Understanding Property in Moslem Transitional Environments
Final Report Abstract
The German-French PROMETEE project took place in a context in which the interest for normativities in societies partly or wholly Muslim is, at an international scale, in a thorough transformation. It was engaged in the comparative study of practices related to property, especially land property, in two specific social contexts in which normativities referred to Islam unfold: societies with Muslim minorities, like German-speaking Western Europe and its migrant societies; societies with Muslim majorities, like Lebanon, Algeria and Mauritania. PROMETEE has treated the issue of the law’s relationship with Islam, but it has mainly attempted at describing the rules in use, the conflicts they have to solve, and concrete legal practices. It substituted to the study of “Islamic law” an anthropology of law in Muslim contexts (and this includes situations where Muslims are a minority). The project was especially concerned with situated practices, norms of reference, and the language which is used in that respect. It used the techniques and methods of ethnography and linguistic anthropology applied to both oral and written languages, as well as instruments of quantitative social research. PROMETEE was able to observe in detail and in various contexts the plurality of practices, beyond the frequently used concept “Islamic law” (Sharia). In practice, the impact of Sharia on acting in the legal field is surprisingly weak.
Publications
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Understanding Property in Moslem Transitional Environments: The French-German PROMETEE research project. In: GAIR-Mitteilungen 2013, 5. Jg.: pp. 62-69
Baudouin Dupret, Jörn Thielmann
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Ibn Taimiyya – A Social Market Economist avant la lettre? Ulrich Haarmann Memorial Lecture, vol. 10. Berlin : EB-Verlag, 2014
Jörn Thielmann
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Finding a Place for Islam in Germany: Islamic Organisations under Private and Public Law. In: Journal of Religion in Europe, vol. 8, issue 3-4, 2015: pp. 419-443
Riem Spielhaus und Martin Herzog
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Muslims' Day-to-Day Handling of Property and the Adherence to Islamic Norms – A Systematic Review of Studies for Western Europe. In: Journal of Muslims in Europe, vol. 4, issue 2, 2015: pp. 137-173
Stephanie Müssig
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Researching Mahr in Germany: A Multidisciplinary Approach. In: Review of Middle East Studies, vol. 49, issue 1, 2015: pp. 23-37
Ursula Günther, Martin Herzog und Stephanie Müssig
