Description

Contemporary governance of Islam in Europe is often presented as a neutral exercise in managing religious diversity within modern states. This session challenges that assumption by situating these forms of regulation within a longer historical trajectory, examining how institutional arrangements governing Islam reflect enduring continuities with earlier colonial modes of rule and how external structures of power continue to organize Muslim life.

By tracing the development of Islampolitik, the discussion explores how institutions such as religious bureaucracy, education, and legal regulation shape Muslim religious life, define legitimate authority, and regulate Islam from above. This raises a broader question: if these external forms of governance continue to reproduce older patterns of control, what does this imply for the possibility of the Umma emerging not only as a shared identity, but as an autonomous form of social and political organization? Dr. Farid Hafez is Associate Teaching Professor of International Relations at the College of William & Mary and a Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative. His work focuses on Islamophobia, political Islam, and the governance of Islam in Europe, with particular attention to how state power and racialization shape the institutional regulation of Muslim communities. His recent book, Governing Islam in Austria and Germany: From Colonial Times to the Present, examines how contemporary policies toward Islam are shaped by colonial legacies and postcolonial transformations. The discussion is be moderated by Ummatics Lead Editor, Dr. Uthman Badar. Date: Saturday June 27 at 12 PM (noon) Eastern Time

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