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The research is conducted at the Universities of Frankfurt/Oder
(Comparative Social and Cultural Anthropology, Prof. Werner Schiffauer),
Hamburg (Religious Pedagogics, Prof. Wolfram Weiße) and
Halle/Saale (South Asian Studies, Prof. Rahul Peter Das) in a
collaborative project coordinated by senior lecturer Dr. Dietrich
Reetz at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies (ZMO) in Berlin.
Six studies investigate the role of religious Muslim groups,
movements, and institutions in European countries in an attempt
to understand the extent to which Muslims will shape emerging
European identity. The results should contribute to an understanding
of whether and how Muslims in Europe can aspire to a religious
lifestyle and what obstacles might arise in the process. Muslim
notions of Europe, the position practicising Muslims might adopt
there, and the ideas and concepts they pursue will be explored.
For comparative reasons links with their countries and cultures
of origin will be considered. The transfer of cultural and religious
knowledge and its influence on local and translocal social milieus
is also to be studied. As an interdisciplinary project, “Muslims
in Europe and their societies of origin in Asia and Africa”
combines concepts derived from the sociology of religion with
those of Islamic studies and the political sciences. The research
is designed as a series of complementary case studies.
The research project will actively communicate research to the
wider public, including specialists, activists and intellectuals.
For this purpose it will organise public events and develop representations
for the media and the Internet. Apart from academic publications
on project findings, the submission of proposals to politicians
and other decision-makers in society is also planned.
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