A Muslim Mystic Community in Britain
A Muslim Mystic Community in Britain

Author: Tayfun Atay

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 3867417431

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This book is a social anthropological analysis (based on ethnographic fieldwork) of the discourse and social practice of an Islamic-mystic community in London, namely, the branch of Naqshbandi Sufi order led by Sheikh Nazim of Cyprus. The Naqshbandi order is a well-known mystical institution having a widespread historical and contemporary influence on the life of many Muslims all over the world, including the West. The book focuses particularly on the definitions and reflections of the members of this branch upon themselves and the wider modern ('western') society outside their close-knit community. It reveals that the Islamic discourse of the community encompasses a multitude of expressions by which the members' perceptions of their social and spiritual universe are shaped and communicated to a wider audience. And it concludes that a thorough analysis of an Islamic community should pay particular attention to three closely related discursive processes: (a) the reflections of such a community on the wider (modern) society of which it is a part; (b) the ways in which it defines itself as 'Islamic' and contests with other Muslim groups or movements for the representation of the 'correct model' of Islamic tradition; (c) the discourses of conflict and power within such a community. Tayfun Atay holds an MA in Area Studies (Near & Middle East) and a PhD in Social Anthropology from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has done ethnographic fieldworks in London and many parts of Turkey, and published five monographs in Turkish. Currently, he is Professor of Ethnology in the Department of Folklore and Ethnology at the University of Ankara.

Moving In and Out of Islam
Moving In and Out of Islam

Author: Karin van Nieuwkerk

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2018-12-05

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1477317473

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Embracing a new religion, or leaving one’s faith, usually constitutes a significant milestone in a person’s life. While a number of scholars have examined the reasons why people convert to Islam, few have investigated why people leave the faith and what the consequences are for doing so. Taking a holistic approach to conversion and deconversion, Moving In and Out of Islam explores the experiences of people who have come into the faith along with those who have chosen to leave it—including some individuals who have both moved into and out of Islam over the course of their lives. Sixteen empirical case studies trace the processes of moving in or out of Islam in Western and Central Europe, the United States, Canada, and the Middle East. Going beyond fixed notions of conversion or apostasy, the contributors focus on the ambiguity, doubts, and nonlinear trajectories of both moving in and out of Islam. They show how people shifting in either direction have to learn or unlearn habits and change their styles of clothing, dietary restrictions, and ways of interacting with their communities. They also look at how communities react to both converts to the religion and converts out of it, including controversies over the death penalty for apostates. The contributors cover the political aspects of conversion as well, including debates on radicalization in the era of the “war on terror” and the role of moderate Islam in conversions.

Taking Sides
Taking Sides

Author: Heidi Armbruster

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1845457013

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Concerns with research ethics have intensified over recent years, in large part as a symptom of "audit cultures" (M. Strathern) but also as a serious matter of engagement with the ethical complexities in contemporary research fields. This volume, written by a new generation of scholars engaged with contemporary global movements for social justice and peace, reflects their efforts in trying to integrate their scholarly pursuits with their understanding of social science, politics and ethics, and what political commitment means in practice and in fieldwork. This is a book of argument and analysis, written with passion, clarity and intellectual sophistication, which touches on issues of vital significance to social scientists and activists in general.

Breathing Hearts
Breathing Hearts

Author: Nasima Selim

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2024-01-05

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1805392360

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Sufism is known as the mystical dimension of Islam. Breathing Hearts explores this definition to find out what it means to ‘breathe well’ along the Sufi path in the context of anti-Muslim racism. It is the first book-length ethnographic account of Sufi practices and politics in Berlin and describes how Sufi practices are mobilized in healing secular and religious suffering. It tracks the Desire Lines of multi-ethnic immigrants of color, and white German interlocutors to show how Sufi practices complicate the post secular imagination of healing in Germany.

Sufism in Western Contexts
Sufism in Western Contexts

Author: Marcia K. Hermansen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-07-03

Total Pages: 423

ISBN-13: 9004392629

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Sufism in Western Contexts explores both historical trajectories and multiple contemporary manifestations of Islamic mystical movements, ideas, and practices in diverse European, North and South American countries, as well as in Australia – all traditionally non-Muslim regions of the “global West”. From early French and British colonial administrators who admired Persian poetry to nineteenth-century American transcendentalists, followed by South Asian and Middle Eastern immigrant Sufi guides and their movements, expansive and many-faceted expressions of Sufism such as its role in Western esotericism, female whirling dervishes and Rumi cafes, and new articulations in cyberspace, are traced and analyzed by international experts in the field.

Historical Dictionary of Turkey
Historical Dictionary of Turkey

Author: Metin Heper

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-05-23

Total Pages: 872

ISBN-13: 1538102250

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The fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of Turkey covers Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey through a time span of more than six centuries. It presents the basic characteristics of the two periods and traces the developments from an empire to a state-nation, from tradition to modernity, from a sultanate to a republic, and from modest country to a country that is already a regional power and further aspiring becoming a country to be reckoned with. This is done through a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 900 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Turkey.

Islamic Britain
Islamic Britain

Author: Philip Lewis

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2002-03-29

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0755615662

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From the 1980s Britain's large Muslim community, a long established but little noticed group, suddenly became visible as controversies involving the education and dress of Muslim schoolgirls, the Rushdie affair and the Gulf War excited huge media interest. Caricatures and misconceptions began to spread and, with political Islam on the march in many Middle Eastern countries, fears of British Muslims becoming a bridgehead in the West for the establishment of an Islamic theocracy began to loom in the popular imagination. How do British Muslims really think about themselves, about their religion and their politics? What dilemmas do they face as they give up the "myth of return" that sustained first-generation immigrants and struggle to define a British Islam? In this important book, the first major study of British Muslims, Philip Lewis deals with the reality behind distorted media images through a rich, first-hand account of the Muslim community in Bradford - the city which became the epicentre of British Muslim anger and resistance to "The Satanic Verses".

Religion and Nation
Religion and Nation

Author: Kathryn Spellman

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2004-10-01

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1782389407

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An estimated 75,000 Iranians emigrated to Britain after the 1979 revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. They are politically, religiously, socio-economically and ethnically heterogeneous, and have found themselves in the ongoing process of settlement. The aim of this book is to explore facets of this process by examining the ways in which religious traditions and practices have been maintained, negotiated and rejected by Iranians from Muslim backgrounds and how they have served as identity-building vehicles during the course of migration, in relation to the political, economic, and social situation in Iran and Britain. While the ethnographic focus is on Iranians, this book touches on more general questions associated with the process of migration, transnational societies, Diasporas, and religious as well as ethnic minorities.

Towards Building a British Islam
Towards Building a British Islam

Author: Haifaa A. Jawad

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2011-12-08

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 1441172777

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Despite the current negative image of Islam in Europe there has been a steady growth of converts to Islam over the past few decades. British converts are a highly diverse group, with different social, economic and educational backgrounds. Recently this group has grown in confidence and become increasingly active in influencing positive Islamic discourse in Britain. The book sheds light on the intellectual and spiritual contributions of some of the prominent figures of this group of 'new Muslims', and assesses their efforts in shaping Islam in British society; including: Martin Lings, Gai Eaton, Tim Winter and Hamza Yusuf. The research investigates the potential benefit 'new Muslims' can bring to bridge the gap between Muslim communities and wider British society, thus helping in the process of building mutual trust, greater cooperation and positive understanding among all parties in Britain. The work will help readers to become aware of the evolution of a "British Islam" that is more open, rooted in British values and spiritual traditions, and forms a part of the continually changing British religious landscape.