THE POWER OF EUROPEAN FATWAS: THE MINORITYFIQHPROJECT AND THE MAKING OF AN ISLAMIC COUNTERPUBLIC

Abstract

What does it mean to “integrate” a complex and multifaceted tradition such as Islam into a transnational space as heterogeneous as that of modern Europe? And what kind of a project is precisely that of a “European Islam,” increasingly invoked today across the continent by a wide range of state and nonstate actors, including many Muslims? At a time dominated by variants of the clash of civilizations thesis, the project appears rather equivocal. What conceptions ofEuropeas a political space, and ofIslamas a religious tradition, underlie the endeavor?

Guidance as ‘Women’s Work’: A New Generation of Female Islamic Authorities in Britain

“…Female authorities are not only transforming ideals of pious leadership, but also contributing to the development of new, multiple forms of knowledge in the European context. Through their guidance work, these female authorities join recent efforts to develop a European Islam (Ramadan 2004;Caeiro 2010;Bowen 2009Bowen , 2016. New generations of Islamic scholars in Europe, trained in the traditional Islamic sciences, are recognising the need to adapt and contextualise knowledge in the European context by bringing Islamic theology into conversation with secular forms of knowledge and addressing the lived realities and everyday struggles experienced by Muslims in the West (Lewis and Hamid 2018; Scott-Baumann and Cheruvallil-Contractor 2015).…”

“Fasad, Hijra and Warlike Diaspora” from the Geographic Boundaries of Early Islam to a New Dar al-Hikma: Europe

“…Starting from the former, the un-religious identification of the ghazawat is not only linguistically linked with the neutral figure of the Ghazi, the warrior, as identified by the pre-Islamic anthropological Arab praxis of raids (Chabbi 1997), but when the Arab conquering campaigns began to fail, attributed to the absence of a propulsive force and to the first huge defeats by Carolingians and Byzantines (the second siege of Constantinople in 717 A.D., but also the battle of Akronion in 740 A.D.), the stabilization of a frontier became a political-strategic need on which many authors have already spent time (Bonner 1996(Bonner , 2006; Gleave and Kristo-Nagy 2015-2016) and on which a new "narrative" was shaped in close connection with the creation of a first Islamic religious identity.…”

Integrating European Muslims Through Discourse? Understanding the Development and Limitations of Euro-Islam in Europe

“…Through the production and dissemination of fatwas, ECFR aims to both protect Muslim identity while at the same time integrate Muslims into European societies by providing new interpretations of Islamic law that fit with European context. As argued by Caeiro (2010), many ECFR Muftis that are based in Europe especially those that affiliated with FIOE have focused more on discourses on the "integration of Muslims" and the fear of "Islamic radicalisation" in their formulation of fatwas. Those fatwas have further provided FIOE with credibility to be the moderating voice of Islam in Europe.…”

“…Thus, fatwas from ECFR can be seen as a discursive instrument by FIOE that contribute in shaping European Muslims practices and behaviour. Although its fatwas give the impression of moderate and quite liberal approach on Islamic teaching (Caeiro 2010), the ECFR is still perceived by many in Europe for not having sincere efforts to come up with a moderate interpretation of Islam that is in line with European values. This mistrust is caused by a number of its council members that are seen as figures that are far from being moderates.…”