Deobandi ʿulamāʾ and Violence in Pakistan (part 2 of 2)
In the second part of his contribution Muhammad Bilal keeps to emphasize that confining Deobandi thought to a philosophy of violence is too simplistic. Taking the events of 9/11 as a starting point, the author emphasizes the cultural, social and especially realigious context in which Deobandi thought developed.
){kind=link}
Deobandi ʿulamāʾ and Violence in Pakistan (part 1 of 2)
The Islamic theological school of the Deobandi is seen in many discussions as the spiritual precursor of Islamist terrorism. In his contribution, Muhammad Bilal uses the example of Pakistan to give an introduction to the complex historical background of this movement and shows that the truth is, as so often, more complex.
){kind=link}
A New RaT Research Cluster, an Old Question, and an Ongoing Academic Endeavor: Theories of Religions in Past, Present, and Future
How can religion be understood as a social phenomenon? What human needs does it arise from and what is its role in a society? All these questions and many more form the core of religious studies. On the occasion of the launch of a new RaT Research Cluster, Nickolas Roubekas provides an overview of historical developments and current guiding questions.
Gnostic Myth and Enlightenment: On the Perversity of Institutional Promise/Misspeaking (Versprechen)
How can we see the discourse about ‘Gnosis’ in a contemporary light or how can we perceive it at all? Christian Zolles approaches this topic based on new interpretations of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Imp of the Perverse and of Jacob Taubes’ reflections on The Uneasiness with the Institution.
){kind=link}
The twofold Demise of a Communicative Genre. Shutdown-notes during the fifth Austrian Shutdown
Another update by Karsten Lehmann.
Doomed to Sacrifice? Existential and Phenomenological Perspectives on Sacrifice and Gender
International Workshop 28–29 October 2021 at the Institute for Human Sciences, organised within the FWF Research Project M2947-G “Woman without a Name: Gender Identity in Sacrificial Stories” and co-organised by the Research Centre for Religion and Transformation. A report by Katerina Koci.
Times of Distanced Judaism
How have the recent COVID-19 related lockdowns affected Jewish religious pracitce? Yuval Katz-Wilfing’s text reflects upon the challenges that the pandemic poses to Jewish laws regarding prayers and rituals and gives an insight into the various ways different Jewish communities have responded to these difficult times.
Are the Taliban Jihadists? On the Religious Identity of Afghanistan’s New Rulers
How can we comprehend the current state of affairs in Afghanistan? Thomas Schmidinger offers us an insight into the religious position of the Taliban inside of Sunni Islam. In doing so, he shows us that religious identities are more complex than we
Fakelore and Cultural Appropriation: New Age and Folk Religion
Taking the example of the self-declared Zulu shaman Credo Vusamazulu Mutwa, Hans Gerald Hödl reflects on the difficult task of classifying religions and draws our attention to the power relations that are always at play in this process.
Increasing Removal of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Public Sphere. Observations during the fourth Austrian Shutdown.
Another update by Karsten Lehmann.