Muslim Responses Research Articles

Muslim Intellectual Responses to Interfaith Dialogue and Human Fraternity Documents

This paper discusses the intellectual response of INSISTS Muslims to interfaith dialogue and the document on human fraternity signed by Pope Francis and Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb which is a product of interfaith dialogue. This paper finds that INSISTS intellectuals reject interfaith dialogue as a method, but do not differ in their views on the universal values of Islam contained in the document. This paper is a literature study combined with observations on the INSISTS community. Rejection of interfaith dialogue is a consequence of a “respectful and critical” attitude towards Western discourse and the principle of caution in carrying out activities that will lead Muslims to infidelity.

Accelerating the Digital Transition

Abstract Investigating the potential compatibility between the ongoing shariʿa-compliant cyber reforms with the standards enshrined in the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, the article regards the contemporary European digital agenda as a point of reference to examine the variegated Muslim responses to modern technologies, including virtual Islamic (e-)counseling. Comparing Western and Islamic attitudes toward the usage of robotics and a (human-centric) artificial intelligence, it becomes clear that these tools must support individuals, being Islamic scholars or Western legal professionals. While skillfully relying on different languages and transcending domestic borders, European Islamic bodies can also engage in synergetic collaborations with state institutions at inter/national levels by aligning themselves with the cyber reorientation of the digital public space.

Interrogating Christian and Muslim responses to COVID-19 in Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the far-reaching significance of religion in shaping human interaction within social crises. Efforts to slow down the spread of coronavirus prompted different national governments, including the Federal Government of Nigeria to restrict large density gatherings, enforce lockdowns and promote social distancing, which were largely resisted initially. Organised religion may have influenced citizens’ compliance with government directives for curbing the pandemic. Focussing largely on providing economic assistance to people in need, it may have missed out on the reason for recourse to faith. One outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic was the need to understand the application of religious faith in explaining epidemics and health crises. This work predominantly relies on data from secondary sources (library research and internet materials). Just as it critically investigates Christian-Muslim responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seeks also to justify reliance on religion during a health emergency. By the evaluative method of philosophy, we show that although the pandemic triggered dread of annihilation, it brought in its wake a search for ontological meaningfulness. This study therefore argues that Nigerians turned to religion to meet the deep-seated, individual need for meaningfulness (‘survivability’) that is primary to the need of soul and body, which includes material donations by organised religious entities. The primacy of fulfilling this need precedes sociality both ontologically and epistemologically because meaningfulness is an inalienable property of individuality.Contribution: This work presents religion as a rationally defensible need that is fundamentally rooted in individual human nature, even in a pandemic; religion pertains to meaningfulness, which counters human fear of annihilation and meaninglessness.

Islamophobia in Multicultural America: Media Narratives, Challenges, and Muslim Responses

This research examines the phenomenon of Islamophobia in the context of American multiculturalism, focusing on the interactions between media narratives, civil rights challenges, and Muslim community responses. Employing qualitative methods and literature review, this study analyzes the representation of Islam in media, the impact of policies on Muslim rights, and strategies developed by Muslim organizations to counter discrimination. The findings indicate that media plays a significant role in shaping public perception, often reinforcing negative stereotypes. However, Muslim communities have developed innovative approaches to counter these narratives, including the use of digital media and cross-sectoral collaboration. Civil rights challenges reflect the tension between national security and religious freedom, although there are positive trends in the development of more inclusive legislation in some states. Intercultural dialogue efforts demonstrate potential for reducing prejudice, yet still face challenges in expanding their impact. This research concludes that a multifaceted approach is necessary to address Islamophobia and promote an inclusive multicultural society, involving media reform, policy advocacy, public education, and strengthening intercultural dialogue.

Holy war and the international order

ABSTRACT Scholars have traditionally characterised perang sabil, the Malay term for waging holy war in the way of Allah, as the predominant feature of the Aceh War in the late 19th century. In this sense, perang sabil was often understood as a natural response of Acehnese Muslims toward the Dutch (kafir) invasion of Aceh. This perspective emphasised the existence of rigid borders and centuries of rivalry between the Muslim world and Christendom. It tends to locate the Sultanate of Aceh as an outsider of the broader international society. Recent scholarship, however, has challenged such depictions. Scholars maintain that Muslim empires or sultanates historically integrated into and contributed to international society, effectively dismantling the binary notion of Muslim versus Christian. Ibrahim Alfian, an Acehnese scholar, has suggested that the Acehnese ulama formally declared perang sabil after 1877, four years after the Dutch first invasion, and it gained popularity in the 1880s. This raises the question: If perang sabil is considered a natural Muslim response to a Christian (kafir) empire, why did it not occur from the outset of the Aceh War? This article posits that Acehnese perang sabil was a reaction to the evolving stratification of the international society in the late 19th century, the persistent racialisation of Muslims, and the Dutch colonial genocide during the Aceh War.

Temple, Blackburn, and Post-secularity: A Muslim Response

Temple, Blackburn, and Post-secularity: A Muslim Response

The Responses of Muslims in Weimar Germany to the Abolition of the Caliphate

The abolition of the Caliphate in 1924 had profound global repercussions that were felt far beyond the territorial boundaries of the former Ottoman Empire. This event provoked intense and ambivalent responses among the community of Muslims in Weimar Germany. To date, this reaction has received little attention. Defeat in the war deprived Germany of its colonies, but Berlin became an important point on the map of emerging transnational anti-colonial networks and the centre of the intellectual and political life of Muslims in Europe. In the Islamic space of Berlin, there was an active search for new normative values and a vocabulary that would correspond to the realities of the post-Ottoman Muslim world. A more detailed and nuanced picture of Muslim reactions in Germany to the abolition of the Caliphate can shed more light on the history of Muslim émigré activism and the creation of a Muslim space in Europe during this period.

Ramadan in the plague year: Indonesian Muslim responses to the onset of COVID-19

Ramadan in the plague year: Indonesian Muslim responses to the onset of COVID-19

Religio-Political Dynamism in the 20th Century Colonial India and Subsequent Muslim Response: A Case Study of the Punjab Province

Religio-Political Dymanism is a term that was coined in the 20th century political milieu especially in the perspective of famous Khilafat Movement in the backdrop of the World War I (1914-1919). The entire ‘Muslim India’ stood with their Turkish Brethren at that time of turmoil and upheaval in order to provide them helping hand against the ominous British Imperial designs to disintegrate centuries old Ottoman Empire. This movement that could later be called a mother of all other movements like Tehrik-i- Hijrat (Migration Movement) of 1919-1920, Tehrik-i-Tark-i-Mawalat of 1919-1920 (Non-cooperation Movement) and Tehrik-i-Nafarmani of 1929-1930 (Civil Disobedience Movement). It was for the first time in Indian History that Ulama (Muslim religious scholars as they were called by the community) and Masha’ikh (commonly called as pirs:spiritual guides) arrived into political arena and later this nexus or liaison was established on more profound and stable grounds. This early immature unison failed to prove its worth as the issue of Khilafat was extra-terestrial and was called as an ‘international problem’ by some seasoned politicians like Iqbal and Jinnah. They were of the view that changes and challenges on international scenario were under rapid changes and could not solely be controlled by Indian Muslims who were already in the bonds of slavery and the roots of International Imperialism were very deep which could not easily be deracinated. However; this religio political dymanism proved its effectivity during the decisive phase of freedom movement when the religio-political relationship between religious ranks and All India Muslim League used ‘religion’ as effective tool to attract and convince ‘Muslim India’ under the banner of two-nation theory. ‘Muslim Response’ as another effective term applied in Indian political milieu is actually the counter-strategy of Muslim political intelligentsia to mainly cope with the propaganda of Indian National Congress, the represenatative of Hindu Majority in the garb of so-called ‘nationalism’. Although a faction of Ulama supported the nationalist’s agenda of Congress. So they were called as ‘nationalist Ulama’ who opposed All India Muslim League demand for a separate homeland. Another faction of Muslims called Unionists were the landlords of Punjab, ‘the landed aristocracy’ who were previliged by the British Colonizers in order to subdue the Indian subjects of rural areas. During the War of Independence, this artificially created class appeased their colonial ‘benefactors’. These land artiatocrats like Sir Fazl-e-Hussain, Sir Sikander Hayat Khan, Sir Chhotu Ram, etc established their own political party in 1923. They worked for their own vested interests and nothing to do with the common folk. They were so powerful in Punjab that Jinnah had to sign a pact with them to seek help for the Muslim unity, called Jinnah-Sikandar Pact in 1937, as AIML had badly failed in 1937 General Elections. In order to curb their power, it was quite advisable to adopt another strategy so ‘religio-political nexus’ of Ulama-League which was later transformed into ‘religio-political dymanism’ by the dint of political circumstances filled this gap. The research paper in hand explains the political process and circumstancial pressure that brought AIML and Ulama closer and also highlights the fact that a considerable faction of Ulama, the Ulama-i-Ahl-i-Sunnat worked voluntarily, unconditionally and were sincere with cause of Islam and Pakistan and this fact was proved after the partition of India that they did not demand any reward from the newly established administrative set up.

“Can’t Touch This”: Early Indian Muslim Responses to the Saudi Conquest of the Hijaz

Abstract In late 1924–1925, ʿAbd ul-ʿAzīz us-Saʿūd of Najd invaded and conquered the Hijaz. Guided by their austere Wahhabi convictions, his victorious forces quickly destroyed religious and historical sites and banned myriad “un-Islamic” religious and social practices. These changes had a significant impact on Indian pilgrims to the region, who reacted swiftly and emotionally. Some lauded the reforms and others reviled them, but all spoke with the conviction that they were stakeholders in the region’s future. Most Western scholarship on this event examines its geopolitical complications, but in India the rise of the House of Saud had deep emotional and even existential implications. This article examines early responses to Saudi rule as reflected in Urdu print sources, showing how Indian Muslims responded to it by renegotiating the logistics of pilgrimage, debating restrictions to religious tolerance, and recalibrating their own status and place with the emergent “Muslim World.”

Response of Muslims in Indonesia, particularly the Council of Indonesian Ulama (Majelis Ulama Indonesia) as well as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, to the social discrimination against Muslim communities in France

A report by a global human rights organization, found that violations against Muslim groups in France were widespread and all the acts committed were based on the name of state security. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was prepared by representatives of countries with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world which was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 in Paris, France. This declaration then signifies that fundamental human rights must be universally protected. In this research, researchers aim to find out what social discrimination has occurred against Muslim groups in France, and researchers also want to know what are the reactions of Muslims in Indonesia in general and their responses, especially Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI) and Nahdhatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah as representatives of Muslims in Indonesia against social discrimination against Muslim groups in France by using a qualitative approach method whose data collection techniques are through internet-based research, literature studies, and interviews. In their research results, researchers found that Indonesian society in general, especially MUI, NU, and Muhammadiyah continue to guard against Islamophobia in France and France as the country where the rules regarding international human rights were declared still have a high rate of discrimination, especially against Muslim minority groups.

Face Veil and Lawo-Lambu: Negotiating Religious Practices Among Muslims and Catholics in Ende City

ABSTRACTThe phenomenon of wearing a face veil in Ende City has received a rather negative response from Catholics. The Catholics think that the face veil worn by Muslim women has created a social and emotional distance that disrupts the kinship system of Muslims and Catholics of the same ethnic culture. This study explores and analyzes the motivation for Muslims wearing the face veil, the reasons behind the response of Muslims and Catholics, and the negotiation efforts made by Muslims in responding to and accommodating the local culture of dressing among the Ende people. This study is qualitative research through in-depth interviews with Muslim and Catholic sources as well participant observations. This field study was conducted from July 2019 to December 2021. The data analysis process used was descriptive and interpretive. The findings of this study show that; first, the choice to wear the face veil comes from personal motivation towards piety of the faith of Muslim women. A face veil is not an expression of a suspicious radical movement and will not disrupt the kinship system as perceived by the Catholics. Second, it turns out that the response of the Catholics is due to the assumption that Muslim women who wear the face veil have left the local dress culture because they are adopting Arab culture and causing social rifts in daily life even though they are ethnically still brothers and sisters. Third, Ende Muslims combine the face veil with local clothing, the lawo-lambu, on different occasions. This combination is a negotiation process between personal autonomy towards a true Muslimah and a strategy to accommodate the beauty of the local dress, the lawo-lambu, so as not to lose their identity as Ende people who are predominantly Catholics.

Malevolent Spirits, Noxious Vapours, and the Will of God

This article describes Islam’s theological approach towards disease transmission. Modern commentators, including many conservative Muslims, argue that Islam is theologically predisposed to deny disease transmission, particularly in the context of the plague, instead framing illness as non-communicable. Whether an individual contracts a disease, they claim, is a consequence of Divine Will, as the originator of that disease in the first place. No room exists for lesser causative factors, like contagion. However, a review of Islamic scripture and the pre- and early modern Muslim responses to it across regions as diverse as North Africa and Southeast Asia reveals a far richer and more complex understanding. While several ḥadīths do ostensibly deny contagion, Muslim jurists and medical practitioners have, far from reading these as denials of disease transmission in all its forms, positioned such statements alongside other ḥadīths acknowledging the reality of that phenomenon. Utilizing the theological principle of secondary causation, they have imparted congruence to these statements, creating a theological space in which disease can be passed from one host to another without compromising the integrity of the Divine Will. The recent COVID-19 pandemic foregrounds the importance of re-discovering and re-emphasizing these interpretations, especially as small yet persistent groups of Muslims refuse vaccination in the belief that God alone can protect them from illness. Such views arguably misunderstand Islamic teachings.

When a Crisis Empties Mosques: A Case Study of Muslim Responses to the Pandemic’s Challenges in Regards to Spiritual Care and Communal Rituals in Austria and Germany

Abstract Cases from both Germany and Austria exemplify how the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing traditionally held ideas of Islamic community, religious congregations, and pastoral care. These cases were collected during Ramadan 2020, as this particular period signifies a time of paramount spirituality, social solidarity, and communal festivity. They reflect the rich and vibrant efforts and responses of Muslim leaders, organizations, and institutions to the challenges posed by the current pandemic. Different initiatives and solutions Muslim communities have developed as a response to COVID-19 are characterized as “caring communities.” Muslim chaplains, despite their highly limited personal access to secluded, lonesome, and distressed individuals in need of support, overcame the restrictions. Muslim leaders have striven to make use of the virtual space to fulfil the ordinary function of mosques as places of worship and communication. They have thus attempted to uphold social solidarity (zakat). Their responses to the pandemic raise questions about the future of religiosity and its manifestation as well as possible forms of religious communities and their ethical values.

Muslim Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Western Sydney: Understanding the Role of Community-Specific Communication Infrastructure

ABSTRACT In Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic rendered visible and exacerbated socio-economic inequalities and divides. Migrant and religious minority communities in Australia faced particular challenges during the pandemic when government responses were not made culturally accessible, appropriate or relatable. This paper examines the role played by community-specific communication infrastructures in addressing government deficiencies to meet the needs of Muslim communities. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Muslims in an area hit hard by the pandemic – Western Sydney – we consider the role communication infrastructures played in combatting misinformation, providing up-to-date information and creating spaces for locally and culturally informed responses to be developed. We propose that community-specific communication infrastructures were critical to Muslims seeking to address gaps, needs and inequalities during the pandemic and they were effective because they were designed with an understanding of Muslim communities’ social and cultural norms, practices, experiences and needs. The research offers insights relevant to migrant and religious communities, not-for-profits, and government agencies seeking to develop effective strategies to respond to challenges and crises as they emerge.

Indonesian Muslim in the Netherlands: Responding to Nationalism, Islamism, Democracy, and Pluralism

There are very few studies relating to the practice of Indonesian Islam in the Netherlands, and how Indonesian Muslims in the Netherlands respond to a number of citizenship issues (such as nationalism, Islamism, democracy and pluralism). This article describes quantitative data based on survey results to understand practice of Indonesian Islam in the Netherlands, and to describe the responses of Indonesian Muslims in the Netherlands to a number of citizenship issues. The survey covers demographic information, the practice of Indonesian Islam, responses about several topics such as Indonesia, nationalism and Islam; Islamism, democracy and pluralism, and participation in Islamic organizations. The survey involved 89 respondents living in the Netherlands in 2017. The findings show that rituals associated to Nahdlatul Ulama (the biggest Islamic organization in Indonesia) are most common among the Indonesian community in the Netherlands. In general, respondents are strongly nationalists. However, some political Islam principles are becoming more commonplace among Indonesian Muslims in the Netherlands, which indicates that the support for Islamism is strong enough among them.

The Swing Theory of Islam: A Study of Ernest Gellner Epistemology

Theory is the highest form of knowledge. As for the person who succeeds in giving birth to a theory, he can be said to be someone who really deserves ‘appreciation’. Gellner as a sociologist managed to read the social reality of Islam by giving birth to the pendulum swing theory in Islam - A Pendulum Swing Theory of Islam. This article tries to explain Ernest Gellner’s theory. From studies conducted show that: 1) His theory was born from his interest in Islam, for him Islam has a structure and character that is unique compared to religion outside, 2) The ability of Islam to respond to change without losing ‘identity’ makes the social response of Muslims in a level that ‘established.’ This second point, for Gellner, is the key to why Muslims’ social reality movements tend to ‘flux and reflux of religion’ as well as the Pendulum swing.

Confronting Islamophobia and its consequences in East London in a context of increased surveillance and stigmatisation

Islamophobia is an issue faced by Muslims across Europe. In the UK, there is a growing acceptance that the government’s counter-terrorism policy, Prevent, has led to increased discrimination. Current research is split on whether discrimination among Muslims is leading to disengagement and a retreat from public life or whether this has inspired a feeling of responsibility to participate more actively and engage in politics or alternative forms of political resistance. This paper presents the results from the London case study of a larger comparative project which seeks to assess the political consequences of the experience of discrimination by evaluating the individual and collective responses of Muslims in terms of political participation and representation. Based on qualitative research including semi-structured interviews and participant observation in Tower Hamlets (East London), we show how Muslim individuals, including civil society actors, have responded to Islamophobia, and the discrimination associated with it, in a context of increased surveillance after the introduction of the ‘Prevent Duty’ in 2015. We focus on individual responses to confronting discrimination and stigmatisation and include a case study of an initiative by the campaigning group Citizens UK which sought to explore the potential for collective responses and wider coalitions against discrimination faced by Muslims. We investigate the emerging strategies that are being adopted as a reaction to discrimination and examine the extent to which responses constitute a means of ‘fighting back’ through political participation and engagement and whether this new climate has fostered either mobilisation or demobilisation. Our findings indicate that individual forms of resistance are more prominent than mass mobilisation and some evidence of Muslims retreating from political engagement.

Symposium 2: COVID-19 Experiences Around the World

The presentation gives an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. It discusses the 1st, 2nd and 3rd waves, including the current new COVID-19 variant B1.1.529 and the 4th predicated wave. It also discusses the South African government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Muslims in South Africa make up 3% of South Africa's population of nearly 60 million. It further examines the COVID- 19 statistics in the Muslim community, the Muslim response in the relief efforts, and focusing on the response of the Islamic Medical Association of South Africa (IMASA) in the efforts to combat the virus and improve the survival rates.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue: 2022 Page: S9

Adaptation and Change among Asian Muslim Immigrants in the West

Abstract Drawing on a variety of sources, this paper highlights the reality of diverse choices immigrants make as they come to terms with crises. Two theoretical domains are used to explain the disparate responses instead of simply identifying the options adopted by the immigrants and describing them. The first is ‘modernity’ understood here in its expanded sense, i.e.: it is not just an idea unique to the West but that it is ‘variegated’ or ‘multiple’. The second is ‘conversion’, involving the idea of it being a dynamic process, especially for those dealing with crises. The immigrant responses converge around these ideas thus revealing how some of them find answers within Islam (through re-visioning) and others who find them outside Islam (through conversion). This illustrates how ‘Muslim modernity’ expresses itself in the heart of the West but also highlights the agency of some who seek change through a radical affiliation with Christianity and secular humanism. The underlying argument is that Muslim responses are far more diverse and varied than existing literature shows.