Muslim Minorities

Hip-Hop Hybridity for a Glocalized World: African and Muslim Diasporic Discourses in French Rap Music

by David Drissel

Waking up Muslim on 9/11 by Jameelah Medina

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

I have often stated that I went to sleep as an African American woman on September 10, 2011 and woke up Muslim on... more I have often stated that I went to sleep as an African American woman on September 10, 2011 and woke up Muslim on 9/11. It may seem odd to say this since I am a third-generation Muslim; however, my reason for doing so is that my life as an American Muslim now has two main eras: 1) pre-9/11 and 2) post-9/11.

In the pre-9/11 era of my life, I felt more black than Muslim because my color was a point of conflict and controversy throughout my life. I grew up in two areas as a child—an urban area with majority Latinos/as and then in a very rural area with majority whites. In both areas, being black was not so popular. I was called “mayate,”which is a bug but also the Mexican term for “nigger.” I was also called, “tar baby,” “nigger,” “African booty scratcher,” and a host of other hurtful names as a young black child.

Islamophobia in the British Tabloids

by Nadeem Fayaz

This essay attempts to contribute to the extensive amount of research on the representation of Muslims in the media.... more This essay attempts to contribute to the extensive amount of research on the representation of Muslims in the media. This paper, however, focuses more specifically on the representation of Muslims in British tabloid newspapers. Edward Said’s notion of Orientalism is the foundation from which this essay is built around with the intention of showing how Orientalist commentary finds its way into the tabloid newspaper representations of Muslims. This paper finds evidence of a growing trend of stories that target Muslims in articles about immigration thereby positioning British Muslims as a particular problem section of the population. ‘British values’ are consistently pitted against ‘Muslim values’ in these articles in the classic Orientalist standpoint that creates a false binary of the two supposedly homogenous values. In the analysis of these texts, John E. Richardson’s ‘ideological square’ is applied in order to show the positive ‘self’ presentations alongside the negative ‘other’ presentations. The tendency to portray domestic violence when involving Muslim men as a conflict of culture is also drawn upon. The essay also points to the tendency to portray Muslims as a homogeneous mass and often with unrepresentative individuals who fit into the ‘fanatical’ stereotype made ready for them. This is coupled with the marginalization of more ‘moderate’ Muslim voices thereby portraying a particular image of Islam and Muslims.

Belonging and Banishment: Being Muslim in Canada (Book Review)

by Alan Wong

Wong, Alan. “Belonging and Banishment: Being Muslim in Canada: A Book Review.” Global Media. 2.2 (2009): 121-123. Web.

Belonging and Banishment: Being Muslim in Canada
Edited by Natasha Bakht
Toronto: TSAR Publications, 2008.... more Belonging and Banishment: Being Muslim in Canada
Edited by Natasha Bakht
Toronto: TSAR Publications, 2008. 147 pp.
ISBN: 9781894770484.

The Disquieting Revolution: A Genealogy of Reason and Racism in the Québec Press

by Alan Wong

Wong, Alan. “The Disquieting Revolution: A Genealogy of Reason and Racism in the Québec Press”. Global Media. 4.1 (2011): 145-162. Web.

Within the past decade, a series of contentious events concerning the accommodation of different cultural and... more Within the past decade, a series of contentious events concerning the accommodation of different cultural and religious traditions and practices in Quebec has incited much debate in this region. Labelled the “reasonable accommodation” issue by the local press, this controversy, which has its roots in neo-nationalist sentiments born of the Quiet Revolution, has incited responses ranging from denunciations of racist discrimination to calls for more stringent measures to ensure the assimilation of non-Westerners into Québécois culture. As Monika Kin Gagnon points out, this concept has moved beyond its legal origins to become a “social discourse” in the culture at-large, in that many in Quebec are vocally expressing their anxieties over the idea that the rights of newcomers has reached a tipping point, whereby the limits of reason are now over-stretched, weakening the dominant population’s values and identity. Much of this fear was stoked by certain stakeholders in the 2007 Quebec election, namely politicians and media outlets, when reasonable accommodation was highlighted as a major issue. This paper provides an analysis of that election and the campaigns leading into it, revealing how the press and the leaders of the three major political parties were complicit in transforming some negligible and private incidents into a greater menace endangering the very existence of Quebec society. By tracing the genealogy of “the reasonable Québécois”, I will demonstrate how reason and racism became intertwined during the course of this debate over rights, identity, and citizenship in Quebec.

Keywords: Election; Immigrants; News Media; Québec; Racism; Reasonable Accommodation; Religion

R. Michael Feener, Terenjit Sevea (Hgg.): Islamic connections: Muslim societies in South and Southeast Asia

by Raphael Susewind

ASIEN / The German Journal on Contemporary Asia 117, 94-96, 2010

"Opfer" und "Aktivistin": Zwei Muslima aus Gujarat ringen mit der Ambivalenz des Sakralen

by Raphael Susewind

Internationales Asienforum, 42(3-4), 299-317, 2011

Recourse to religion can escalate as well as de-escalate intergroup conflict – so far the emerging academic consensus.... more Recourse to religion can escalate as well as de-escalate intergroup conflict – so far the emerging academic consensus. But the "ambivalence of the sacred" (Appleby 2000) concerns not only violent or non-violent movements or ideologies, it is also experienced on the micro-level of religious identities and individual agency. This article demonstrates at the example of two female Muslim peace activists' biographical narratives and psychometric profiles how the ambivalence and ambiguity of religion towards violent conflict unfolds as a decisively personal dynamic. Both women struggle with and fight for religion in Gujarat, India – and both experience their own Muslimness as ambivalent and ambiguous. Their narratives further emphasize the relevance of explorative empirical methods on the personal micro-level for an adequate understanding of religio-political conflict.

The Muslim Other in Slovenia. Intersections of a Religious and Ethnic Minority

by Veronika Bajt

The chapter “The Muslim Other in Slovenia. Intersections of a Religious and Ethnic Minority” was published in: Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska (ed.) Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe: Widening the European Discourse on Islam. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, pp. 307–326, 2011.

Should environmental issues be securitised?

by Owais Rajput

Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history... more Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history have largely been military in nature. Security was primarily made up of the physical defence of the country, its people and whatever they possessed. Profound factors outside the traditional area of military operations have been realised that could affect the securities of many countries.
It is within this background that environmental issues have raised to importance, and the term ‘Environmental Security’ has entered the language of environmentalists, policy makers and security planners. With the ending of the cold war, the usual concepts of the nature of national security and the methods to achieve it have changed. The global powers at the time were engaged in military containment of each other, as in the case of America and the Soviet Union containment of each other.

THE CENTRE FOR MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

by Owais Rajput

Can A Gang Culture Ever Be Justified In A Culture Of Peace?

by Owais Rajput

Presentation slides International Peace Day Bradford 24.09.2011

In this presentation I tried to highligh the issues of HARD TO REACH COMMUNITIES living in UK e.g. 4th and 5th... more In this presentation I tried to highligh the issues of HARD TO REACH COMMUNITIES living in UK e.g. 4th and 5th generation born and bred in UK of British Muslims from Kashmiri heritage.

Poland

by Agata S. Nalborczyk

co-authored with Stanisław Grodź, published in: "Yearbook of Muslims in Europe," vol. 3, 2011, J. S. Nielsen, S. Akgönül, A. Alibašić, H. Goddard, B. Maréchal (eds) (Leiden: Brill),  pp. 433-445.

Islam w Europie Wschodniej – historia i dzień. dzisiejszy. Polska, Litwa, Białoruś, Łotwa, Estonia, obwód kaliningradzki [Islam in Eastern Europe – the history and the present]

by Agata S. Nalborczyk

Published in: „Disputatio” X, 2010, pp. 73-95.

Eastern Europe is a very interesting region in terms of the presence of Muslims. They have been living there for more... more Eastern Europe is a very interesting region in terms of the presence of Muslims. They have been living there for more than 600 years.

This mere fact escapes the attention of many researchers and experts in Islam, including European Islam, and above all it escapes the attention of the journalists from Western Europe. Usually, they write about Islam as a new phenomenon for the European societies and underline its alien character, and a difficulty (or impossibility) of integration of Muslims with European societies arising from that. Or, even a difficulty (or impossibility) of becoming loyal citizens of European states. Meanwhile, Muslims in Eastern Europe are integrated with the wide society, they speak the local language well and they feel they belong to the society. In history they gave proofs of their commitment to their new homelands.

These are mainly Polish-Lithuanian Muslims whose ancestors had been settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 14th century in exchange for military service. At present they mainly live within the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, i.e. in the former territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In effect of Russian, later Soviet, domination in Eastern Europe these Muslims can also be found at present in Latvia, Estonia and in the Kaliningrad District. The latter, prior to 1945, belonged to the German East Prussia. Many of them are Tatars but Azeris and Muslims from the Central Asia also form a significant group. The ethnic component of Muslim communities in Eastern Europe is, then, completely different from what is known in Western Europe. The Eastern European Muslims have been included into the sphere of the European culture for ages.

Eastern European states, because of the tradition of Muslim presence within their borders, the tradition of multifaith and multiethnic society, have at their disposal developed legal instruments to form their relationship with Islam, or with non-Christian religions broadly speaking. In most of these states, excluding Belarus, Islam, as an officially recognized religion, enjoys similar privileges as other registered religions. Mosques, often of historical value, are active; there are Muslim cemeteries; there is a possibility of giving the children Muslim religious instruction, quite often in public schools; ritual slaughter is permitted. All these elements mean that essential conditions for leading religious life are present. Something that is often hardly attainable for Muslims in the West, e.g. in France or in Germany.

The article presents the history of the presence of Muslims in Eastern Europe, their present numbers, and legal and religious situation of Muslim minorities in separate states.

Hard to Reach Communities: Living in the UK, and Issues Facing British Muslims of Kashmiri Heritage Born & Bred in the UK

by Owais Rajput

In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local... more In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local community with Kashmiri heritage, as most of the time they are labelled in the media as “Home Grown Radicalised” Muslims, even if they are the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in UK.

I will also focus on Processes to Radicalisation in UK, in local communities, again particularly in the Kashmiri community.

I will also focus on design and delivery processes so far used by authorities in de-radicalisation processes and the results so far, and why we need to change those design and delivery processes, especially when we focus on the British Diaspora with Kashmiri heritage, the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in the UK.

Muslim society in Tamil Nadu (India): an historical perspective

by Frank Fanselow

Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 10, (1), 1989, pp. 264-289.

Propriedade e direito entre os muçulmanos de Portugal: dos bens comuns à gestão do património do Rei

by Maria Barros

Sharq al-Andalus 19 (2008-2010), pp. 121-135

Islamic law constitutes part of Portuguese Muslims’ identity, since the formative period to the end of the 15Th... more
Islamic law constitutes part of Portuguese Muslims’ identity, since the formative period to the end of the 15Th century.  The Lisbon’s Muslim jurists respond to successive appeals from the Crown, contributing as far as their own fiscal and tax subordination to the definition of succession rights. In any case the King became the main beneficiary of such legal production. This manipulation, the most visible feature in the written sources, proves nevertheless the persistent mastering of this legal universe and of its mudéjar experts, that will necessarily have its meaning in the daily life of the Muslim communities. Property reflects this feature. The dominance of collective goods, one of the sunna principles, projects itself in the ḥubs properties and in the collective goods (al-Muslimīn), acknowledged till the 15th century. Moreover, the actual management of the King’s properties in the Muslim quarter of Lisbon, in the end of the same century, was in the hands of a Muslim authority, the judge of the King’s rights, contradicting the canonical and the territorial law that prohibited the infidels to exercise power over Christians.

Ein unbekannter turkologischer Brief

by Marek Stachowski

Muslims and the nation-building in Russia: The Soviet vs. the post-Soviet period

by Yuri Teper

In this paper, I would like to suggest an additional perspective on the formation of the Russian national identity -... more In this paper, I would like to suggest an additional perspective on the formation of the Russian national identity - Russia's relations with its Muslims. We will see how the lack of functioning democratic institutions, in both the periods, affects the formation of the popular national identities, which eventually force themselves upon the system.
Over the last decade it has gained in significance, and as I will demonstrate, is becoming acute for the construction of Russia's post-Soviet national identity and its nation-building process. According to my assessment, in recent years we are witnessing a grass-root estrangement of Muslims of the Caucasian and Central Asian origin by the Russian society. At the same time, Muslim peoples who originated in Russia's heartland remain a part of the national collective. This, in my opinion, drops a hint on the beginning of the nation consolidation process based on culture rather than ethnic or religious affiliation.

The Making of a Modern Diaspora: The Resettlement Process of the Somali Bantu in the United States

by Mohamed Eno

Co-authored with Omar A. Eno; In Toyin Falola & Niyi Afolabi (Eds.) African Minorities in the New World. Madison, New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group (2008)

Muslims In Birmingham, UK

by Tahir Abbas

This background study was commissioned by COMPAS as part of the ‘Muslims and Community Cohesion in Britain’ project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

This paper explores the economic, political, social, and cultural positions of the Muslim population of Birmingham,... more This paper explores the economic, political, social, and cultural positions of the Muslim population of Birmingham, UK. The analysis is largely based on secondary official data in an attempt to characterise the socio-demographic features of the Muslim profile in Birmingham. The paper aims to present a helpful and up-to-date contextualisation in relation to the group of interest. First, there is an analysis of the processes of migration and settlement to the city from former New Commonwealth countries
and new migrants from Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Second, there is an examination of the economic context of ethnic minorities and Muslims in the city, exploring the demographic profile and charting the experiences in education, the labour market, health, and housing. Third, there is a
descriptive analysis of important media events in 2005, which were important for Muslims in the city but also for others in the area. Finally, the conclusions summarise salient concerns relating to debates about what it is to be Muslim, British and a minority in the current context. These refer to both the
structural and material realities of deprivation, but also concerns about cultural and religious discrimination.