Sensory Engagements in the Study of Muslim Piety
How have practices and imaginaries of sensing been religiously engaged and contested by Muslims? How do contemporary Muslim practices and debates concerning religious sensing relate to historical precedents?
Date: Monday 26 / 05 / 2025 – digital lecture: 3.00 – 4.30 pm CET
In Simon Stjernholm’s new book Sensing Islam: Engaging and Contesting the Senses in Muslim Religiosity (Bloomsbury), he analyses examples dealing with contemporary Sufism and Muslim religious oratory in order to explore practices and imaginaries of sensing.
Combining the research fields of Islamic Studies, anthropology of Islam, material religion and sensory studies, this book covers a range of materials, including writings by Muslim religious authorities, ethnographic material, audio recordings and videos.
In this talk, he will present the general framework of the book and discuss a few examples of its analyses in detail.
Simon Stjernholm is Associate Professor of the Study of Religion at the University of Copenhagen. His work is situated in the anthropology and history of Islam, with particular focus on Sufism and Muslim preaching.
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