Gary R. Bunt is a twenty-year pioneer in the study of cyber-Islamic environments (CIEs). In his new book, Bunt explores the diverse and surprising ways digital technology is shaping how Muslims across vast territories relate to religious authorities in fulfilling spiritual, mystical, and legalistic agendas. From social networks to websites, essential elements of religious practices and authority now have representation online. Muslims, embracing the immediacy and general accessibility of the internet, are increasingly turning to cyberspace for advice and answers to important religious questions. Online environments often challenge traditional models of authority, however. One result is the rise of digitally literate religious scholars and authorities whose influence and impact go beyond traditional boundaries of imams, mullahs, and shaikhs. Bunt shows how online rhetoric and social media are being used to articulate religious faith by many different kinds of Muslim organizations and individuals, from Muslim comedians and women's rights advocates to jihad-oriented groups, such as the "Islamic State" and al-Qaeda, which now clearly rely on strategic digital media policies to augment and justify their authority and draw recruits. This book makes clear that understanding CIEs is crucial for the holistic interpretation of authority in contemporary Islam.

What are trending Islamic ideas in Southeast Asia; how are they transmitted and who transmits them? These are questions that linger among the minds of policymakers, diplomats and scholars interested in Islam in Southeast Asia. Trending Islam maps and discusses key personalities, groups or institutions that influence Muslims in the region. This book dedicates more space to discuss the role of the Internet in disseminating religious discourses. Internet’s role, in particular the use of social media either to advance interpretations of Islamic ideas or to gain influence in the public sphere, is becoming more significant as it allows information to spread faster and wider. While not discounting traditional issues such as extremism and terrorism, matters that continue to affect many people’s lives in the region, the book delves into the interaction between violent and non-violent extremism and the liberal and progressive responses to them. Trending Islam covers the transmission of Islam in several countries and some case studies. "This timely and important volume brings together scholars providing nuanced analyses of the current dynamics of Islam in Southeast Asia. This volume guides readers through the complexities of Muslims’ evolving engagement with global modernity by exploring different aspects of Islam in the region. In addition to chapters devoted to understanding major actors and institutions, this volume also examines the transmission of Islamic ideas; assesses how multiple actors from diverse backgrounds, competing for Islamic interpretation and expression, are impacted by the Internet and social media; and discusses the paradoxes of established Muslim organizations and state-sponsored da’wah groups. A must-read for whoever is interested in Southeast Asian Islam!"--Noorhaidi Hasan, Professor in Islam and Politics at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia of Jakarta and Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University of Yogyakarta

Islamic religion has become an object of political discourse in ways that also affects academic reflection; against this background this volume aims to provide a theoretically and empirically founded assessment of where social sciences currently stand with regard to Islam. For this purpose, the volume continues to develop the sociological knowledge of Islam that began in the 1980s. Given the Orientalism inherent in sociology, the volume focuses on Muslim knowledge systems and institutions, as well as the practice of Muslim religiosity in various social contexts stretching from Algeria and Morocco to Turkey.

This book examines how Islam is digitally mediated at a time of technological change, enhanced digital literacy and proactive engagement in Islamic online content by authorities and influencers. What is the impact of this on societies, believers and understandings of Islam? Islamic Algorithms provides a thorough exploration of Cyber Islamic Environments (CIEs) through representations of significant historical and religious influences across contexts and diversities. This ranges from jinn and angels through to contemporary influencers. Gary R. Bunt raises issues of how digital content is embedded in contemporary understandings of Islam and their dissemination. Bunt shows how the interpretation of pivotal figures in Islam – including Muhammad and his family, scholars and imams – can be informed by new generations of digital influences, such as apps and social networking, which have become primary sources of information for many Muslims globally.

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, British rule transformed the relationship between law, society, and the state in South Asia. But qazis and muftis, alongside ordinary people without formal training in law, fought back as the colonial system in India sidelined Islamic legal experts. They petitioned the East India Company for employment, lobbied imperial legislators for recognition, and built robust institutions to serve their communities. By bringing legal debates into the public sphere, they resisted the colonial state's authority over personal law and rejected legal codification by embracing flexibility and possibility. With postcards, letters, and telegrams, they made everyday Islamic law vibrant and resilient and challenged the hegemony of the Anglo-Indian legal system. Following these developments from the beginning of the Raj through independence, Elizabeth Lhost rejects narratives of stagnation and decline to show how an unexpected coterie of scholars, practitioners, and ordinary individuals negotiated the contests and challenges of colonial legal change. The rich archive of unpublished fatwa files, qazi notebooks, and legal documents they left behind chronicles their efforts to make Islamic law relevant for everyday life, even beyond colonial courtrooms and the confines of family law. Lhost shows how ordinary Muslims shaped colonial legal life and how their diversity and difference have contributed to contemporary debates about religion, law, pluralism, and democracy in South Asia and beyond.

Preaching, a practice composed of and accompanied by a myriad of different activities, is an essential element of Muslim religious life both within and beyond mosques. As such, Islamic preaching is a common means of religious promulgation and knowledge transfer, of pastoral guidance and uplift, but also of communication between believers, and as a source of negotiating religious normativity, power relations, and societal topics. Given the centrality of preaching in Muslims' religious life, this collective volume presents contributions on various aspects of performance, text, space, and materiality of Islamic preaching in history and present. The interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary framework captures Islamic preaching as it unfolds in its social setting. The volume aims at representing the inner-Islamic diversity by depicting the practice of preaching as it came about in different times and geographical locations, shedding light onto Friday gatherings and sermons (ḫutba), and other forms of preaching (e. g. waʿẓ), be it during Ramadan, at religious feasts and commemorations, or on personal occasions such as weddings and funerals. Therefore, each chapter offers a different insight into the interwoven character of sermons' contents, the preacher him/herself, and the audience by emphasising the role of their bodily performance, of the temporality and spatiality of preaching, and of the objects and items involved.

A ground-breaking and comprehensive collection on various facets of Islamic spirituality throughout history and in the modern world The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality is an authoritative reference work comprising twenty-eight scholarly essays that explore the expressive and performative dimensions of Islamic spirituality. Edited by two of its most prominent scholars, and bringing together a stellar cast of contributors, this wide-ranging volume covers religious practices, sacred texts, history and places, gender, music, poetry, the visual arts, and politics. Spirituality has had a long and important history in Islam, where a focus on spirituality is required of every believer. Each Muslim is asked to achieve a state of devotion through prayer, fasting, supplications, recitations, pilgrimage, and ascetic practices. The essays in this volume explain the role of spirituality in Islam—from its beginnings, through the development of its institutions, and into the present day. They also reflect important new research, and discuss contemporary debates and issues affecting Islamic spirituality such as the Internet, social justice, the role of women, ethics, and religious fundamentalism. Offering readers a thought-provoking way to engage with the topic, this comprehensive work includes: The spirituality of words and letters, including the Qur’an, prophetic traditions in Islam, and litanies, invocations, and devotional texts Devotional practices in Islam, including the spirituality of prayer, ascetic spirituality, Qur’an recitation, and spirituality of the Sufi path Spirituality in literature, including Arabic and Persian poetry, spirituality in the modern novel, and the art of translation Spirituality in the arts, including the visual arts, music, song, and film Islamic spirituality and post-modern practices, including the Internet, Islamic hip-hop, and Salafism From the personal to the political, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality offers a fresh and revitalized view of all aspects of spirituality in Islam. It is a must-have scholarly resource for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, instructors and scholars studying Islam, spirituality, and Asian and Middle Eastern history as well as general readers with an interest in the subject.

This unique collaboration between scholars, practitioners and Muslim artists profiles emerging forms of contemporary British Muslim art, prompting a debate about its purpose and its inclusion in UK society. It features analysis of Muslim art as a category, as well as reflective accounts of people working in theatre, popular music, the heritage sector and ancient and modern visual arts, often at the margins of the British arts industry. Dealing with sociological and theological themes as well as art history and practice, the volume provides a timely intervention on a neglected topic. The collection discusses diverse topics including how second- and third-generation British Muslims, as part of a broader generational shift, have reworked Sufi music and traditional calligraphy and fused them with new musical and artistic styles, from Grime to comic book art, alongside consideration of the experiences of Muslim artists who work in the theatre, museums and the performing arts sectors. It is a must-read for students and researchers of theology and religious studies, Islamic studies, fine art, cultural studies and ethnic and racial studies.