musalaha

The University of Birmingham, U.K. announces “A Celebration of the Mingana Collection Online” – a one-day conference celebrating the launch of the University’s Virtual Manuscript Room (VMR).  The Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern (Islamic and Christian) manuscripts is the largest collection of such texts after the Vatican and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.  It is of national and international importance to scholars and will be the VMR’s centerpiece.

For more information on the one-day conference, see this poster. For information on the VMR, click here.

Leather and Rope (Allah) Bracelet from Urban Outfitters

After a vicious attack upon musalaha.com, we are now back up and functioning properly again.  But we’re severely behind, so here’s a few items from our absence.

To begin with, we posted some time ago about Rachael Ray sporting a kufiya in a Dunkin’ Donuts advert.  I’m not sure why, but these scarves have become quite popular in a number of unusual settings and can even be purchased at Urban Outfitters.  In an odd twist, one can now purchase a leather “Allah” bracelet from the same company (Allah is written in Arabic on the bracelet). I’m left speechless.

Something worth commenting on is a recent Gallup study on the importance of religion in individual lives (HT: shawblog).  You can read a summary of their study here.  Part of what this study helps us understand is that we cannot make sweeping generalizations regarding the value a particular country or region places on religion. For instance, given a common global assumption that Americans are largely Evangelical, fundamentalist-leaning Christians, one might be surprised to learn that residents of Massachusetts place significantly less value on religion than residents of many other states or even many countries.

As a former researcher at a religous demographic research center, I can certainly appreciate these sorts of studies.  But we are still vulnerable to assumptions. For example, I went to graduate school in Massachusetts and can atttest to the very real sense that religion was fairly marginalized there. But I wonder if this stereotype – or even the data yielded by Gallup’s poll – is not better representative of New England’s “traditional” (read “white”) population?  Lurking beneath the “frozen chosen” is, in fact, a vibrant pool of non-Western religionists.  Majority World Christians – not to mention adherents of other faiths – from places like Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cambodia all attest to the rather significant place religion holds in the lives of some “non-traditional New Englanders.”  With this in mind, Gallup’s recent poll is very beneficial, but helps us to avoid only certain stereotypes.  We need to be on the lookout for others.

In the same light, consider a recent survey of British mosques detailed by the BBC here (the U.K. is among Gallup’s “least religious” regions).  Here are few of the survey’s results:

• “The average mosque in England and Wales attracts 400 attendees at Friday prayer meetings.”

Lest we think that all of these Muslims are terrorists, intent on breeding their way towards a British majority, consider this data:

• 83% are more than 10 years old
• 94% provide educational programmes
• 82% raise funds for poverty relief
• 61% have women’s groups and activities

I’m finishing up my doctoral work in a British city that boasts nearly 300 mosques (not to mention vibrant Caribbean, west African, and southeast Asian Christian communities). Yes, some of these Muslim communities were/are responsible for questionable activity, but many – many - are working hard to improve their image in British society, to substantiate the reality of their integration, and to serve as a source of poverty relief. Many are not fifth-columns worthy of the fear they are often accorded. I’m not trying to view religion in Britainor Europe through rose-colored glasses. Indeed, there are challenges, but one of these challenges is to personally know religious communities.  Did you know that over 86% of Christians world-wide do not personally know a Muslim? 

Finally, consider this piece from World Public Opinion.  There is some interesting data here that can be read alongside John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? What A Billion Muslims Really Think (New York: Gallup Press, 2007).