Religiosity,Citizenship and Belonging: The Everyday Experiences of Young Australian Muslims

Abstract

Since 11 September 2001 Muslim Diasporas have emerged as objects of anxiety in Western societies. Underlying this (in)security-driven problematisation is the question of whether Muslims living in the West have the capacity to become fully active citizens while maintaining their religious beliefs, rituals and practices. This apprehension has prompted reactionary government programmes, particularly targeting young Muslims. Such responses fail to recognise the societal capacities that practising Muslims possess, including those informed by the ethical precepts of Islamic faith. This paper argues that it is timely to explore expressions of Islamic religiosity as they are grounded in everyday multicultural environments. The paper draws on survey data and interviews conducted with Muslims living in Melbourne, Australia. We take into consideration key variables of age and generation to highlight how young, practising Muslims enact citizenship through Islamic rituals and faith-based practices and traditions. The paper will draw from key findings to argue that these performances provide a foundation for exploring ways of ‘living’ together in a manner that privileges ethics central to Islamic faith traditions.     

Muslims in Europe: the lost tribe of Islam?

The Muslim presence in Europe has caused the Christian churches to focus their attention on a number of issues arising out of this presence and the following article is a review of three papers put out by church organizations. Starting chronologically from the earliest paper to the most recent, I have first summarized the contents of each paper before analysing and commenting on them collectively. The three Church Research Papers on Muslims in Europe are Witness to God in a Secular Europe, Conference of European Churches, Geneva 1985, The Image of Islam in German School Textbooks by Udo Tworuschka, Muslims in Europe. No. 32, 1986, and Islamic Law and its Significance for the Situation of Muslim Minorities in Europe, Report of a study project, Muslims in Europe, No. 35,1987.     

Do Muslims See Australia as Their Homeland? The Notion of watan al-asli and watan al-sukna in Islam

Abstract

The concept of “country” or homeland in Islam was defined by Muslim jurists in the eighth century in the light of the sacred text. They set three categories: watan al-asli, the country of birth, the country of one's spouse or the place of permanent residence; watan al-sukna, the country of temporary residence and employment; and watan al-safari, the country that is traveled to. Accordingly, for Muslims immigrating to Australia, their new country falls into one of these categories. Muslim contact with Australia stretches back centuries. However, although early Muslims arrived on Australian shores before Europeans, they did not settle. It was not until the late 1960s, when Muslims came in mass immigration, that permanent communities were established. Since then, particularly over the last two decades, Muslims have become gradually more visible. This increase in prominence has raised anxiety from some segments of the Australian community. There are groups who view Islam as an obstacle for integration. The loyalty of Muslims to Australia is being debated, discussed and questioned by some intellectuals, politicians, media and other Australians with little or no knowledge of the Islamic theological perspective of the “notion of country”. In this article, I will argue that the “notion of country”, a concept of which even the majority of Muslims are not aware, supports integration. This article will also explore the concept of “homeland” in Islamic theology and jurisprudence and discuss the findings of a survey on Muslims’ views about Australia as home.     

Book reviews

William G. Lockwood

European Moslems: Economy and Ethnicity in Western Bosnia

New York, Academic Press, 1975, pp. 241; $18.50 (Bibliography 10)

Muslim Communities In Non‐Muslim States

London, Islamic Council of Europe, 1980, pp. 169 $5.00     

Book reviews

Michael Rywkin

Moscow's Muslim Challenge – Soviet Central Asia

Armonk (N.Y.): M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1982, pp. 200; $25.00

E. Allen Richardson

Islamic Cultures in North America: Patterns of Belief and Devotion of Muslims from Asian Countries in the United States and Canada, New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1981, 64 pp. $3.95.

Muhammad Imran

Position and Prospects of Islam in Latin American Lahore: Malik Sirajuddin & Sons, 1979, Price n. m.     

Modern Muslim Thought in the Balkans: The Writings of Mehmed ef. Handžić in the El-Hidaje Periodical in the Context of Discrimination and Genocide

Abstract

The withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from the Balkans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries left a significant impact on the population of the region, especially on the Muslims. Muslim intellectual life was strongly influenced by the arrival of a new political and social order and cultural and religious value system. During this period, Balkan Muslims painfully and irreversibly became an administrative part of Europe. The aim of this paper is to examine the main themes which characterized the writings of Bosnian Muslim intellectuals in the post-Ottoman period, particularly on the eve of and during the Second World War. This work examines the writings of Mehmed Hand?i?, a prominent Bosnian scholar that were published in the El-Hidaje Periodical from 1939 to 1945. The paper brings the scholar's views and commentaries on a variety of topics such as the impoverished Muslim state, the history of Islam and Muslims, and patriotism and nationalism from the Muslim point of view. In most ofHand?i?’swritings the focus is on Muslim intellectual responses to the new political and social changes as well as challenges of the ongoing Second World War. However, hiswritings and reflections continue to have far-reaching effects on Bosnian Muslims and remain relevant to the Bosnian Muslim situation at the beginning of the twenty-first century as the world observes the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in 2015.     

Applying Islamic Norms in Europe: The Example of Bosnian Muslims

Abstract

Is Islamic law still valid in Europe? This paper argues “yes”—though not in the form of hard “law” but rather in the form of soft “norms” which are not state-sanctioned, but still carry heavy significance for practicing Muslims. The paper examines cases where Islamic moral, ethical and in some cases legal norms can be applied in a secular country without clashing with state laws. It further demonstrates that, based on fatawa issued by Islamic scholars in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Islamic norms may still apply for Muslims living in secular European states, although they are not legally binding. This may be illustrated by classifying norms into religious (God's commandment to fast, pray, give alms), moral–ethical (consumption of alcohol, dressing properly) and Islamic legal norms (marriage, divorce, inheritance). The conclusion is that a vast majority of these norms can be adhered to by Muslims either within the scope of guaranteed religious freedoms in civil society or may otherwise be applied without clashing with secular civil laws.     

Muslim Family Law in Southern Thailand: A Historical Overview

Muslims have long a history of practicing Islamic law where Muslim communities are the minority. In Thailand, past governments have positively included Islamic law as a legitimate source of personal law for Muslims in the southern regions. Consequently, Muslims are governed by two different sets of laws in Thailand, one is Islamic law and the other is the secular law. However, only Islamic law is applicable for Muslims especially in settling their matrimonial disputes and inheritance. Islamic family law has a long history and has been preserved for the betterment and benefits of Muslim citizens especially in the four Muslim provinces of Thailand. This study aims to describe the development of Islamic law through the different periods of governments in southern Thailand. The development of Islamic family law and the application of Islamic law along with its judicial aspects under the administration of Thailand will also be discusssed.     

Chinese–Islamic Connections: An Historical and Contemporary Overview

Following overland and maritime trade routes, early Muslims reached China within a century after the Prophet Muhammad (570–632) lived, when the Chinese and Islamic empires were the superpowers of their day, engaging each other in instances of both competition and collaboration: military, economic and diplomatic. Exchanges between China and the Islamic world have produced significant technological and cultural developments, and set the stage for ongoing relations between the two civilizations that helped shape world history and continue to influence global affairs today. The arrival of Islam more than 1200 years ago also resulted in a sizeable Muslim minority population in China, who play an important role between the two civilizations: sometimes as cultural intermediaries, sometimes as political pawns. The following is an overview of the history of Chinese–Islamic relations, including historical and contemporary involvement by China’s internal Muslim populations, with a survey of connections between China and several Muslim countries.     

伊斯兰金融:面向穆斯林的金融创新

西部民族地区经济落后的原因很多,人们更多地关注历史、教育、环境等因素,而对金融发展滞后、资金供求矛盾紧张带来的经济发展缓慢关注较少。经过对比发现,穆斯林地区的民间信贷与伊斯兰金融,在形式上有高度的相似性,根源在于其共同的宗教文化基础。作为金融创新工具,发展伊斯兰金融不仅可以吸引外资、促进区域经济发展,同时能更好地为穆斯林提供金融服务,从而凝聚3000万穆斯林同胞的向心力。     

Muslim Minority of New Zealand in Global Context: Demographic Perspective

This article focuses specifically on the population of Muslims in New Zealand, and highlights their demographic and socio-economic characteristics in a worldwide comparison. Globally, Islam is the fastest-growing religion and Muslims are the second largest religious group. In particular, the population of Muslim migrants in the multicultural and westerns societies is also remarkably growing fast. This also applies to the multicultural setting of New Zealand where have witnessed a substantially increasing growth of Muslim population during the recent decades. Holding a wide range of ethnic and religious groups from throughout the world as well as a variety of Muslims from different parts of the Islamic world, the multicultural field of this study serve as a unique human and cultural laboratory to approach properly the key research objectives of this analysis. The discussion is mainly based on the customized data of population census. This article specifically addresses the main demographic and socio-economic patterns and differentials associated with the population of Muslims in this multicultural context in a global comparison.     

“Arabic is Not my Language…”: Debates over Teaching of Arabic in Irish Muslim Schools

Based on ethnographic fieldwork that took place in 2014 in two Irish primary Muslim schools in the Republic of Ireland, this article draws from both observations of Arabic classes from fourth and fifth classes as well as semi-structured interviews with teachers and parents. The research findings explore the content of and approaches towards the teaching of Arabic and the views held by participants towards the learning of Arabic as part of Islamic religious education. The study reveals the diversity of views that exist and questions the importance of learning Arabic, as part of formal religious education for young Muslims living in non-Muslim pluralist societies. The author concludes with some implications from the study and offers some direction for Muslim schools as it relates to teaching Arabic and, more broadly, to Islamic religious education of young Muslims in Western contexts.     

US Neoconservative Support and Policy Activism for Bosnia, 1992–1995: Correcting the Record

Abstract

The aim of this article is to trace neoconservative thought in the US and policy activism on the role of the US in Bosnia during the 1992–1995 genocide. This paper argues that, on the issue of intervention in Bosnia, neoconservatives in the US comprised two camps. Neoconservative former government officials were early and consistent advocates of an assertive US intervention in Bosnia. However, the neoconservative academics were a heterogeneous group divided over the question of US intervention. Yet, both the former government officials and several academics came together in supporting President Bill Clinton's decision to deploy US troops to enforce the Dayton Peace Accords. While sharply criticized in the Muslim world for their Middle East policies, neoconservative advocacy for Bosnia and Bosnian Muslims during 1992–1995 has been largely overlooked. Analysing neoconservatives’ activism on Bosnia provides for a more nuanced understanding of the US neoconservative foreign policy legacy.     

Ribā-Based Mortgages in Dār al-Harb: An Issue of Modernist Application of Fiqh al-Aqalliyāt for Muslim Minorities

The growing presence of Muslims in the occident living as minorities in majority non-Muslim countries comes with inherent religious challenges. How can occidental Muslims live faithfully in cultures that cause perceivable “hardship” without compromising their religio-legal obligations? Is fiqh al-aqalliyāt the answer to this problem, if at all there is a problem? As a sample of the so-called “hardship”, this paper looks at the issue of occidental Muslims taking out ribā (interest or usury) based loans in order to buy a house, to test the theory of whether or not a new legal doctrine is required to facilitate Muslim needs facing exceptional circumstances. Is it a clash between classical and contemporary scholarship or an inevitable pre-modern evolution of Islamic jurisprudence? This article argues that juristic opinions, whether classical or contemporary do not justify any actions, because their opinions are first and foremost non-binding and secondly a result of their endeavor to come to an edict. The paper highlights a misapplication of juristic maxims and opinions, driven by zeal to provide an edict to justify the needs of some. It concludes that no added value is made to Islamic law by heterodox jurisprudence.     

Book reviews

Peter G. Gowing & Robert D. Mc. Amis (ed.)

The Muslim Filipinos: Their History, Society and Contemporary Problems,

Manila: Solidaridad Publishing House, 1974, pp. 311.

Cesar Adib Majul

Muslims in the Philippines,

Manila: Saint Mary's Publishing, 1978, pp. 392.

T.J.S. George

Revolt in Mindanao: The Rise of Islam in Philippines Politics

Kuala Lumpur; Oxford University Press, 1981, pp. 294.     

How Australian Female Muslim Students Interpret Challenges in High School Sports

Abstract

The present study focuses on the experiences of female Muslim students in school sporting activities in Australian public high schools. Specifically, the study examines how the students interpret their engagement in relation to their Islamic background. The study aims to provide deeper understanding and greater awareness of female Muslim students’ participation in sporting activities within the public high school environment and the challenges they may face. The study employed critical race and social identity theories as an analytical framework. In addition, the study utilized qualitative research methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 female Muslim students and 4 teachers responsible for sporting activities in school. The findings of the study reveal that despite a variety of sporting activities provided by Australian public high schools, some of these activities were challenging for Muslim girls to participate in. The study also found that there is a strong relationship between students’ Islamic background and their participation in schools sporting activities. The study recommends that educators and teachers who work with youth from different background are provided training on equity issues arising from ethnicity, race, culture, religion and other identity categories.     

Circumcising the body: negotiating difference and belonging in Germany

ABSTRACT

The circumcision debate in Germany in 2012 is an exemplary case for symbolic struggles over national boundaries. The debate became a site for the negotiation of traditions practiced by religious minorities. We ask, first, how the clinical gaze constitutes Muslim and Jewish others. Second, we investigate how ‘writing around’ the debate’s center, bodily integrity, became meaningful through analogies to other practices said to harm it. We compare newspaper coverage in Germany, Israel and Turkey, and reveal transnational discursive dynamics that transgress national boundaries. We show how ‘otherness’ of Muslims and Jews remains present in a self-perceived secular, liberal imaginary.     

Reading Islamophobia in Hegemonic Neoliberalism Through a Discourse Analysis of Donald Trump's Narratives

This paper uses the Wittgensteinian method of discourse analysis to analyze the narratives of Islamophobia in Donald Trump’s speeches and interviews. Theoretically, the analysis is informed by hegemonic neoliberal ideology. It argues that to sustain itself, hegemonic neoliberalism must contrast itself against other belief systems that it unilaterally denounces as inferior. After having done so, hegemonic neoliberalism then seeks to neoliberalize those belief systems. In this vein, this paper contends that hegemonic neoliberalism has an Islamophobic “face” because it “otherizes” Islam and Muslims in order to justify its neoliberalization of Islam and Muslims. Thus, this paper defines neoliberal Islamophobia as the conceptualization of Islam and Muslims as antithetical to neoliberal values. In all, Trump’s speeches and interviews contain five Islamophobic narratives: (1) radical Islam is the sole cause of terrorism; (2) radical Islamic terrorism is a global existential threat; (3) Muslim refugees and immigrants are a threat to American security; (4) the proposal to suspend entry of Muslim refugees and immigrants to the US; and (5) the faux humanitarian policy of establishing safe zones for Muslim refugees in Syria. The paper concludes with policy implications.     

The Role of Labeling and Bias in the Portrayals of Acts of “Terrorism”: Media Representations of Muslims vs. Non-Muslims

Several high-profile negative events involving Muslim perpetrators have recently been covered by the media. We investigated whether the same negative actions are more likely to be labeled “terrorism” when they are committed by Muslims than when they are committed by White non-Muslims. In Experiment I (n?=?60), using a real article about a Muslim perpetrator and a modified version about a non-Muslim perpetrator, we found that participants were more likely to identify a crime as terrorism when it was perpetrated by a Muslim. The label “terrorism” also mediated the effect of Muslim identity on negative judgments of the behavior. In Experiment II (n?=?60), we replicated the results of Experiment I and clarified that the effects persisted when we used a real article about a non-Muslim perpetrator and a modified version about a Muslim perpetrator. We discuss implications for cross-group communication and representations of Muslims in the media.     

Identifying Counter Radical Narratives from Within British Muslim Communities: The Case of “Muslim Patrol” and Muslim Community Responses

This paper analyzes the concept of Muslim morality policing through commanding good and forbidding evil as interpreted and implemented by some Islamists in Britain. The focus is on the activities of Muslim Patrol, and their attempts to create Shari’a zones and enforce hisba, often with distressing consequences including verbal and physical harassment of those not complying. Muslim community responses to Muslim Patrol are also discussed, in particular counter radical narratives that stem from a religious perspective. The paper asks what constitutes sin within Islam and how Muslims should respond to sin, and the extent to which individual Muslims are empowered to enforce Islamic moral standards in non-majority Muslim contexts. Where the state does not provide means for countering sin, the perception is that the responsibility on individuals to do so increases and often results in violence.