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The articles seeks to understand the politics of transnational Islamic family law in Canada, the United States, France and Germany, through the migration of one particular legal institution: Mahr, "the gift which the bridegroom has to give to the bride when the contract of marriage is made and which becomes the property of the wife." The issue of Mahr typically presents itself in a crisis-like fashion: married Muslim women, engaged in religiously structured marriages, and living in Western liberal states, reach out to the secular court upon the dissolution of their marriage to claim the enforcement of Mahr, presumably because their husbands have previously refused to give them the amount of deferred Mahr. Through an analysis of the case law, I will explore the ways in which legal pluralism, formal equality and substantive equality are being used by courts to accept or root out Islamic law from the family of institutions that are deemed appropriate in Western countries. How do the diverse and contradictory conceptual themes around Islamic law and Islamic theory get received or brought to Western liberal courts? What are the modes of influence in the selection and imposition processes of Mahr as a legal transplant? Does the reification of religion by courts simultaneously fragment it as rules move across borders? Does the way Mahr travels affect subjectivity, in both productive and reactive terms? ; (Product of workshop No. 6 at the 10th MRM 2009).

There is an "American Way" to religion and race unlike anyplace else in the world, and the rise of religious pluralism in contemporary American (together with the continuing legacy of the racism of the past and misapprehensions in the present) render its understanding crucial. Paul Harvey's Bounds of Their Habitation, the latest installment in the acclaimed American Ways Series, concisely surveys the evolution and interconnection of race and religion throughout American history. Harvey pierces through the often overly academic treatments afforded these essential topics to accessibly delineate a narrative between our nation's revolutionary racial and religious beginnings, and our increasingly contested and pluralistic future. Anyone interested in the paths America's racial and religious histories have traveled, where they've most profoundly intersected, and where they will go from here, will thoroughly enjoy this book and find its perspectives and purpose essential for any deeper understanding of the soul of the American nation.

Benedict Spinoza is the first philosophical proponent of liberal democracy. In his Theologico-Political Tractate he calls for the liberation of philosophy from theology and for the subordination of religion to politics. Though Spinoza may have not influenced the American Founding Fathers directly, both the clarity and the paradoxes of his arguments are perhaps the best guide to understanding better the present-day conflicts over religion and politics in the United States. Spinoza's insistence on the prerogative of the political sovereign to exercise absolute authority in the sphere of moral action necessarily complicates religious values. But the "inconveniences" resulting from liberal democracy are justified in terms of justice.

1. Emotional Entanglements of Sacrality and Secularity: Engaging the Paradox; Markus Balkenhol, Ernst van den Hemel, Irene Stengs. - Part 1. Culture -- 2. The Boomerang Effect of Culturalized Religion: Nativist Affect Vs. Non-Consensus-Based Collaboration; Ernst van den Hemel -- 3. "We" and "The Others" as Constituents of Symbolic Politics: On the Populist Exploitation of Long-lasting Nationalist Sentiments and Resentments Regardings Citizenship in Germany; Irene Götz -- Part 2. Public Sphere -- Spatial Piety: Shia Religious Processions and the Politics of Contestations of Public Spaces in Northern Nigeria; Murtala Ibrahim -- 4. Religion, Aesthetics, and Hurt Sentiment: On the Visibility and Erasure of a Muslim Minority in Hindu India; Stefan Binder -- Part 3. Tolerance -- 5. "Homo Sanctus": Religious Contestations and the Sanctification of Human Rights in Vietnam; Oscar Salemink -- 6. Secularist Nativism: National Identity and the Religious Other in the Netherlands; Jan Willem Duyvendak -- 7. Dutch Tolerance in Black and White; Alex van Stipriaan -- Part 4. Images -- 8. Worshipers and Iconoclasts: Clashes about Colonial Statues in the Netherlands; Markus Balkenhol -- 9. Rooted in the Sacred? On Mark Rothko, Tears Flowing, and Enargeia; Herman Roodenburg -- Part 5. Bodies -- 10. Disgust and Difference: Conflicting Sensations of the Sacred; Jojada Verrips -- 11. Samba Struggles: Carnival Parades, Race and Religious Nationalism in Brazil; Martijn Oosterbaan and Adriano Santos Godoy -- 12. United in Competitive Mourning. Commemorative Spectacle in Tribute to King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand; Irene Stengs -- Epilogue; Birgit Meyer.

Through interviews with Christian and Muslim women in Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, this book explores intersections between religion, citizenship, gender and feminism. How do religious women think about citizenship, and how do they practice citizenship in everyday life? How important is faith in their lives, and how is religion bound up with other identities such as gender and nationality? What are their views on 'gender equality', women's movements and feminism? The answers offered by this book are complex. Religion can be viewed as both a resource and a barrier to women's participation. The interviewed women talk about citizenship in terms of participation, belonging, love, care, tolerance and respect. Some seek gender equality within their religious communities, while others accept different roles and spaces for women. 'Natural' differences between women and men and their equal value are emphasized more than equal rights. Women's movements are viewed as having made positive contributions to women's status, but interviewees are also critical of claims related to abortion and divorce, and of feminism's allegedly selfish, unwomanly, anti-men and power-seeking stance. In the interviews, Christian privilege is largely invisible and silenced, while Muslim disadvantage is both visible and articulated. Line Nyhagen and Beatrice Halsaa unpack and make sense of these findings, discussing potential implications for the relationship between religion, gender and feminism"

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Notes on Contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: South Asian Migration and Religious Pluralism in Europe -- 1 A Universal Hinduism? Dancing Coloniality in Multicultural London -- 2 'Our Future will be in India': Travelling Nuns between Europe and South Asia -- 3 The Status and Role of the Norwegian-Pakistani Mosque: Interfaith Harmony and Women's Rights in Norway -- 4 The Mobility of Religion: Settling Jainism and Hinduism in the Belgian Public Sphere -- 5 Sikh Associational Life in Britain: Gender and Generation in the Public Sphere -- 6 Temple Publics as Interplay of Multiple Public Spheres: Public Faces of Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu Life in Switzerland -- 7 Buddhist, Hindu, Kirati, or Something Else? Nepali Strategies of Religious Belonging in the UK and Belgium -- 8 Hindutva and its Discontents in Denmark -- 9 Sikhs in Italy: Khalsa Identity from Mimesis to Display -- 10 'Our Lady of Carmo is the Patroness of our Family': Migration, Religion and Belonging of Portuguese-Goan Brahmans Converted to Catholicism -- 11 Ganesha Caturthi and the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Paris: Inventing Strategies of Visibility and Legitimacy in a Plural Monoculturalist Society -- 12 From Sanskrit Classicism to Tamil Devotion: Shifting Images of Hinduism in Germany -- 13 A Suitable Faith: Catholicism, Domestic Labour and Identity Politics among Malayalis in Rome

This book focuses on religious tolerance and intolerance in terms of practices, institutions, and intellectual habits. It brings together an array of historical and anthropological studies and philosophical, cognitive, and psychological explorations by established scholars from a range of disciplines. Whilst the challenge of promoting tolerance has mostly been treated as a value or practice of demographic or religious majorities, this book offers a broader take and pays attention to minority perspectives. It is a valuable reference for scholars of Religious Studies, the Sociology of Religion and the History of Religion.

Preliminary Material /Wim Hofstee and Arie van der Kooij -- Introduction /Wim Hofstee and Arie van der Kooij -- Religion and Politics in Post-Secular Society: Beyond the Public / Private Divide /Bart C. Labuschagne -- New Forms of Public Religion: Spirituality in Global Civil Society /Linda Woodhead -- Particularity and Contextuality Interrupting the Public / Private Debate Concerning Religion /Niek Brunsveld -- Going Public: Minority Muslim Communities and Public Space in Syria (Prior to the Revolt) /Dick Douwes -- Apostasy in Islam: Public or Private? Classical and Contemporary Discussions of Muslim Scholars and their Relevance for Muslims in the West /Mohammed Ghaly -- Light from the East (1948–1954) and the De-Territorialization of the Assyrian Church in the East /Heleen Murre-van den Berg -- Jews and the Social Contract /David Novak -- Religion in Greek Society State, Public or Private? /Alexandros Sakellariou -- Early Christian Eschatology as a Model for the Modern Practice of Interfaith Dialogue—An Eschatological Model /Matthew Aaron Tennant -- "Be a Jew at Home as Well as in the Street": Religious Worldviews in a Liberal Democracy /Bruno Verbeek -- Private Belief, Public Avowal: Religious Liberals and the Ethics of Sincerity /Ernestine G.E. van der Wall -- Relocating the Public and Reforming the Private: Tourism and the Survival of an Ancestor Cult in the Mexican Town of Mitla, Oaxaca /William R. Arfman -- "A World Awaits": The Meaning of Mediatized Paganism in Online Computer Games /Stef Aupers -- Public Individualism in Contemporary Dutch Shamanism /Jeroen W. Boekhoven -- Some Thoughts on Privatisation and De-Institutionalisation: Religion in the Public Sphere /Meerten B. ter Borg -- Religion in Liquid Modernity: Collective Manifestations of Religion in Secularizing Dutch Society /Kees de Grootl -- Index /Wim Hofstee and Arie van der Kooij.

The nature of religion -- The moral instinct -- The evolution of religious behavior -- Music, dance, and trance -- Ancestral religion -- The transformation -- The tree of religion -- Morality, trade, and trust -- The ecology of religion -- Religion and warfare -- Religion and nation -- The future of religion