Islam in the Contemporary West

Specialisation of: Religious Studies
Degree: MA in Religious Studies
Mode of Study: Full-time, part-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
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This programme focuses on the study of the historical, normative and institutional sides of contemporary Islam as a minority religion within the secular context of the Western states. The subjects addressed include: the history of Muslim minorities in Western and Eastern Europe, the presently ongoing development of a new branch of Islamic jurisprudence called Fiqh al- Aqalliyyât, and the evolving political and legal views on Islam and Muslims within the Western states.

The information about this programme is available in the following languages:

The programme is interdisciplinary and makes use of the instruments of philology, history, and social sciences (especially of the anthropology, sociology and psychology of religion). It is based on the most recent results of the ongoing research of the development of Islam in the West. Students are expected to participate not only to the study of the features of Islam as a living religion within the Western secular context in a general sense, but also to concentrate more specifically on the position of Muslims and the development of Islam within a particular geographic area.

Students with an interest in a more philological or theological approach towards Islam in Europe might opt for admission to the Islamic Theology programme. Another related programme is the Islamic Studies programme .

Dr. Sneller

“In the present-day world you see that the factor of religion plays an in-creasingly important role in consi-derations on societal issues.”

“My specialist field is ethics, an area of philosophy that systematically questions human behaviour. I am concerned with such issues as the relationship between religion and morality. Is man perhaps not inherently irrational? In general you can say that philosophy puts all world views into a common perspective, whether they be religious or scientific. Ethics, as a branch of philosophy, calls into discussion contemporary moral assumptions within religion, as well as issues in this field which emerge from the arts and sciences. I am infinitely fascinated by identifying problems.

In the present-day world you see that the factor of religion plays an increasingly important role in considerations on societal issues. Not so long ago the religious context was regarded as irrelevant: In Europe, for example, Christianity was relegated to the private domain. But now there are definite signs that a change is taking place. Many Muslims, for example, no longer expressly distance themselves from the visible aspects of their religion, such as clothing or public prayers, whereby other religions rediscover themselves as religions.

A year ago I won Leiden University’s teaching prize. I believe it is essential for a teacher to be fully committed to and engaged in education. You cannot teach ethics as an automaton; to me this seems a contradiction in terms. An automaton has no awareness of what is at stake, or how much pain a particular decision can inflict.”