In most Muslim-majority contexts in the world, this pious formula is the customary way to begin a speech, a work, or a transaction. This is so also in Egypt, which I know better than other contexts. But in the world of academia (including parts of the Egyptian scene),1 speaking and writing in the name of...Read More

This article locates imaginative aspects of human subjectivity as a feminist issue by reviewing the concept of agency in the genealogy of Muslim and Middle Eastern women in anthropological and ethnographic literature. It suggests that, if feminist scholarship of the Middle East would continue approaching to Muslim women’s agency -as it has been doing for...Read More

A few years ago, a friend of mine felt that her life had somehow come to a standstill. After her youngest child had moved out, she realised how stale her marriage had become. Workwise, she had a good position that paid well, but lately she had begun to wonder about the purpose of it all....Read More

The Anthropology of Islam is a title that raises questions and certainly expectations. What is the anthropology of Islam? Why anthropology instead of theology or history? Why use the term Islam instead of Islams or Islam(s)? Why focus on Islam instead of Muslims? Is there only one anthropology of Islam or can we speak of...Read More