Pious Practices among Danish Muslims. Diversity, Devotion and Aesthetics

Pious Singing: Aesthetic Repertoires and Interpretive Domains

Catharina Raudvere

Muslim musical traditions is in general an understudied area, especially when integrated in prayer, teaching and guidance. Singing is controversial in Islamic theology: is it haram or a mode of praising God? This subproject will analyse materials from prayer circles and discussion groups which constitute interpretive domains where ‘the pedagogics of piety’ is conducted by instructors who are regognized as trustworthy guides based on their personal qualifications and access to aesthetic repertoires as much as their formal Islamic training. For participants involved, these gatherings represent opportunities to carve out space for semi-public activities, to sense the significance of specific ritual genres and to formulate arguments in favour of performative and aesthetic resourcefulness.

One part of the project will discuss the options for choices of different kinds of devotional gatherings, ritual variety and spaces for personal development; another will analyse how Islamic praise genres involving singing are used as pedagogical devices in terms of Islamic instruction, sense of community and variation in individual religiosity.

Sufi hagiography as pious practice

Simon Stjernholm

Hagiographies of Sufi masters have been pivotal throughout the history of Muslim spirituality and continue to be central today. In this subproject, hagiographical narratives of contemporary Sufi masters with a following in Denmark, as told and retold by their followers, will be examined with a dual analytical focus. Firstly, attention will be paid to how contemporary narratives relate to the classical corpus of Sufi hagiographies, in terms of both continuation and change. How are, for example, miraculous deeds and supernatural events combined with stories of individual lives in the modern world? Secondly, the subproject will investigate the meanings and functions of such hagiographies in the life stories of the followers of these Sufi masters. One question to be pursued concerns to what extent and how the trajectories of followers’ lives are narrated as being actively guided by their shaykh, which can have a legitimising function.

The Story Behind the Wedding: Piety Codes in Union Formation among Turks in Denmark

Petek Onur

Marriage and wedding rituals and celebrations are life-cycle events displaying piety and cultural identifications adorned with aesthetic preferences. Highlighting their significance in Muslim minority contexts, this subproject aims to examine the changing codes and symbols of piety among Turkish communities in Denmark about gender roles and femininities in their union formation practices. Memories and images from Turkey, transnational diaspora trends, generational differences, interactions with the majority culture, and immigration policies have aesthetic, cultural and religious influences on these practices. The subproject will employ a qualitative methodology to analyse intensified intersections of family values, religious norms and emotions. Ultimately, it will offer insights into aesthetic trends and symbolisms in gender, sexuality and devotion in Turkish communities in Denmark.

Framing Islam: Islamic Art for Interior Decoration

Maria Lindebæk Lyngsøe

Even so, Islamic art for interior decoration has remained largely overlooked. Through in-depth ethnographic studies across online and offline spaces, this project therefore examines the production, promotion, and display of Scandinavian Islamic interior design with special attention to Denmark and the various actors and scenes involved in these processes. It seeks to answer these two main questions:

• What is religious-ethical art business, focusing on artists and their production of art pieces, and
• what is religious-ethical art consumption, focusing on those who buy or in other ways engage actively with the art.

Throughout, the project will investigate how the art production and consumption relate to Islamic visual culture, Muslim notions of piety and pious lifestyles, as well as market ideologies and consumer culture. As such, this research adds new perspectives to our understanding of contemporary Muslim devotional life Scandinavia and its aesthetic, ethical and ideological underpinnings.