Final Report Summary - NEITHER NOR (Neither visitors, nor colonial victims: Muslims in Interwar Europe and European Trans-cultural History)
The Starting Grant project "Neither Visitors, Nor Colonial Victims: Muslim in interwar Europe and European Trans-cultural History", led by Umar Ryad (Faculty of Humanities /Utrecht University (2014-2017), the Netherlands; and Faculty of Arts/ KU Leuven (2017-2019), Belgium), has resulted in a number of scholarly publications. These works written by the PI and other team members analyse the multiple religious, political and cultural aspects of Islam and Muslims in interwar Europe. The team members studied the intellectual and religio-political roles played by Muslim “intellectual agents” during the interwar years and up until the rest of World War II (1918-1946). In a teamwork, they studied Muslim political, religious, and social movements beyond local cultural borders.
By focusing on Muslims and their action in this time, the publications demonstrated that this history of interwar Europe was deeply interwoven with Muslim colonial subjects living in Europe, making Europe and the “Muslim” world partly overlapping spheres. The project looked at how the Muslim presence and movements cut across national boundaries in interwar Europe, and made use of transnational ties. The publication highlighted: 1) the question of pan-Islam and political activism and the struggle against European colonial powers from within Europe itself, 2) how Muslim religious institutions and mosques influenced the colonial Islam-policies held by European states, 3) European converts to Islam and their apology for Islam in Europe, 4) Sectarian debates among Muslims themselves in Europe, 5) cases of Muslim conversion to Christianity in interwar Europe, 6) what kinds of images which Muslims formed about Europe from within, and 7) how Muslim intellectuals enhanced the idea of creating cultural institutions in Europe.
In addition, the project has organized an extensive number of conferences, workshop and lecture-cum-seminars. Thanks to the generous ERC-funding, the project produced a documentary film, “Karlstraße 10: In Search for Muslims in interwar Europe” in which the story of the project as well as the historical personages of Muslims in Europe are visually told. Exhibition (14 February – 29 March 2019). In collaboration with KADOC (KU Leuven Interfaculty Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society), the project has organized a research expo in which the archival materials collected during the project have been exhibited along with the interwar archives of KADOC that are related to the Flemish history in the Middle East.
Overall, the project has shown that Muslims in interwar Europe cannot be reduced to passive strangers of the internal European local politics and public debates. The research has tried to present a picture of how Muslims, who belonged to various social, geographic, linguistic, intellectual, and religious backgrounds understood their shared “Islamness”; and how they impacted on the “Europeanness” of those who interacted with them. In their research approach and methods, the researchers have taken into account the multiplicity of Muslim activities, religious and political institutions, and re)interpretations of European homogeneity, civilization, and culture in the European setting in the interwar period.
By focusing on Muslims and their action in this time, the publications demonstrated that this history of interwar Europe was deeply interwoven with Muslim colonial subjects living in Europe, making Europe and the “Muslim” world partly overlapping spheres. The project looked at how the Muslim presence and movements cut across national boundaries in interwar Europe, and made use of transnational ties. The publication highlighted: 1) the question of pan-Islam and political activism and the struggle against European colonial powers from within Europe itself, 2) how Muslim religious institutions and mosques influenced the colonial Islam-policies held by European states, 3) European converts to Islam and their apology for Islam in Europe, 4) Sectarian debates among Muslims themselves in Europe, 5) cases of Muslim conversion to Christianity in interwar Europe, 6) what kinds of images which Muslims formed about Europe from within, and 7) how Muslim intellectuals enhanced the idea of creating cultural institutions in Europe.
In addition, the project has organized an extensive number of conferences, workshop and lecture-cum-seminars. Thanks to the generous ERC-funding, the project produced a documentary film, “Karlstraße 10: In Search for Muslims in interwar Europe” in which the story of the project as well as the historical personages of Muslims in Europe are visually told. Exhibition (14 February – 29 March 2019). In collaboration with KADOC (KU Leuven Interfaculty Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society), the project has organized a research expo in which the archival materials collected during the project have been exhibited along with the interwar archives of KADOC that are related to the Flemish history in the Middle East.
Overall, the project has shown that Muslims in interwar Europe cannot be reduced to passive strangers of the internal European local politics and public debates. The research has tried to present a picture of how Muslims, who belonged to various social, geographic, linguistic, intellectual, and religious backgrounds understood their shared “Islamness”; and how they impacted on the “Europeanness” of those who interacted with them. In their research approach and methods, the researchers have taken into account the multiplicity of Muslim activities, religious and political institutions, and re)interpretations of European homogeneity, civilization, and culture in the European setting in the interwar period.