Religion and belonging in European discourse: muslim concepts and actors

Abstract

In the academic literature, as well as in recent political discourse, muslim minorities in Europe are often described as diasporas or transnational communities. Although these concepts do not originate in the teological traditions of Islamic law, and are not used therein, they do reflect the new societal experience of those they describe. This discursive analysis shows that it is (mostly non muslim) researchers and the educated muslim middle-classes who have played key roles in introducing identitarian forms such as “diasporas” and “the transnational”. A new generation of muslim European intellectuals have discussed and developed these concepts to encapsulate and analyze the new practices, situations and experiences of different classes, groups and communities, in language which is not teological but secular, and which marks the transition from traditional to modern religion.