Living among the Dead? Cemeteries and Burial Practices in Post-War Sarajevo

In Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo the dead are omnipresent. Why do people bury their dead near the living, and what role do war and religion play? Nadia Sonneveld and Kerim Sušić strolled through various cemeteries and neighbourhoods in Sarajevo in search of answers.

Nadia Sonneveld and Kerim Susic • September 21, 2023

Conversion to Islam: What Does Community Mean for Spanish Converts?

Laila Taouati explains how and what Spanish converts understand by community and to whom they feel they belong.

Laila Taouati • September 17, 2022

Proving Halal to European Muslims

What procedures are used to determine whether a foodstuff is halal to Muslims? John Bowen researched the world of halal certification in the Netherlands, Britain, and France.

John R. Bowen • September 01, 2022

Muslim Pilgrimage in Bali

In Indonesia, ziarah or pilgrimage to sacred sites is a booming industry: every day, thousands of Muslims make a pilgrimage to the graves of Muslim saints on Java, but increasingly also to graves on Bali, a Hindu island. Syaifudin Zuhri saw ziarah on Bali become a phenomenon among Javanese Muslims.

Syaifudin Zuhri • June 16, 2022

Is the Waqf Islamic?

What do waqfs or charitable endowments tell us about forms of religiosity in society today? Nada Moumtaz provides answers, based on her recent book, God’s Property: Islam, Charity, and the Modern State

Nada Moumtaz • June 01, 2022

Modern Articulations of the Pilgrimage to Mecca

How do air travel and smartphones affect Muslims’ experience of the hajj? What is the impact of modern practices on the transformative experience as described in historical accounts? Marjo Buitelaar discusses continuities and changes, as part of the findings of her most recent project.

Marjo Buitelaar • October 15, 2021

Twelver Shi‘a Pilgrimage – Ziyara

Similar to the rising interest in pilgrimage worldwide, ziyara is becoming increasingly popular among Twelver Shi‘ites. These devotional journeys intersect with travel in the pursuit of religious knowledge, political symbolism, and leisure.

Ingvild Flaskerud • May 26, 2021 • 1 comment

Modernist Islam, Isrāʾīliyyāt, and Saʿīd Nūrsī

Since the late nineteenth century, Modernist Muslim commentators have argued for the ejection of “foreign” texts, Isrāʾīliyyāt, and a return to an “untainted” Islam. In academic literature, however, the connections between the late-Ottoman ʿulamāʾ and the Arab Modernist exegetes are often neglected.

S. Berk Metin • February 04, 2021

The Intriguing Messages of a Muslim Slave's Tombstone

Jelle Bruning taps a new source for the history of slavery among early Muslim communities and shows what funerary epigraphy can tell us about how ninth-century Muslims dealt with their deceased slaves.

Jelle Bruning • January 21, 2021 • 1 comment

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