Methods and Contexts in the Study of Muslim Minorities

In the past decade Muslims in Europe have been the subject of heated debates on the place and role of religion in the public space. Research into the issues involved has often used visible and formalised expressions of Muslim religiosity as its empirical point of departure. This book instead examines the microlevel workings of Muslim minority religiosity to offer a new perspective on these debates. Contributors to this volume examine the forms of Muslim religiosity which are not dependent on the official or semi-official settings of organised religion. These ethnographic studies investigate a range of examples of non-organised Islam, ranging from salafi-jihadism, to converts to Islam, to everyday spiritualities of Muslim in Europe. By exploring these neglected forms of Muslim religiosity, this book is able to build up a more nuanced picture of the role of Muslims in Europe. It will be of interest to academics, researchers and graduate students of Religion, Ethnic Studies, Migration Studies, Sociology and Political Science. This book was previously published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Nadia Jeldtoft is a PhD Fellow at the Centre for European Islamic Thought in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Jørgen S. Nielsen is Danish National Research Foundation Professor and Director at the Centre for European Islamic Thought in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

1. Introduction: Methods in the Study on "non-organized" Muslim Minorities Nadia Jeldtoft and Jørgen S. Nielsen Part I: Methods 2. Studying Muslims and constructing Islamic Identity Safet Bectovic 3. Lived Islam - Religious Identity with "non-organized" Muslim Minorities Nadia Jeldtoft 4. Context, focus and new perspectives in the study of Muslim religiosity Tina G. Jensen 5. Ritualization among young adult Muslims in Malmö and Copenhagen Jonas Otterbeck 6. Excuse me, which radical organization are you a member of? Reflections on methods to study highly religious, but non-organized Muslims Lene Kühle 7. Salafi Jihadism: relying on fieldwork to study un-organized and clandestine phenomena Ann-Sophie Hemmingsen 8. Understanding and Approaching Muslim Visibilities: Lessons Learned From a Fieldwork based Study of Muslims in Copenhagen Garbi Schmidt 9. Faith intersections and Muslim women in the European Microcosm: notes towards the study of non-organized Islam Sara Silvestri Part II: Contexts 10. Contexts of immigrant receptivity and immigrant religious outcomes: the case of Muslims in Western Europe Phillip Connor 11. Young people's attitudes towards Muslims in Sweden Pieter Bevelander and Jonas Otterbeck 12. Democracy and denomination: democratic values among Muslim minorities and the majority population in Denmark Peter Gundelach 13. Generational differences in ethnic and religious attachment and their interrelation. A study among Muslim minorities in the Netherlands Mieke Maliepaard, Marcel Lubbers and Merove Gijsberts