"Just Admit it Man, You're a Spy!" Fieldwork Explorations into the Notion of Salafi "Oppositionality"
This article addresses two related problems in the current ethnographic study of Salafism. First, it draws attention to the lack of positionality exhibited by many commentators on Salafism; second, and more crucially, it highlights the reluctance of scholars to engage with what is here labelled Sala...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox
[2018]
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| In: |
Fieldwork in religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 13, Issue: 2, Pages: 203-230 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Non-Muslim
/ Salafīyah
/ Field-research
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| RelBib Classification: | AA Study of religion AD Sociology of religion; religious policy BJ Islam |
| Further subjects: | B
Salafism
B Ethnography B Egypt B al-wala' wa'l-bara' B da'wa B maslaha B oppositionality |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article addresses two related problems in the current ethnographic study of Salafism. First, it draws attention to the lack of positionality exhibited by many commentators on Salafism; second, and more crucially, it highlights the reluctance of scholars to engage with what is here labelled Salafi "oppositionality". By oppositionality, I refer to a set of attitudes (non-compliance, defiance, hatred) which are formally prescribed to, and informally generated by, Salafis in their dealings with non-Muslims and very often with lapsed and/or errant Muslims. Through two case studies in pre-Arab Spring Cairo, I explore the workings of Salafi oppositionality in practice. By so doing, I highlight the often fragile and ephemeral nature of relationships that can be formed between a Western-trained ethnographer and his/her Salafi respondents, and demonstrate the ways in which instances of opposition are mutually constituted. Both the researcher and the Salafi, I argue, present each other with a dilemma. In my experience, Salafis have no problem identifying the essence of this dilemma; it is time for Western ethnographers to exhibit a similar degree of transparency. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-0623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Fieldwork in religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/firn.37640 |