Conflicting Paradigms of Religious and Bureaucratic Authority in a British Mosque

Amin El-Yousfi

doi:10.3390/rel10100564

Abstract

This article analyses an on-going conflict between two groups (Bargil and Kardal) over the management of a mosque located in an area near London. Based on fourteen months of intensive fieldwork, including participant observation, informal chats and semi-structured interviews, this article offers an in-depth and original account of the transformations taking place in mosques concerning the role of imams and mosque committee members. By analysing the object of conflict, the organisational structure, the dynamic of the groups and its leaders, as well as the process of bureaucratisation of mosques as a material condition, I intend to scrutinise the role and status of the imam and mosque committee members. The primary aim of this article is to re-examine and challenge the narrative of decline in religious authority (in Western mosques) propounded by some scholars as being the result of individualisation and the rise of new religious figures outside traditional institutions. I suggest that rather than experiencing a decline in imams’ religious authority, mosques have become controlled by the bureaucratic authority of the committee members. In other words, imams’ religious authority is still exercised, yet only within the bureaucratic framework set by the committee members.

Highlights

This article analyses an on-going conflict between two groups (Bargil and Kardal) over the management of a mosque located in an area near London
Despite the epistemological problems surrounding the concept of “religious authority,” I use it in this article primarily due to its constant presence in the works of scholars who propound the narrative of decline that I intend to challenge here
(Desmond 2014) which gives primacy to configurations of relations and studies multiple actors and agencies engaged with one another, this paper looks at the conditions and functions of a conflict inside one mosque in an area near London

Summary

Introduction

This article analyses an on-going conflict between two groups (Bargil and Kardal) over the management of a mosque located in an area near London. The primary aim of this article is to re-examine and challenge the narrative of decline in religious authority (in Western mosques) propounded by some scholars as being the result of individualisation and the rise of new religious figures outside traditional institutions. A common narrative in the literature surrounding mosques is the decline of religious authority (Peter 2006; cf Sunier 2018).. A common narrative in the literature surrounding mosques is the decline of religious authority (Peter 2006; cf Sunier 2018).1 Scholars argue that this decline is due either to the process of individualisation among the younger generations (Cesari 1998, 2003; Hervieu-Léger 1999; Roy 2005). Despite the epistemological problems surrounding the concept of “religious authority,” I use it in this article primarily due to its constant presence in the works of scholars who propound the narrative of decline that I intend to challenge here. Religions 2019, 10, 564 supports the claim of a fragmentation of religious authority, including the loss of imams’ influence

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion