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Shannon Sibel Problems Associated With Studying Islam as a Whole Islam is too diverse of a religion for anthropologists to study as a whole. It is more effective to study Islam as a part of cultures that include the practice of it. Ethnographies depend upon insights from members of the group being studied and Islam consists of many different people from various places around the world who have differing versions of Islam. Culture helps shape religion and because of this, the various cultures introduced to Islam throughout history have helped shape Islam in ways that are specific to that particular area of the world. Writers of ethnographies have their own biases that affect the way they interpret the culture or society that they are studying, which leads to the presentation of different versions of Islam in the field of anthropology as the single true version of Islam. Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Because of this, there are Muslims in every corner of the world. Their differing geographic locations help to shape their view of the world and, consequently, their version of Islam. In el-Zein’s work Beyond Ideology: The Search for the Anthropology of Islam, he discusses Clifford Geertz’s “analysis of the diverse cultural expressions of Islam in Morocco and Indonesia” (el-Zein 1977, 230). According to Geertz, “Moroccan Islam lacked a religious order or hierarchy which would determine who could and could not aspire to leadership and sainthood” and Indonesian Islam “involved strict, hierarchical order of graded spirituality and corresponding rules determining who was to attain the highest stages” (el-Zein 1977, 231). These differences are very specific to these particular areas but they are indicative of the diversity of practices and structures of Islam throughout the world. Geographic distribution is not the only type of diversity that affects the interpretation of Islam. A person’s social class can also affect how they interpret Islam. This is very clearly demonstrated in the differences between the practices of the urban ruling elite and those practices of the local or folk Islams. The notion of Islam of the ruling elite focuses on the readings of the Quran and the traditions of Muhammad. In contrast, “most folk interpretations of Islam dwell upon the meaning of natural phenomena conceived as the reflection of God and the authority of the saints” (el-Zein 1977, 240-242). All of this can pose a challenge to anthropologists when they are trying to study Islam in its entirety. A major component of anthropological study is obtaining the native’s view of their own culture. An anthropologist will be able to get an accurate description of Islam in Morocco from talking to a Muslim from Morocco but it would not be an accurate description of all Muslims, as evidence by the differences between Moroccan and Indonesian Islam as described by Geertz. El-Zein talks about each individual experience containing “the universal characteristics assigned to the religious form of experience and those particular shared meanings which recall an entire tradition of Islam” (el-Zein 1977, 232). While it is possible to distinguish certain traits that are a part of all interpretations of Islam, it makes more sense to study the various different interpretations of Islam because of their many differences. Culture shapes religion. According to Talal Asad, the variety of Muslim practices present around the world and throughout history show which Islamic reasonings “different social and historical conditions can or cannot sustain” (Asad 2009, 23). What he means is that Muslims practice only the Islamic traditions that fit into their pre-existing social structure and historical contexts. As a result, “traditions should not be regarded as essentially homogenous” but “heterogeneity in Muslim practices is not necessarily an indication of the absence of an Islamic tradition” (Asad 2009, 23). As stated before, it is possible to have basic traits that are a part of all interpretations of Islam but it is more sensible to study individual interpretations of Islam rather than Islam in its entirety because of the many other differences caused by differing historical contexts. According to Geertz, culture includes collective notions, images, and concepts of world view. He also says that “culture particularly is the means of interpretation of all experience” (elZein 1977, 229). As previously mentioned, the world views of Muslims around the world differ because of various factors, including geographic location and social class, thus creating different cultures that shape interpretations of Islam in different ways. Geertz’s analysis of Islam in Morocco and Indonesia illustrate the effects that culture can have on religion. Morocco’s history “consisted of an unstable pattern of settlement and continuous feuding” (el-Zein 1977, 231). This lead to a lack of religious order or hierarchy. In Indonesia, “the population was quietly settled in towns or outlying agricultural villages, and their social relations were built upon a sense of order and cooperation” (el-Zein 1977, 231). Because of this there was “a strict, hierarchical order of graded spirituality” (el-Zein 1977, 231). Anthropologists have their own biases that can affect the way they interpret Islam. After receiving the native’s interpretation, anthropologists must then make their own interpretations of Islam (el-Zein 1977, 230). According to el-Zein, the idea that scholars’ own cultural ideas and values have influenced their analysis of Islam is nothing new. “Science is considered a mode of interpretation and reflection on experience” (el-Zein 1977, 242). This means that one can never completely suspend their cultural attitudes and as a result, their interpretation of Islam is biased. He also says that the changes in the definition of the essence of Islam is a result of the changing attitudes to religion in the West (el-Zein 1977, 242-246). This is because “one’s conception of religion determines the kinds of questions one thinks are askable and worth asking” (Asad 2009, 16). All of these biases can lead to varying ways of interpreting Islam. The anthropological premises discussed in Beyond Ideology and Theology: The Search for the Anthropology of Islam could be treated in the same way that the anthropologists “treat the tenets of Islam: as diverse, culturally relative expressions of a tradition” (el-Zein 1977, 246). These diverse analyses “are built upon the assumption of a single, absolute reality and seek to discover this reality in Islam” but instead they reveal the “diversity of possible definitions and descriptions of Islam” (el-Zein 1977, 249). When searching for this single absolute reality of Islam, anthropologists tend to regard other expressions of Islam, specifically folk expressions of Islam, as diluted forms that are distorted by magic and superstition (el-Zein 1977, 243). Without an agreeance on what exactly the single, pure form of Islam is, it is difficult to study Islam at large. Islam is an incredibly diverse religion with adherents from all over the globe. Muslims come from many different cultures with different histories that helped to shape the versions of Islam that are practiced in those areas. This can pose a problem for anthropologists who are looking for a native’s interpretation of Islam as a whole. There are also biases of the scholars that study Islam that can affect their interpretation of Islam. Many of these scholars are searching for a single Islam but because of biases, we end up with multiple presentations of different versions of Islam in the field of anthropology all claiming to be the true Islam. Therefore, when studying Islam it is more practical to study Islam as a part of the smaller cultures that practice it than it is to study Islam as a whole. Bibliography Asad, Talal. 2009. “The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam.” Qui Parle 17:1-30. el-Zein, Abdul Hamid. 1977. “Beyond Ideology and Theology: The Search for the Anthropology of Islam.” Annual Review of Anthropology 6:227-254.