Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
This article was downloaded by: [Washington State University Libraries ]On: 24 October 2014, At: 22:43Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK
Ethnic and Racial StudiesPublication details, including instructions for authorsand subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rers20
Studying Muslims andconstructing Islamic identitySafet BectovicPublished online: 18 Jan 2011.
To cite this article: Safet Bectovic (2011) Studying Muslims and constructingIslamic identity, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34:7, 1120-1133, DOI:10.1080/01419870.2010.528782
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2010.528782
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all theinformation (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, orsuitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressedin this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not theviews of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content shouldnot be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions,claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilitieswhatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connectionwith, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly
forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic
identity
Safet Bectovic
(First submission December 2009; First published January 2011)
Abstract
For the study of Muslim identity in Europe, including organized as wellas non-organized Muslims, the following positions have, in my opinion,a particular relevance: the correlation between researchers’ Islam andMuslims’ Islam, the relationship between organized and non-organizedMuslims, and the consideration of ‘official’ Islam as a form ofinstitutional expression of Islam. The main objective of this contributionis to understand the process of identity formation among Muslimmigrants, taking into account their ideological backgrounds and theirmotivations to organize (or not to organize) themselves as Muslim. Mycontribution aims at problematizing two main issues: on the one hand,Muslims’ own use of Islam and, on the other hand, the role of researchersregarding the interpretation of Muslim identity.
Keywords: (Non-)organized Muslims; researchers’ Islam; Muslims’ Islam; Muslim
identity; interpreting/ using religion; ideology.
Researchers’ Islam and Muslims’ Islam
The extensive research on Islam and Muslim migrants in the Westduring the last decades has extended scientific knowledge on the topic,but at the same time it has created such a diversity of interpretationsthat this could itself be a new subject of research. Relating to thisextraordinary diversity of the fields of Islamic studies, it is thereforevery appropriate to engage in critical ‘interpretations of interpretationsof Islam’.1
Different but also antagonistic concepts about Islam have beenshaped and contribute to further confusion. Provoked by thecontemporary academic discourse, Abdou Filali-Ansari (director ofthe Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations in London) declares
Ethnic and Racial Studies Vol. 34 No. 7 July 2011 pp. 1120�1133
# 2011 Taylor & FrancisISSN 0141-9870 print/1466-4356 onlineDOI: 10.1080/01419870.2010.528782
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
that ‘Islam does not exist’ (2004). He therefore suggests ‘leaving aside’vast categories and abstract concepts, in order to elucidate concretedata about Muslims.
However, producing and using concepts such as ‘Islamic tradition’,‘Islamic society’ and ‘Islamic law’ is an integral and indispensable partof the research, which reflects the dialectics between the researcher andthe object of research. These concepts serve to describe phenomenafrom the field of research but they also relate to the researchers’ ownexperiences and perceptions. Although all concepts tend to generalizethe subject matters, they have a key methodological role in organizingknowledge and analysing empirical data, even when one is dealingwith a specific subject and carrying out, for example, field-work in alimited area with a distinct group of people.
The aim of this article is not to discuss research on Islam as such butto highlight some aspects of research on Muslim migrants which havea fundamental significance for the interpretation of Islam. Thisconcerns in particular the relationship between Muslim identity aspresented by Muslims and its ideological backgrounds. In the case ofMuslim immigrants, this has to do with presentations of Islam takinginto account or neglecting Muslim attitudes to the new society andculture. My point is that the development of Muslim identity andchanges in Muslims’ self-understanding are interactions, which cannotbe discussed independently of political developments in the respectiveEuropean countries, and very much reflect the experiences andexpectations of both parties involved. Of course, Muslims who alreadyhave experience with secular and multicultural society will usually havefewer problems living up to the political expectations in the newcountry. The same also applies to Muslims with a good social andeducational background. The whole process of integration could bemore successful if there was an integration policy which would be ableat the same time to demonstrate an understanding of migrants’problems and to make an optimal framework for integration/inclusion. Conversely, an aggressive assimilation policy will probablyhave a negative effect among Muslims who want to be a part of society.This is especially the case in a negative political climate, which ismarked by attitudes towards Muslims as a problem and not achallenge, where the relationships between migrants (including theirorganization) and the state are not institutionalized.
There are thus interactions and, in certain situations, tensions in theprocess of integration of Muslims in European societies. It is adevelopment taking place at a personal/individual and social/collectivelevel. In this context it is worthwhile to observe how Muslims organizethemselves or avoid doing so in order to respond to new challenges.
Recent research on Muslim organizations focuses on the structureand functions of Muslim organizations, trying to identify distinctive
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic identity 1121
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
religious, ethnic and cultural values of Islam (Nielsen 2004, p. 122).A large proportion of Muslims (or rather people who have a Muslimbackground), who are not part of these organizations and for variousreasons have not been present in the public discourse, have thus beenfairly unexplored. This fact has contributed to the partial andreductionist picture of Islam, which is dominated by the formal,political and visual elements. Religious practice and Muslim commu-nity have been at the centre of attention. The research, while neglectingthe other, often non-religious elements of identity of Muslims andmaking them more religious than they are, has furthermore con-tributed to reducing the complexity of Muslim identity.
The crucial question to be asked is how Muslims understandthemselves as Muslims. This question does not always seem to betaken seriously. The background of why and how Muslims perceivethemselves as orthodox, non-orthodox, liberal, non-religious is there-fore ignored. The researchers’ involvement in the public debate aboutIslam, by many regarded as imperative, has led to a general discussionabout the implications of researchers’ methodological and ideologicalbackgrounds. Among other things this also concerns the relationshipbetween the normative and descriptive. According to a Norwegiananthropologist, Thomas Eriksen, who has researched the encounterbetween Muslim and Western cultures, the task is to find a middleposition between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism as two ‘useless’methodological approaches. The first tends to evaluate other culturesand religions from its own, while the second assumes that cultures andreligions can be understood only from within. In the first case it isimpossible to establish real communication with others, while in thesecond it is impossible to have any kind of normative stance (Eriksen2001, p. 53).
In this connection it may be appropriate to ask the followingquestions. Do researchers look at Muslim culture and Muslimorganizations with the same eyes as Muslims? How do researchers’views of and conclusions about Muslim identity correspond withMuslims’ own self-understanding? These questions are are in a wayrhetorical, because the differences remain (even if a researcher doingfield-work is trying to examine things from inside), and this is not aproblem in itself. The issue is not whether a researcher has achieved animage of Islam that is more or less identical with the Muslims’ ownimage, but whether s/he is aware that this image is not constructed onlyby Muslims themselves but also by researchers.2
One might say that Muslims have a well-defined tradition, commonreligious references (e.g. Qur’an and Muhammad), common ritualizedpractice (e.g. hajj and fasting) and ethical-political concepts (e.g.shari’ah, umma). The fact of identifying oneself with Islam, however,is determined by many other external and internal factors (Marechal
1122 Safet Bectovic
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
2003, p. 15). There are first of all the ‘substantial’ differences � ethnicorigin and language � which have a decisive influence on Muslimunderstanding of Islam. Also political, psychological and other factorshave an influence on the Muslim way of living. In addition to this,Muslims act in the world like other people, motivated by similar needsand interests.
The formation of Muslim organizations3 in Western Europeancountries is an important element in the process of placing Islam on thecultural and political map of European countries. The formation ofMuslim organizations was initially based on very practical needs andoriginally defined by ethnic and linguistic communities, graduallyadapting to the demands and opportunities of the legal and politicalsystems of the country of residence. According to Jørgen Nielsen, themain types of organization that have developed among Muslim migrantsin Europe are: 1) groups which arose out of the local communityarticulating its needs, 2) groups set up as extensions of organizationsand movements in the country of origin and 3) groups set up bygovernments or government-related agencies (Nielsen 2004, p. 121).
The original motivations for the formation of organizations are verydiverse and include religious, cultural, social, psychological andpolitical elements. The fact that many Muslims emphasize theimportance of normative Islam and collectivity in their identity couldbe a reason for concluding that Muslims (at least those Muslims whoinitiated the formation of organizations), more than others, aredefined by religious norms and texts, and they primarily needorganizations as a way or form to protect their religious identity.
Compared to ‘modern’ Europeans and North Americans manyMuslim migrants appear old-fashioned. Their internal cultural differ-ences and ways of thinking, however, are considerable so that anycritical analysis of the relationship between religion, culture andideology would reveal that a uniform Muslim identity does not exist.
Concepts like ‘essential Islam’ and ‘Muslim culture’ may thereforebe subject to the same critique as concepts like ‘essential Christianity’or ‘Western culture’, and the postmodern critique of universalism andmethodological objectivism may include approaches to Islam as well.4
Otherwise, the uncritical use of the vast categories of Islam wouldbecome legitimate and the gap between researchers’ and Muslims’Islam remain unquestioned.
Organized and non-organized Muslims
Muslim organizations vary from one country to the other, dependingon the national political and legal environment, the number andcomposition of the Muslim population, the form and character ofMuslim activities. However, there are general questions to be asked in
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic identity 1123
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
order to understand the role and function of these organizations.Jørgen Nielsen asks ten of these questions related to the origin of theorganization, its theology, nature and structure, internal authority,legitimacy ground, resources, the social base of recruitment, personnelof the organization and the matter of language and effectiveness of theorganization (Nielsen 2004, pp. 129�31).
Any of these questions is relevant for the analysis of a particularorganization. My interest, however, is to look at their mutualrelationships and the ideological backgrounds against which someMuslims are organized and others are not. Why is organizing animperative for some while for others it is an option and for othersagain unnecessary? It is evident that some Muslim organizations takean active part in the process of integration of Muslims and are at thesame time involved in the processes of the recognition of Islam whilecooperating with local authorities and government. But it is also clearthat other organizations have a primary interest in the establishment ofcontrol over their communities (formal as well as potential members)with the overall aim of protecting them from assimilation. Othersagain evidently attempt to provide a new contribution to the under-standing and promotion of multiculturalism and so on.
At the same time, there are many who may have common ideas,goals and interests without being part of organizations. This leads tothe following questions: why are some Muslims organized (religiously,politically, culturally) while others are not? What is the ideologicalbackground or motivation for being organized? Are there any specificidentity differences between organized and non-organized Muslims?Is it possible to draw a clear line between these two groups?
Any of these issues requires a deeper analysis and cannot beanswered in a simple way. I will try to make some reflections on themwithout the intention of fully elucidating them. Beginning with the lastquestion, which is probably less complicated than the previous ones,one could say: yes, it is possible to distinguish between organized andnon-organized Muslims but only on a formal level and taking intoaccount the type of membership in the organization. Otherwise it maybe impossible to designate boundaries between organized andnon-organized Muslims. A parallel to this would be if one attempted,rather absurdly, to determine whether a Muslim was 40, 55 or 90percent organized or not, or whether he or she was 40 or 75 percentcollectively or individually involved.
Consequently, we cannot determine the extent to which a Muslim isorganized or not, but we can identify some characteristic attitudes ofcertain Muslims to organizations. In this context I find Dassetto andNonneman’s (1996, pp. 196�203) categorization to be generallyapplicable, although it relates to the specific Belgian and Dutchsituations. In their attempt to structure and describe the diversity of
1124 Safet Bectovic
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
Muslim attitudes to organized Islam, they distinguish between threecharacteristic attitudes:
1. Distancing oneself from all organized forms2. Having a more or less utilitarian attitude towards organizations3. Being an activist and involved in missionary work.
Dassetto and Nonneman deal primarily with mosques. They describethe Muslim way of organizing as ‘flexible’ in the religious sense (basedon the theological view that there is no intermediary between God andthe individual), ‘spontaneous’ and ‘practically’ oriented. Muslimcitizens are committed to regulating their religious and educationalneeds (establishing mosques and schools) as well as their daily needs(establishing butcher’s shops, Islamic bookshops, travel agencies, etc.).
In the beginning (in the early 1960s) enthusiastic people from thelocal communities were a driving force behind organizing projects.Later, however, national and international organizations such asDiyanet from Turkey and the Muslim World League from SaudiArabia took over prominent roles in providing logistical and organiza-tional support to Muslim organizations. At the same time Muslimrequirements were also conveyed by Islamic movements (MuslimBrotherhood, Milli Gorus) and Sufi orders. The state in the countriesof origin also took an active part in Muslim organizing due to theirinterest in Islamic institutionalization and Muslim establishments insociety (Dassetto and Nonneman 1996: 193�4).
A similar development, which includes the same attitudes towardsorganizations, can be identified in Denmark. The activities of Muslimorganizations were motivated by practical needs in the 1960s, and themain goal was to incorporate Islam into their members’ daily lives andto convey it to their children. It was a time when both the Danishgovernment and the migrants themselves believed that they wouldreturn to their home countries. Later, in the 1970s, when both actorsrealized that the Muslim presence in Denmark was going to bepermanent, a change took place.
The Danish authorities provided integration programmes andintroduced a number of requirements for Muslims, and Muslimsmigrants began to relate to the new context and reflect on their Danishfuture. In the late 1980s, the young Muslims, the so-called ‘secondgeneration’, began to problematize the way their parents and imamsunderstood and practised Islam. They considered it inappropriate tothe real context, trying at the same time to get out of the defensiveposition of their parents (Simonsen 2001, p. 178). There was a gradualmovement from a defensive position, oriented towards the return tothe country of origin, to a proactive position taking the initiative topromote Muslims as new citizens. Jørgen Bæk Simonsen has described
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic identity 1125
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
this movement as a change from ‘defensive Islam’ to ‘assertive Islam’(Simonsen 200: 171�83) � a process in which the focus increasinglybecame the active participation of Muslims in society.
Moving from the early phase of Muslim organizing, characterized as‘flexible’, ‘spontaneous’, ‘practical’, to a later phase characterized byinternal positioning and reflection on new challenges, it makes sense tolook at the impact of Muslim organizations on the ideologization ofIslam. One might say that the ideological aspect was already presentwhen Muslims began to establish their first mosques and privateschools (although this occurred spontaneously and often in animprovised manner). It was at this stage a strategic act, aimed atpreserving the original identity. However, the ideological aspect ofMuslim organizing in the later phase � in the context of integrationand religious-cultural positioning � became much more relevant.
In this new situation where the focus is more and more on theprocess of institutional integration of Islam, and Muslim organiza-tions have achieved a status in relation to the state, the question ofthe nature of Islamic organizations and the relationship betweenorganized and non-organized Islam has become particularly relevant.Questions to be raised here are the following: where are the non-organized Muslims in the process of integration and institutionaliza-tion of Islam in Europe? Do we as researchers also have them in mindwhen we discuss positioning and plurality of expressions of Islam,including the possibility of a so-called ‘Euro-Islam’? Are we alwaysand enough aware that some Muslim organizations have an interestand a strategy to promote a particular understanding of Islam whichmay be more or less camouflaged? And how does this affect our ownviews on Islam?
Organizing and institutionalizing Islam
Our picture of organized and non-organized Muslims depends on ouranswers to the preceding questions. If, for example, we are not able tolook at the background of one Muslim organization in its totality or ifwe take the pretensions of certain organizations as representative ofMuslims in general, we risk draw partial conclusions. And if we alsotend to regard non-organized Muslims as secular, less Muslim andnon-representative, it opens the way for a simplified perception thatexisting organized Islam may be a standard for the institutionalizationof Islam.
However, the concern for a researcher is not to identify the true, themost representative Islam but rather to take a critical distance fromthose who argue that they ‘represent’ such an Islam. It is thereforeimportant to analyse the ideological background and basis oflegitimacy of Muslim organizations critically, taking into account
1126 Safet Bectovic
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
the context of their positioning as well as their theological and politicalperception of Islam.
First of all, this has to do with finding some tangible criteria thatcan be useful for the definition of representativeness. There are nofixed and absolute criteria. However, it makes a difference whether anorganization has fifty members or 5000 members, whether it presentsa sectarian and controversial Islam or a more mainstream Islam,whether it follows an Islamic political movement or seeks to providea democratic contribution to domestic socio-political development.Lack of criteria leads to relativism and opens the door to confusionand manipulation, as has already been demonstrated in the media andpolicy discourse.5
The task of the researcher is consequently not to ascertain therepresentativeness of Muslims but to investigate what kind of Islamthe various Muslim organizations represent. Apart from the need forcritical analysis of motivation, content and character of theiractivities and of their organizational goals, it is extremely importantto relate the process of Muslim organizing to the development of theprevailing political situation in the country and current discourseabout Islam.
Seen from outside or from a political point of view, the current formof organized Islam may be considered a precondition for theinstitutionalization of Islam. However, the process also depends onelements which do not proffer the goal of institutionalization at themoment and which apparently are not present in the existingorganizations. There are elements such as intellectual and theologicalcapacity to articulate the position of Muslim minorities in a modernsecular state, economic and structural resources and so on. Thus, theprocess is both demanding and complicated, and therefore far fromcompleted.
Meanwhile we must not confuse organized, institutional Islam andofficial Islam. Official Islam may be a linguistic and political-ideological construction, depending on whether the term is used byMuslims in order to promote an Islamic policy or by non-Muslims inorder to legitimize distinguished Muslim representatives as officialrepresentatives of Islam, or at least the Islam of a particular Muslimstate. Any attempt to legitimize such an official Islam theologically is afutile affair.
Understanding Islam and using Islam
As indicated above, empirical studies of Muslims may be influenced bythe subjects’ presentation of Islam, their way of being Muslim andtheir actions as Muslim. In this sense it is important to understand thebackground of Muslims’ interpretation and use of Islam and to
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic identity 1127
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
analyse the relationship between the two. Any presentation, inter-pretation and narrative of a religion have a normative aspect and may,in a specific context, be motivated by different ideological reasons.Understanding the ideological background of Muslims acting in thegiven context is an important prerequisite for understanding thedevelopment of Muslim identity.
The question as to how Muslims define/construct their religious,ethnic and national identity within a certain context correlates with thequestion of how they use Islam as a religious, political and culturalmarker. Being confronted with new challenges such as secular societyand minority status, Muslims are becoming more aware of the need forreinterpretation of Islam and the adoption of new organizationalforms. It is a process which has two main aspects: the interpretation ofIslam and its practical use.
In his analysis of national and post-national Islam in the twentiethcentury, Professor Mohammed Bamyeh from the University ofPittsburgh distinguishes between two main Muslim approaches: thefirst emphasizes the practical use of Islam; the second emphasizes thecritical reinterpretation of Islam. Bamyeh distinguishes between a‘hermeneutic Islam’ which focuses on ‘organizing knowledge’ andrelates to civil society, and ‘instrumental Islam’ which focuses onreligious life and relates to ‘organizing Muslim society’. InstrumentalIslam is, however, not necessarily identical with political (ab)use ofIslam (although it may be so). It is, rather, a selective use of Islamdrawing on individual aspects and dimensions of Islam in order tointegrate it with modernity and the national state or to justify reformand multiculturalism. The point is to interpret Islam in an ‘instru-mental fashion’ as compatible with something else so that Islam, inthis sense, can be used as an instrument for handling pressing socialand cultural problems.6
Hermeneutic Islam is an alternative to instrumental Islam, becauseit considers religion itself as an object of knowledge rather than aready-made guide for action. Unlike instrumental Islam, it is notpractice- and result-oriented, preoccupied not by Islamic authenticitybut by Islamic diversity. It argues in favour of Islamic culture as a‘spectrum of presence of Islamic mores beyond self-identified Muslimcommunities’ (Bamyeh 2008, p. 558).
There may be many varieties of both instrumental and hermeneu-tical Islam7 but there are also common features which differentiatethem. The first argues for Islam as a distinct way of life. The secondargues for Islam as a system of ideas (Bamyeh 2008, p. 567). The firstis interested in the integration of Islam/Muslims, the second indiscovering an ideology of integration. However, in reality one doesnot distinguish between the act of using and the act of interpreting,because these are two sides of the same coin.
1128 Safet Bectovic
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
There is thus always an ideology present in the background of bothorganized and non-organized Muslims which plays an important role inthe development of Muslim identity. The fact that many Muslimmigrants feel the need to define themselves in relation to the majoritygroup, clarifying religious and cultural differences, places them in aposition that from the start involves an ideologization of identity.8
Apart from the inner motivation to organize themselves in differentways, they are also pressured from outside to organize themselves as aMuslim minority.
Politically speaking this has to do with the process of recognition(juridical, religious and cultural) and integration. Recognition of Islamand Muslim minorities in the European countries presupposes theestablishment of Muslim organizations, a kind of institutionalization ofIslam.9 Whether these organizations are representative of the majorityof Muslims, and whether the process of institutionalization of Islamreflects a real integration and real recognition of Muslims, is anotherissue.
A major challenge for Muslims has to do with the expectations of thesurrounding community. They must reflect both their original cultureand the new culture they are becoming part of. Some of them are tryingto be authentic (as Muslims) and accepted/recognized by the majority.They feel they have to be like the others (preferably assimilated) but stillorganized as Muslims and thus different from the others. ManyMuslims, however, are already well integrated but without beingorganized as Muslims. They are the Muslims who do not considerthemselves as part of the Muslim minority.
Conclusion
There are many ways of being Muslim, and there are as many differentmotivations to present oneself (or not to do so) as Muslim. When itcomes to Muslim immigrants, it is basically a process of identitytransformation creating awareness of one’s own identity as different inrelation to the majority and of positioning oneself in relation to otherMuslims. The crucial question for a researcher is how to study thesedifferent levels of identifications (including the ideological back-ground) and how to contextualize the various forms of expression.
All Muslims, organized as well as non-organized, who in some wayshow publicly that they are Muslims are agents of the so-called visibleIslam. They express the physical presence of Islam in public space.However, this visibility (as seen) also depends on the eyes that areseeing. Visibility always has a relational aspect. Muslims are thusvisible in relation to non-Muslims, and their visibility used to beconsidered from a particular outsider viewpoint. Beyond the visibleelement of Islam and Muslim culture, such as rituals, dress, etc., there
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic identity 1129
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
are also other less visible aspects such as spirituality, morality andphilosophy, all of which play a crucial role for Muslim identity.
Focusing only on the visual and the ritual narrows down Islamicidentity considerably. This may result in a perception of activepractising Muslims as authentic representatives. This corresponds tothe agenda of those Muslim organizations which have an instrumentalapproach to Islam and tend to exclude other Muslims as non-representative. An extreme example is Hizb ut-Tahrir who advocatesan exclusive Islamic way of being organized, portraying Islam as apolitical contrast to Western secular ideology.
Going back to the Muslim migrant organizations in a broadercontext, it may be noted that many of them are formed on the basis ofethnic origin. They bear an Islamic stamp, but they still seek to preserveand promote the original ethnic culture, and are still influenced by thecountry of origin. They stress ‘Muslim culture’ rather than ‘Islam’, andthey are engaged in promoting multiculturalism, seeking to create spacefor their own group in a pluralist society. Examples of these are someTurkish and Bosnian associations in European countries. But alsothese, like many other, groups are aware of the new context and aredealing with the issue of re-shaping Islam and Muslim identity.
The case may be different for non-organized Muslims. There are, ofcourse, committed people among them: individuals who are passionatefor a cause, but they probably have other motivations for being engagedas Muslims. Some of them are not directly interested in religion; othershave an ambivalent relationship to Islam and their cultures of origin,10
and others again differentiate clearly between Islam as religion andIslam as culture and do not identify themselves with ethnic minorityculture.
There may also be active practising Muslims who do not want to bepart of any Muslim organization. They are individualists like other,non-religious individuals. However, the identity of every human beingreflects his or her relationship to the community. In this sense onetypically finds young people who choose only communities in whichthey can express themselves as individuals.
A particular group is the so-called ‘other Muslims’. Many of themare not interested in standing out as Muslims, immigrants, new Danes �not necessarily because they do not see themselves as Muslims andimmigrants but rather because they may not feel represented by the‘official’ representatives. Some of them even feel the urge to present an‘alternative’ vision to the official one. But they have a problem: they arenot seen as (formal) representatives either of Islam or of their ethnicgroup, and they can bring their message to the public only if it isattractive enough in relation to the current discourse.
On the whole, the number of those who are not organized or do nothave an ongoing relationship with the community is much higher than
1130 Safet Bectovic
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
one might think. A potential problem is also that people in a societysuch as the Danish which is pervaded by associations (‘forening’)perhaps find it difficult to imagine that some, or rather the majority, ofimmigrants are not interested in organizing associations.
The point is that in both cases, whether one promotes oneself as arepresentative or not, as religious or non-religious, every presentationof Islam is produced in a particular context, stamped by personalcharacter, motivations and expectations, and deeply affected by thepublic Islamic discourse on Islam and the existing power structure. Thismeans that the development of Muslim identity in Europe has animportant ideological dimension which must be studied carefully. Animportant implication of this is: it is not only researchers’ Islam � whatthey are saying about Islam and how they present Islam � but alsoMuslims’ Islam that should be the subject of debate.
Notes
1. Discussing the differences between French and Anglo-Saxon scholarship, the role of
colonial and postcolonial experiences, the impact of non-academic, popular knowledge of
Islam, the interaction between media presentations and specialist presentations, and
especially the interaction between the humanistic tradition with historical and cultural
ways to knowledge of Islam and the tradition of the social sciences, Hasting Donnan and
Martin Stokes (2002, pp. 2�4) argue for an ‘interdisciplinarity’ of Islam as a critical reflection
on disciplinary practice. To have an inter-disciplinary approach to Islam requires also an
inter-disciplinary critique of academic practices.
2. The intense public debate on Islam in Denmark over the past decade has also dealt with
the issue of politicization of research work on Islam. This has particularly raised the question
as to whether a scholar researching such a politically sensitive subject as Islam can be neutral
in relation to the current political agendas. Is it possible to disseminate one’s research
without taking a position in relation to the public discourse? Some Danish researchers on
Islam, primarily Jorgen Bæk Simonsen from Copenhagen University and Tim Jensen from
the University of Southern Denmark, have faced a very harsh critique from the nationalist
Danish People’s Party and various Danish critics of Islam. They were accused of siding with
Muslims and not being aware of the ‘violent dimensions of Islam’ and the Muslim threat.
They replied by saying that they are interested in studying Muslims as they are, and not an
essence of Islam. Furthermore, they emphasized that fact that the rhetoric about Islam has
an influence on the forming of Islam (cf. the articles ‘En forsker under anklage’, in
Information, 25 January 2008, and ‘Vores tale om islam er med til af forme islam’ in Kristeligt
Dagblad, 30 September 2006). Apart from the polemical media discourse labelling the
various researchers as ‘naıve’, ‘controversial’, ‘pro-Islamic’ or ‘anti-Islamic’ there has also
been an academic discussion on researching Islam. This has revealed a disagreement on the
relevance of distinguishing methodical approaches, on the impact of expectations from
society and state, and the function of researchers’ public engagement. However, there is also
a fundamental agreement that the contextual approach to the study of Islam must be the
norm. See FIFO (2008).
3. I define organizations as forms of collective acts by which groups of Muslims try to
satisfy their common interests. This includes religious organizations such as mosques,
various cultural associations, private schools, sports clubs, cross-cultural friendship
associations, dialogue centres, etc. Any of these organizations may have sub-categories and
may be viewed in many different ways. If we look at the mosques in Denmark, or rather
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic identity 1131
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
masjids (there are no purpose-built mosques in Denmark), as the most visible and widespread
organizational form, one can observe different types: shaykh mosques, run by a very active
group led by an imam; organization mosques, associated with a Muslim organization or
movement; lay mosques, run by volunteers without any specific religious education and
authority, based locally and Shia mosques attracting the religious Shia Muslims, which do
not have a lot of contacts with Sunni mosques (which are a majority in Denmark). Any type
of mosque has a specific practice and a distinctive function for its members (internal) but
also a distinctive role in relation to the surrounding community (external). See Kuhle (2006).
4. This is not an allusion to classical Western Orientalism but rather a tendency to be
found among some postmodern thinkers, who have positioned themselves as critics of
modern universalism and essentialist thinking. However, when it comes to Islam and
Muslims, their reflections are in line with the reflections they criticize. This controversy is
presented in the book The New Orientalists, where Ian Almond discusses eight thinkers
(Nietzsche, Derrida, Foucault, Baudrillard, Kristeva, Zizek, Borges, Rushdie and Pamuk),
and their opinions and considerations on Islam, and demonstrates their inconsistencies and
contradictions.
5. The Danish media’s treatment of some local, theologically uneducated imams and self-
appointed spokesmen (before and after the cartoon crisis in 2006), giving them legitimacy to
present Muslims in general, is a clear illustration of this. One example of ‘misunderstanding’
in the debate about Muslim representation was when the former Prime Minister, Poul Nyrup
Rasmussen, following the events of 9/11, decided to receive a Muslim delegation. In order to
avoid disagreements on who should attend the meeting, he changed the initial list of fifteen
Muslim representatives, excluded some names of more controversial Muslims and included
both Christians and atheists in the list. This happened at the last minute, and then the
meeting was cancelled. Likewise, a meeting was held by his successor Anders Fogh-
Rasmussen in 2005 with the participation of nineteen Muslim representatives and with the
purpose of discussing the cartoon crisis. It is ironic that the same Prime Minister who was
criticized for his handling of the case and who wanted to reduce the role of Danish imams in
the public sphere still took the initiative to receive a delegation including a considerable
number of imams.
6. Bamyeh’s aim is a general analysis of Muslims’ approach to modernity and secularism in
the so-called Muslim and Western worlds focusing on modern Islamic movements and
individual thinkers. His point is that Muslim modernists and reformists, whether they have
rejected or accepted modernity, have an instrumental approach to Islam, arguing ‘for’ or
‘against’ accompaniment of Islam. Representatives of this approach are thinkers such as
Afghani, Abduh and Faruqi and movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and various
Salafi movements. Their preoccupation is the project ‘how to organize society’. As a kind of
reaction to this, hermeneutical Islam emerged, replacing the issue of how to organize society
with the issue of how to organize knowledge. Ideas of hermeneutic Islam are derived from
Islamic intellectualism and modern sciences, and they are currently presented by thinkers like
Abdullahi al-Naim, Mohammed Arkoun and Abdolkarim Soroush, Muhammad Shahrur and
movements like that of Fetullah Gulen (Bamyeh 2008, pp. 555�66).
7. Islam may, for example, be used by young Muslims as a tool for self-affirmation in
various secular contexts, such as music and sports; especially in a situation where Islam is not
reinforced by direct authority people use it in a pragmatic and conformist way (Marechal
2003, p. 415).
8. Ideologization of religion and culture also takes place on a subconscious level.
Mohammed Arkoun would say that all people view the world, themselves and the others
from an ideological imaginary, as an interpretative framework, without however being aware
of its origins and limitations. By contrast, setting a political agenda is something else. It
means to act deliberately and in a goal-oriented way, and, when it comes to the positioning of
Muslims in Western societies, it means to act to promote a particular Islam or to act in order
to deconstruct a particular Islam.
1132 Safet Bectovic
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
9. In 2006 Bosnian Mufti Mustafa Ceric published his ‘Declaration of European Muslims’,
where he argued for institutionalization of Islam in European countries. Many were positive
about his ideas, but there were also those, including some Bosnian thinkers, who disagreed. One
of them, Professor Esad Durakovic, qualified Ceric’s project of institutionalization of Muslim
minorities in Europe as a ‘huge step in the wrong direction’, arguing that Muslims in Europe do
not have a common identity, and they need no special status in relation to others (Lasic 2006,
p. 238).
10. I have conducted an empirical investigation among non-organized young Muslims and
one informant said: ‘I am probably Muslim, but I cannot explain my Muslim identity.
Neither can I understand that we all must have a clear identity’ (Bektovic 2004, p. 87).
References
ALMOND, IAN 2007 The New Orientalists: Postmodern Representations of Islam from
Foucault to Baudrillard, London and New York: I. B. Tauris
BAMYEH, MOHAMMED 2008 ‘Hermeneutics against instrumental reason: national and
post-national Islam in the 20th century’, Third World Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 555�74
BEKTOVIC, SAFET 2004 Kulturmøder og religion (Cultural Encounters and Religion),
Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanums Forlag
DASSETTO, FELICE and NONNEMAN, GERD 1996 ‘Islam in Belgium and the
Netherlands: towards a typology of ‘‘transplanted’’ Islam’, in Gerd Nonneman and Tim
Niblock (eds), Muslim Communities in the New Europe, Reading: Ithaca Press
DONNAN, HASTINGS and STOKES, MARTIN 2002 ‘Interpreting interpretations of
Islam’, in Hastings Donnan (ed.), Interpreting Islam, London: Sage
ERIKSEN, THOMAS HYLLAND and SØRHEIM, TORUNN ARNTSEN 2001 Kultur-
forskelle: Kulturmøder i praksis, Copenhagen: Gyldendal Uddannelse
FIFO 2008 ‘Research on Islam repositioned’, Tidskrift for Islamforskning (Journal for
Research on Islam), No. 2, www.islamforskning.dk/Tidsskrift_for_Islamforskning.htm for
Islamforskning
FILALI-ANSARI, ABDOU 2004 ‘The Islam does not exist’, http://pro.archis.org/plain/
object.php?object=715&year=&num= [Accessed 10 December 2009]
KUHLE, LENE 2006 Moskeer i Danmark: islam og muslimske bedesteder (Mosques in
Denmark: Islam and Muslim Places of Worship), Arhus: Forlaget Univers
LASIC, MILE 2006 ‘Veliki korak u pogresnom pravcu’ (Huge step towards wrong direction),
STATUS Magazine, No. 10, pp. 237�42 www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id...
MARECHAL, BRIGITTE 2003 ‘The question of belonging’, in Brigitte Marechal et al.
(eds), Muslim Minorities, Vol. 2, Brill: Leiden
NIELSEN, JØRGEN 2004 Muslims in Western Europe, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press
SIMONSEN, BÆK JØRGEN 2001 Det retfærdige samfund: Om islam, muslimer og etik (The
Just Society: About Islam, Muslims and Ethics), Copenhagen: Samleren
SAFET BECTOVIC is Associate Professor at the Centre for EuropeanIslamic Thought, Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University.ADDRESS: 44�6 Købmagergade, 1150 Copenhagen K, Denmark.Email: [email protected]
Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic identity 1133
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Was
hing
ton
Stat
e U
nive
rsity
Lib
rari
es ]
at 2
2:43
24
Oct
ober
201
4
