For readers interested in Islamic law and society, and especially for those who might not have thought that Malaysia is…
Conversion and demographic anxieties
Islam
Deepening the “zero-sum binary”
Via Islamic finance, “rites” have increased their power over “rights” in Malaysia.
Creating new Sufi publics at an old Sufi shrine
[M]odern Sufis have recognized the importance of music and the arts as a recruitment tool for forming a new Sufi…
Liberal rights and religious rites
While Constituting Religion provides a detailed case study of Malaysia, the argument Moustafa develops has important implications for much of…
Allah, hidden treasures, and the Divine Feminine
The idea of God the father is simply not part of the dominant Muslim imaginary. Instead Muslim theology speaks of…
Piety, publicity, and the paradox of Islamization
The paradox of Islamization . . . has been that in expanding the scope of Islamic authority and making it…
Freedom’s fascists: Hate speech and the new European far right
Far right parties have metamorphisized: they are now anti-Islamic rather than anti-Semitic; as populist parties they rely on mass mobilization…
Proximate enigmas
I’m delighted—and daunted!—for this chance at engaging the rich discussions of this forum. Nothing I say in this short space…
Compulsory things: Some reflections on Hirschkind and Doostdar
In an illuminating exchange, Charles Hirschkind and Alireza Doostdar debate the compulsory quality of modern scientific reasoning. Doostdar, in The…
A liturgy of the soul
Reading and responding to Knot of the Soul deeply signifies a longstanding dialogue with my friend and interlocutor Stefania Pandolfo.…