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Anthropological research
Historical Way
A distinctive feature of the historical anthropological research from other methods of the studying of Islam culture within the framework of spaces and places of worship is a combination of both historiographical and architectural approaches. Through the prism of history, the specialist understands why a particular territory is sacred, when the religious structure was built, and how the locality influenced spiritual practices. Also, it is only the historical context that explains the current trends in Muslim architecture, why prayers are performed in a certain direction, and the relationship of Islam with Judaism and Christianity (“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts,” slide 5). By exploring historic sites and related sources and dates through historical way, an anthropologist can trace how Islamic and Muslim influence spread throughout the world.
Unlike other anthropological approaches, the historical study of the Qur’an provides for the researcher a wealth of information regarding the global history, philosophy, and semantic component of the first Muslim religious buildings of worship. For example, it provides anthropological data on architectural and religious projects such as Mecca, Medina, Ka’ba, Quba’ Mosque, Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock (“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts,” slide 4). The broad historical study of territories is systematically leading to further narrow research types of the corresponding local Islamic ritual activities of both Muslim communities and, therefore, ethnographic and practical methodologies. However, only the historical paradigm of anthropological research sheds light on architectural symbolism and geographical significance.
Ethnographic Way
Ethnographic anthropological study approaches Islamic culture in a more focused and comprehensive manner, therefore, it has several stages and objects of research. It includes fieldwork on mosques, research on their mutual influence on the local community, communication with both an ethnic majority and minorities, as well as with religious leaders (Lee 145). The mosques fieldwork enables the researcher to understand through ethnographic research how Islam as ideology empowers the local community to organize economic and social processes towards gradual improvement. A study of the mutual social influence of religious buildings and the local community, impossible by means of other anthropological ways, explains how mosques become centers of urban areas, and strengthen the position of Islam. An ethnographic approach starts a dialogue of an anthropologist with an ethnic majority and minorities to understand how Islam is perceived from the perspective of the upper, middle, and lower classes. This approach also makes it possible to identify the principles of Islam spreading among different social strata, which is difficult to classify through historical and practical ways.
The most exciting and exclusive stage of ethnographic research is interviewing current local religious leaders. It is because they not only communicate with different representatives of the local community but also keep local religious traditions, such as the Black Sunni movement in the US (Lee 148). Internal and external in-depth and detailed study of the cultural aspects of a particular Muslim community in the current period is a unique part of the ethnographic methodology. Still, such a narrow focus does not allow comparisons with other branches of Islam.
Practical Way
A practical or ritual methodology explores the role that Muslim places of worship play and their architectural characteristics for Islamic religious activities. It is the anthropological technique that answers the question of why Muslims consider some religious buildings more important than others and investigates changes in the ritual component depending on the place. In other words, unlike other anthropological ways, ritual research focuses on the philosophical and mystical designation of places of worship. For example, using a practical method, an anthropologist can explain the relationship between the size of the street around Ka’ba and the SA ‘Y rite, which is a circular run of a religious crowd (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 5). Only the ritual perspective can shed light on how pilgrimage and subsequent rituals form a specific psychological state of the believer, which leads to religious ecstasy.
The practical nature of anthropological research also has its drawbacks. First of all, it is worth noting that an anthropologist can conduct research only on the current religious tradition. It is due to the fact that believers consider and adhere to current rite norms as the only true ones because previous practices can be regarded as obsolete, unacceptable, or blasphemous. Also, some religions, one of which is Islam, are characterized by a high degree of conservatism in visiting unbelievers in places of worship (“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts,” slide 5). It means that the researcher has to write their research based on the words of third-party sources, which negatively affects the overall quality and reliability of the anthropologic work.
Islamic culture
Historical Way
The historical way to the exploration of Islamic culture focuses on the study of sacred texts, certain events, compiling their chronology, and segmenting into conceptual time periods. For example, the Hajj ritual or pilgrimage is divided on the basis of the chronology of the Qur’an into the pre-Islamic, Islamic and post-Prophetic stages (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 2). This methodology allows a unique technique of tracing the cultural origins, background, external and internal factors that influenced the way Hajj was perceived then, which cannot be explored using other approaches. It is impossible to find out about the initial political, economic, and social motives of various events, which are later interpreted by believers in the form of worship, such as Ashura, through other anthropological research methods (“Commemorating the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn,” slide 6). Through the historical prism, researchers see the multiple paths of the development of Islamic philosophy, both in broad directions, such as Sunni and Shiite branches, as well as in more minor and local movements.
Pluralistic Way
Unlike other research methodologies, a pluralistic approach is aimed to compare the similarities and differences of various Muslim rites, both in terms of execution and semantics. For example, Hajj differs from other types of worship in its more considerable significance, as well as more complex qualitative and quantitative components (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 5). Through a general global comparison, which is a unique feature of pluralistic research, the anthropologist understands the genuine significance of a pilgrimage, among other rituals, for the lives of Islamic believers. The pluralistic approach is primarily based on the ritual method and the general empirical technique of the researcher. It is worth noting that it is most noticeable in the work of Hounet, who, using two anthropological methods, highlighted the regional differences of the Algerian religious ritual Ma’ruf (50). The pluralistic approach allows highlighting key cultural events for Muslims in Islamic culture, which may seem insignificant when studying historical documents or personal participation. However, unlike the other anthropological methods, it does not delve into Islamic religious mysticism.
Practical Way
A practical, or ritual, methodology explores the Muslim worship that occurs in the current period of this Islamic paradigm, which makes it similar to the ethnographic, pluralistic, and empirical approaches. When appealing to the practical way, anthropologists often categorize rituals into conceptual categories such as actions, sequences, symbolic repertoire, and discursive practices (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 5). Only this unique ritual categorization allows the researcher to determine the functional component of each ritual episode and to differentiate a specific rite within the framework of its religious and cultural layers. It is the principle of multiple parallel classifications that distinguishes the practical way from other anthropological study types. There are two more additional principles of phased anthropological research such as the division into individual and social spiritual practices, and the transitional concept. By dividing into pre-liminal, liminal, and post-liminal activities, anthropologists examine ritual interconnections, and how they affect believers (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 8). Also, only a practical approach allows the researcher to look at changes in the social status of believers and the role of each gender group during worship.
Empirical Way
The empirical principle of the research of Islamic culture involves interviewing and studying written documents and personal notes of believers through the prism of subjective experience. The empirical way is a combination of historical and ethnographic approaches, since these techniques also serve as the basis for the methods which were described above. The unique criterion for this methodology is the knowledge of multiple languages, which allows the specialist to conduct a linguistic research and understand the fundamental concepts of Islam, such as the “prayer” (“Understanding ‘Prayer’ in Muslim Contexts,” slide 6). Often, this type of research is the primary familiarization stage for the anthropologist on the way to practical and historical methods. Being an anthropological introduction to other research ways, the empirical study informs the anthropologist about the allowed and forbidden words, gestures, and practices of a particular branch of Islam or the Muslim community.
A unique feature of empirical anthropological study is its sampling principle. Both the living Islamic believers and those who have passed are of anthropologist’s interest, and historical figures are considered as an object of research. At its core, empirical research is more ethnographic, which may also be used by the researcher within the framework of an individual or their memoirs (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 16). Even semi-mythical and mythical personalities, from the point of view of such disciplines as historiography and theology, fall into the field of the empirical approach to anthropological research. However, it is also a drawback compared to other research methodologies, since this unique convention may interfere with the reliability and objectivity of the study.
Orientalism and the Historical and Contemporary Representations of Islam and Muslims
Orientalism, developed by Edward Said, represents another approach to the study of Islam and Muslims in addition to the methods of subjective experience, practices, historical development, and differences and similarities. Orientalism implies two anthropological paradigms, namely, “Western approach to the Orient,” where Orient refers to Muslim culture, and “collection of dreams, images, and vocabulary,” which means historical mentality, art, and language (“Orientalism,” slide 2). Both of these anthropological branches are based on the principles of a superior culture, of which is the West-centric perspective, and the denial of Eastern civilizational development as an independent phenomenon. Orientalism presents a view of modern Islam and Muslims as a chaotic set of ethnic and cultural components that have accumulated in the Eastern civilization. Said formulates such a historical understanding of Islamic culture only as part of world history, a peculiar forerunner, or an offshoot of the European way. The goal of Said’s theory is to find an anthropological solution to overcome the philosophical confrontation between the West and the East and ultimately gain a new identity, which should become the core of a new culture.
Examples of Islamophobia from Course
Specific philosophical themes and patterns of Orientalism, and, consequently, Eurocentrism, which such researchers as Said adhere to, are still visible in the paradigm of the disciplines of historiography and anthropology. For example, Said believes that Egyptian history was only a transitional stage of Western civilization towards modern Europe and the US, which he considers to be the peak, but not the limit, of humankind (“Orientalism,” slide 16). There is no denying the existence of presupposition in modern historiography that such a civilization chain as from Sumer to Egypt and later to Phoenicia is considered a prerequisite for Ancient Greece. Islamophobia is also present in relation to more specific and later historical events directly related to the cultural and territorial expansion of Islam and Muslims. The Muslim conquests during which Islamic culture spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa have long been seen as a period of tyranny and destruction of the original Egyptian, Persian, and Byzantine civilizations. These views primarily exist due to such cultural vestiges of the nineteenth century as imperialism, Christian tradition, the theory of evolution, and philosophical movements of Freud and Jung.
Despite the US and Europe’s current focus on multiculturalism, tolerance, and open borders policy, Orientalism is still characteristic of the Western social mentality and political decision-making mechanism. One of the manifestations of Islamophobia was measures to ban the wearing of facial veils in Canada, and similar prohibitions also occurred in other countries, such as France and Germany (“Orientalism,” slide 19). These steps are caused by the Western cultural position, which sees itself as a superior paradigm that can dictate certain social norms to the representatives of minority cultures. Another reason is the ethnic prejudices of Europeans and Americans related to the generalization of the stereotype that all Muslims are radical, aggressive conquerors whose goal is to destroy the West.
Examples of Islamophobia from Personal Study
Cases of orientalist behavior, Islamophobia, and related discrimination occur not only in Western but also in Eastern European communities. The epicenter of the negative cultural phenomena that are listed above is Poland. In his essay, Buchowski talks about how radical right-wing groups, whose members are mainly male youth, organize attacks on Muslims, Indian migrants, and their businesses (519). This behavior is due to the historical past, throughout most of which Poland was in conflict with the Ottoman Empire, and then was divided by the European powers, which became the foundation of the Polish mentality. Also, due to the Catholic tradition and participation in the Eastern Bloc, which created a social gap with Western Europe, the Poles consider themselves true bearers of the original Western traditional values.
Researchers are also exploring the problem of Orientalism and Islamophobia from a Muslim perspective. For example, Bayrakli and Hafez explore the paradox of the perception of national identity and patriotism in Western countries (7). Many Muslim immigrants and their descendants living in Europe sincerely associate themselves with the state of residence; however, the Islamophobic sentiments of the indigenous population impede the process of cultural integration. The reason for this is that some Europeans perceive their culture as central, and everyone else for them are barbarians, unable to reach their level. Ancient Greeks adhered to a similar cultural and foreign policy paradigm in the past.
Works Cited
Bayrakli, Enes, and Farid Hafez. “The State of Islamophobia in Europe.” European Islamophobia Report, 2016, pp. 5-10.
Buchowski, Michał. “A New Tide of Racism, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia in Europe: Polish Anthropologists Swim Against the Current.” American Anthropologist, vol. 119, no. 3, 2017, pp. 519-523.
“Commemorating the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn.” 2019. PowerPoint Presentation.
Hounet, Yazid Ben. “The Ma‘ruf: An Ethnography of Ritual (South Algeria).” Ethnographies of Islam: Ritual Performances and Everyday Practices: Ritual Performances and Everyday Practices, edited by Baudouin Dupret, Edinburgh University Press, 2012, pp. 50-61.
Lee, Victoria J. “The Mosque and Black Islam: Towards an Ethnographic Study of Islam in the Inner City.” Ethnography, vol. 11, no. 1, 2010, pp. 145-163.
“Orientalism. Representations of Islam and Muslims.” PowerPoint Presentation.
“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts.” PowerPoint Presentation.
“Spaces of Ritual & Worship: Hajj.” 2020. PowerPoint Presentation.
“Understanding ‘Prayer’ in Muslim Contexts.” PowerPoint Presentation.
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