A Study of Bangladeshi Muslims in Europe: Migration and Identity Construction

Challenging the Common Claim: Brittle Christian-Muslim Relations in Maluku, Indonesia

The article aims threefold as follows. First, to challenge and problematize the general assumption that before the Christian-Muslim communal violence in Maluku from 1999 to 2005 (and continued in the following years), the social condition in the region was peaceful and harmonious. Second, to identify the location of pre-interreligious violence by tracing the colonial era, from the Portuguese to the Japanese, and its post-colonial impact on interreligious suspicion, friction, and conciliation in Maluku. Third, to show the challenges of Christian-Muslim peacebuilding initiatives at the grassroots level. The data used for the analysis in the article were drawn from historical literature and contemporary ethnographic research which included formal interviews, and informal conversations with Maluku’s Christians and Muslims. Sociohistorical frameworks and collective memory approaches were applied to examine the longue durée of fragile Christian-Muslim engagement and the roles of these dynamics in shaping contemporary events of interreligious violence and peacebuilding.

THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN SHAPING RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE: MALAYSIA AND UZBEKISTAN

In modern times, experts estimate that 83 per cent of the world’s population face serious restrictions on freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Persecution, repression and discrimination based on religion, belief or non-belief are a daily reality in many countries. Such disappointing statistics indicate that the issue of freedom of speech and religion needs to be harmonized. It should be recognized that the social problem of forming tolerance in the world as a whole is related to the gradual formation of new values. Interest in tolerance is relevant in many disciplines, which is well seen in many works of sociologists, historians, philosophers, religious studies and others. This article presents a comparative analysis of religious tolerance policies of two countries with unique historical and cultural contexts. The study aims to identify the principles of social features in interfaith dialogue in Malaysia, where diversity of religions and cultures is an integral part of social life. The paper will address questions such as: what are the mechanisms that promote harmony between different religious groups? what role does the state play in maintaining interfaith dialogue? This paper will also consider the legal aspect of the administrative-legal regulation of religious tolerance in both countries, where the legislative framework will be analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the differences in approaches to religious policy, thus identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each country. The study highlights the importance of religious tolerance as a factor contributing to social peace and stability, and offers recommendations for improving interfaith dialogue and legal regulation in both countries. The study aims to deepen the understanding of the role of religion in modern society and international relations, which is important for further research in this area.

The Creation of ‘Secular’ Muslims Through Turkish Secularism

This study traces how nationalism and secularism—core components of Kemalism, established as Turkey's state ideology after the founding of the Republic in 1923—intertwined, and critically examines the process by which this social engineering project infiltrated the internal psyche of the citizenry to form a unique, hybrid national identity known as the ‘secular’ Muslim. Unlike Western models, Turkish secularism took the form of 'assertive’ secularism, in which the state excluded and controlled religion within the public sphere. By establishing the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), the state enacted a nationalization of religion, incorporating Islam into the state apparatus itself. As a product of this power engineering, the secular Muslim emerged as a refined subject who obeyed the state's legal order while privately sharing Sunni Islamic sentiments. However, the exclusive boundary set around Sunni Turks limited the model by alienating ethnic minorities, non-Muslims, and conservative masses. Furthermore, top-down reforms driven by elites deepened the cultural divide and polarization between the Westernized 'center' and the traditional 'periphery.' Consequently, the religious and ethnic resistance built up during this rushed, top-down nation-building process provided the structural nutrients that later enabled conservative political Islam to emerge and claim hegemony. The early Republic's grand experiment to forge a national character through a distinctly Turkish synthesis of secularism and nationalism remains a critical reference point defining Turkish politics today. Therefore, the future development of Turkish democracy depends on its capacity for systemic transition—overcoming the long-standing legacy of authoritarian nation-building and seeking a new, pluralistic equilibrium between secularism and Islamism.

Invoking geographical pasts in Pakistani narratives

The place and role of the “farewell sermon” in the regulation of interethnic relations in the Islamic world

This study addresses the reconstruction of the original religious and legal principles that facilitated the transformation of fragmented tribal society in seventh-century Arabia into a model of multi-ethnic integration. The relevance of the topic was determined by the need for reconstruction of original religious-legal norm to transform the Arab fragmentary tribalism into a model of multi-ethnic integration. The study aimed to determine what the normative core of the “Farewell Sermon” was and what role it played in the formation of mechanisms for supratribal social integration in the early Muslim community. The research was conducted through the contextual, comparative-historical, and textual analysis of three main source domains: homiletic (the “Farewell Sermon”), legal (the Constitution of Medina), and diplomatic (six letters of the Prophet), with a correlation with narrative and historiographic data on the social structure of early Islam. The results of the research revealed that in the Arabia of the 7th century there was a fragmented tribal, Jewish, and Christian society with no universal rules of interaction between groups. In this situation, the “Farewell Sermon” proclaimed several universal provisions: equality of people irrespective of their origin, individual responsibility instead of collective punishment, protection of vulnerable groups, rejection of ethnic superiority, and peaceful resolution of conflicts. Comparison with the Constitution of Medina led to the conclusion that these principles were transformed into legal norms for the unity of ummah, collective security, and contractual autonomy of religious communities. Analysis of the texts of diplomatic letters made it possible to identify similar normative orientations that transfer to the sphere of inter-civilizational communication with the rulers of Byzantium, Persia, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman, and Abyssinia. The research indicates that the “Farewell Sermon” may be interpreted as an important normative reference point for the early Islamic model of inter-ethnic integration, which retains conceptual relevance for contemporary intercultural and interreligious dialogue.

Dynamics of Muslim Minorities in Contemporary France 2020-2025

This study analyzes the dynamics of the Muslim community in France between 2020 and 2025, a period when religious issues once again dominated public attention due to the increasingly strict implementation of state secularism policies. The aim of this research is to describe the social, political, and religious conditions that influence the lives of Muslim populations, as well as the various challenges they face in the context of modern France. The method used is a literature review with a social-historical approach, drawing on analyses of official government documents, human rights organization reports, international media articles, and relevant academic studies. The findings indicate that the Muslim community has faced heightened state surveillance, particularly following the enactment of the 2021 Separatism Law, restrictions on religious symbols in public spaces, and the strengthening of security-oriented discourse. Additionally, the presence of Islamophobic sentiment among segments of the population further complicates the everyday lives of Muslims. Nevertheless, the Muslim community has demonstrated resilience through the development of religious organizations, participation in social activities, and the role of younger generations in shaping a more open narrative of Islam. This study affirms that the period from 2020 to 2025 represents a crucial phase in the history of the Muslim community in France, marked by dynamics that reflect ongoing debates about identity, integration, and state policies concerning religious matters.