Muslim Diasporas In The West

In view of the growing influence of religion in public life on the national and international scenes, Muslim Diaspora in the West constitutes a timely contribution to scholarly debates and a response to concerns raised in the West about Islam and Muslims within diaspora. It begins with the premise that diasporic communities of Islamic cultures, while originating in countries dominated by Islamic laws and religious practices, far from being uniform, are in fact shaped in their existence and experiences by a complex web of class, ethnic, gender, religious and regional factors, as well as the cultural and social influences of their adopted homes. Within this context, this volume brings together work from experts within Europe and North America to explore the processes that shape the experiences and challenges faced by migrants and refugees who originate in countries of Islamic cultures. Presenting the latest research from a variety of locations on both sides of The Atlantic, Muslim Diaspora in the West addresses the realities of diasporic life for self-identified Muslims, addressing questions of integration, rights and equality before the law, and challenging stereotypical views of Muslims. As such, it will appeal to scholars with interests in race and ethnicity, cultural, media and gender studies, and migration.

Muslim Diaspora identifies those aspects of migratory experience that shatter or reinforce a group’s attachment to its homeland and affect its readiness to adapt to a new country. The contributors to this collection examine many dimensions of life in the Diaspora and demonstrate that identity is always constructed in relation to others. They show how religious identity in diaspora is mediated by many other factors such as: Gender Class Ethnic origin National status A central aim is to understand Diaspora as an agent of social and cultural change, particularly in its transformative impact on women. Throughout, the book advances a more nuanced understanding of the notions of ethnicity, difference and rights. It makes an important contribution to understanding the complex processes of formation and adoption of transnational identities and the challenging contradictions of a world that is being rapidly globalized in economic and political terms, and yet is increasingly localized and differentiated, ethically and culturally. Muslim Diaspora includes contributions from outstanding scholars and is an invaluable text for students in sociology, anthropology, geography, cultural studies, Islamic studies, women’s studies as well as the general reader.

Today, Muslims are the second largest religious group in much of Europe and North America. The essays in this collection look both at the impact of the growing Muslim population on Western societies, and how Muslims are adapting to life in the West. Part I looks at the Muslim diaspora in Europe, comprising essays on Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands. Part II turns to the Western Hemisphere and Muslims in the U.S. , Canada, and Mexico. Throughout, the authors contend with such questions as: Can Muslims retain their faith and identity and at the same time accept and function within the secular and pluralistic traditions of Europe and America? What are the limits of Western pluralism? Will Muslims come to be fully accepted as fellow citizens with equal rights? An excellent guide to the changing landscape of Islam, this volume is an indispensable introduction to the experiences of Muslims in the West, and the diverse responses of their adopted countries.

This second volume details the continued spread of Muslim culture and peoples during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a period that saw the height of the powerful Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires, followed by their precipitous decline. The contributions of Muslims to the development of Western civilization continue to be highlighted in this chronology, most notably the impact of the Ottoman Empire on Western art and literature and its role in creating an environment in which the Protestant Reformation could take root. This volume reveals the interconnectedness of the Muslim, Jewish, African and European diasporas during this period.

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Cultural Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: 1, University of Vienna (Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie), course: Home, Habitat and Diaspora, language: English, abstract: In the following I will discuss some general conceptual thoughts on the notion of diaspora, which could be useful for the discussion of the claim of an existing Muslim Diaspora. After the introduction I'd like to illustrate with social-science based literature on Germany and the USA thoughts on The Muslim Diaspora. Referring to this chapter I'd like to present arguments for and against the usage of the notion The Muslim Diaspora in social sciences. A reflection will sum up the ideas of the essay. Many especially western socialized scholars speak about the Muslim Diaspora in Europe and the USA. In fact that the notion of diaspora has been politicized, many nationalist groups or even governments often use the concept of diaspora to pursue agendas of nation-state-building or controlling populations abroad. Because of this politicization of the notion, “scholars have argued that the term should be used with care and not regarded as an innocuous analytical concept” (Brubaker 2005, quoted in Faist 2010: 13). Looking at the EU and the debate on a European comprehensive immigration policy, the term diaspora figures prominently in officially issued EU documents and that the concept has evolved along with efforts at migration control. In EU documents, “Diasporas are portrayed as networks of migrants with various legal links to the home country. By contrast, the language of UN documents revolves around ‘transnational communities’ as main actors in development policy.” (Faist 2010: 19) But in the terms of the EU, Diasporas, as proverbial “seeds in the wind”, “are thought to contribute to development in the countries of origin, without being burdened by the experience of traumatic dispersal.” (ibid. 19) In general, concepts of diaspora deal with dispersal, traumatic and the resulting emergence and reproduction of collective identity (varying intensities of ties to the country of emigration and the countries of immigration) (ibid. 21). It is important to notice that the concept and the meanings of the notion ‘diaspora’ changed dramatically in the academia (and even the politics) in the last decades. If the academia would argue, that the three main categories of the concept of diaspora are (1) the dispersion in space (2) the orientation to a homeland and (3) boundary maintenance - it could be possible to converge to the phenomenon of diaspora and to draw near the discussion if there is the Muslim diaspora in the western world and the following discussion question:

This book provides insights into some of the social topics related to the homogenization and stereotyping of Muslims. It explores the experiences of Muslims in Western societies, with a particular focus not only on gender, home and belonging, multiculturalism, and ethnicity.

This first volume covers the development of Islam in the period from the birth of Muhammad in C.E. 570 through 1500, during which Islam grew to dominate the area which has come to be known as the Middle East. Along with their religion, Muslims carried their culture, their goods, and their innovations to the far corners of the globe. Their contributions to Western civilization-such as new kinds of agriculture (irrigation, oranges, sugarcane, cotton), manufactured goods (satin, rugs, paper, perfumes), and technology (astrolabe, compass, lateen sail)--are set out in detail.