Muslim Intimaties : Challenges for Individuals and Families in Global Contexts

Abstract

One of the most striking features of Muslim societies is the importance attached to the family. According to Islamic teachings (both in the holy Quran and the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad), the family is a divinely inspired institution, with marriage at its core. Marriage is considered to be permanent, with specific roles and responsibilities assigned to each spouse. In recent decades, however, the Muslim in­ stitutions of family and marriage have experienced increasing pressure due to global mobility and com­ munication, structural changes to the economy, re­ vivalist movements within Islam, and other social developments. Muslim families who have migrated to the Middle East, Europe or the USA face the par­ ticular challenges of balancing between older tradi­ tions and the expectations in their new home soci­ eties (e.g., Al-Sharmani 2010 ; Horst 2006 ; Schmidt 2004 ; Stepien 2008), but Muslims on the African continent, for instance, are no less affected by late modern transformations in their own societies (Par­ kin & Nyamwaya 1987; Arthur 2012). Some fif teen million Muslims currently live in Europe, comprising between six and eight percent of the total population in European countries such as Belgium, France, and Germany. Yet the significance of the Muslim population in European public per­ ception is much greater than these numbers would imply. Recent demonstrations in a number of Eu­ ropean countries suggest a growing fear of Muslim asylum-seekers and the possible “Islamization” of Europe. Debates are waged regarding the integration of Muslims in Europe and to what extent there is a need to accommodate them socially and politically. Anti-Muslim sentiment is increasingly becoming a normalized part of European societies. For a broader perspective on these debates, it is important to take a closer look at a core institution of Muslim society, not only in Europe, but also through the global in­ terconnections many Muslim families share with each other across national boundaries. This special issue of Ethnologia Europaea presents five case stud­ ies on Muslim families, conjugality, kinship ties and networks. It brings together researchers trained in folk lore and European ethnology, of which several are from the European North yet working across disciplines and in ethnographic fields spanning the globe. Employing ethnographic inter view methods, which take seriously people’s responses, but which also adopt a critical stance toward the different re­ gimes of knowledge and power constructing them, the articles in this volume focus on family members’ goals, their rationales for these goals, and the strat­ egies used to achieve them. Each of the articles in this volume presents a case study in which Muslim families have been affected by social transforma­ tions, whether migration, militar y conflict, shif ting trends in employment, or the rise of communication technologies. In the face of these new challenges, families strive to be successful, enhance internal cooperation, and live up to cultural and religious