ISIM Newsletter 14, June 2004 ISIM, Citation ISIM,. (2004). ISIM Newsletter 14, June 2004. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/10074 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) License: Leiden University Non-exclusive license Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/10074 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). ISIM-Newsletter-14-WEB-DEF 29-06-2004 11:06 Pagina 1 JUNE 2004 60 PAGES [email protected] WWW.ISIM.NL 14 Screening of The Passion of the Christ, “We should be wary whenever we see cultures … which Tehran, May 2004 invest so heavily in images of victimization. Such images— © AFP, 2004 regardless of their veracity or applicability—are essential for legitimising violence….” Elliot Colla, A Culture of Righteousness and Martyrdom, p.6 12 26 30 50 Charles Tripp Maha Abdelrahman Shirin Ebadi Donal B. Cruise O’Brien Iraq as Lebanon The Leftists & Islamists Human Rights, Women & Islam African Muslims & the Secular State ISIM-Newsletter-14-WEB-DEF 29-06-2004 11:06 Pagina 2 Ads N O W AV A I L A B L E FR O M ID C P U B L I S H E R S The Creation of Modern Saudi Arabia India Office Political and Secret Files , c. 1914-1939 Editor: Penelope Tuson, Former Curator of Middle East Archives, Oriental & India Office Collections (OIOC, now part of the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections), British Library The archives of the Political and Secret Department of the India Office are an outstanding source for the history of the Saudi state, and this is the first time they have been made completely available in one major series. The material in this collection consists of confidential printed reports, maps, memoranda, and handbooks, together with Political and Secret Department policy files describing the wider context of international relations, as well as the practical details of an expanding political administration and social and economic infrastructure. Organization of the print For the present publication, the material has been arranged in eight subject groups, each in a roughly geographical sequence. BIS-1 Gazetteers and handbooks BIS-2 Arabian politics and the First World War BIS-3 Arabia after the War: territorial consolidation; the conquest of the Hijaz BIS-4 Regional relations and boundaries: Kuwait, Iraq, and Transjordan, 1920-1932 BIS-5 Regional relations and boundaries: Asir, Yemen, and the Red Sea, 1919-1934 BIS-6 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: government and infrastructure BIS-7 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: international relations BIS-8 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: oil, boundaries, and regional relations Approx. 37,800 frames 778 microfiche Including printed and online (www.idc.nl) guide with introduction and index by P. Tuson For more information please contact any of the following addresses For American customers only IDC Publishers 2301 EE Leiden Phone +31 (0)71 514 27 00 Internet www.idc.nl IDC Publishers Inc. 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1801 Toll free 800 757 7441 Phone 212 271 5945 P.O. Box 11205 The Netherlands Fax +31 (0)71 513 17 21 E-mail [email protected] Empire State Building New York, NY 10118 Fax 212 271 5930 E-mail [email protected] 2 ISIM NEWSLETTER 14 / JUNE 2004 ISIM-Newsletter-14-WEB-DEF 29-06-2004 11:06 Pagina 3 Contents ISIM 14 Editorial 15 The Art of Presence / Asef Bayat MARTYRDOM 16 A Culture of Righteousness and Martyrdom / Elliot Colla 18 Suicide Attacks: Life as a Weapon / Riaz Hassan 10 Martyrdom and Resistance in the Middle East / Sabine Damir-Geilsdorf ISIM Newsletter 14 June 2004 POLITICS 60 Pages 11 Terrorism in Europe / Farhad Khosrokhavar Circulation 8000 12 Iraq as Lebanon: Fears for the Future / Charles Tripp ISSN 1 388-9788 13 Memories of Havana in Desert Refugee Camps / Nicolien Zuijdgeest Editorial Office Visiting Address MULTICULTURE & INTEGRATION Rapenburg 71 14 Multiculturalism through Spirit Possession / Kjersti Larsen Leiden 16 American Muslims: Race, Religion and the Nation / Karen Isaksen Leonard Postal Address ISIM 18 Integration and Islamic Education in South Africa / Samadia Sadouni P.O. Box 11089 2301 EB Leiden The Netherlands IDENTITY & CULTURE Telephone 20 Islamic Knowledge in Ukraine / Alexander Bogomolov +31 (0)71 527 7905 22 Religion in Post-Communist Albania / Ina Merdjanova Fax +31 (0)71 527 7906 24 History and Identity among the Hemshin / Hovann H. Simonian E-mail [email protected] POLITICAL PARTICIPATION & ACTIVISM Homepage www.isim.nl 26 The Leftists and Islamists in Egypt / Maha Abdelrahman 28 Female Religious Professionals in France / Amel Boubekeur Editor Dick Douwes 30 Human Rights, Women and Islam / Shirin Ebadi Co-Editor 33 Women, Politics and Islam in Kuwait / Helen Rizzo Linda Herrera 34 Conceptualizing Islamic Activism / Quintan Wiktorowizc Copy and language editors Sanaa Makhlouf Jessica Gonzales ARTS, MEDIA & SOCIETY Desk editor Dennis Janssen 36 Art Education in Iran: Women’s Voices / Mehri Honarbin-Holliday Intern 38 The Poet and the Prophet / Abdou Filali-Ansary Najat Ferchachi 40 Culture, Power and Poetry in Shiraz / Setrag Manoukian Design 42 Islam Takes a Hit / Daniel Martin Varisco De Kreeft, Amsterdam 44 Urban Islam: Rethinking the Familiar / Mirjam Shatanawi & Deniz Ünsal Printing Dijkman Offset, Diemen ISLAM, SOCIETY & THE STATE 45 The Headscarf and the “Neutral” Welfare State / Deniz Coskun Coming issue ISIM Newsletter 15 46 Al-Azhar in the Post 9/11 Era / Elena Arigita Deadline 48 Religious Diversity in Post-Soviet Central Asia / Sébastian Peyrouse 1 October 2004 50 African Muslims and the Secular State / Donal B. Cruise O’Brien Published December 2004 51 Islamic Associations and the Middle Class in Jordan / Janine A. Clark The ISIM Newsletter is published by the International Institute for the Study of ISIM INFO PAGES Islam in the Modern World (ISIM). The 52 ISIM at MESA 2004 ISIM Newsletter represents a forum for 53 Millî Görü¸s in Western Europe / Martin van Bruinessen scholarly exchange; we invite original contributions which deal with culture, 54 Saudi Futures / Gerd Nonneman society, politics, gender, religion, arts, 55 Religion and Transformation in West Africa / Hajj Mumuni Sulemana research issues, and current debates 56 Madrasa in Asia / Yoginder Sikand relating to contemporary Muslim societies. Please consult the ISIM web- 57 European Islam and Tariq Ramadan / Alexandre Caeiro site for the style sheet. Responsibility for the facts and opinions expressed in this publication rests solely with the authors. 58 Editors’ Pick Their views do not necessarily reflect 59 Qajar Reinterpreted those of the Institute or its supporters. 60 Photo Commentary The ISIM Newsletter is free of charge. ISIM NEWSLETTER 14 / JUNE 2004 3 ISIM-Newsletter-14-WEB-DEF 29-06-2004 11:06 Pagina 4 Editorial ISIM The popular reception and commercial success of Mel Gibson’s The Pas- The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the sion brought to the fore just how forcefully Christian images and notions Modern World (ISIM) conducts and promotes interdis- of martyrdom and victimization resonate with large segments of the ciplinary research on social, political, cultural, and in- American public. One might expect that at the height of US power and tellectual trends and movements in contemporary Muslim societies and communities. The ISIM was es- military prowess a 1980s era Rambo type character, rather than a sub- DICK DOUWES & tablished in 1998 by the University of Amsterdam, Lei- LINDA HERRERA missive Aramaic speaking Jesus, would be more likely to capture the den University, Utrecht University, and the University public imagination. However, as Elliott Colla elucidates (see p.4), The of Nijmegen in response to a need for further research Passion represents a powerful example of the increasing presence of on contemporary developments of great social, polit- ical, and cultural importance in the Muslim world from Christian evangelical themes in American popular culture; evangelical social sciences and humanities perspectives. The millennial literature is growing at staggering rates. Such images may be ISIM’s research approaches are expressly interdiscipli- playing a role in perpetuating a culture of righteousness and, ultimately, nary and comparative, covering a large geographic a politics of domination and violence, particularly over the Muslim range which includes North Africa, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South and South “other.” East Asia, and Muslim communities in the West. Broad The paradoxical invoking of martyrdom as a justification for violence is in scope, the ISIM brings together all areas of discipli- by no means unique to the US. A similar logic has been developing in the nary expertise in anthropology, sociology, religious Muslim East over the last decades, albeit as the result of markedly differ- studies, political science, and cultural studies. ent power dynamics. The use of self-imposed martyrdom, i.e. suicide, has been one of the tactics used—even if intermittently—by groups in- volved in the struggle for Palestinian national liberation such as Hamas (Damir-Geilsdorf, p.10). The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 added another dimension to the phenomenon Staff ISIM of suicide martyrdom; not only were those attacks unprecedented for the enormity of their Asef Bayat Academic Director scale, but they were not linked to a specific national liberation movement making their ra- Dick Douwes tionale—if one can call it that—far more nebulous. The use of suicide as a strategy in politi- Executive Director cal struggle is neither indigenous to the Middle East, nor an inherent feature of Islam, but Mary Bakker has its roots in radical secular modern movements, an example of which can be found in the Administrative Affairs Nathal Dessing Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka (Hassan, p.8). Martyrdom has also been a central trope in Israeli na- Education & Islam in the Netherlands tional identity and politics where the historic victimization and suffering of the Jews often Kitty Hemmer gets invoked as a justification for policies of subjugation and violence against Palestinians.