This essay is a brief review of three books, What is Islam? The importance of being Islamic by Shahab Ahmed (2016), Secular translations: Nation-state, Modern Self, and Calculative Reason by Talal Asad (2018), and Restating Orientalism: A Critique of Modern Knowledge by Wael Hallaq (2018). The authors’ arguments are analyzed in terms of the ongoing “linguistic turn” in Western studies of Islam, that is, the creation of a methodological paradigm that recognizes the value of the polysemy of the global Muslim community (past and present) and pays attention to multiple languages (imperial, colonial, academic, etc.) to describe Islam. The essay concludes with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of this paradigm and its applicability to studies of Islam in Russia.

This article aims to deconstruct the research field of “critical Muslim studies” that is emerging within Western academic discourse. It seeks to expose the postcolonial injustices that Muslims are subjected to in the allocation of symbolic resources. Islamophobia is almost the dominant subject of research here, and the line between political activism related to the struggle for minority rights and academic knowledge becomes completely permeable. This article describes the epistemological foundations of critical Muslim studies and its conceptual language, developed by its proponents within the framework of postcolonial theory, related to the notions of racialization, Orientalization (and self-Orientalization), Eurocentrism and Westernization. The institutionalization of this trend is examined through selected European and American examples. Examination of the volume Islamophobia in Muslim Majority Countries demonstrates how left-liberal ideology, included in the production of academic knowledge, turns into a fully-fledged methodology that is desirable to a wide range of researchers.

Migration in Belgium in the 1960s represented the beginning of a social transformation process that has turned the traditionally Catholic country into a multicultural reality where Islam has achieved more significance. Consequently, the government had to adapt diVerent structures to the new reality, and people had to learn to live together. In this regard, the Muslim community demanded public spaces to develop cultural and religious events. Second and third generations of Belgian Muslims conserve their family roots and require space for Islam in Belgium. As a result, progressively, the state has incorporated soft elements of Sharia Law in national and local legislation to respond to Muslim requirements. This fact has opened a debate in Belgium and has created controversies in some environments. Thus, this article analyses the implementation of Sharia Law legislation in Belgium and its consequences.

This article examines the phenomenon of legal aid provided by mosques for Muslims in the regions of Central Russia. The case study is based on examples of mosques in Yaroslavl and Kostroma. This article investigates whether such practices are symptoms of the bureaucratization of mosques and Islam, or manifestations of civic activism in the Muslim community in modern Russia? Based on empirical data collected during observations and interviews in Yaroslavl and Kostroma in 2018–2019, it concludes that cases of legal consultations in mosques illustrate the intersection of two logics at the same time, namely, bureaucratization and the expression of civic identity for Muslims. Moreover, the author argues that there is no insoluble contradiction between these logics, despite the use of the concepts of bureaucracy and activism in everyday language.

The study discusses the relationships between demography and the development of Muslim political identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). The main question that this paper aims to answer is: To what extent have the demographic components of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s population (both natural and spatial movement) framed the unique political identity of the Muslim/Bosniak population in relation to Orthodox/Serbs and Catholics/Croats.
The paper seeks to examine the concept of population numbers as an object of political competition, including how patterns of demographic behavior vary between religious groups and further impact political identity. Thus, the article                                   perceives the population census as an object of political struggle. Hence, by using the final results of the censuses, the study clarifies the significance of population numbers in the construction of the identity politics of Muslims in B&H. Furthermore, the paper argues for the significance of population statistics in constructing of the political identity of religious groups in a multi-ethnic society, emphasizing that demography holds important clues to the pattern of political behavior, and that specific forms of demographic variations are correlated with distinguished political agendas. Additionally, thestudytraces thepolitical life andriseofthefirst presidentofindependent Bosnia—Alija Izetbegović—as an embodiment of Muslims’ political identity.
Arguing that demography is an important component of the development of political identity, the paper expects to stimulate interest from other scientific fields as it adds to our understanding of relationships between demography, religion, and politics. Finally, the study intends to open a supplementary research agenda focusing on the eVects of demography on politics, beyond those explored within the limits of political studies. 

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Egypt has been known for being one of the most resilient Islamist organizations worldwide during most of the twentieth century, and until 2013. The Arab uprisings that swept over the Arab region resulted in the resurrection of the MB at the frontline of the Egyptian political field. The MB’s discourse changed drastically over the period of the organization’s existence and even further during the few years from 2011 until today. How did the discourse established by the MB develop and transform towards becoming a normalized version of Islam in Egypt? How could this be traced in the recent events the MB witnessed in Egypt, starting in 2011? Applying P. Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic power and O. Roy’s idea about post-Islamism this article will address these questions using field work and relevant literature.

Tatars in Russia and Mappilas in India, two imagined communities of different socio-cultural, ethno-national and geo-political identities, have more contrasts than commonalities. Their similarity lies in the constructed otherness of Tatars and Mappilas regarding the origin,                                       spread, and survival of these two communities. Orientalist historiography, literary imageries, and ideological intrusions have constructed a common ‘other’ whose stereotyped media images and biased narratives are now part of everyday discursive practice. Rejecting these age-old intellectual narratives and media images, a new wave of intelligentsia among the Tatar and Mappila communities brings counter-narratives on the history, tradition, and everyday life of these communities. Media, especially cinema, have become a major tool for reinterpreting Tatar and Mappila identity and culture and challenging the distorted images of these subaltern communities. 

The main question of this event may seem extremely general, but, in our opinion, it is no less relevant and important: how best to study Islam and Muslims in Russia? One often gets the impression that we can hardly speak of a community of researchers on Islam as such. For example, anthropologists of religion may not intersect with specialists in medieval Muslim literature in the research space, and both of them study diVerent aspects of the Islamic tradition. However, the increasing complexity of communication processes and the emergence of new contexts are transforming not only religious reality and Muslim identity, but also approaches to its study. Classical approaches from within the discipline of Oriental Studies are clearly not enough: researchers increasingly turn to the tools of sociology, political science, mass-media studies, and so on. The main purpose of this event was to initiate an interdisciplinary discussion of the current experiences and prospects of modern scholarship on Islam.

For over 50 years, there has been a debate among scholars on the issue of “Jadidism”. Some have tended to view this phenomenon as a broad social movement to reform a wide variety of aspects of the Muslim society, from religion, education, and art to nation-building and politics. Some equated Jadidism with religious reform, while others suggested separating Jadidism – understood as a reform of the education system – from activities in other social spheres. At the roundtable “The Phenomenon of Jadidism: Domestic and Foreign Interpretations in the 21st Century” held at the Kazan Federal University, the following range of issues were discussed: defining of the concept of “Jadidism”; the main representatives of this movement; and the relationship between Jadidism and religious reform.

In this article, I explore the Arabic concept of jam', and relate it to the Deleuzian concept of assemblage. I argue that jam' is central in the formation of Arabic language, Islamic theology, Islamic law, Sufism, a number of modern Islamic discourses, such as wasafiyyah, and several social, economic, and political formations in Arab modern states. I will limit my scope in this article to establishing the theoretical foundations of jam' and studying its effect on the formation of language. After defining jam' etymologically, I will present a brief discussion of assemblage, as presented in Deleuze and Guattari, and then will divide the rest of the article into three parts, where I will discuss, first, the concept of naщm as a type of jam' that aims to articulate meaning, second, the eVect of jam' on the formation of the metaphor, and, third, the theological and philosophical foundations of jam' in the Deleuzian understanding of virtuality, and the Bergsonian understanding of time.