DSusanne Schröter’s new book Journey through the Islam Multiverse opposes shortening Islam About “fundamentalists and radicals”. The author introduces a different kind of Islam, or better: different Islam has developed in different cultural breeding places for centuries, or has only recently emerged.
She started her journey with Mevlevi and Naqschbandi dervishes in Turkey. In a brief but powerful introduction, it is obvious that among these variants of Turkish Sufism, the sense of art, the mysterious love of God, and (just) the strictest observance of religious norms, and how Islamic political radicalism has entered a constant renewal Configure the link. This has shown that it is not always easy to clearly distinguish “fundamentalists and radicals” from other Muslims.
Matrilineal structure in Malaysia
Sufism, subject to the strict interpretation of Islamic law, was and is not the only form of Islamic mysticism in the Ottoman Empire and its successor states in the Balkans. This will be described in the next chapter. The Albanian example also shows that nationalist ideology is very capable of creating unity in a cross-sect religious mix. The war in nearby Bosnia in the 1990s was not the result of the impossible coexistence of Christians and Muslims, but the result of the failure of nation-building.
Then, the journey takes the reader to Senegal to learn about Amadou Bamba’s tireless work and large-scale transactions (in some cases without special attention to Islamic law) experts. These constitute the most important social and religious network in the country and have a huge influence on political events. The author also leads us to the women and their spiritual worship in Sudan, the Ibadi in Oman, the hijra (transgender) in Pakistan, and the progressive Muslims who sought asylum in the West and founded modernist Islam in the United States and Germany. . We entered the world of matriarchal structure in Malaysia and were criticized by conservatives in the process of “Islamic globalization.” At the same time, Muslim feminists inspired by the United States tried to justify the new concept of gender equality in an Islamic way.
No idealization, no demonization
We continue to Indonesia. For centuries, ancient local or Hindu ideas (such as the goddess of the South China Sea, who must appease her through related rituals) have been in close symbiosis with Islam. It was not until the 20th century that this Islam, especially in Indonesia, especially in cities, was increasingly replaced by global Islam. For centuries, Islam has established similar links with China’s indigenous traditions. In recent years, fundamentalist trends and government concerns about uncontrollable foreign religions (which also plague Catholics) have led to intensified conflicts.
Wherever you go with the author, you will learn a lot in a very simple way. Last but not least, the Islamic world is rich and colorful, not just Islam. The author has not idealized or demonized anything. She has classified all phenomena intellectually and made reliable judgments based on their social and cultural backgrounds, thus explaining the overall complexity of Islam and its relationship with the ever-changing world. Friction point. This is done through the example of children in Senegal who were raised by Sufi masters to beg. The normal phenomenon of centuries seems to be a problem today, because modern education determines the chances of life, and the concept of individual children’s rights is different from before.
That’s not that simple
In today’s globalized world, the answer to traditional Muslims’ questions does not only come from secularized individualistic modernity. As the author repeatedly mentioned, these answers also give a “fundamental” Islam in their own way, which is said to be “purified” from an external mixture. It is Islam described here as opposed to the manifestations of Islam.
If the reader does not read carefully, the choices made may lead the reader to assume that there is a “fundamentalist” Islamic unity that can distinguish it from the described multiverse. The Twelve Shiites, Naqschbandis of Turkey, Ibadis of Oman, and others have shown that it is problematic to separate fundamentalism from other forms of Islam. What all “orthodox” may have in common is their rejection of open integrationism and their terrible efforts to completely separate their identities from others. Here, Thomas Bauer can talk about intolerance of ambiguity. This means that contemporary “fundamentalism” Islam will be positioned in classical modernism. It is appropriate for these “fundamentalisms” to flourish in the Islamic world, especially in the modern urban environment (the author repeatedly mentions this).
Because everything is not so simple, after experiencing the entertaining and enlightening journey of the Islamic multiverse, I hope that the author can also present the diversity and internal contradictions of “Orthodox Church” in the follow-up volume.
Susanne Schröter: “Allah’s Caravan”. A journey through the Islamic multiverse. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2021. 203 pages, Illinois, Br., 16.95 euros.
