Pious Practice and Secular Constraints: Women in the Islamic Revival in Europe

273 Pages·2015·4.287 MB·English

by  Jeanette S. Jouili

PIOUS P R AC T ICE A N D
SECU L A R CO NST R A I N TS

P I O U S P R A C T I C E A N D
S E C U L A R C O N S T R A I N T S
Women in the Islamic Revival in Europe
JEANETTE S. J OUILI
STANFORD U NIVERSITY P RESS
STANFORD, C ALIFORNIA
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2015 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jouili, Jeanette Selma, author.
Pious practice and secular constraints : women in the Islamic revival in Europe /
Jeanette Selma Jouili.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-9287-5 (cloth)—isbn 978-0-8047-9466-4 (pbk.)
1. Muslim women—Religious life—Europe. 2. Muslim women—Europe—Conduct of
life. 3. Islam and secularism—Europe. 4. Islamic renewal—Europe. I. Title.
bp188.18.w65j68 2015
297.082'094—dc23
2014038922
isbn 978-0-8047-9489-3 (electronic)
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/14 Minion
To my parents

CON T EN TS
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Transcription and Translation xiii
1 Practicing Islam in Inhospitable Environments 1
2 “I Want to Instruct Myself to Strengthen My Faith”:
Learning in Islamic Institutions 27
3 “Your Nafs Pulls You Down, Your Spirit Up”:
Struggling for Virtue 57
4 “My Label Is Not a Feminist, It Is Simply Muslim”:
Beyond Emancipation versus Submission 93
5 “A Housewife with a Diploma?”
Educated Women in the Family and the Workplace 121
6 Visibly Muslim:
Negotiating Presence in Public Spheres 153
7 Pious Citizens 187
Notes 201
References 229
Index 253

ACK NOW L EDGM EN TS
This book is the outcome of a long journey—longer than I imagined when I
began. The book traveled under the auspices of many individuals, and the jour-
ney has taken me to numerous institutions in several countries, to all of whom
I owe my deep gratitude.
I extend my thankfulness to Nilüfer Göle at the École des Hautes Études
en Sciences Sociales, Werner Schiffauer at the European University Viadrina
Frankfurt (Oder), and Annelies Moors at the International Institute for the
Study of Islam in the Modern World and the University of Amsterdam for
being significant mentors at various stages of my academic career and for being
encouraging and supportive in so many ways.
My participation in the research group Configurations of Muslim Tradi-
tions in European Secular Public Spheres, sponsored by the Research Institute
for Theology and Religious Studies at Utrecht University and funded by the
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, from 2008 to 2011 provided
a wonderful environment in which to develop collaboratively our reflections
about Islam and secularism in a European context. This period of collaboration
was an extremely stimulating time for me, and my work benefited enormously
from these meetings and conversations. My gratitude goes most notably to
Schirin Amir-Moazami, Sarah Bracke, Alexandre Caiero, Nadia Fadil, Chris-
tine Jacobsen, and Frank Peter.
The research on which this book was built was supported by the German
Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). During the writing phase I was also
supported by postdoctoral research positions in the Netherlands, at the Inter-
national Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World and at the Uni-
versity of Amsterdam where the position was funded by the Dutch Research
Council (NWO); by a fellowship at the Society for the Humanities at Cornell
University; and by a postdoctoral research position in women’s studies at Duke
University. At both Cornell and Duke I benefited tremendously from a num-