CairoMosque2
Interior of a Cairo mosque
FesMedrasa
Medrasa (Koranic School) in Fez, Morocco

Research group Islam, Politics and Society

Islam Studies focuses on Islam in the formative period as well as on its contemporary social, cultural, and political expressions in both the Middle East and Europe. Its research deals with four fundamental tensions in Islam: inclusion-exclusion; religion – politics;  the individual – the collective; and finally, the tension between the religious and the secular. The first two have been characteristic of Islam since its inception, the last two are predominantly modern and have emerged after the confrontation with the West and its specific political order, legal system, social structures and cultural norms and practices, giving rise to new internal dynamics.