Studying Islam in Practice: (Studying Religions in Practice)

This book presents Islam as a lived religion through observation and discussion of how Muslims from a variety of countries, traditions and views practice their religion. It conveys the experiences of researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds and demonstrates the dynamic and heterogeneous world of Islam. The fascinating case studies range from Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon to the UK, USA, Australia and Indonesia, and cover topics such as music, art, education, law, gender and sexuality. Together they will help students understand how research into religious practice is carried out, and what issues and challenges arise.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Studying Islam in Practice (GABRIELE MARRANCI) 1. On Fasting in Fes: Learning about Food, Family, and Friendship during Fieldwork in Morocco (MARIA F. CURTIS) 2. Studying the Muslim Family Law Courts in Morocco (LAWRENCE ROSEN) 3. Hymenoplasty and the Relationship between Doctors and Muftis in Egypt (L.L. WYNN) 4. Studying Fatwas: Global and Local Answers to Religious Questions (DAVID DRENNAN) 5. The hajj: its meaning for Turkish Muslims (CAROL L. DELANEY) 6. Studying Islam and the City: The Case of Istanbul (CHRIS HOUSTON) 7. Study of Shi’a Muslim Women in Southern California (BRIDGET BLOMFIELD) 8. Studying Indonesian Muslim masculinities in Indonesia and Australia (PAMELA NILAN) 9. An ethnographer among the Ahmadis: learning Islam in the suburbs (MARZIA BALZANI) 10. Women, Sexuality and Mosques (S. DERVLA SHANNAHAN) 11. Where heaven meets land: Music and Islam in everyday life and encounters (CARIN BERG) 12. Reflections at a Time of Transformation: American Muslim Artists Reach Out to New Yorkers in the Aftermath of September 11 (MUNIR JIWA) 13. Global Muslim Markets in London (JOHAN FISCHER) 14. Researching Muslim Converts: Islamic Teachings, Political Context and the Researcher’s Personality (LEON MOOSAVI) 15. Studying Muslims and Cyberspace (GARY BUNT) 16. Women Studying for the Afterlife (MAREIKE J. WINKELMANN) 17. Experiencing Islamic Education in Indonesia (RON LUKENS-BULL)

About the Author :
Gabriele Marranci is an anthropologist working on religion with a specialization in Muslim societies. He is Director of the Study of Contemporary Muslim Lives research hub at Macquarie University in Australia, and Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK at Cardiff University. His books include Jihad beyond Islam (Berg 2006), The Anthropology of Islam (Berg 2007), Understanding Muslim Identity, Rethinking Fundamentalism (Palgrave Macmillan 2009) and Faith, Ideology and Fear: Muslim Identities Within and Beyond Prisons (Continuum 2009).

Review :
"These lively narratives and reflections reflect the diversity and complexity of Islam as a lived religious tradition. The multidisciplinary perspectives represented vividly reveal the process and experience of studying Muslim religious life and practice. Studying Islam in Practice will greatly enrich students’ understanding of Islam as lived religion and the ways in which Islamic studies scholarship is produced and experienced by scholars in a variety of disciplines." - Karen G. Ruffle, University of Toronto, Canada "For a performative religion such as Islam, it is all the more important to get a sense of how Muslims practice, live, and experience their religion. This varied edited volume really offers the reader a concrete sense of what it means to be Muslim." - Carool Kersten, King’s College London, UK