Critical Muslim Studies

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The Trial of Elias d’Imzalene

“Are we ready to carry out an intifada in Paris? In the banlieues? In our neighborhoods?”

When Elias d’Imzalene pronounced these words in front of a pro-Palestinian crowd in Paris on the 8th of September 2024, no soul could have predicted the swift turn of events about to unfold. Elias, one of the key leaders of Urgence Palestine — the main pro-Palestinian group in France — had been at the forefront of every protest against the genocide in the country. With his bold and proud Muslimness on display, he achieved what seemed impossible in France: imposing a relevant voice firmly rooted in Islam in a pro-Palestinian space long dominated by the Left.

Redefining Islamophobia: The Racialisation Debate and “Acceptable” …

Debates over the APPG on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia have centred on a key tension: while conceptualising Islamophobia as ‘a form of racism’, clarifies legal and policy tools for addressing it, critics worry that this framing conflates race and religion, potentially neglecting the diversity of Muslim identities. Criticisms, albeit weak, include discussions ranging from claims from commentators from outside the Muslim community that it prevents a legitimate criticism of Islam to claims from within a small section of the Muslim community that Muslims are not a ‘race’ and so on. It is this latter misconception of Muslims and race that I wish to dwell upon in this article, as such critiques often misunderstand the sociological process of racialisation.

Remembering Saba Mahmood: Twenty years of Politics of Piety

In 2004, Saba Mahmood’s Politics of Piety reshaped feminist debates on agency and secularism, challenging entrenched assumptions and sparking sharp critique. Often perceived as overtly anti-Western and critical of dominant feminist paradigms, Mahmood’s work questioned the universal applicability of liberal ideals and the imperialist undertones embedded in the saviour mentality of human rights and feminist endeavours. Twenty years on, the text remains a cornerstone for interrogating secular norms and the intersections of religion, politics, and feminism.

An Idol and an Ideal

On top of a rock in a desert valley about 400km outside of Medina sits a rather curious sculpture. Najma (2020) is cross-legged, her palms placed on her knees facing up to the sky (in what new age yoga practitioners would recognise as the ‘lotus’ pose), her eyes closed in meditation. She glows an electric blue colour…

Proceedings of the 3rd International Critical Muslim Studies Conferenc …

This blog post features the conference proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of Critical Muslim Studies on ‘ReOrienting the (Global) South’. The conference was hosted by the Centre for Ethnic and Racism Studies (CERS) between 24th-26th June 2024 at the University of Leeds.

Naming the Erasure: See-ing and Not-seeing a Genocide

It seems unbelievable that more than eleven months of the ongoing genocide in Gaza have passed, with thousands of Palestinians killed, injured and displaced. In January 2024, South Africa’s presentation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) underlined the extraordinary circumstance that external knowledge of a genocide and its occurrence are both happening together in real-time in front of the world’s eyes. Yet, despite this, there is also an ongoing and concerted whitewashing, censorship and denial of the genocide by most western countries and the shared silence in their national media and political arenas. How do we make sense of this gap between those who see the violence, with its historic and ongoing presence every day, and those who do not, and in fact, actively deny it?

Redefining Islamophobia: The Racialisation Debate and “Acceptable” …

Debates over the APPG on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia have centred on a key tension: while conceptualising Islamophobia as ‘a form of racism’, clarifies legal and policy tools for addressing it, critics worry that this framing conflates race and religion, potentially neglecting the diversity of Muslim identities. Criticisms, albeit weak, include discussions ranging from claims from commentators from outside the Muslim community that it prevents a legitimate criticism of Islam to claims from within a small section of the Muslim community that Muslims are not a ‘race’ and so on. It is this latter misconception of Muslims and race that I wish to dwell upon in this article, as such critiques often misunderstand the sociological process of racialisation.

Remembering Saba Mahmood: Twenty years of Politics of Piety

In 2004, Saba Mahmood’s Politics of Piety reshaped feminist debates on agency and secularism, challenging entrenched assumptions and sparking sharp critique. Often perceived as overtly anti-Western and critical of dominant feminist paradigms, Mahmood’s work questioned the universal applicability of liberal ideals and the imperialist undertones embedded in the saviour mentality of human rights and feminist endeavours. Twenty years on, the text remains a cornerstone for interrogating secular norms and the intersections of religion, politics, and feminism.

ReOrientations:

The Blog of the Critical Muslim Studies Project

 

Welcome to ReOrientations, the blog of the Critical Muslim Studies project. 

VIEW CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES HERE

Decolonisations and Emancipations

Critical Muslim Studies | SUMMER PROGRAMME

 

Call for Applications

Critical Muslim Studies investigates the genealogies and complexities of Muslimness its cognates and variants – in relation to decolonial impulses and their limits in a world scarred by genocide and authoritarian populism.

Deadline for Applications: 14th February 2025

APPLY HERE

ReOrienting Resistance

4th International Critical Muslim Studies Conference

 

Call for Papers

The fourth Critical Muslim Studies conference invites scholars, researchers and thinkers to engage with the theme of  ReOrienting Resistance.

Deadline for Submissions: 7th February 2025

EXPLORE HERE

The Struggle for Pakistan

ReOrient on Pakistan - Blogs + Podcasts
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About Us

This website is a platform for bringing together and putting forward the different elements of Critical Muslim Studies as a field of thought and study. Critical Muslim Studies is not confined to a single discipline, or scholarly work, or methodological approach. It is an epistemological orientation that starts from the idea that the hierarchy between the west and the non-west is no longer assured…

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