The Revival of Islam in the Balkans

'The editors of this timely addition to the scholarship are to be commended for bringing together such a stellar example of the cutting-edge research the study of Islam in the Balkans requires in this era of rapidly changing conditions for Muslims and their fellow countrymen. In eleven well-crafted studies on various themes related to the rapidly changing dynamics within Muslim communities in the Balkans, the reader is offered access to the state-of-the-art scholarship on Islam. The particularly close focus on hitherto ignored actors in the forging of new kinds of Muslim communities in face of hostility from the larger world is especially welcome considering these will be the likely agents for positive co-habitation and trust-building measures in the future. It is especially commendable that the editors invited scholars wishing to shed further light on how Muslim women in particular try to strengthen their role in shaping the future of their communities. The fact that such efforts are complicated by the often confused debates about the ethno-national and/or universalist character of Albanian, Roma, Bosnian, and Bulgarian Muslim existence in their homelands promises to positively inform scholars for years to come on how to best disentangle the study of religiosity in the Balkans from the crude references made to the larger 'war on terror.' The Revival of Islam in the Balkans is highly recommended as both a resource for specialists in the study of Islam-in-the-Balkans and a valuable tool to introduce to graduate students.' Dr. Isa Blumi, Associate Professor of History, Georgia State University, USA 'This volume offers rich empirical insights into the diverse forms of lived religiosity amongst Balkan Muslims, convincingly arguing for a paradigm shift that decouples religion from the ethno-national grids of identity and focuses instead on the individual re-imaginations and personalized practices emerging outside the institutional control of official government-sponsored orthodoxies inherited from socialism. This is an exciting contribution to the field and compulsory reading for those interested in Balkan Islam and contemporary religious change in the post-socialist world.' Ger Duijzings, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Regensburg, Germany

This book shifts analytical focus from macro-politicization and securitization of Islam to Muslims' choices, practices and public expressions of faith. An empirically rich analysis, the book provides rich cross-country evidence on the emergence of autonomous faith communities as well as the evolution of Islam in the broader European context.This book shifts analytical focus from macro-politicization and securitization of Islam to Muslims' choices, practices and public expressions of faith. An empirically rich analysis, the book provides rich cross-country evidence on the emergence of autonomous faith communities as well as the evolution of Islam in the broader European context.