Course Syllabus

Muslims in the West

Description of course

Islam and Muslims in Europe have come to play a significant part of the European public and political life - if not by their own volition, then by the circumstances and contexts that inform us all. Media is full of discussions on veiling, radicalization, sharia law, parallel communities, terrorism - just to name a few - but how do these phenomena work in real social and religions lives of Muslims and non-Muslims (!) alike? Religions are dynamic phenomena, and within only a few generations of Muslim presence in Europe, we have seen the development of various European discourses within Islam. These are evident in both Islamic extremisms and in the women's struggle within Islam. In this course, you will learn to analyze a broad spectrum of Islamic discourses from Salafism to Islamic feminism with methods from political science and sociology of religion.

The course material consists of a combination of historical, ethnographic and anthropological studies, reports with quantitative and qualitative data, and sociological, political and religious theory. The historical, ethnographic and anthropological studies will give an understanding of the field and answers questions such as why women don the face-veil and go into Salafism and why some Muslims adhere to parallel juridical institutions rather than the state’s legal system. We will contextualize this knowledge with quantitative studies and utilize sociological theory to analyze both qualitative and quantitative data.

This course is designed around the dialectic concepts of learning by doing and critical analysis. The mantra is 'those who do, are those who learn.' Therefore, we change perspective several times during the semester and apply different theories to our material. This means that you will develop a familiarity and confidence with the material while practicing the application of theory at every stage. Towards the end of the semester, you are highly encouraged to go beyond the application of theory and start making independent inquiries, evaluations and be creative with what you've learned. 

Learning objectives

You will gain a good overview of Islamic discourses in the West and develop methodological skills that enable you to analyze Islam as a minority religion in a western context. The course is based upon , political science as well as anthropological and sociological theory, which we will train through papers. This means that you have a wide-ranging freedom to choose your own topics - as long as you apply the theory and add some independant critical thinking. At the end of the course, you will be well equipped to analyze the current situation and developments in European Islam and utilize the theory from class in other spheres than Islamic studies.

Field studies

• The Imam Ali Mosque
• The David's Collection (Islamic art museum)

Readings

• Ackfeldt, Anders (2020): The semiotics of Malcolm X from Harlem to Tahrir. In: Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift (1)
• Ahmed, Afia (2019): The clothes of my faith. In: Mariam Khan (ed.): It's not about the Burqa. Picador.
• Ali, Ayaan Hirsi (2004): The caged virgin: A Muslim woman's cry for reason. Pocket Books. Pp. ix-xviii and 139-150.
• Cesari, Jocelyne (2010): Securitization of Islam in Europe. In: Jocelyne Cesari (ed.): Muslims in the West after 9/11: Religion, politics, and law. Routledge.
• Eltahawy, Mona (2012): Why do they hate us? In: Foreign Policy.
• Henkel, Heiko (2006): The journalists of Jyllands-Posten are a bunch of reactionary provocateurs. In: Radical Philosophy (137). Pp. 2-7.
• Huntington, Samuel P (1993): The clash of civilizations? In: Foreign Affairs (3). Pp. 22-49
• Jeldtoft, Nadia (2013): The hypervisibility of Islam. In: Nathal M. Dessing, Nadia Jeldtoft, Jørgen S. Nielsen, and Linda Woodhead: Everyday lived Islam in Europe. Ashgate.
• Klausen, Jytte (2007): The Islamic challenge: Politics and religion in Western Europe. Oxford University Press.
• Lughod, Lila (2013): Do Muslim women need saving? Harvard University Press. pp. 81-112.
• Nielsen, Jørgen S. and Jonas Otterbeck (2016): Muslim in western Europe. Edinburgh University Press. Pp. 1-66
• Otterbeck, Jonas (2020: Finding the object of study: Islamic studies in practice. International Journal of Religion 2(1).
• Petersen, Jesper (2022): The making of a mosque with female imams: Serendipities in the production of Danish Islams. Brill. Pp. 1-21 and 66-176.
• Rifaat, Alifa (1983): Distant view of a minaret. Heinemann Ibadan Nairobi, pp. 1-4.
• Rose, Flemming (2006): Why I published those cartoons. In: Washington Post (19 February 2006).
• Soper, J. Christopher and Joel S. Fetzer (2009): The practice of their faith: Muslims and the state in Britain, France, and Germany. In: Abdulkader H. Sinno (ed.): Muslim in Western Politics. Indiana University Press.
• Vinding, Niels Valdemar (2018): "Churchification of Islam in Europe", In: Vinding, Racius, & Thielmann, Exploring the Multitude of Muslims in Europe. Essays in Honour of Jørgen S. Nielsen. Brill Publishers 2018
• Vinding, Niels Valdemar (forthcoming): "French Islam. If not Muslim, then what?", in: Ackfeldt, A., & Petersen, J., Non-Muslim Islam., Edinburgh University Press, (hopefully) 2024

Grading

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code 

AI Statement

This course encourages the careful and partial use of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Scribe, Microsoft Bing, and Google Bard. Although AI tools are valuable, they should support human creativity and critical thinking, not replace them. Therefore, using AI tools is permitted within defined contexts if you include proper attribution. Usage outside of the predefined contexts and without attribution will be considered a breach of our Academic Honesty Policy. Detailed instructions will be provided during the course