Languages of din: Place, history, and paths

Abstract

In this commentary, I engage with James Sidaway's recent article, ‘Beyond the Decolonial: Critical Muslim Geographies’. I respond to its contributions and provocations by asking two linked questions. First, what is the place of language in these critical Muslim geographies? I suggest that geographers should situate their engagement with key terms in their contexts, a project that complicates how terms like din are taken to be a core part of Muslim geographies. Second, I ask how we are to understand the ‘Muslim’ of Muslim geographies. Our answer to that question has consequences for how we understand our categories of practice and analysis.