Muslim Preaching in the Middle East and Beyond

Explores Muslim religious oratory across time, culture and media
Explores the huge variety of Muslim religious oratory in Muslim majority and minority contexts
Calls attention to a shared discursive tradition
Combines analyses of political and ideological uses of oratory with a focus on its ritual aspects and ramifications
Emphasises the impact of various types of media for the authoritative power of religious oratory
Stresses the symbolic power of religious oratory and its impact on cultural and national identity
Preaching has been central to Muslim communities throughout the centuries. The liturgical Friday sermon is a prime example, although other genres that are less commonly known also serve important functions. This book addresses the ways in which Muslims relate various forms of religious oratory to authoritative tradition in 21st-century Islamic practice, while striving to adapt to local contexts and the changing circumstances of politics, media and society. This is the first book of its kind to look at homiletics beyond a specific country focus.
Taking into consideration the historical developments of Muslim preaching, it offers a collection of thoroughly contextualised case studies of oratory in Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Sweden and the USA. The analyses presented here show shared emphasis on struggles for legitimacy, efforts to speak authoritatively, as well as discursive opportunities and constraints.
Notes on Contributors
Jonathan P. Berkey, James B. Duke Professor of History, Davidson College, USA.
Linda G. Jones, Associate Professor of History, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain.
Laila Makboul, University of Oslo, Norway.
Susanne Olsson, Professor of History of Religions, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Catharina Raudvere, Professor of History of Religions, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jan Retsö, Professor emeritus of Arabic, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Simon Stjernholm, Associate Professor of History of Religions, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Elisabeth Özdalga, Professor of Sociology, Senior Researcher at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, Sweden and Turkey.