Towards a Multi-Religious Topology of Islam: The Global Circulation of a Mutable Mobile
Manfred Sing
Narratives of the origins, history, and present state Islam always entail spatial claims. Accordingly, emerged in Arabian Peninsula, spread over its so-called heartlands, became a world religion. A common understanding inscribes onto Orient opposes it to Europe, Occident, or West. Such claims are faced with fundamental challenges epistemological shortcomings because neither nor space naturally given, bounded entities. Rather, different historical actors observers produce spatialized Islam. In this chapter, I challenge notion that “Muslim space” is useful analytical concept, scrutinize ways which academic discourses inscribe history. As an alternative, propose topology understands production as multi-dimensional social process, including Muslim non-Muslim perspectives at same time. Thus, delineate variegated, dynamic, multi-religious from inception. My argument Islam’s trans-regional turned into polycentric, mutable mobile characterized by internal external diversity. further argue images integral, yet often concealed part European Western knowledge self-understanding. Epistemologically, perspective argues “Islamization Islam” nowhere better visible than ramifications marginalize, exclude, obfuscate both experiences Islamic contexts continuous presence
Entangled religions