, 18.4% being ‘absolutely unfamiliar behaviour of Azerbaijanis, and not more. The first stage of the survey was conducted a ‘tremendous importance’ was attached to with the s h a r i a h’. A mere 6.1% stated that from September 1999 to February 2000 in five religion in their lives; while 26.1% of the re- they know the s h a r i a h principles ‘very well’. Public perceptions of Islam regions of Azerbaijan, the number of respon- spondents feel it occupies ‘an important In the survey context, the respondents were When asked about their opinions concern- dents interviewed totalling 1,000 persons. enough place’ in their lives. Religion was con- also asked about their understanding of ing the role of Islam in the historical, cultural The main purpose of the survey was to obtain ferred a ‘moderate’ role in the lives of 41.8% some key dogmas, principles and under- and spiritual development of the Azerbaijan comprehensive data concerning the peculiar- of respondents and an ‘insignificant’ role for standings of Islamic belief (e.g. Islam, iman nation, the majority (62.7%), including some ities, dynamics and basic trends of religiosity 12.5%. Those for whom religion ‘does not and i b a d a t). It turned out that very few have adherents to religions other than Islam, indi- in Post-Soviet Azerbaijani society, as well as to play any role at all’ amounted to 9.2%. a clear understanding of the meaning and cated seeing this role as an exclusively ‘posi- explore the basic sociological characteristics The motives and reasons for religiosity essence of these terms. tive’ one. In their comments, the respondents and parameters of public religious awareness amongst respondents are directly linked to a The observance of religious command- most frequently used the following argu- and behaviour. wide variety of factors. The first cluster is ments varies: 6.3% of the respondents as- ments and comments: ‘Islam gave the impe- The respondents were distributed over the comprised of social and socio-psychological serted that they fulfil all commandments in tus to the development of national culture, following religious affiliations: Islam, 94.0%; factors. Firstly, it seems that the family and all life situations; 16.2% try to fulfil com- science, philosophy, and art’; ‘Islam has Orthodox Christianity, 3.7%; Judaism, 1.2%; immediate surroundings are relevant to mandments to the greatest possible extent; taught us to tolerate others’; ‘we owe Islam all and representatives of other religious confes- one’s religious experience: 15.7% of respon- 19.9% fulfil some of the commandments our merits’. A smaller part of the respondents sions (Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, etc.), dents indicated that their having adopted re- partially; and 57.6% do not fulfil them at all. (28.5%) implied that this role has been dual: in 1.1%. ligion is explained by their ‘family traditions, The daily prayer is generally seen as one of some sense as ‘positive’ and in another sense Judging from the data obtained, such typo- because this has been accepted in the fami- the most important obligations for Muslims. ‘negative’. Only 6.9% see this role as ‘not quite logical groups of religiosity as ‘believers’ and ly’, while 16.1% of respondents affirmed that The survey shows that 17.7% of ‘believer’ re- considerable’ or as ‘negative’ (1.9%). ‘hesitant’ are dominant. The survey identified they were nurtured in a religious spirit since spondents pray the n a m a z. Corresponding- the following break-down of respondents de- childhood and received a religious upbring- ly, 82.3% of the respondents do not abide Overall, the empirical data illustrate the pending upon their attitude towards religion ing at home. For others, religion was more by this core ritual. Another important oblig- process of a growing level of religiosity of the (on the basis of their confessional self-identifi- predetermined by their ethnic and cultural ation for believers is to observe the fast. The Azerbaijani population. Over the last years, cation). ‘Believers’ constituted 63.4% of all re- identity and thus acts as an element of na- survey illustrated that 28.6% of believers the process has assumed quite an intense spondents, while 6.7% consider themselves tional consciousness. In this vein, approxi- fast during the Ramadan. Respondents also and dynamic nature, which is reflected in the even ‘firm believers’; the groups of those hes- mately one out of seven (14.2%) respondents appear to respect the religious prohibitions increased number of (practising) believers. itating between belief and non-belief com- adopted religion because it corresponds to of gambling (76.3%), eating pork (59.8%), Public opinion is giving a high assessment of prised 10.4%; non-believers made up 7.1%; their national customs and traditions. Adher- and drinking alcoholic beverages (52.6%). the role and place of religion in public and and 8.6% indicated being indifferent to this ence to Islam was explained by one out of The frequency of visits to mosques is one of private life. Moral and ethical interpretations issue. Lastly, a small 3.8% of respondents con- five (19.7%) respondents by the fact that ‘we the most obvious indicators of the level of and understandings of religion prevail in sider themselves ‘firm atheists’. are a Muslim nation and our entire nation is religiosity. Respondents who visit mosques public consciousness. An important role is Muslim’. Among the individual and personal ‘from time to time’ totalled 35.1%; those also played by traditional and ethnocultural Dynamics of religiosity stimuli or reasons for adopting and practis- who ‘do not go to mosques at all’ amounted components of religious perception. Another It was important to follow up on the dy- ing religion, the most frequently encoun- to 32.8%; those who only visit mosques ‘on peculiarity of the present religiosity is inten- namics of the changing attitudes of the popu- tered were the following: ‘this helps moral holidays and special occasions’ comprised sification of the ritual and cult aspects of reli- lation towards religion over the last years. The self-perfection’, 18.3%; ‘it is easier for me to 23.1%; while those ‘permanently’ at gion. At the same time, however, religious data provide a rather complicated picture of live this way, it has created an interest and mosques totalled 6.4% and those that at- adherence is not always accompanied by the the dynamics of religiosity in Azerbaijan, but meaning in life’, 7.8%; ‘this has become my tend mosque ‘every Friday’ just 2.6%. observance of rituals. in general it can be said that religiosity is on inner need’, 5.7%; and ‘it has been caused by These research findings provide a basis for the increase. Some two-thirds of the respon- my personal life circumstances, personal Role of religion in public life elaborating our understanding of the reli- dents (62.0%) indicated having maintained hardship and difficulties’, 1.9%. Among rea- The respondents were invited to express gious situation in such a transitional society their previous level of religiosity. Half of the sons for pubic interest in religion, there were their opinions concerning the role religion as Azerbaijan. They may also serve as the respondents (52.3%) said that they were and also responses such as ‘tribute to fashion’ currently plays in society and how its social point of departure for comparative analyses still are believers, while 9.7% pointed out that (0.6%) and ‘ordinary human curiosity’. Clearly impact has changed over the last several of religious situations in other post-commu- they ‘have never believed before and do not homogeneity does not exist in this complex years. More than half of the respondents nist countries. believe now either’. However, a third of the of factors and circumstances, but future re- (54.4%) think the role of religion has been ‘on respondents (35.1%) confirmed having search into this matter could clarify the an- the increase’ recently, that it has ‘started play- changed their views in the direction of swers further. ing a more noticeable role in society’; while a N o t e greater religiosity and 9.3% said that they had mere 3.8% indicated that this role may be * The survey was carried out by the author of never believed before, but have now become Knowledge of the s h a r i a h a n d growing, ‘but only for the time being’. A large t h i sa r t i c l e . believers. One out of four (25.8%) respon- religious observance share of the respondents (41.3%) believes dents stated that he/she believed before, but Adherence to the Islamic faith envisions that the role of religion in society and its so- Dr Tair Faradov is a senior research fellow at has become more religious now. Finally, a familiarization with the s h a r i a h. The respon- cial impact ‘remain unchanged’ (i.e. ‘just like t h e International Center for Social Research (ICSR) very small portion of the respondents dents were asked about the extent of their before, in the socialist time’). Only 4.3% of re- i n Baku, Azerbaijan. The survey was supported by claimed to have estranged themselves from knowledge of s h a r i a h rules and laws. A sub- spondents feel the role and influence of reli- t h e Research Support Scheme of the Open Society religion (1.9%) or to have changed their reli- stantial 58.7% confirmed having ‘a certain gion at the present time ‘is weakening’. Support Foundation, grant No.: 110/1999. gion (1.0%). idea’ and 16.8% feel they are ‘quite well’ fa- Respondents were asked to mention E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Regional Issues 29

T u r k e y A LI Ç A R KOG˘ L U Religion and Public

Despite the centrality of the rising tensions between secularist and pro-Islamist groups with respect to the future of Turkish politics, little empirical analysis ex- ists on the cleavages between the two groups. The Po- Policy in Turkey litical Islam in Turkey (PIT) project* provides extensive opportunities for such an analysis as well as analyses ship (practice) requirements of Islam. Those of many other aspects of Islam in modern Turkey. The Table 2. Evaluations of the Civil Code who indicated that people in Turkey are not following focuses on the levels of support for the con- free to fulfil these requirements totalled troversial policies in recent years aimed at regulating According to Islamic law a man is allowed to be married to up to four women. However, at present nearly 31%. People were also asked whether polygamy is outlawed. Would you approve of changing the system of marriage in accordance with Islamic the role of religion in Turkish social life. religious people are oppressed in Turkey. law, so as to allow the marriage of men with up to four women? Compared to the question concerning the Several memorable incidents occurred during Approves of marriage according Does not approve of marriage freedom to fulfil requirements, those who D K / N A * the establishment of the secular Republican to Islamic law according to Islamic law believed that oppression exists with respect regime and its immediate aftermath in which T o t a l 1 0 . 7 8 5 . 0 4 . 3 1 0 0 to religious people is higher – at approxi- the reactionary peripheral forces gathered mately 42%. around a loud reactionary demand for ¸seriat According to Islamic law women receive a smaller share of their parent’s inheritance. However, according Those who indicated that oppression of and the protection of the sultanate and t o the present Civil Code both men and women get an equal share from inheritance. Would you accept religious people exists in Turkey were also changing the Civil Code so as to give men the right to obtain a larger share of the inheritance than women? caliphate. Tension between the secularists and asked in an open-ended question to provide pro-Islamist forces resurfaced with the success Would accept changing Would not accept changing examples of this oppression. Of the 1,254 re- D K / N A * of the pro-Islamist Welfare Party (Refah Partisi), the present Civil C o d e t h e present Civil C o d e spondents who indicated that oppression first in the local elections of 1994 and then in T o t a l 1 3 . 9 8 1 . 4 4 . 7 1 0 0 exists towards the religious people, 812 – or the general elections of 1995. Ever since, ques- nearly 64% – gave an example related to tions concerning the popular bases of ¸seriat According to Islamic law a man can divorce his wife without going before a judge. However, according banning of headscarves or the turban. Inter- rule have been used in public opinion surveys. t o the present Civil Code, divorce requires a court case and a judge’s decision. Would you accept changing estingly, the closure of Imam Hatip schools t h e present Civil Code so as to allow divorces to be regulated according to Islamic law? The wording of the questions usually refers to and Qur’anic courses constitute the second an unspecified group of people that suppos- Would accept changing Would not accept changing the largest group of examples, which were D K / N A * edly think that Turkey should be governed ac- t h e present Civil C o d e present Civil C o d e given by about 13% of the respondents. In cording to ¸seriat rules. The respondents are T o t a l 1 4 . 0 7 8 . 5 7 . 5 1 0 0 short, examples of policies that are directly asked whether they would agree with this related to oppression in the perceptions of idea. These simplistic evaluations cannot be In Turkey only the civil wedding is legally accepted but those who wish may go through a religious the people are primarily related to educa- taken as a reflection of a demand for seriat¸ rule. ceremony (imam wedding). Would you approve of having a religious wedding as legally valid or should tion policies. These examples were evoked Perhaps more seriously, the respondents are t h e present regulations continue? by 77% of respondents who claim that reli- not even given a description of what is meant Present application Religious wedding gious people are being oppressed in Turkey. D K / N A * by seriat¸ , nor are they asked about specific im- should continue should also be legal The very low number of examples for op-

plications of seriat¸ rules. T o t a l 5 0 . 5 4 5 . 3 4 . 2 1 0 0 pression of religious people that included Table 1 shows the findings in three consecu- oppression of worship practices such as tive opinion polls conducted in 1995, 1996 and *Don’t know/No answer daily prayers (n a m a z), fasting and the like is 1998. What is striking in these figures is that over the years concerned at least one out of electorate seems unable to refute seriat¸ rule. five voters expressed their approval of ¸seriat However, as Table 2 shows,once given a clear Table 3. Approval of various assertions rule in Turkey. A year before the peak of ten- choice between the secular and Islamic legal sions between the military and the pro-Is- arrangements, preferences clearly shift to- A g r e e U n d e c i d e d D i s a g r e e D K / N A * lamists during the so-called ‘28th of February ward the secular arrangements. All Muslim women should cover their heads. 5 8 . 9 6 . 4 3 2 . 6 2 . 1 process’, the approval rate peaked with slight- An integral part of the Republican civic law I don’t approve of teenage boys and girls being ly more than 25% of the voters supporting the was the abolishment of religious ceremonies educated together in the same classroom. 3 8 . 5 6 . 8 5 1 . 9 2 . 7 idea. Nearly a year after the start of the or clerical marriages (imam nikahı). Under the I don’t approve of girls and young women wearing ‘process’ the approval rate dropped to its 1995 Republican arrangement the only lawful mar- short skirts. 5 7 . 1 8 . 8 3 1 . 6 2 . 5 level. riage is civil marriage. However, it is well Women state employees should be allowed to cover The straightforward wording of the question known that a sizeable proportion of the cou- their heads if they want to. 7 4 . 2 5 . 8 1 7 . 4 2 . 5 used in the PIT stressed the necessity of the es- ples that marry in a civil ceremony also under- Girls should be allowed to cover their heads in tablishment of ¸seriat rule: ‘Would you or would go a religious ceremony in which an imam the universities if they want to. 7 6 . 1 5 . 6 1 6 . 0 2 . 3 you not favour the establishment of a seriat¸ - concludes the marriage contract. When asked I don’t approve of men and women sitting next based religious state in Turkey?’ Answers to whether the religious wedding with an imam to one another in inter-city bus travel. 6 0 . 2 7 . 1 3 0 . 7 1 . 9 this question in February 1999 indicate that and the civil marriage ceremony should both Selling of alcohol during the month of Ramadan approximately 21% of the voters approve. be counted as official, nearly 45% of the re- should be banned. 7 0 . 5 5 . 4 2 2 . 3 1 . 8 spondents answered favourably to having Religious guidance in state affairs and politics both become legally binding. is detrimental. 6 7 . 2 9 . 5 1 6 . 4 6 . 9 Table 1. Approval of s¸ e r i a t r u l e Table 3 presents answers in support of Work hours should be arranged according to Friday prayer. 6 6 . 4 7 . 5 2 2 . 2 3 . 9 some assertions concerning the role of reli- Earning interest from money invested in banks is a sin. 6 2 . 6 6 . 1 2 8 . 1 3 . 2 June 1995 March 1996 May 1998 gion in Turkish society and general evalua- Republican reforms have advanced this country. 7 7 . 3 9 . 0 8 . 3 5 . 4 A p p r o v e s 1 9 . 9 2 6 . 7 1 9 . 8 tions of the social and political life of the Source: Çarko ˘glu and Toprak (2000, p. 59) *Don’t know/No answer Does not approve 6 1 . 8 5 8 . 1 5 9 . 9 country. It seems that nearly three quarters of Don’t Know/No Opinion 1 8 . 4 1 5 . 2 2 0 . 2 the respondents support assertions about Source: TÜSES (1999, 68–69) women having the right to cover their heads primarily on Sunni rather than Alevi commu- also worth noting. Similarly, very few an- if they want to in the universities as well as in nities. Nonetheless, the harsh reactions to the swers note oppression targeted at the Alevi Would you favour the establishment of a s¸ e r i a t-based religious state in Turkey? government jobs. Other statements about re- Directorate do not seem to find much sup- community. Despite Turkish media’s intense W o u l d Would not D K / N A * ligious expression in social life were strongly port among the population at large; only coverage of the closure and prosecution of f a v o u r f a v o u r supported. However, despite overwhelming about 8% seem to support the idea of aboli- Islamic brotherhoods (t a r i k a t s), answers in- T o t a l 2 1 . 0 6 7 . 9 1 1 . 1 1 0 0 agreement with statements backing a reli- tion of the Directorate. But when it comes to dicating this comprised only about 1% of all Source: Çarko˘glu and Toprak (2000, p. 16) *Don’t know/No answer gious point of view, nearly 67% agree with the functions it fulfils the reformists dominate examples given. Surprisingly, the military the statement that having religion as a guide the answers: nearly 70% of the respondents appears only in a total of 33 answers as an in state affairs is detrimental. Could these agree with the statement that the Directorate example. Clearly, within the context of an Several additional questions (Table 2) in the agreements be taken as a disguised support should provide services to the Alevi as well as open-ended question about oppression of PIT concerning the Civic Code could be used to for secular principles? The fact that those who the Sunni communities. religious people, the military does not re- provide some content to the above findings. agree with this statement seem very unlikely ceive much blame. When posing these questions on the present- to support seriat¸ rule seems to support this Another facet of state-society relations in day Civic Code regulations on marriage, di- view. Similarly, nearly 77% of the respondents Turkey concerning religiosity, religious ser- N o t e vorce and inheritance, the wording specifically agree with the statement that Republican re- vices and worship practices is an implicit * Carried out by myself and Binnaz Toprak allowed for a clear comparison with arrange- forms have helped Turkey to progress. concern, or explicit claim, that religious peo- w i t ht h e funding of the Türkiye Ekonomik ve ments in accordance to the Islamic law. ple are being oppressed. Although some Sosyal Etüdler V a k f ı - T E S E V . Recently the role of the Directorate of Reli- state policies are not fully supported by the . The overwhelming support for the secular Re- gious Affairs (Diyanet I¸sleri Ba¸skanlıgı) ˘ in regu- people, it is not clear whether these policies Ali Ç a r ko˘g l u is associate professor at the Department publican Civic Code is evidence of the prob- lating the role of religion in Turkish society are perceived to be oppressive. of Political Science and International Relations at lematic nature of the word ¸seriat for the Turk- has come under attack. Despite its large bud- The PIT includes a question as to whether Bo˘g a z i ç i University, Istanbul, Turkey. ish electorate. A significant number of the get, the Directorate’s services concentrate people in Turkey are free to fulfil the wor- E-mail: [email protected] 3 0 Regional Issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Middle East BETH KANGAS I n f o r m i n g

Biomedicine’s ability to postpone death and prolong life generates ethical dilemmas that are best an- swered in their cultural context. Medical anthropo- logical fieldwork conducted in Yemen1 has allowed Terminally ill for an exploration of doctors’ and religious scholars’ responses to the interesting cross-cultural issue of whether to inform patients of their terminal condi- tions. This research is part of a larger study on Yemeni patients and family members who leave their P a t i e n t s country for reliable, high-tech medical care only available abroad.

For Yemen, international medical travel is not limited to the wealthy and well connect- in Yemen ed. Nonetheless, economic disparity does exist in terms of the ease with which certain ing a prognosis for life expectancy much that the news would be as devastating as in could cause a shock that proves more detri- patients and companions can travel, the shorter than six months. And finally, doctors Yemen. Others said patients would accept mental than the disease itself. Doctors and medical conditions for which they seek said that if terminally ill patients learned of reality when hearing it from a foreign doctor family members should reaffirm the possi- treatment, and their therapeutic destina- their condition, they would discontinue whom they may tend to trust more than a bility of a cure rather than speak perhaps tions. While families with abundant re- treatment, leaving the doctors even more Yemeni one. Still others said patients could unnecessary words of doom. sources are said to bypass local facilities for ineffective than they would be otherwise. cope with the news in an environment with Answers to bio-ethical questions will sel- even basic check-ups and minor complaints, Readers familiar with Middle Eastern soci- suitable medical capabilities, especially dom be universal, given varying cultural those with few resources often make large eties will recognize a general preference for when seeing their family’s efforts to care for ideas of what constitutes a good life and sacrifices to provide a lifesaving cure for a not telling someone bad news outright, es- them by taking them abroad. death. Approaches contradictory to one’s seriously ailing loved one. Bombay and pecially when the recipient lacks the neces- Two patients of the 71 Yemeni medical own can appear inhumane, often rendering sanctioned Iraq offer the least expensive sary social support to help him/her cope travellers interviewed in Jordan and Bom- cross-cultural debates unyielding. Most care. Jordan and Egypt are more expensive with the distressing information. For exam- bay stand out as not knowing the full extent Yemeni doctors spoken to were appalled to but also more popular. Germany provides ple, a Yemeni, Iraqi or Afghan living in the of their medical conditions. One whose can- hear that in the United States, doctors al- excellent care but at a high price. Britain and United States whose father has just died cer had spread throughout his body, pro- most always tell patients their diagnosis and particularly the United States are desired back in their home country might be first ducing further complications as well, prognosis. Also unsettling to them was the destinations, but are accessible only to told he is sick, then worsening, then close praised the Jordanian doctor for all he had fact that patients, usually visiting doctors on high-level government officials or wealthy to death, and then recently deceased. In- done for him and for his vast improvement. their own, are then the ones to tell their b u s i n e s s m e n . forming the person is a gradual process, His young son inquired later, outside of his family about their grave illnesses. For some- whereas the death may actually have oc- father’s hearing range, if there were perhaps one already struggling with a serious dis- D i s c l o s u r e curred well over a year prior. In this way, the other countries where a cure could be found ease, they said, this is unnecessary and Doctors in four governmental hospitals in person far from home is protected from for his father, in Germany or anywhere else. cruel. Examining practices in their sociocul- Yemen’s capital said they generally do not shock, or f i ja', believed to lead to ill health2 The other patient was a woman in Bombay tural context can help us in understanding inform their patients directly about their and from the desire to join the grieving who cried about having to sell their house the ‘humaneness’ in others’ actions. condition, imparting the information to family when circumstances are not con- to seek treatment. This interview was abbre- family members instead. More specifically, ducive to this. If people are reluctant to tell viated as her son had previously requested 165 out of the 205 doctors (or 80%) said even healthy individuals disturbing news that no questions be asked about the partic- they would not tell a patient if he/she were for fear of its deleterious effect on their psy- ularities of her condition. That is the difficul- almost certain to die within a short time. chological and physical well being, why ty inherent in research on patients’ perspec- Eighty-four per cent said in that in the same would they tell the patient, who is just tives on disclosure of terminal illnesses. One situation they would indeed inform the fam- barely holding on to life as it is? cannot very well ask: ‘So, what is it like to ily. If the patient has a 50% chance of dying Doctors said that they generally tell the have cancer and not know about it?’ shortly, almost 90% of the doctors said they patient: ‘Everything is fine. You are getting Other Yemeni patients, particularly those would not inform him/her, while 77% said better. I n s h a l l a h, you will recover soon.’ in one governmental hospital’s radiation they would inform the family. The approxi- They then tell the family: ‘The patient’s con- department in Jordan, said unhesitatingly mately 10% greater unlikelihood of inform- dition is very bad. You had better prepare that they had cancer. Progressing through a ing either the patient or the family in the yourself for the worst.’ The family needs to course of radiotherapy surrounded by their case of a 50% chance of dying is probably know, doctors said, so that the death does compatriots also undergoing such treat- due to the possibility of a wrong prognosis, not surprise them and so that they do not ment no doubt sustained their hopes of re- which would unnecessarily upset the family blame the doctor instead of the disease. c o v e r y . and hurt the doctor’s reputation. Most family members, doctors said, are also The most detailed religious opinion col- In a follow-up question concerning what inclined not to inform the patient, although lected on informing terminal patients, par- occurs if the patient specifically asks about they thought that a very few might prefer to ticularly in light of treatment abroad, came his/her condition, the number of ‘yes’ and ‘it offer the patient a chance to repent for his from the deputy mufti, or n a ' i b a l - m u f t i. In N o t e s depends’ responses increased in both the sins, return any entrusted items, and write a his written answers, a l -ca l l a m a Hamud cA b- 1 . In 1998, the author surveyed 205 doctors in four ‘almost certain’ and ‘50% chance of dying’ will. Along with physicians, the family tries bas al-Mu'aid responded: ‘The doctor governmental hospitals in S a n ' a, the capital of cases. Doctors said they would be more like- to raise the patient’s morale by hiding the should not frighten the patient. It is better Yemen, on whether they inform terminally ill ly to tell an inquiring patient if he/she truth and speaking only words of encour- to tell him “I n s h a l l a h we hope for your re- patients of their condition. All but 19 doctors were demonstrated the ability to understand the agement. Doctors’ opinions differed widely covery and health”, so he comforts him and from Yemen. Ten were from Iraq, five from Cuba, disease and prognosis, or had complete on whether patients suspect the true nature does not frighten him.’ Shaikh a l - M u ' a i d and four from Egypt. Additionally, opinions were faith in fate and destiny. One doctor, how- of their disease. Some said patients sense then elaborated, drawing on religious texts solicited from nine religious scholars concerning ever, said that in Yemen patients do not the proximity of their death, particularly and practical experience: treatment abroad and advanced medical care in usually ask, making the added survey ques- from overheard conversations, looks of ‘It is from a l - s u n n a [the ways of the general. These scholars ranged from the mufti to tions somewhat hypothetical. worry and grief on their family members’ Prophet] that a person gives the patient heads of s h a r ica courts to s h a r ica law college Doctors listed several common reasons faces, and a lack of physical improvement. good news so as not to frighten him. How professors. In addition to fieldwork in Yemen, for not informing patients of their condi- Other doctors believed that patients never many very sick patients have received their Yemeni medical travellers in Bombay and Jordan tion. First, learning about their fatal condi- know when they are about to die. cure from Allah, and how many healthy peo- were interviewed. tion would harm patients psychologically, ple has death taken suddenly? And how 2 . Cf. Swagman, Charles F. (1989), ‘Fija’: Fright and which would contribute to their further Treatment abroad many dead persons have come back to us Illness in Highland Yemen’, in Social Science and physical demise. Second, doctors explained, One clear indication that a patient’s condi- from London, or Germany, or India, or M e d i c i n e 28 (4), pp. 381-388. See also Good, Byron life and death are in God’s hands and much tion is serious is the need to go abroad. Any- Amman, where the patient had travelled for J. and Delvecchio Good, Mary-Jo (1982), ‘Toward depends on a l - q a d a ' wa al-qadr – fate and one with a progressive life-threatening ill- a cure but only his corpse returned. This […] a Meaning Centred Analysis of Popular Illness destiny – so there is always room for mira- ness, such as cancer, heart conditions, or kid- matter is mentioned by our Almighty God: Categories: Fright Illness and Heart Distress in cles. Indeed, when reviewing an initial draft ney failure, cannot be treated in the country “If Allah touch thee with affliction, none can Iran’, in Cultural Conceptions of Mental Health and of the survey, one doctor recommended to and must pursue advanced medical care remove it but He” [wa an yamsuska allahu bi T h e r a p y, Marsella, Anthony J. and White, change the original ‘a patient is almost cer- elsewhere. Hearing they must go abroad durin fa la kashifa la hu illa huwwa]. Also, G e o f f r e y M. (eds.), Dordrecht: Reidel, pp. 141-166. tain to die within six months’ to ‘a patient is alerts patients to their condition. Doctors “And when I am ill, it is He who cures me” almost certain to die within a short time’ were divided on the consequences of pa- [wa idha muradtu fa huwwa shafini] . ’ Beth Kangas is a doctoral candidate in since only God can specify a time. Moreover, tients learning their diagnosis and prognosis As the doctors also indicated, it is God cultural/medical anthropology at the University of most patients come to the hospital at the in a foreign country where disclosure prac- who ultimately decides who lives and dies. Arizona, USA. final stage of their illnesses, generally imply- tices might be different. Some maintained Informing patients of a terminal illness E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Regional Issues 31

Middle East PENELOPE LARZILLIERE The Intifadas and

The latest Intifada has once again brought to the fore all the national themes of resistance inherited from the first Intifada. The same songs, the same poems and the same symbols are used. The Palestinian television the Palestinian constantly mingles images of the first Intifada with those of the present uprising. Unlike the first Intifada, however, there is no massive commitment on behalf of the youth to the cause of the Intifada Al Aqsa. The following is concerned with how the attitude of the Y o u t h young Palestinians towards the national struggle has evolved, which could explain the difference in their level of commitment to the two uprisings.

The young stone-throwers are but a minori- ty, most of them coming from the more dis- advantaged sections of the refugee camps. As for the groups fighting Israeli strong- points, the majority come from youth move- ments linked with Palestinian parties, and mobilize a different kind of population: namely people who were often more specif- ically affected by the first Intifada. Still, in that case as well, we cannot say that there is a massive commitment. The main difference now is that most youngsters do not believe that the fight will succeed in the short term, although they think that it is a necessity. They adhere to the nationalist themes which are leading the present fight, because they think that the construction of an independent state is the only way to obtain their rights and en- able the expression of Palestinian identity. Most of them no longer believe in the possi- bility of making this state come true through short-term confrontation, which is C r o s s r o a d precisely the contrary of what the youth of ‘ C i t y Inn’ at the first Intifada thought. Palestinians are E l Bireh (suburb thus trapped by the contradiction between of Ramallah) their support for the principle of a fight for independence and their scepticism as re- gards how effective such an uprising is. certain degree of bitterness and appears conflict between adhesion to nationalism the most, only the attacks would seem to more as a last resort than as a real alterna- and self-fulfilment since he transcends his them to be able to establish a real power re- From national hope to tive, because it is built on failure and not on own story by associating it to the victorious lationship. So the Palestinian youths who i n d i v i d u a l i s m a real sense of fulfilment. In short, the at- figure of the s h a h i d: my self-fulfilment will are not getting involved in a logic of sacri- The evolution in the their way of thinking tempt to reconstruct a small but indepen- come from the national struggle which for fice are caught between a nationalist ideol- stems from the extreme disappointment dent life for oneself is in contradiction with sure has little chance of succeeding now, ogy which they stand for and which is be- which has grown among the youth from the Intifada Al Aqsa. but it does not matter since I am ready to coming the only source of legitimacy, and 1995 onwards, on account of the gap be- This self-restructuring is challenged by sacrifice myself for a goal which is above their refusal to get involved in a fight which tween what they fought for and the reality the present mobilization of nationalist and beyond me. is extremely costly in terms of lives and of the current Palestinian Authority. At the themes as the unique meaning of the Intifa- Such a commitment that enables them to which makes already hard living conditions same time, opposition parties were not be- da Al Aqsa. In fact, bringing again to the fore be involved in the logic of victory and no even harder. That is why they are searching lieved to have any constructive suggestions the nationalist themes, coupled with the ac- longer in the logic of failure requires sacri- for alternative ways of keeping up the fight for an alternative. Islamist parties alone ceptance by some of the youth to sacrifice ficing their history as an individual. This such as boycotting Israeli products or mak- were able to take advantage of the situa- their very lives for these principles strongly choice made by a small minority of Palestin- ing international opinion aware through tion. For all the (relative) scepticism which discredits all attempts to initiate projects ian youths invalidates any attempts at self- means of the internet. prevailed regarding their strategy of con- which are not linked with the national strug- fulfilment through personal projects which Still, that does not seem enough to them, frontation, they alone were thought to be gle. Anyhow, the serious degradation of the would mean abandoning the fight for the and this despair leads to the idea that either taking up the gauntlet and defending Pales- political and economic situation has re- superior objective of the national struggle. they do not have competent leaders to guide tine’s ‘lost honour’, when they decided to duced their scope for these projects. For the This is why the decision to resume the fight them to more efficient ways of resisting, or continue the national struggle after the fail- most disadvantaged Palestinians, such pro- and accept the sacrifice made by a very that they are in a total deadlock because of ure of the Intifada. Israel’s withdrawal from jects as finding employment or marriage are small minority of the youths is going to re- Israeli intransigence. That general feeling of Lebanon, being interpreted as Hizbullah’s impossible, simply out of reach. duce the identity resources available. The an impasse makes a large number of these own victory, gave credibility to that feeling. Sacrificing oneself to the cause of the pre- Palestinian field of identity resources is to youths think about going abroad, especially That analysis of the political situation led a sent Intifada is mostly the choice of young- become more and more univocal. National- those who can afford it. It seems to them one large part of the youth to bitterness and de- sters from the latter category. This logic of ism tends to become both the sole way of of the last few possibilities that remain, in spair since they could not see any way out self-sacrifice makes it possible to solve the interpreting reality and the framework with- order to lead a normal life and to find more of an extremely difficult situation, unstable contradiction between adhesion to the goal in which actions must take place in order to acceptable living conditions – in short, be- and dangerous, with an economy in ruins. of creating a State and scepticism about the be socially legitimate. come the actors of their own story. They have tried to reconstruct their lives by possibility of achieving that goal in the This resumption of the fight will not drastically lowering their hopes and con- short term. change the way the majority of the youths centrating on projects which they could view the possibilities of change. We can wit- control and which would never be jeopar- The use of martyrdom ness a cleavage between, on the one hand, dized by an unstable and economically de- The shahid (martyr) actually produces two talk of unconditional backing for the strug- graded situation. This self-restructuring cor- about-turns. On the one hand, the s h a h i d r e- gle, and on the other hand, a real commit- responds to a will to find a field in which it is moves the national struggle from a short- ment. They do in fact think that the fight possible to act without systematically being term temporal frame and places it in a thou- must continue because the situation is un- alienated by an oppressive situation. So, sand-year-old frame. This change in tempo- acceptable. They have waited long enough projects like beginning a family, studying rality enables a change in status, from that and heard enough promises, which were abroad if possible, or finding a job, have be- of victim to that of fighter of a victorious never kept. They also have the feeling that if Penelope Larzilliere is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology come solutions. To a certain extent, these struggle, the Jihad, for which Israel is just a they stop now, they will lose everything. But at the EHESS, Paris, under the direction of Farhad are attempts to forget a political situation passing event. The second about-turn is at if they support the objectives of the fight, Khosravar. She has authored articles on Palestinian that is increasingly restricting their horizons the personal level. A youth who accepts the they do not believe that throwing stones or youth in Gaza and the Westbank and on Palestinian with each day that goes by. This refocusing perspective of personal sacrifice is then able even shooting is effective. A growing f e e l- students in France and Germany. is therefore made most of the time with a to remove from his shoulders the burden of ing is that martyrs have died for nothing. At E-mail: [email protected] 3 2 Regional Issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

Eastern Europe ANA OPRISAN & GEORGE GRIGORE The Muslim Gypsies The Islamic community of Romania is concentrated in the Dobrudja, a southeastern province of Romania lying between the Danube River and the Black Sea. The community comprises an ethnic mosaic of Turks, Tartars, Albanians and Gypsies.1 Muslim Gypsies in Romania identify themselves as ‘Horahane Rroma’ – Horahane meaning Turkish in the Rromani language. The Mus- everyday Turkish variety spoken in the area. lim community accepts the Horahane Rroma as be- A kind of pidgin Turkish is also used. Classi- longing to the Islamic religion, but otherwise does cal Arabic is used for the Islamic prayer ritu- not affiliate with them. The great majority of the Ro- al, the n a m a z, and some religious expres- manian population rejects Horahane Rroma because sions derived from Arabic – but with a very of their adherence to a religion different from the specific pronunciation – are part of their ‘national’ Orthodox Christianity. For the other Gyp- spoken language. Romanian, the official sies, they are simply known as ‘Turks’. language, is normally spoken by the major- ity of Gypsies. The official number of the Rroma, or Gypsy, A direct result of this situation is the ap- population of Romania is still based upon pearance of the phenomenon of code- the 1992 census: 409,723 persons, or 1.8% of switching, which is defined as the alternate the entire population. However, unofficial use of two or more languages in the same estimates by Rromani associations amount sentence or in the same discourse. to approximately 2.5 million people. A very small part of this Gypsy population (10,000- Changing lifestyles The women and 15,000) is estimated to be Muslim, and is dis- Muslim Gypsies, once nomads, used to children of the tributed over a dozen towns and villages.2 travel as artisans and seasonal labourers by b u l i b a s h a’s family Because very few written records have sur- tilt wagons from village to village offering in Babadag vived little is known of the history of the their services, such as tinning kitchen dish- Muslim Gypsies in Dobrudja. It is thought es, in exchange for agricultural products or that they arrived in the area in the early 16t h Muslims of Dobrudja to the old dualist reli- Linguistic aspects for money. However, modern industries led century as a s a n j a k (division) of a specific gion (Devla-God/Benga-Satan) of the Gypsies. Name-giving among the Muslim Gypsies to a crisis of the traditional craft practised category of Gypsies serving in the Ottoman Generally Gypsies are capable of adapting, reflects the pragmatic and eclectic ap- by the Muslim Gypsies. Taking also into army. This hypothesis is sustained by the at least superficially, to all sorts of circum- proach of this small community living in a – consideration the forced sedentarization Special Law for the Gypsies of Rumelia, pro- stances while maintaining their identity. This sometimes – hostile environment. Often policies of the communist authorities, their mulgated by Sultan Suleiman the Great in phenomenon may also be noticed at the level their names are a combination of a Turkish entire way of life was changed. Without the 1530, and by the Law for the supervision of of religion. In spite of their declared affiliation (Islamic) name and a Romanian (sometimes traditional skills they once had, nowadays the s a n j a k of Gypsies of 1541. Others may be to Islam, many of their ancestral religious rep- even Christian) name. For example, the the Muslim Gypsies are seeking employ- descendants of Gypsies that came from the resentations, beliefs and practices are still name of the b u l i b a s h a (community head) in ment opportunities outside of their com- other territories to the Ottoman dominions present, such as belief in demons, totemism the town of Babadag is Recep Lupu, Lupu munity. Attracted by the economic activi- that embraced Islam. Muslim Gypsies in Do- and divination. Of interest is that the two Is- being a name from the Romanian bestiary, ties of the large cities, a considerable num- brudja have no written culture, but they lamic categories halal (allowed) and haram meaning wolf. The women in the communi- ber of them migrated, usually settling in the have a rich oral tradition, which includes (prohibited) have been superposed on two ty have at least two names. For example, city outskirts as petty traders, domestic ser- fairytales, legends, riddles, charms, and categories of the ancestral culture of Gypsies, one of the outstanding women in the com- vants and day labourers. Their cities of pref- songs. Unfortunately this tradition has been namely ujo (pure) and melalo (impure). This munity of Babadag is called Maria Rubie. erence are Constantza and Bucharest in Ro- recorded only sporadically thus far and it has taboo system is regulated by rituals, such as Depending on circumstances, some of mania and Istanbul in Turkey. Those re- not been analysed at all. The study of these the use of charms, and not by resorting to Is- them declare themselves Romanians and maining in villages are also involved in cultural expressions would certainly lead to lamic teachings. Christians, making use of the Romanian petty trade and domestic service. One can a greater understanding of their history. Another illustrative example of the syn- name only, while at the other occasions often find them travelling with their mer- cretism that characterizes their worldview is they proclaim themselves Turks and Mus- chandise from one village to the other in Ancestral beliefs and Islam the annual Hirdelezi festival, an occasion on lims, making use of the Turkish name. the area, by car or sometimes still by tradi- The Muslim Gypsies in Romania are Sun- which the dead are commemorated. This fes- Muslim Gypsies in Dobrudja present a tional tilt wagon. nites of the Hanafitic rite. Identifying Islam tival takes place on the 6 th of May and is cele- typical case of languages in contact. A num- The Muslim Gypsies can be said to still have with the Ottoman civilization, some of them brated by all the Muslims in Dobrudja. Fire ber of languages – Horahane (a Rromani di- close-knit communities. The tradition of proclaim: ‘We are Muslims, so we believe in plays a central role for the Gypsies on this spe- alect), Turkish, and Romanian, as well as va- ‘Hanamic’ is a way to construct strong rela- the God of the Turks.’ The other Muslim in- cial day. Fires are lit in front of their houses rieties of these are widely used in everyday tionships between families: More powerful habitants of Dobrudja often stress that the and the members of the family jump over interactions. The choice of using a particu- than blood kinship, the parents vow, before Gypsies do not have much knowledge of reli- them in order to purify themselves from sins lar language is governed by social factors. their children are born, that their offspring gion. They name them Allahsiz insanlar, God- and liberate themselves from bad spirits. This For instance, the Horahane dialect is spo- will intermarry when they have reached the less people, because they do not live a mani- ritual is similar to the Newroz festival celebrat- ken inside the community, especially by proper age. As of yet, mixed marriages are fest religious life. They go to the mosque only ed by Kurds, Iranians and others. The Hirdelezi women and children. The type of Turkish very rare. This may nonetheless change: It on the occasions of great Islamic festivals, festival is sometimes called ‘Turkish Easter’, used is linked to a whole spectrum of vari- seems that the Muslim Gypsies could lose such as the Id al-Fitr and the Id al-Adha. Pejo- because the Gypsies also light candles in their eties ranging from the Ottoman Turkish, their distinct identity through assimilation. rative allusions are sometimes made by other houses. used for the invocation of God, to the However, through the strengthening of rela- tions with the Muslim Gypsies in other parts of southeastern Europe, especially in Bulgar- ia and Turkey, a revival of their ethnic identi- ty indeed belongs to the future possibilities. A N N O U N C E M E N T Cinema, Media and the Middle East: ‘The Maghreb’ N o t e s Urgent Change: media images. In addition to the latter, studies will 1 . See also Grigore, George (1999), ‘Muslims in The forthcoming conference on ‘Cinema, Media and the also focus on gender, social class, culture and other is- Romania’, ISIM Newsletter, 3. Middle East’ has to be postponed due to unforeseen or- sues raised by various disciplines. The conference 2 . The towns of Babadag, Harsova, Constantza, and ganizational circumstances. It will be held from 24 to 25 aims to bring together scholars from different re- Medgidia, and the villages of Cobadin, Negru- October 2001 at the Department of Film Studies on the search areas and media professionals. The conference Voda, Dobromir, Baneasa, Lespezi, Valeni, Castelu, campus of the University of Mainz, Germany. will be hosted by Prof. Anton Escher (Geography, Mihail and Kogalniceanu. The interdisciplinary research network on ‘Cinema, CERAW (Centre for Research on the Arab World)) and Media and the Middle East’ is organizing its third in- Prof. Thomas Koebner (Film Studies). Ana Oprisan is a Rromologist working at The Rroma ternational conference in Mainz from 24 to 25 Octo- Center for Public Policies ‘Aven Amentza’, Bucharest, ber 2001. The conference will take place on the cam- In order to register for the conference, please contact the co- R o m a n i a . pus of the University of Mainz, which is located only organizer, Dipl.-Geogr. Stefan Zimmermann: E-mail: [email protected] 30 km from Frankfurt airport. Centre for Research on the Arab World (CERAW) George Grigore teaches Arabic and Islamic Papers, in German and English, will be given on var- Institute of Geography, University of Mainz civilization at Bucharest University, Romania. His ious aspects of cinema and mass media representa- 55099 Mainz, Germany latest published work is a translation of Holy Qur’an tions of the Maghreb. Studies will cover film produc- Tel: +49-6131-3924494 (Coranul) into the Romanian language (Kriterion tion, cinematic depiction of the everyday and the un- Fax: +49-6131-3924763 Publishing House, Bucharest, 2000). derlying political and economic structures of these E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Regional Issues 33

Western Europe JOHAN MEULEMAN H e a d s c a r v e s ,

The wearing of headscarves by three Moroccan girls in a French public school in the autumn of 1989 was con- sidered an affaire d’état, debated up to the highest of- ficial level. For most Dutchmen this turmoil was quite H o m o s e x u a l s , amazing. In the Netherlands, earlier that same year, echoes of the Rushdie case did lead to a heated debate, which reached cabinet level. However, public polemics on Islam soon settled down and henceforth the few controversies over the wearing of headscarves in pub- a n d I m a m s lic schools and other similar incidents were usually set- tled quickly at the level of school or, in the worst cases, municipal administrations. Since a year and a half ago, however, a series of incidents seems to indicate that something has changed in the Netherlands. in the Netherlands

The incidents began with the publication of cept a woman with a headscarf as an editor moral influence among the Muslim popula- absence of religion in the public space, even an essay by Paul Scheffer in the 29 January of her magazine, aroused yet another public tion. Some even held the imams responsible in the form of comparative studies respectful 2000 issue of the prestigious NRC Handels- debate. The refusal of an applicant of Turk- for the behaviour of Muslims. This became of all denominations and non-religious world- b l a d daily. In his text entitled ‘The Multicul- ish origin for the position of assistant clerk clearer at the next stage of the issue, when views in public schools. According to a num- tural Drama’, this Dutch publicist warned at the court of the city of Zwolle gave rise to Imam El Moumni had fallen short of expecta- ber of authors, from a situation in which vari- that the integration of immigrants into a larger debate, concentrating on the ques- tions and some considered his declaration of- ous communities were sharing the public Dutch society was threatened with failure tion of whether, as a symbol, the headscarf fensive to a component of the Dutch popula- space on the basis of respect for certain com- and that the development of a class of so- impaired the neutrality of the court. tion and indirectly inciting to violence. More mon rules and principles and diversity in cially marginalized persons, mainly of immi- generally, the discussion turned to the inca- other matters, the Netherlands is moving to- grant origin, was imminent. In the ensuing The El Moumni case pacity of the imams available so far in the wards a society in which expressions of cul- debate, from the observation that most The most recent incident originated with Netherlands – almost all of whom have been tural and particularly religious specificity are people concerned are Muslims to the con- the May 3rd broadcast of Nova, a popular tele- trained abroad and practically ignore Dutch banned from the public sphere. In a very ex- clusion that the problem is somehow relat- vision programme offering almost daily back- society, its institutions, or even its language – treme form, the latter situation was defended ed to Islam was but a small step. Next, not ground information on current news issues. to play the prominent role many Dutch politi- in a letter by a professor of women and law directly connected to Islam or even to Mus- The attention of the Nova editors had been cians wish for them to play in the integration studies on the Zwolle court case to the editor lims, but pertinent to the development of drawn to the increasing harassment of homo- process of the Muslim minorities in Dutch so- of the daily newspaper Trouw, stating that Dutch public debate, came a discussion on sexuals by youths of Moroccan origin. They ciety. Then the discussion turned to the place people should ‘live and indulge in their own the attitude of registry officials who had asked Imam El Moumni for a comment. His of Islam and Muslims in general in Dutch soci- cultural identity during their own time off.’ conscientious objections to the authoriza- opposition to the violence of Moroccan ety. Finally, the discussion took an unexpect- A related tendency in contemporary Dutch tion of marriages between persons of the youngsters against homosexuals was not ed turn when prominent members of both society is the development of a dominant cul- same sex. In November, an alderman of the transmitted. In a short statement that was liberal parties, VVD and D’66, suggested that ture and set of opinions, the adherents of capital city publicly announced that he broadcast, El Moumni declared that homo- the attitude of Muslims towards homosexual- which, by imposing their version of tolerance, would fire any civil servant refusing to apply sexuality was a dangerous illness that, if not ity and the attitude of Christian political par- leave no room for difference. It is they who the new legislation. One month later, a dis- halted, might contaminate Dutch society as a ties with respect to this question and such determine the standards of ‘political correct- cussion broke out when the principal of an whole and thus lead to its extinction. These questions as euthanasia were similar. This ness’ and the zeal of some of them reminds Amsterdam public school refused Muslim words aroused a wave of indignation in wide short metamorphosis of the debate was a re- one of ultra-French Jacobinism. James pupils the use of an empty classroom, dur- circles of homosexuals and defenders of their hearsal for next year’s general election cam- Kennedy, historian, has described this trend ing breaks, to perform the ritual prayer. A lit- rights. For well over a month, they were dis- paign and reveals the broader framework of as the development of a liberal, secular, and tle afterwards, Dutch media devoted much cussed in newspaper comments and letters the issue. white majority culture, and Bas van der Vlies, attention to the cancellation of an opera en- to the editors. Several persons and organiza- One might begin the analysis of this frame- a Christian member of parliament, has spoken titled Aisha and the Women of Medina, after tions lodged complaints against El Moumni work by a comparison with the 1989 Rushdie of a ‘new state religion’. In the El Moumni Assia Djebar’s novel Loin de Médine, sched- and other imams who had voiced similar case. Mainly because of its origins from vari- case, some of those who took offence at his uled as one of the ‘intercultural’ perfor- ideas in later newspaper interviews, accusing ous countries, characterized by sharp politi- statement called for the repressive means of mances that would offer a special flavour to them of defamation. The Public Prosecutor cal, social, and ethnic divisions, the Muslim prosecution and extradition. Recourse was Rotterdam as this year’s cultural capital of began an investigation to determine whether community of the Netherlands is extremely also had to curious arguments to defend fun- Europe. The Moroccan artists had with- any penal offence had been committed. diversified and divided, and no particular or- damental liberties against the ideas of the drawn under the pressure of certain Muslim Members of parliament commented on the ganizations, institutions, or persons can be imam: reference was made to the fact that El circles that considered this play, staged issue and some demanded El Moumni’s extra- considered as its representatives. As in 1989, Moumni had been banned from preaching in around one of Prophet Muhammad’s wives, dition. this circumstance has led to much confusion, Hassan II’s Morocco and not only the French, Imam el Moumni unacceptable. One of the local Muslim lead- Apart from the proportions it took, this repeated misjudgement, and unwarranted but even the Turkish state were mentioned as and representa- ers who, in a subsequent public debate, op- most recent debate was interesting because expectations among Dutch cabinet ministers, examples worthy of being followed for their tives of Muslim posed the performance was Khalil El Moum- of the transformations the subject underwent journalists, and other participants in public attitude towards religion. It was even men- organizations at a ni, the Moroccan imam of the Al Nasr in a relatively short period. From the original policy and debates. The excessive concentra- tioned that the historical freedom of religion meeting with the mosque in Rotterdam. The declaration of question, the harassment of homosexuals by tion on ethnicity in their analyses has only di- guaranteed by the Dutch constitution had Minister of Inte- the editor-in-chief of the Dutch feminist Moroccan youths, the topic shifted to the minished slightly, their ignorance of Islam only been intended for diverse Christian de- gration Policy. monthly O p z i j , that she would in no case ac- opinion of imams, considered persons of hardly at all. The refusal to admit any role of nominations. Various others who do not religion in public life has even spread wider. share El Moumni’s opinions, Muslims and This has to do with one of the main causes for non-Muslims, rejected excessive reactions. the fact that controversies relating to Islam and Muslims have recently taken unprece- The growth of the Muslim population in the dented proportions: the tendency of the Netherlands is reason for concern among var- Dutch state and society to relinquish its tradi- ious categories of inhabitants. Among them tional model of verzuiling and move towards are those groups within the political and so- the French model of laicité. cial elite who were just rejoicing over the gradual advance of laicité. Their attitude is a Religion and the public sphere fundamental factor in the recent debates Verzuiling, usually translated as ‘pillariza- about Islam in the Netherlands, of which a tion’, is the unique mechanism through conflict between the constitutional rights of which, during the 19th and 20th centuries, var- freedom of religion and speech and a particu- ious Dutch communities, such as the Protes- lar understanding of tolerance is a recurrent tants, the Roman Catholics, and the labour ingredient. class of social-democratic conviction, each through the development of their particular cultural, labour, and political organizations as Johan Hendrik Meuleman is a lecturer at Leiden well as their own educational institutions, University in the framework of the Indonesian- could achieve a respected place within the Netherlands Cooperation in Islamic Studies, a Dutch society and state. Avoiding a detailed research fellow of the Leiden-based International historical, political, and philosophical discus- Institute for Asian Studies, and a professor of Islamic sion of complicated concepts, the French no- History at IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. tion of laicité may be explained as the total E-mail: [email protected] 3 4 Regional Issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

South America SCOTT DARREL MORRISON Muslim Life

The following description of contemporary Muslim worship in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is part of a larger inquiry into the Syrian-Lebanese diaspora community of the city. The research was conducted in June and August in Sao Paulo 2 0 0 0 . relevance to the Muslim world and to Mus- days of the twelve imams, and ca s h u r a. Of the eight mosques in Sao Paulo, all are lim participants in the Brazilian polity. It Women do not attend j u mca at the S h ici Sunni except for one Shici mosque. The S h ici deals with ‘human justice’ in Islam, with an mosque, and only a few could be seen in the mosque, founded in 1983, located on Elisa explanation of the concept of ‘consultation’ back of the Sunni mosque at the time of the Whitaker Street in Bras, a commercial district – presumably the article, written in Por- author’s visit. famous for its inexpensive clothing stores. tuguese, is referring to s h u r a – and its im- Inside the sanctuary itself, the floor is cov- On the Muslim sabbath, a visit was paid to portance in the protection of political liber- ered with eight grey patterned rugs, upon the latter. The mosque is walled, and the ty, with quotations from Muhammad Abdu which was printed in English and Arabic: ‘To gated main entrance of the building is cov- and Rashid Ridda. Sao Paulo mosque from the Islamic Republic ered with marble. Featuring two bronze- In the context of religious holidays and of Iran’. At the cultural centre annexed to The Mosque of coloured minarets and an exposed orange devotional duties, the unity of the larger the Mosque of Brazil, where prayer was tem- Elisa Whitaker brick tower, the mosque is apparently under whole of Muslims was exemplified by a re- porarily held, there is a surprising recurring Street (the only construction. The Sunni mosques found in port on the Hajj with photographs overlook- image, that of a kneeling camel. Around the S h ici m o s q u e ) . the area of this S h ici edifice stand in sharp ing the Kaaba in Mecca. On the back cover freshly painted white walls of the Shici contrast due to their angular, unadorned of the issue, Muslims gathered for prayer, mosque are the names and birth dates of c o n c r e t e . wearing white clothing and skull caps, in- the twelve imams (the people of the house – the S h ici mosque was the three-month-old The mosque houses a library with a collec- side of an unnamed mosque with the head- ahl al-bait), and the s h a h a d a, all printed in ‘Imam Hussein Project’ for distributing food, tion of Arabic works on philosophy, eco- line in Arabic: ‘The Hajj is a world Islamic Farsi Arabic script. At the centre of the sanc- clothing and toys, or other items donated to nomics, religion, a collection of works trans- congress’. Back in Sao Paulo, for the celebra- tuary is a m i h r a b, with a rectangular tile de- the mosque, around the city. lated into Portuguese (e.g. What is Islam? tion of the Feast of the Sacrifice, for which a picting the ‘visit of Hussein’ (z i y a r a t a l - H u- a n d The History of Islam), and pamphlets sheep was sacrificially slaughtered at the sein) next to it. There is also a podium with Imam and shaykh from Tawheed (a publishing house in Sultan Club, meals were served at various pictures of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Newly arrived from Iran, an imam swept Teheran, Iran) concerning religious holi- mosques in the community. Great Mosque in Mecca. The windows at the in, dressed in a white cloth turban, a long, days, duties and doctrines, some of which top of the rectangular dome and along the brown outer cloak, and a grey vest. He wore have Qur’anic verses in Arabic transcribed Sunni and S h ici walls are frosted white and green, diffusing a beard and brown tinted glasses. The son into Roman characters. The S h ici m o s q u e Informants at the S h ici mosque reported white light throughout the space, while a of the permanent imam, who was out of also distributes a bimonthly magazine, CU r u- cordial relations with the Sunni mosques. breeze wafts in traffic noise from the open town at the time, reported that the purpose b a, the latest cover of which features a pho- One informant, the president of the congre- front door. A bookshelf containing Qur’ans of the imam, in addition to his recitation and tograph of a line of men with hands crossed gation, said that he did not like to use such donated by Saudi Arabia can be found sermon for j u mca, was to help the members at their bellies and bowed heads, praying in- categories at all, not only sectarian cate- along with disassembled Qur’an stands. solve problems and to interpret Islamic law: side another mosque – the Mosque of Brazil gories within Islam, but also the distinctions Above, on a balcony railing, there is a large for example, to determine whether particu- (the actual sanctuary of which was closed between religions in general: Christianity painting depicting Karbala. lar goods purchased in Brazil, a non-Muslim during the author’s visit, due to a flood at and Islam, for example. This was justified by Ninety per cent of those who frequent the country, were permissible. Sometimes there the beginning of the year). Eight or ten his view that such categories were divisive S h ici mosque are Lebanese, with other con- would be no imam for a week or two. The pages at the end of the magazine are writ- and even harmful. The mosque offers Arabic gregants in small numbers from around the imam from Iran circulated with a charismat- ten in Arabic, but the remaining, larger por- lessons for children, while m a d r a s as, s e p a- Arab world, including Syria, Libya, Iran, Jor- ic air, shaking hands and greeting the 25 tion is in Portuguese. CU r u b a provides cov- rate from this mosque elsewhere in the city, dan, and Egypt. The Mosque of Brazil is men assembled by this time. He then read erage of recent events, such as the visit of also offer Arabic instruction. Both the Sunni equally dominated by Lebanese adherents, from a prepared text. the Pope to Jerusalem, Israeli attacks on mosques and the S h ici mosque include large purportedly with few Syrians and Palestini- The shaykh at the Mosque of Brazil was Lebanon, and a story presenting ‘Our posi- assembly halls for functions other than ans. The number of Brazilian converts at the from al-Azhar in Cairo and reported that all tion on the settlement’, which discusses the prayer: ci d a l - f i t r, the Ramadan, the S h ici mosque was approximately 30, the of the shaykhs in the Sunni mosques of Sao status of negotiations with Israel. Doctrinal Prophet’s birthday, marriages, parties and – Sunni mosque counting approximately 500 Paulo were Egyptians from al-Azhar. He at- treatises on Islam and politics appear with in the case of the S h ici mosque – the birth- members. The main outreach programme of tributed this presence of al-Azhar shaykhs to an outreach programme implemented by Nasser. The shaykh recited the Qur’an with Continued from front page 1: Homeland and Hostland / by Amir Hassanpour the aid of a simple microphone for one hour. A one-page summary of the text was pression continue to create new waves of em- tellectual inroads into the exilic community. It N o t e s translated into Portuguese and distributed igrants, including highly skilled groups, pro- also dismisses return to the homeland, or en- 1 . These are quotations from the first part of a well- prior to the service. The majority of the con- fessionals, investors and the youth. gaging in intellectual and publishing activi- known panegyric q a i s d a by Sa’di. gregants apparently could not follow the Twenty years after the revolution, diasporas ties there.9 However, a large number of Irani- 2 . Cited in Navid Azadi, ‘Gharib-e dar sarzamin-e sermon (although many did speak Arabic), have gained in importance and they impact ans who do not support the Islamic state g h a r i b - e -ha- ’ (Strangers in the land of strangers), as they were unaccustomed to the Arabic of in diverse ways the political environment in demonstrated strong attachment to their first S h a h r v a n d, Vol. 9, No. 452, 28 January 2000, p. 20. the Qur’an. Iran. Some members of the exilic community homeland when a soccer team visited Aus- 3 . Canadian Almanac and Directory 2000, Toronto: At the S h ici mosque, after the imam spoke, engage in political activisms aimed variously tralia, Canada and the U.S. in the late 1990s. Micromedia, 1999, p. 1-48. the worshippers prayed between four white at the reform or overthrow of the Islamic The visit of the pop singer Googoosh to Cana- 4 . Aryanpur-Kashani, A. and M. (1983), The Concise lines in the front of the room, before the regime. Moreover, members of the diaspora da and the U.S. in 2000 also rallied tens of Persian-English Dictionary, Tehran: Amir Kabir m i h r a b, while latecomers arrived unnoticed. influence the foreign policy of the countries thousands of nostalgic audiences to her per- P u b l i c a t i o n s . Most of the men, wearing socks or nothing where they have become new citizens. Not formances. She had been denied the freedom 5 .I b i d . on their feet, after leaving their shoes in the surprisingly, a struggle has ensued over the to perform in Iran since 1979. 6 . The exact words, sa- l - e now-e m ila- d i ra- be co m u m - e h a m m a m just behind the sanctuary, re- control of the diaspora. The de-territorialization of a sizeable popu- h a m v a t ana- n - e masih-i tabrik migu’im, can be moved their belts and picked up a plastic, Iran’s policy of controlling the diaspora is lation of Iranian dissidents has a far-reaching found in other papers (e.g. Sa- y eba- n, Vol. 1, No. 1, beige-coloured disk (m a s b a h) from a wood- complex, diverse, and implemented through impact on the political destinies of Iran. January 1998, p. 2). en box. After prayer, reverting to Por- the chain of embassies, consulates and all the Today, the struggle between the diaspora 7 . See, for instance, Himani Banerjee (2000), The Dark tuguese, the men talked and made plans. power that diplomacy and statehood bring and the Islamic state goes on everywhere – at Side of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, The imam, now more casual and curious, into play. Moreover, Tehran uses satellite conferences and demonstrations, in print and Nationalism and Gender, Toronto: Canadian asked how long I had studied Arabic, and broadcasting; allows artists, film makers, broadcast media, and on the internet. How- Scholars’ Press. where. He asked about religious studies in films, singers, and sport teams to travel ever, convergence of political interest be- 8 . Navid Azadi, ibid. footnote 3 above. the USA, whether it was called ‘theology’, abroad; builds mosques and religious centres; tween the two sides has developed in the 9 . For a survey of the politics of return see, for and whether there were religious universi- offers material rewards for those using these wake of the rise of ‘the reformist movement’ instance, Azadeh Sepehr, ‘Honar-e ba- z g a s h t va ties. When I left, he was sitting in a pool of services; and gathers information on exilic in and outside the government. Browsing ba- z g a s h t - e honari’ (The art of return and the sunlight, leaning against a column in the communities. through the diaspora press, it is often difficult artistic return), published first in Qa- s e d a k ( E u r o p e ) , s a n c t u a r y . The opposition in exile was quick to note to distinguish between the reformist trend in reprinted in Ka- r ika- t o r, Toronto, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1997. the shift in policy. Debates have been going Iran and in exile. on about the extension of state repression to Scott Darrel Morrison is a Ph.D. candidate at the diaspora and how to confront it. Accord- t h e Department of Political Science, Columbia ing to one political trend, the Islamic regime This article is based on research in progress and a Amir Hassanpour is assistant professor at the University, USA. His research focuses on should not be allowed any space in the dias- paper presented at the 34t h annual meeting of the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, contemporary Arab-Muslim perspectives pora. This involves a boycott of its export Middle Eastern Studies Association of North America, University of Toronto, Canada. o np o l i t i c a ls e c u l a r i s m. products, sports and art groups, and other in- November 2000. E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Research 35

IISMM Research Programme AGNÈS DEVICTOR C o n t e m p o r a r y

The vocation of the IISMM (Institut d’Etudes de l’Is- lam et des Sociétés du Monde Musulman) is to make the contemporary world of Islam known and to stim- ulate the curiosity of a large audience while develop- Artistic Creation ing various high-level research programmes, the du- ration of which ranges from two to four years. ‘La création artistique contemporaine en pays d’Islam’ (The contemporary artistic creation in Islamic re- gions), a programme run by Jocelyne Dakhlia, direc- in Societies of Islam tor of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sci- ences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, adheres to this per- al des Arts Africains (World Festival of based on theological arguments). If there is rector of research at the CNRS and specialist s p e c t i v e . African Arts) of 1966, indicating that Africa an inequality of the status of cinema and a in urban sociology and architecture, what was perceived as a monolithic bloc in terms great variety in the dynamics of national distinguishes architecture from other arts is Several years ago, the West began to discov- of creative production. Nonetheless, the production, in those societies where cinema that it is part and parcel of daily life – it is er Algerian rai music, the films directed by question of an identity-based art was al- does exist, it presents a certain number of necessarily more frequented. With this ob- Kiarostami, and the novels authored by ready present and still underlies artistic cre- characteristics such as the way the body is servation, he opened three areas of reflec- Mahfouz. However, other artistic sectors, ation today. Professor Leprun, specializing dealt with on screen and most notably tion: the influence of architecture in the clearly less widespread, still remain little ap- in African arts, emphasizes the specificity of male-female relations. elaboration of mental structures, the weight preciated. Research in the domains of social ‘installation’ art in Africa – a very dynamic Also interesting is the relationship be- of Islamic heritage, and the particular status science, sociology or the history of art are branch since the 1970s – characterized by tween cinema and the representation of a of architects in Islamic regions. making but minor advancements in the recuperation and re-use. The influence of Muslim culture on screen. The Islamic Re- Architecture gives order to space. It con- field of contemporary art and in the phe- Islam is difficult to situate in African cul- public of Iran is, until present, the only tributes to the structuring of the h a b i t u s, to nomena of creative production and dissem- tures, since Western ethnography con- regime that has attempted to reform its na- organizing a certain way of life, and to the ination of works in the highly diversified po- tributed for almost a century to erasing the tional production so as to transform it into rapport with the ‘other’ within space. It litical and cultural contexts of the Muslim traces. The remarkable use of calligraphy in an Islamic cinema. Since the 1979 Revolu- gives coherence to space and thus to social world. Organized by the IISMM, special one- these installations is certainly the most tion, the cultural leaders have been striving relations. Not limiting itself to certain ele- day seminars devoted to music, literature, identifiable marker of Islamic influence on to establish a cinema competitive with that ments or landscapes, architecture is a veri- cinema, theatre, architecture, painting, the African art that exists today. of Hollywood, totally detached from any table matrix of signs linked with a tradition. plastic arts, and dance aim to explore the Silvia Naef, professor of Islamology at the Western references. The state implemented Islamic heritage in contemporary architec- dynamics at work and to reveal the rapport University of Geneva, in charge of the semi- a censorship that contributed to the cre- ture is very present and the referent to Islam between aesthetic modernity and tradition nars devoted to contemporary painting and ation of a new cinematographic language remains an obligatory discourse. However, that is inherited or re-appropriated in the to the work of gallery owners, also affirms and a new narrative style – the question of as noted by Jean-Charles Depaule, the sta- various Muslim societies. the influence of the Western variable on the whether a genuinely new aesthetic had tus of the architect is far inferior to what it The influence of Islam varies according to elaboration of a contemporary pictorial art been born still remaining. was in France or in Renaissance Italy, never national contexts and geographic zones, in Islamic regions. Modern art is, for the Aesthetic modernity, as found in the occupying a central place in the capital. but also according to the different aesthetic Arab world in its entirety, a borrowed phe- works of the Egyptian film director Salah supports. It is through the joint perspective nomenon and corresponds to the theme, Abu Saïf, or in the works of Abbas Kiarosta- This programme will produce a collective of specialists in the social sciences, those in developed in the 19t h century, of r a t t r a p a g e mi in Iran, distinguishes itself by its recourse publication prepared under the direction of charge of institutions, and artists, that ques- c i v i l i s a t i o n n e l (civilizational catch-up). In to new types of narratives, by a more am- Jocelyne Dakhlia. The research axes and tions arise concerning the dynamism of 1951, with the Manifesto of the Bagdad biguous rapport with reality and by a problematics presented will be developed artistic creation, aesthetic and technical group, a decisive movement towards a greater freedom conferred to the audience and enriched by the confrontation of differ- modernity, and also the role of the state and modern and authentic art was launched in in the construction of the work. ent regions of interest (Maghreb, Machrek, private actors (sponsorship, censure) in con- Iraq – a country that was to remain a leader As for technical modernity, reflection is Black Africa, Central Asia, etc.) during the temporary artistic creation in Muslim soci- in terms of contemporary pictorial creation. necessary both to analyse the reception of one-day seminars on the different sectors of eties. The objective of the programme on Silvia Naef analyses the strategies devel- new techniques in the production of images contemporary creative production. Before ‘The contemporary artistic creation in Islam- oped by these artists, whose approach con- and to isolate the registers of the intellectu- the end of 2002, a dozen scheduled gather- ic regions’ is to present an overview of con- sisted in improving their knowledge of for- al debates they evoke in the Muslim con- ings will offer forums for debate amongst temporary works in the various Islamic re- eign countries and their local identity so as text. The broadcasting of images on new artists and other creators, gallery owners, gions, so as to offer new insight into this to enter the international market. Pre-Islam- supports could comply with the lack of museum directors and art critics. p h e n o m e n o n . ic and popular art was thus reinvested so as movie theatres, or resolve the question of During a first meeting on 24 November to create an aesthetic that broke away from prohibition of image consumption in For a schedule of seminars, please contact the IISMM. 2000, the coordinators of the various one- tradition. The affirmation of a lay culture, in- groups (as in Saudi Arabia). See e-mail address below. day seminars formulated the most salient is- dispensable to modernity, is recognizable Gilles Ladkany, lecturer at the Ecole Nor- sues within contemporary artistic creation by the absence of an Islamic referent. In the male Supérieure in Fontenay-aux-Roses, in Muslim countries, thus inaugurating the 1960s, abstract painting asserted itself, still surrounded by Arab writers, gives perspec- programme with ambitious research per- following the Western influence. But al- tive to the links between the birth of mod- spectives. Already, the relations that artistic ready the pan-Arab character can be detect- ern Arabic literature and its relations with creation maintains with the West, with tra- ed by its recourse to calligraphy that tended the West. He investigates the correlation be- dition, and with Islam presented themselves towards abstraction. The 1980s gave sanc- tween the emergence of new themes with as determining factors in the different sys- tion to the Arab identity of these works, al- an elaboration of new forms and genres of tems of creative production. beit without constituting a return to Islamic l i t e r a t u r e . Hadj Miliani, professor of literature at the art, while the last decade has been witness Free verse, which appeared at the end of University of Mostaganem, Algeria, in to a vanishing of this identity-based charac- the 1940s, followed by the poem in prose in charge of the one-day seminars devoted to teristic. The rattrapage civilisationnel has oc- the 1960s, both carriers of literary moderni- music and to theatre, encourages reflection curred; the necessity of explicitly defining ty, provoked the most profound break centred more on the modes of production an Arab identity has faded. Aesthetic forms known to the Arabic language in fourteen than on an aesthetic evaluation of the works increasingly tend towards a hybridization of centuries by eliminating rhyme and metres. at hand, which leads to favouring the collec- i n f l u e n c e s . This literary revolution was accompanied by tive rather than the individual. With the a political rupture in which the metaphor – Maghreb as point of departure, he proposes The cinema symbolic detour – occupies the field of four axes of reflection: the definitions of ac- Agnès Devictor, researcher at the Institut ideas and engagement. tors within a culture, the various competing Politique in Aix-en-Provence, specialized in registers and languages, the relations with Iranian cinema, is currently attempting to The novel the outside (whether that be an Arab for- inventorize the points of convergence The novel, new literary genre, from the eigner or a Westerner), and the rapport with amongst the cinematographies of Islamic beginning of the 1960s confronts the most heritage, with cultural patrimony. countries and to open new venues of reflec- severe taboos such as intimacy, sex, the re- Sylviane Leprun, professor of plastic arts tion with respect to the relationship be- lationship with God, and the rapport with at the University of Bordeaux demonstrates tween cinema, Islam and modernity. the West. Fiction offered a view of daily life that the nature of the relations between One of the questions posed by cinema and unveiled the troubles of society, pover- African artists and the West is such that it is touches upon its very existence: there are ty and neuroses. Similar to Hadj Milani, Agnès Devictor, Ph.D. in political science, focused her as if the formers’ creative production could regions that do not (or no longer) have na- Gilles Ladkany made apparent the renova- doctoral thesis on ‘The cultural policy of the Islamic not exist without reference to, or explicit tional cinema productions, whether this be tion language had undergone by the claim Republic of Iran, the example of cinema (1979-1997)’. markers of, the latter. for economic or technical reasons – or for to plurilingualism in fiction. She currently directs seminars on ‘Cinema, Islam and Contemporary African plastic arts ap- religious ones (as is the case in Taliban For the coordinator of the seminar devot- Modernity’ at the IISMM, Paris, France. peared in the West with the Festival Mondi- Afghanistan, where cinema is forbidden ed to architecture, Jean-Charles Depaule, di- E-mail: [email protected] 3 6 Miscellaneous I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1

International Workshop EKKEHARD RUDOLPH Muslim Minorities

Muslim minorities, having been part of European so- cieties for generations, are currently going through a profound process of transformation and differentia- tion. At the same time Europe is confronted with the and European rapid process of political and economic integration, which raises urgent questions on the state of cultural and social cohesion. In this context the role of Mus- lim immigrants within outwardly secular-defined so- cieties is increasingly reflected in public as well as in I d e n t i t i e s academic discourse. The international workshop on ‘Muslim Minority Societies in Europe’, convened ‘frozen in time’. Both Muslims and native Eu- mass media to demonstrate that new com- New York) asked whether pluralism offered from 2-3 March 2001 at the University of Erfurt, was ropeans are dependent on such ‘frozen im- munication technology helps create new a means for common agreement on cultur- inspired by this dynamic European debate. ages’, which cause acute problems of identi- transnational Muslim communities. al, political and religious values within Euro- ties. To him a solution would require synthe- Gerdien Jonker (Philipps University Mar- pean societies or whether we are unable to As Jamal Malik, initiator of the workshop, sis, meaning appreciation of the integral burg), whose research was based on the Is- move beyond shallow civility. Mathias Rohe pointed out, Islam is constantly being role of Islam in the shaping of Europe’s past, lamic Cultural Centres in Europe (Süleyman- (University of Erlangen) dealt with the issue shaped and constructed by Muslims as ac- present and future; and acknowledgement cilar), demonstrated the ability of an influ- of adjusting the s h a r ica to the situation of tors. This means that one has to deal with that Muslims must transcend their ‘frozen’ ential Turkish-Muslim organization to find a Muslim believers in a non-Muslim context. controversial manifestations of Islam in Eu- history and reformulate Islam as a contem- successful balance between continuity and Finally, Valérie Amiraux (European Universi- rope, a reality more or less neglected in the porary global worldview. The development change in its religious ideas and structures. ty Institute, Florence) reminded the partici- public debate. The workshop emphasized of a new Muslim identity then is intimately Günter Seufert (Istanbul Institute of the Ger- pants of the inconvenient but necessary the notion of societies insofar as they are connected to the development of a new Eu- man Oriental Society) dealt with the Turkish task of a critical evaluation of scientific pro- able to set norms and to participate in the ropean identity. state’s reactions to institutionalized Islam in d u c t i o n . hegemonic discourse. The workshop also Ataullah Siddiqui (Islamic Foundation, the European Union. Pnina Werbner (Keele One of the results of the workshop in Er- looked at Europe as a geo-political and cul- Leicester) also pointed to the identity prob- University) spoke on Sufi networks in furt is the awareness that concepts such as tural space characterized by an ongoing dis- lem when analysing the situation of the Britain, based on empirical research in the diversity or pluralism of cultures do not suf- cussion about its identity and its bound- Muslim youth in Britain. According to him, area of Manchester which underlined the ficiently meet the concern and self-under- a r i e s . Europe has a large number of ‘Muslims with- flexibility and transnational perspectives of standing of Muslim minorities in their inter- Of the three panels, the first was devoted out Islam’, which belong to a silent majority. British-Pakistani immigrants in the UK. action with majority societies in Europe. In to the process of institutionalization within This was contrasted to the media’s mostly Referring to the influence of satellite TV the course of the debate it became clear Muslim minorities in Europe. The second ‘noisy picture of Islam’. on Muslim immigrants in Sweden, Anne- that ‘transnationality’ or ‘translocality’ offer panel paid attention to the interaction be- Some participants highlighted the am- Sofie Roald (University of Malmö) showed more suitable conceptual frames for future tween Muslims and their societies of resi- bivalent role of written tradition in the com- the ambivalent relationship of Muslim com- inter-cultural studies. dence in the social, political and legal munity-building process. P.S. van Kon- munities to their countries of residence. She spheres. In the third panel participants dis- ingsveld (Leiden University) emphasized questioned whether media consumption cussed the ways Muslims of different back- the value of texts distributed, for example, had an integrating or segregating effect. grounds, generation and gender under- in a great number of Muslim periodicals. He Paul Weller (University of Derby), in his stand, use and transform public spaces. proposed that these sources should be pre- contribution on the prestigious Discrimina- Ziauddin Sardar, British-Pakistani scholar served and analysed in the framework of a tion project supported by the British Home and critic (London), raised thought-provok- European research project. Office, explained that Britain’s state law Ekkehard Rudolph is assistant professor at the Chair ing questions. He stated that Muslims often Stefano Allievi (University of Padova) against religious discrimination is highly de- of Islamic Studies, University of Erfurt, Germany. perceive their history to be somewhat pointed to the role of global networks and bated. Jocelyne Cesari (Columbia University, E-mail: [email protected]

Book Presentation ARMANDO SALVATORE Yearbook of Muslim Traditions and Modern Techniques of Power, Yearbook of the Sociology of Islam deals with histori- cal and contemporary articulations of the relation of tension between the civilizing impetus of Muslim traditions, and modern forms, fields and techniques t h e S o c i o l o g y of power. These techniques are associated with the process of state-building, as well as with the related constraints of disciplining, normative cohesion, con- trol of the territory and monitored social differentia- tion. o f I s l a m

The entry point into the investigation is the transformations associated with the dissolu- constraints and structures. It is also able to following question: Is there any method to tion of the Ottoman Empire and the forma- engage projects of reform of the discourse conceive of Muslim traditions in sociological tion of modern nation-states, as well as with itself as well as of the normative models of terms, while at the same time avoiding to the new conflicts taking place in Europe due self and of community. Therefore, moderni- reduce traditions – as Western sociology to the presence and rooting of migrant ty impacts Islam not as a ‘rival tradition’, but mostly does – to either cultural residues of communities of Muslim faith. as a set of techniques of power which affect the social contexts where modernization Though the approach adopted might ap- the authority and regulating-disciplining did not work out well enough, or to ‘local re- pear at first sight as a move toward re-es- impetus of Muslim traditions. sources’ for modernization strategies? A sentializing Islam, it turns out to be exactly third option (or a culturalist variant of the the opposite. While analysing the multiple second) that has acquired currency in re- workings of Muslim traditions, the authors cent years is to see Muslim traditions as a le- of the volume operate a shift of focus from gitimate locus of authenticity within global the Islam that is the object of a reifying ‘hy- m o d e r n i t y . perdiscourse’ engaging both Western au- The fourteen contributions to this volume thors and media and their Muslim counter- basically discard all three options. They con- parts, to Muslims as individuals, devotees, ceptualize Muslim traditions as deriving and citizens. While they are committed to their legitimacy, authority, as well as norma- various forms of Islamic faith and ‘culture’, tive and organizing power from being em- they are also involved with local, national bedded in Islamic discourses and institu- and global networks and institutions. It is Salvatore, Armando (ed.) (2001), Muslim Traditions tions, which constitute one major centre shown that Islam – through Muslims, their and Modern Techniques of Power, Yearbook of within world history, by now also encom- practices, and discourses – is entangled in a t h e Sociology of Islam, 3, Hamburg: Lit Verlag; passing Muslim communities within West- world of multiple commitments, loyalties N e w Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers. ern societies. The specific context of the and conflicts, yet as a discursive tradition it ISBN 3-8258-4801-9 analysis of Muslim traditions is given by the is able to keep some autonomy from social General editors: Helmut Buchholt and Georg Stauth I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Miscellaneous 37

IIS Seminar Series AMYN B. SAJOO R e v i s i t i n g

’Civil Society in Comparative Muslim Contexts’ is an ambitious series of seminars hosted by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) in London, with leading schol- ars exploring issues ranging from human rights and t h e M u s l i m engaged citizenship to the interplay of ethics, law, culture and information technology. The series will culminate in a volume of essays in 2002, aimed at contributing to a vital discourse in and about transi- tional societies as diverse as Tajikistan, Pakistan, P u b l i c S p h e r e Iran, Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia and Malaysia.

At the inaugural seminar in this series last planning (as with k o l k h o z or farm collec- November, Professor Mohammed Arkoun tives), these networks show the way ahead asked about the relevance of discussing civil for fostering genuine civic engagement in society in contexts where ‘intellectual these non-Western settings. Indeed, Roy ar- modernity’ remains at best a Western im- gues that Western policy-makers and their port – quite aside from the creeping pace of local interlocutors ignore such indigenous democratization. Again, Dr Shirin Akiner networks at their peril, in favour of trendy wondered in her January presentation new institutions of private enterprise and whether states freshly emerged from civil l a w . war and Soviet rule – like Tajikistan – have In a different context, Dr Iftikhar Malik the luxury of discoursing on civic culture noted in his March seminar that the disrup- amidst new threats of religious radicalism tion of traditional networks as well as the and social decay. thwarting of new ones in South Asia – which One response to such scepticism, by Dr would empower civil society actors like Olivier Roy in February, was to observe that women and minority groups – stems from ‘networks of solidarity’ are a pervasive fea- the ‘modern’ assaults of colonial domi- ture of the new Central Asia – the more so nance, militarism and fundamentalism. In M o h a m m e d because of the weakness of formal state other words, the notion that civil society is Arkoun and Azim structures. Whether derived from clan/vil- strictly a contemporary phenomenon that Nanji at the IIS lage traditions (as with mahalla or neigh- challenges narrow ‘primordial’ bonds not s e m i n a r . bourhood groups) or from Soviet economic based on common citizenship1 is contested. Indeed, as IIS director Professor Azim Nanji noted in his subsequent talk on ‘the Good A p p o i n t m e n t Society’, the ethical dimension of civic cul- usefully capture the complexities of partic- ethics. There is nothing inherently nativist ture has premodern roots – which under- ular cultural and historical contexts, or about this notion: on the contrary, an array scores the need to synthesize tradition and whether it is too arbitrary in the manifold of Muslim activists and intellectuals have Chair of Paleography modernity in fostering democratic legitima- uses to which it is put. drawn attention to its pluralist and human- c y . ist impulses.5 Moreover, ethical norms are Perhaps nowhere is that need more con- What’s in a square? all the more critical in transitional societies and Codicology of the spicuous than in the discourses on gender In any case, from issues of equal treat- and civic contexts where the rule of law is in post-revolutionary Iran, the subject of Dr ment under the law to democratic account- f r a g i l e . Ziba Mir-Hosseini’s session in June. In her ability and access to political power, there is Islamic World now-famous interviews with a broad spec- more to the quest for civic engagement N o t e s trum of Iranian clerics and intellectuals, as than can be captured by easy normative di- 1 . As claimed notably by Ernest Gellner (1994), well as in her films that bring those discus- chotomies that tend to dominate debates Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and Its Rivals, Professor Jan sions alive to publics abroad, Mir-Hosseini about civil society. For some, this may re- London. Cf. Ellis Goldberg’s imaginative probing has shown that for many urban women and flect the fragmented mess of postmod- into rich veins of civic culture in pre-modern Islam: even for an influential modernist thinker ernism that is our shared reality – magnified ‘Private Goods, Public Wrongs, and Civil Society in Just Witkam like Abdolkarim Soroush, ‘tradition’ can be in a public sphere dominated by ‘new Some Medieval Arab Theory and Practice’, in empowering. This is especially so in drawing media’, fuelling what Gary Bunt calls the Goldberg, Ellis (1993) Kasaba, Resat and Migdal, The Board of Directors of Leiden University decided on 1 June upon sacred texts and the corpus of f i q h ( j u- ‘digital umma’.3 For others, it may seem like Joel S. (eds.), Rules and Rights in the Middle East, 2001 to create a new chair for Paleography and Codicology of risprudence) as legitimating claims of equi- the empire striking back, as postcolonial London, p. 248. the Islamic World (Handschriftenkunde van de islamitische ty – even as ethical critiques are applied to publics find their voices to re-appropriate 2 . Habermas, Jurgen (1996), Between Facts and wereld). Dr Jan Just Witkam was appointed as its first holder. readings of those sources. the most basic elements of democratic dis- Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law Jan Just Witkam (born in Leiden, 1945) studied Arabic, Persian However, to the extent that civil society is c o u r s e . and Democracy, trans. William Rehg, Cambridge, and Middle Eastern History at Leiden University from 1964 to about the public sphere where (after Haber- But whether postmodern or postcolonial, UK, p. 367. 1972, and attended the University of Teheran in 1970. Since mas) ‘citizens want to have an influence on an aspect of this reality that Muslims are 3 . Bunt, Gary (2000), Virtually Islamic, Cardiff, p. 17. 1974 he has been a curator at the Leiden University Library, and institutionalised opinion- and will-forma- obliged to confront is: What kind of public 4 . See, inter alia, Filali-Ansari, Abdou (1996), ‘The since 1980 he is the curator of Oriental Collections. In 1989 he t i o n ’ ,2 Mir-Hosseini argued that the con- space is civil society to be located in? If it Challenge of Secularisation’, Journal of Democracy, obtained his Ph.D. in Leiden with a thesis on the life and work of straints on feminist expression through must be secular, as many observers insist, 76; and Arkoun, Mohammed (1994), R e t h i n k i n g the Egyptian physician and encyclopaedist, Ibn al-Akfani magazines and other media are acute even then what would be the nature of secularity I s l a m, Oxford, esp. at pp. 18-26. ( d .1348). From 1991 to 1998 he served as president of Melcom in the ‘liberalizing’ Iran of President Mo- in a milieu whose religious tradition actively 5 . See generally Cooper, John, Ronald Nettler and International, the European Association of Middle East Librari- hammed Khatami. This was reinforced by merges d i n , duniya a n d d a w l a (faith, world Mahmoud, Mohamed (eds.) (1998), Islam a n d ans. The prestigious title of ‘Interpres Legati Warneriani’ was the glimpse into the private sphere offered and state)? Muslim societies offer contrast- Modernity: Muslim Intellectuals Respond, L o n d o n ; conferred to him in 1992. Prof. Witkam has taught Middle East- by an excerpt from her latest film, R u n a w a y, ing, and internally contested, responses to Ibrahim, Saad Eddin (1995), ‘Civil Society and ern paleography and codicology for over 20 years, using the Is- in which the gap between personal aspira- the nexus between secular/religious space Prospects for Democratisation in the Arab World’, lamic manuscript treasures of the Leiden Library as illustrative tion and social reality seemed as oppressive and the prospects for civil society.4 Civil Society in the Middle East, Vol. 1, Leiden, pp. objects for his students. as ever for a younger generation of reform- Certainly this is an issue that the presen- 27-54; and Sajoo, Amyn B. (1995), ‘The Islamic Among Prof. Witkam’s best known publications in book form minded Iranian women. ters in the IIS series must grapple with in ethos and the spirit of humanism’, I n t e r n a t i o n a l are the final volume of A.J. Wensinck’s Concordance et Indices de Also at the June session, Professor Abdou grounding the idea of civic culture, and in Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, New York, p. la Tradition Musulmane (Leiden 1988, with W. Raven); S e v e n Filali-Ansari (on the Maghreb) and Dr No- appraising actual socio-political realities. 5 7 9 . Specimens of Arabic Manuscripts (Leiden 1978); and the C a t a- rani Othman (on Southeast Asia) drew at- In a pluri-cultural and multivocal Muslim logue of Arabic Manuscripts (ongoing project, since 1982). In tention to the waxing and waning of ‘au- universe, the seminars seek to interrogate 1998 he was co-author of the Catalogue of Malay Manuscripts tonomous’ civic culture in the shadows of the concept of civil society in terms of its im- Readers are invited to view highlights of this series – (with E. Wieringa). He published several volumes in the series, authoritarianism, often condoned by the plications for polities and public squares including a forthcoming session on Turkey by Prof. Manuscripta Indonesica, of which he is a co-founder. In 1986 he prospect of fundamentalist encroachment where tradition and modernity, secular and Ersin Kalaycioglu – on the Institute’s website: founded the international journal, Manuscripts of the Middle – real or imagined. The correlation between sacred, are very much at the forefront of w w w . i i s . a c . u k E a s t. He also serves on the editorial boards of Codices Manuscrip- the strength of civil society and that of the quotidian experience. t i, a series of manuscript catalogues, and of Kleine Publicaties, a state also remains contested: both may be Yet, no matter what the specific perspec- series of exhibition catalogues, both published by Leiden Uni- weak (Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, even tives in a given Muslim context, civic dis- Dr Amyn B. Sajoo is a visiting fellow at the IIS, versity Library. Presently he conducts research on the tech- Turkey), or both may be robust (Canada, the course will likely reflect ethical values that coordinator of the civil society series, and editor of niques and approaches of Muslim scholars, and more specifical- Netherlands, Sweden, United States). In- draw far more explicitly on ‘Islam’ than any the forthcoming volume of essays stemming from ly he is working on the analysis of readers’ protocols (i j a z a t, deed, Filali-Ansari was inclined to question comparable experience one can invoke in a the series. s a m aca t) in Arabic manuscripts. whether the concept of civil society can Western society v i s - à - v i s J u d e o - C h r i s t i a n E-mail: [email protected] 3 8 Info Pages I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Art & Culture Agenda

THE NETHERLANDS 22 October 2001 – 10 March 2002 I R A N T U R K E Y • ’The Orient of Saladin during the time E x h i b i t i o n s of crusade’. The exhibition shows the E x h i b i t i o n s E x h i b i t i o n s history of the artistic and cultural de- Wereldmuseum Rotterdam velopment of the Ayyubids and the Tehran Museum of Con- The Museum of Turkish Willemskade 25 different contributions of the Fa- temporary Art and Islamic Art 3016 DM Rotterdam timids, Seljuqs and Zangids; military T e h r a n I s t a n b u l Tel: +31 10 270 7172 architecture from the citadels of Fax: +31 10 270 7182 Cairo, Aleppo and Damascus as well 21 July – 4 October 2001 C o n t i n u i n g E - m a i l : m e d i a t h e e k @ as the architecture of science. More • The First Iranian Conceptual Art Exhi- • Exhibition of Ottoman and Islamic w e r e l d m u s e u m . r o t t e r d a m . n l than 250 objects mainly from Egypt- bition. This event showcases works Art, Folk Art and Folk Life ian and Syrian collections. created with novel elements, media and tools of conceptual expression. UNITED KINGDOM G E R M A N Y The exhibition and the side line semi- nar aim to encourage artists toward E x h i b i t i o n s E x h i b i t i o n s new artistic novelties by utilisation of the latest modes of innovation and British Museum and Muse- Museum of Islamic Art expression in art. um of Mankind Museuminsel, Berlin-Mitte Great Russel Street Tel: +49 30 2090 5401 8 October – 7 November 2001 London WCIB 3DG Indianapolis Museum of Art ▲ Laila Shawa, • The Fifth Tehran Cartoon Biennial. Tel: +44 171 412 71 11 1200 West 38t h S t r e e t C o n t i n u i n g ‘Two Words: Liberation’, ‘Immigration’ is the theme for the Fax: 44 171 3238614/8480 Indianapolis, Indiana 46208-4196 • This continuing exhibition is dedicat- cartoonists’ top works, which will be U R L : w w w . t h e b r i t i s h m u s e u m . a c . u k Tel: +1 317 923 4788 1994, 38 x 58 cm, ed to the art of Islamic peoples from judged by a jury comprised of Iranian Fax: +1 317 931 1978 photo lithograph. t h t h the 8 to the 19 century. The works and international members. Portrait 18 May – 2 September 2001 of art originate from an area stretch- caricature comprises part of this ex- • ’Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of 23 September 2001 – ing from Spain to India. hibition. A related seminar is to be the Mughals’ – a spectacular exhibi- 13 January 2002 text. The images were often com- ▲ Ali Omar Ermes, ‘The Seventh conducted by prominent Iranian and tion which celebrates the jewelled • Gifts to the Tsars, 1500-1700; Trea- bined with the finest examples of cal- Ode’, 1993, 250 x 225 cm, acrylic Ethnologisches Museum non-Iranian artists. arts. The exhibition will leas with 300 sures from the Kremlin. Gold, silver Lansstrasse 8, Berlin-Dahlem ligraphy in lavishly prepared albums and ink on paper, fixed on canvas. pieces of Indian jewellery dating and silver-gilt objects, jewels, pre- (muraqqa) whose beauty was de- 11 November 2001 – from the reigns of the Great Mughals cious textiles, icons, parade arms and 28 September 2001 – 3 March 2002 scribed as rivalling that of an un- 6 July 2001 – 24 March 2002 10 January 2002 who ruled India from the mid-16th to armour, and ceremonial horse trap- • With pack and sack: The Nomads of spoiled paradise. This exhibition of • Contemporary work by 12 artists se- • Three Modernist Iranian Pioneers – the early 18t h c e n t u r y . pings are featured in this exhibition. Iran and their textile art. some 30 works includes several lected by Egee Art Consultancy, Lon- Nasser Ovaisi, Hossein Zandehroudi, All of the crafted and beautiful ob- works by the most celebrated painter don. Contemporary Arab artists are Massoud Arabshahi. The tendency jects are drawn from the collection of Linden-Museum Stuttgart of this genre, Riza Abbasi, and of flourishing in Europe as well as the toward national ideals and identity Hermitage Rooms at Som- the armoury; many objects never be- t h Hegelplatz 1, 70174 Stuttgart other notable artists active in 16 - Arab world. This exhibitions presents along with the use of traditional erset House fore shown outside of Russia. and 17t h-century Iran and India. a brief overview of twelve of the best Tel: +49 711 202 23 Iranian motifs are prominent fea- S t r a n d U R L : w w w . l i n d e n m u s e u m . d e from Morocco to Iraq. They have all tures in works of Iranian artists dur- L o n d o n Nance Museum Through 10 March 2002 exhibited prolifically and interna- ing the 1940s and 1950s. The cre- Tel: +44 20 784 54 630 Lone Jack, Missouri • ’Storage Jars of Asia’: based on the tionally, many with careers spanning 14 July 2001 – 27 January 2002 ations of these three artists are an in- • Afghanistan – Tree of Life and Freer’s rich but rarely-exhibited col- 20 years or more. dication of a praiseworthy effort to 25 November 2000 – P e r m a n e n t Kalashinikov: more than 20 years of lection of large storage vessels, this establish ‘national painting’ emanat- 23 September 2001 • Saudi Bedouin Jewelry displays more war, civil war, displacement of peo- exhibition presents a selection of the C o n t i n u i n g ing from Iranian identity by way of • ’Treasures of Catherine the Great’, than 100 pieces donated recently by ple, and the Taliban’s iconociasm biggest and boldest jars made in • Islamic art from its own collection. modern modes of artistic expression. among which are beautiful examples Lewis Hatch and Marie Kukuk, which have led to immense losses of cultur- China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, of art from the Islamic World. has doubled the collection of the mu- al treasures. At the same time, the Burma, Iran and Syria between the Den Haag Gemeentemuse- Islamic Period Museum s e u m . second millennium B.C. and the 16t h u m brutalities of war have inspired a T e h r a n Egee Art Gallery new form of popular art. Baluch and century and have never before been Stadhouderslaan 41 9 Chelsea Manor Studios exhibited together. 2517 HV The Hague Turkmen tribal women and those C o n t i n u i n g Flood Street Brooklyn Museum of Art from other western Afghan groups Tel: +31 70 338 1111 / 365 8985 • Continuing exhibition of Qur’anic London SW3 5SR 200 Eastern Parkway weave carpets that depict automatic L o n g t e r m U R L : w w w . g e m e e n t e m u s e u m . n l manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork Tel: 44 171 351 68 18 Brooklyn, NY 11238 guns, tanks, helicopters and other • ’Fountains of Light’. Islamic Metal- and textiles. Fax: 44 171 376 85 10 Tel: +1 718 638 5000 motifs. The exhibition exemplifies im- work from the Nuhad Es-Said Collec- C o n t i n u i n g U R L : w w w . e g e e a r t . c o m Fax: + 1 718 638 3731 portant periods of the region’s cul- tion. This collection – arguably the • Islamic crafts. The renewed exhibi- J O R D A N U R L : w w w . b r o o k l y n a r t . o r g finest private collection of Islamic tion from its own collection, in p a r- ture since the bronze age and dis- C o n t i n u i n g plays a selection of war carpets from metalwork – consists of 27 inlaid ticular ceramics; other objects illus- E x h i b i t i o n s • Arabic Calligraphy 2000 – The Saudi C o n t i n u i n g a private German collection. brass, bronze and steel objects dat- trating Islamic art. Show. Presentation of a breathtaking- • The Arts of Asia. The Asian collection ing from the 10t h to the 19t h c e n t u r y Darat al Funun ly beautiful and diverse collection of contains some of the most compre- Rautenstrauch-Joest Mu- Rijksmuseum voor P.O. Box 910406 contemporary calligraphy. Contempo- hensive and diverse holdings in the C o n t i n u i n g V o l k e n k u n d e s e u m A m m a n rary and antique Middle Eastern art. New York metropolitan area. The col- Ubierring 45, 50678 Köln • ’Arts of the Islamic World’. Some 60 Steenstraat 1 Tel: +962 6 4643251/2 lection of art from Iran’s Qajar dy- Tel: +49 221 – 33 694 13 works – Qur’an pages, metalwork, 2312 BS Leiden Fax: +962 6 4643253 A u c t i o n s nasty (1790s to 1924) is the only seri- Fax: +49 221 – 33 694 10 ceramics, glass, paintings, and callig- Tel: +31 71 516 8800 E - m a i l : D a r a t f @ a r a b b a n k . c o m . j o ous collection of its kind on display in t h t h U R L : w w w . m u s e e n k o e l n . d e / R j m raphy – from the 9 to 17 c e n t u r y Fax: +31 71 512 8437 U R L : w w w . d a r a t a l f u n u n . o r g . / C h r i s t i e ’ s A m e r i c a . explore Islamic artistic traditions. U R L : w w w . r m v . n l L o n d o n 13 December 2001 – Themes include the forms and func- September and October 2001 U R L : w w w . c h r i s t i e s . c o m Metropolitan Museum tions of the works of art, the role of 27 April – 30 September 2001 29 September 2002 • Traditional costumes from Jordan o f A r t • Fascination Orient, Max von Oppen- calligraphy, the use of figurative dec- • ’Through Afghanistan on the Royal En- and Palestine: the private collection King Street 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82n d S t r e e t heim, scientist, collector and diplomat. oration, and the meaning of abstract field – Photos by Jeroen Nooter’. On his of Widad Kawar. • 16 October 2001 – Islamic Art New York, New York 10028 Jubilee exhibition celebrating the d e s i g n s . way from India to the Netherlands on Tel: +212 535-7710 1 0 0t h anniversary of the museum. a 40-year-old Royal Enfield motorcycle, November and December 2001 South Kensington C o n t i n u i n g Jeroen Nooter finds himself in Pakistan • Centenary of the late Turkish-Jordan- • 19 October 2001 – Islamic and Indian 11 September – 30 December 2001 Museum fur Islamische • ’Luxury Arts of the Silk Route Empires’: and is faced with the decision of ian artist Fahrelnissa Zeit (1901-2001). Costume and Textiles • Along the Nile: Photographs of Egypt In these two galleries connecting the whether to follow a dangerous route Fliesen und Keramik 1850-1870. This installation of approx- W e s t e r h o f - K l i n i k Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. through Pakistan or to continue M A L A Y S I A S o t h e b y ’ s imately forty-five 19th-century pho- Olaf-Gulbranson strasse 19 Sackler Gallery, examples of metal- straight ahead through unpredictable L o n d o n tographs of Egypt will include some of 83684 Tegernsee work and ceramics from the collec- Afghanistan. Once in Afghanistan he E x h i b i t i o n s U R L : w w w . s o t h e b y s . c o m the earliest camera images of Egypt’s Tel: + 49 8022 1810 tions of each museum illustrate the finds the local population extremely dramatic landscapes, exotic inhabi- effect of multicultural interaction on curious and friendly. That very Islamic Art Museum • 18 October 2001 – Islamic and Orien- tants, and imposing monuments. the arts of the first millennium A.D. evening, in the restaurant where he C o n t i n u i n g Pusat Islam Malaysia tal Art • Dr Theodor Sehmer collected, since Ornaments, bowls, cups, bottles, jars, will also sleep amongst 50 Afghans, Jalan Perdana 2 October – 13 January 2002 the 1950s, Islamic Ceramic, in partic- mirrors, ewers, and ritual objects in the many people who want talk to him 50480 Kuala Lumpur UNITED STATES • Glass of the Sultans. On display will ular tiles from Turkey, Iran and Iraq. gold, silver or silver and gilt, earthen- are dispersed by the Taliban. Tel: +60 3 2274 2020 be a selection of approximately 150 Some 300 pieces of this very interest- ware, or porcelain from Iran, China, E x h i b i t i o n s of the most spectacular glass objects ing collection dating from the 10t h – Turkey, Syria, and Afghanistan are in- M u s i c C o n t i n u i n g from the Islamic period, ranging 1 9t h century are to be admired at the cluded in this exhibition. • Collections of local and international Harvard University Art from products inspired by the late W e s t e r h o f - K l i n i k . RasaNetwerk Non-Western Islamic art objects. The museum M u s e u m s antique tradition in the 7t h century to M u s i c holds local and international-orient- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 1 9t h-century Persian and Indian Pauwstraat 13a Ifa-Galerie Berlin ed exhibitions at regular intervals. Cambridge, Massachusetts glass. Also included will be European Linienstrasse 139/140 3512 TG Utrecht Tel: + 1 617 495 9400 glass made for the Oriental market or 10115 Berlin Tel: + 31 30 2330123 R U S S I A U R L : w w w . a r t m u s e u m s . h a r v a r d . e d u directly inspired by Islamic glass, dat- The Agenda is produced by Tel: + 49 30 226 796 16 Fax: + 31 30 2330122 ing from the 13t h to the 20t h c e n t u r y , Fax: +49 30 226 796 18 t h e Centre of Islamic Culture in E - m a i l : r a s a @ r a s a . n l E x h i b i t i o n s 7 July – 30 December 2001 as well as a selection of high-quality U R L : w w w . i f a . d e U R L : w w w . r a s a . n l • The Sensuous and the Sublime: Rep- glass found at archaeological sites. Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The State Hermitage Mu- resentations of Love in the Arts of the Please send all information 17 August – 14 October 2001 Throughout 2001 s e u m Middle East and Southern Asia. This with regard to activities • Music from Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, • Beautiful Strangers: Art from Albania St Petersburg exhibition presents many facets of The Arthur M. Sackler and Morocco. Concerts are organized Tel: +812 110 9079 / 96 25 love, sacred and profane, as ex- Gallery and Freer Gallery related to culture and art in Ifa-Galerie Stuttgart in a number of cities in the Nether- Fax: +812 312 1550 pressed in the artwork of Iran, India, of Art the Islamic World to: Charlottenplatz 17 lands and Belgium. Programme to U R L : w w w . h e r m i t a g e . r u Tibet and Nepal, produced from the Smithsonian Institution 70173 Stuttgart The Centre of Islamic Culture b e obtained from Rasa. 1 3t h to 19t h c e n t u r i e s . Washington D.C. 20560 Tel: +49 711 2225 173 C o n t i n u i n g Tel: +1 202 357 4880 and Art, Fax: +49 711 2225 194 F R A N C E • Art of the Near East is represented in U R L : w w w . a s i a . s i . e d u / e x h i b i t i o n s P.O. Box 361, U R L : w w w . i f a . d e the museum by an excellent collec- Costick Center 3 0 0 0 AJ Rotterdam, E x h i b i t i o n s tion covering the 7t h to 19t h c e n t u r i e s Farmington Hills 16 December 2001 – 5 May 2002 30 November 2001 – which includes several exquisite mas- Michigan, USA • Paradise Unspoiled: Paintings and T h eN e t h e r l a n d s 13 January 2002 Institut du Monde Arabe t e r p i e c e s . Drawings from Iran and India. From Fax: +31 10 270 7182 • So Near and yet so Far Away: 1, Rue des Fosses St. Bernard 20 – 29 September 2001 the late 15t h century, artists in Iran New Palestinian Art. E-mail: sikc@wereldmuseum. 75236 Paris • Annual Heritage Festival: exhibition of and later in India created indepen- Tel: +33 1 40 51 39 60/ 33 1 0 20 miniatures of Dr Hashim Al-Tawil. dent drawings and paintings that no r o t t e r d a m . n l U R L : w w w . i m a r a b . o r g longer corresponded to a specific I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 Info Pages 39 Academic Meetings

Upcoming Conferences, 24th Annual Third World Al-Ghazali’s Legacy: Its Arab Voices in the Conservation and Anthropology in Lecture Series and Studies Conference: Contemporary Relevance D i a s p o r a Regeneration of t h e Middle East: Public Events ‘Globalization vs D a t e: 24-27 October 2001 D a t e: 17-18 November 2001 Traditional Urban Centers G e n d e r e d P e r s p e c t i v e s R e g i o n a l i s m ’ V e n u e: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia V e n u e: Center for Mediterranean in the Middle East Date: 30 November – 2 December 2001 Traditions of Learning and D a t e: 4-6 October 2001 Sponsored by: International Institute Studies, Department of Arabic and ‘Learning from Regional V e n u e: Berlin, Germany Networks of Knowledge V e n u e: Omaha, Nebraska of Islamic Thought and C i v i l i z a t i o n Middle Eastern Studies, University Experiences & Building C o n t a c t: Anja Peleikis The Indian Ocean: Sponsored by: University of Nebraska ( I S T A C ) of Leeds P a r t n e r s h i p s ’ Centre for Modern Oriental Studies Transregional creation of at Omaha and the University of C o n t a c t: The Secretariat of Al-Ghazali C o n t a c t: Rhiannon Daniels D a t e: 24-30 November 2001 Kirchweg 33 societies and cultures Nebraska Medical Centre Conference, ISTAC Centre for Mediterranean Studies V e n u e: Amman 14129 Berlin, Germany Date: 29-30 September 2001 C o n t a c t: Stephanie Cannon, Third 205A Jalan Damansara Michael Sadler Building, University Sponsored by: Jordan University of T e l : +49 30 803 070 / 803 072 31 V e n u e: Oxford World Studies Conference 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia of Leeds Science and Technology (JUST), F a x: +49 30 803 072 10 C o n t a c t: Gina Burrows C o o r d i n a t o r T e l : +603 254 4444, ext. 243 Leeds LS2 9JT, UK The Council for British Research in E - m a i l: [email protected] Institute of Social and Cultural University of Nebraska at Omaha F a x: +603 254 8343 T e l : +44 113 233 3569 the Levant (CBRL), Darat al Funun Anthropology (ISCA) International Studies and E - m a i l: [email protected] F a x: +44 113 233 3568 of The Abdul Hamid Shoman 3r d Mediterranean Social University of Oxford, UK Programs, ASH 241 U R L: www.ghazaliconf.com E - m a i l: [email protected] F o u n d a t i o n and Political Research T e l : +44 1865 274 687 Omaha, Nebraska 68102-0536, USA C o n t a c t: Rami Farouk Daher M e e t i n g F a x: +44 1865 274 630 T e l : 402 554-2293 Fifth Nordic Congress of 3 5t h Middle East Studies P.O. Box 402 D a t e: 24-25 March 2002 E - m a i l: [email protected] F a x: 402 554-2949 Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA) Amman 11118, Jordan V e n u e: Florence, Italy E - m a i l: [email protected] The Middle East: D a t e: 17-20 November 2001 E - m a i l: [email protected] F a x: +39 055 468 5770 Atelier Villes Marocaines: U R L: www.unomaha.edu/~twsc Interpreting the Past V e n u e: San Francisco t u r a t h @ j o i n n e t . c o m . j o E - m a i l: [email protected] Recherches urbaines et D a t e: 25-28 October 2001 C o n t a c t: MESA U R L: www.iue.it/RSC/MED/meeting processus de Le prospetive Europe di V e n u e: Lund University of Arizona 6t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l 2 0 0 2 - c a l l W S . h t m p a t r i m o n i a l i s a t i o n apertura all’Europa C o n t a c t: Nordic Society for Middle 1643 East Helen Street Metropolis Conference D a t e: 2-6 October 2001 orientale e ai paesi del Eastern Studies Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA D a t e: 26-30 November 2001 Cultural Change and C o n t a c t: Abderrahim Kassou or M e d i t e r r a n e o Centre for Middle Eastern Studies T e l : +1 520 621 5850 V e n u e: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Transformation in the Pascal Garret D a t e: 11-13 October 2001 University of Bergen F a x: +1 520 626 9095 C o n t a c t: Metropolis 2001 Secretariat Indian Ocean World Centre Jacques Berque pour les V e n u e: Ravenna, Italy 5020 Bergen, Norway E - m a i l: [email protected] c/o MPI D a t e: 5-6 April 2002 études en sciences humaines et C o n t a c t: Prof. Gustavo Gozzi F a x: +47 555 898 91 U R L: www.mesa.arizona.edu ‘s-Lands Werf 20-21 V e n u e: UCLA, Los Angeles, USA s o c i a l e s University of Bologna, E - m a i l: [email protected] 3063 GA Rotterdam C o n t a c t: Edward A. Alpers 1, rue Annaba Dipartimento di Politica U R L: www.hf.uib.no/smi/nsm/ Annual Meeting American The Netherlands Department of History UCLA 10 000 Rabat, Morocco Instituzioni Storia n o r d c o n f . h t m l Academy of Religion (AAR) T e l : +31 10 414 9779 Los Angeles, CA 90095 1473, USA T e l : +212 37 769640 / 769641 Strada Maggiori 45, Bologna, Italy w w w . h i s t . l u . s e / h i s t / m i d d l e e a s t / D a t e: 17-20 November 2001 F a x: +31 10 413 5022 T e l : +1 310 825 2347 F a x: +212 37 768939 T e l : +39 51 2092500 m i d d l e _ e a s t . h t m V e n u e: Denver, Colorado E - m a i l: [email protected] F a x: +1 310 206 9630 E - m a i l: [email protected] E - m a i l: [email protected] C o n t a ct: AAR U R L: E - m a i l: [email protected] U R L: www.ambafrance- 3 0t h Annual Conference 825 Houston Mill Rd. NE w w w . i n t e r n a t i o n a l . m e t r o p o l i s . n e t m a . o r g / c j b / a v m / s e d . h t m l Cinema, Media and the Middle East – o f the Association of Atlanta, GA 30329-4246, USA 1s t World Congress for the Maghreb Muslim Social Scientists T e l : +1 404 727 3049 SeSaMo Conference 2001: Middle Eastern Studies D a t e: 24-25 October 2001 Annual Conference: F a x: +1 404 727 7959 Migrations: people, ideas, D a t e: 11-14 September 2002 V e n u e: University of Mainz Religion and Public Life E - m a i l: [email protected] technologies and V e n u e: Centre for Research on the Hosted by: Anton Escher and Thomas i n the Global Epoch U R L: http://www.aarweb.org t e r r i t o r i e s Arab World (CERAW) K o e b n e r D a t e: 26-28 October 2001 Date: 29 November – 1 December 2001 C o n t a c t: Prof. Günter Meyer C o n t a c t: Stefan Zimmerman V e n u e: Dearborn, Michigan V e n u e: Napoli, Italy Centre for Research on the Arab Centre for Research on the Arab Sponsored by: Muslims in the C o n t a c t: Segretaria de SeSaMo World (CERAW) World (CERAW) American Public Square Project c/o Dip. Di studio sullo Stato Institute of Geography Institute of Geography, University (MAPS) and the University of Via Laura, 48 University of Mainz of Mainz M i c h i g a n - D e a r b o r n 50121 Firenze, Italy 55099 Mainz, Germany 55099 Mainz, Germany C o n t a c t: Layla Sein, AMSS T e l : +39 55 2757 073 T e l : +49 61 31 392 2701 T e l : +49 6131 3924494 P.O. Box 669 F a x: +39 55 2345 486 F a x: +49 61 31 392 4736 F a x : +49 6131 3924736 Herndon, VA 20172, USA E - m a i l: [email protected] E - m a i l: [email protected] E - m a i l : T e l : +1 703 471 1133, ext. 120 U R L: http://www.geo.uni-mainz.de/ S . Z i m m e r m a n n @ g e o . u n i - m a i n z . d e F a x: +1 703 471 3922 d a v o E - m a i l: [email protected] U R L: www.amss.net

A D V E R T I S E M E N T 4 0 I S I M NEWSLETTER 8 / 0 1 C o n t e n t s

Amir Hassanpour GENERAL ISSUES Tair Faradov Homeland and Hostland: Religiosity in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: Iranian Press in Canada A Sociological Survey 1 Anh Nga Longva 2 8 Apostasy and the Liberal Predicament I S I M 1 4 Ali Ç a r kog ˘ l u The International Institute for Religion and Public Policy in Turkey t h e Study of Islam in the Modern M E D I A 2 9 World (ISIM) promotes and conducts E d i t o r i a l interdisciplinary research on Beth Kangas by Dick Douwes contemporary social and intellectual 2 Najib Ghadbian Informing Terminally ill Patients in Yemen trends and movements in Muslim Al-Jazeera’s Coverage of Syrian Politics 3 0 societies and communities. ISIM Announcements 1 5 Penelope Larzilliere 2 The Intifadas and the Palestinian Youth T. Deniz Erkmen 3 1 Research Programme: Construction of Satanism in Turkish ISIM Events ‘The Production of Islamic Secularist and Islamist Newspapers Ana Oprisan and George Grigore Knowledge in Western Europe’ 1 6 The Muslim Gypsies in Romania Summer Academy: 3 3 2 The Production of Islamic Knowledge Matthias Brückner In cooperation with the Working Group Modernity Conference Announcement: IslamiCity: Creating an Islamic Cybersociety Johan Meuleman and Islam ‘Religion, Media and 1 7 Headscarves, Homosexuals, and Imams Date: 3-14 September 2001 the Public Sphere’ i n the Netherlands Venue: YILDIZ Technical University Istanbul, Turkey 4 HISTORICAL APPROACHES 3 3 Lecture Series: The Production Workshop Announcement: Scott Darrel Morrison o f Islamic Knowledge in Western ‘Islam, Women’s Rights and Muslim Life in Sao Paulo Europe: The State of the Art Charles Hirschkind I s l a m i c F e m i n i s m ’ 3 4 Tradition, Myth, and Historical Fact 4 • Fatwas for Europe: A Survey of Studies and i n Contemporary Islam R E S E A R C H S o u r c e-M a t e r i a l s 1 8 Workshop Report: ‘Family, State, and Sjoerd van Koningsveld (Leiden University, Civil Society in Islamic Communities’ F a c u l t y of Theology) Ussama Makdisi 5 Agnes Devictor D a t e: 3 October 2001 Understanding Sectarianism Contemporary Artistic Creation V e n u e: Utrecht 1 9 Seminar Report: in Societies of Islam • What Do We Really Know about Muslims in Europe? ‘Muslim Communities, Globalization, 3 5 Islamic Voices and Academic Ears INTELLECTUAL DEBATES and Identities in Africa’ Stefano Allievi (University of Padova, Faculty of 5 MISCELLANEOUS Sciences of Communication) D a t e: 24 October 2001 Books: ‘Islamic Literature in Tanzania Armando Salvatore V e n u e: Utrecht ’Public Islam’ and the Nation-State in Egypt and Kenya’ Mareike Jule Winkelmann • Connecting Islamic Knowledge: How German 2 0 6 The Construction of Female Identity Muslims Produce for German Schools i n Muslim Modernity Gerdien Jonker (Philipps University, Marburg, Forough Jahanbakhsh F E A T U R E S 4 Faculty of Social Science and Philosophy) Abdolkarim Soroush: D a t e: 14 November 2001 New ‘Revival of Religious Sciences’ Ekkehard Rudolph V e n u e: Utrecht 2 1 Sophie Bava Muslim Minorities and European Identities The Mouride Dahira between Marseille 3 6 Workshop: The Application of a n dT o u b a Amr Hamzawy I s l a m i c Law in Muslim Courts al-Manar al-Jadid: Changes in 7 Armando Salvatore In conjunction with Cornell University t h e Contemporary Islamist Discourse D a t e: 26-28 October 2001 Yearbook of the Sociology of Islam 2 2 Gerdien Jonker 3 6 V e n u e: Leiden Connecting Muslim Knowledge to REGIONAL ISSUES Seminar Series: Key Texts in t h e German School System Amyn B. Sajoo t h e Anthropology of Islamic Law 8 Revisiting the Muslim Public Sphere D a t e: 2 November – 7 December 2001 (Fridays) 3 7 Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi Peter Gottschalk V e n u e: Leiden The Problem of Defining Islam in Arampur Alevis in Germany: INFO PA GES On the Way to Public Recognition? 2 3 Workshop: Islam, Women’s Rights 9 and Islamic Feminism: Francis Robinson M a k i n g Connections between Art and Culture Agenda The cUlama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Different Perspectives ART & LITERATURE 3 8 C u l t u r e D a t e : 9-11 November 2001 2 4 Academic Meetings ISIM Annual Lecture Mohamed Abusabib 3 9 Piety and Persuasion in the Modern Islamic World Political Islam and the Arts: Rehana Ghadially Women Pilgrims: Boons and Bonds by Barbara Metcalf (University of California, Berkeley) The Sudanese Experience ISIM Events i n a n Ismaili Sect D a t e : 23 November 2001, 16.00 1 0 4 0 2 5 V e n u e : Agnietenkapel, Amsterdam Christèle Dedebant Conference: Religion, Media ’Mughal Mania’ under Zia ul-Haq Abdel Wedoud Ould Cheikh & t h e Public Sphere 1 1 Brotherhoods and Gender Relations i n M a u r i t a n i a Organized with the Research Centre Religion & Society, University of Amsterdam Reina Lewis 2 6 D a t e: 6-8 December 2001 Cross-cultural Dressing in the Late Ottoman V e n u e: University of Amsterdam E m p i r e Mohammed Hamdouni Alami 1 2 The Fiction of Architectural Identity i n Contemporary Morocco For more information on these and other ISIM Events: ISIM Secretariat Pervaiz Nazir 2 7 Tel: +31 71 5277905 Modernity, Re-Islamization and Waris Shah’s Fax: +31 71 5277906 H e e r E-mail: i s i m @ l e t . l e i d e n u n i v . n l 1 3 Url: h t t p : / / w w w .i s i m . n l / i s i m / a c t i v i t i e s