Muslim Minority-State Relations

"Robert Mason's timely book offers important reflections on two of the most significant and controversial issues of our time: relations with Islam and the challenges facing Muslim communities today. From the UK to Asia and Africa, this volume explores the place of Islam in varied multi-cultural and multi-faith environments. Mason and his contributors explore issues associated with radicalism as well as security needs and discuss numerous approaches to the integration of Islam to create a more cohesive and pluralist society in which all have the opportunity to flourish." - Edward Kessler, Woolf Institute, UK "The publication of Muslim Minority - State Relations is to be welcomed at a time when, in many parts of the globe, Muslim communities feel under scrutiny, if indeed not suspicion, because of violence perpetrated by those claiming to act in the name of Islam. This book provides the insights that are essential for an informed dialogue. Whether or not we agree with some of the practical recommendations it offers, it is important that these are heard and openly discussed within societies that pride themselves on the rule of law and the rights of minorities." - Oliver McTernan, Director of Forward Thinking "[This book] skillfully charts the contemporary economic, political, and cultural dynamics informing the relationship between Muslim communities and the states in which they live. The contexts explored - from the UK to Austria, from Russia to Nigeria - remind us that state-Muslim engagement means very different things in different times and places. At the same time, however, the book offers a broad, timely, and richly textured account of some common threads, paramount among them being the distorting impact of security politics and the confused, uneven and ineffective policy it engenders." - Victoria Redclift, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Surrey, UK

Robert Mason is Visiting Fellow at the Centre for International Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He specializes in international relations, with a regional emphasis on the Middle East. His latest work is International Politics of the Arab Spring: Popular Unrest and Foreign Policy.

Foreword; John L. Esposito Preface and Acknowledgements Executive Summary; Robert Mason 1. Muslim State Relations in Great Britain: An Evolving Story; Nasar Meer and Tariq Modood 2. A Century of the Official Legal Status of Islam in Austria: Between the Law on Islam of 1912 and the Law on Islam of 2015; Agata Skowron-Nalborczyk 3. Relations Between the State and Islam in Finland and Poland; Agata Skowron-Nalborczyk 4. Muslim State Relations in Russia; Galina Yemelianova 5. Muslims in Northern Nigeria: Between Challenge and Opportunity; Zacharias Pierri and Fr. Atta Barkindo 6. Muslim State Relations in Kenya; Mario Aguilar 7. Muslim State Relations in Sri Lanka: A Challenge for Post-Conflict Reconciliation; Amjad Saleem 8. Religion, Nationalism and the Rohingya's Search for Citizenship in Myanmar; Samak Kosem and Amjad Saleem Notes on Contributors Index