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Selected essays from
Cooke, M. and Lawrence, B. (2005)
Muslim Networks:
From Hajj to Hip Hop
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press)
Cooke, M. and Lawrence, B.
Introduction "Precisely because Islam is not
homogenous, it is only through the prism of Muslim networks - whether it be
academic or aesthetic, historical or commercial - that one can gain a
perspective on how diverse groups of Muslims contest and rearticulate what is
meant to be Muslim." (p.2) Muslim network studies result of
link between humanities and social sciences. "One key word
frames the medium for constructing Muslim networks, even as it suggests a method
for analysis. That word is ummah." (pg.2) "Until the
twentieth century, Muslim networks privileged men." (pg.2)
10th-15th centuries: adab al-rihla
"In Albert Hourani's words, Islamic civilization rested on "a body of knowledge
transmitted over the centuries by a known chain of teachers that preserved a
moral community, even when rulers changed." (p.4) Ibn Battuta,
Leo Africanus - "...how did this fourteenth century network become so ubiquitous
and effective? There are several factors that distinguish the Muslim world,
making its networks at once more interconnected than those of other contemporary
communities. They include trade, language, Sufism, and scholarship, but above
all they include common moral ideas and social codes." (p.5)
Reciprocity: tashkir "in its most schematic form,
Muslim networks of the 14th century had four categories: men of the pen, men of
the sword, men of negotiation, and men of husbandry." (p.6)
"Premodern networks were expansive, but they were travelled by the elite." (p.7)
Zawiyahs - at the core of this trust was the valuing of hospitality to the "son
of the road" (ibn-sabil). Hospitality was more than a cultural mandate:
it was also an act of piety." (p.7)] Anatolia - fityan
associations "Trust translated into hospitality that was
religiously underwritten by zakat..." (p.7) "Ibn Battuta's
experience was unexceptional for a man of his class and education." (p.7)
"Travel demonstrates how Muslim networks function as a medium ... Travel accents
both mobility and place" (p.8) If orthodoxy remains a reflex
of power, as Talal Asad has argued (1986,15), then moments of exchange and
conflict complicate a monolithic narrative of Islamic orthodoxy precisely to the
extent that they specify and localize knowledge production." (p.9)
"Networked exchanges reinforce established norms and orthodoxies even as they
submit them constant scrutiny and challenge." (p.9) Muslim
Networks as a Metaphor
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