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Muslim Minorities and Minority Fiqh

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Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives

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Abstract

How should Muslims approach the practice of the faith as they live as minorities? While there have been several approaches to the question, both Taha Jabir al-Alwani and Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Western-based ulama, worked on the concept of fiqh al-aqalliyyāt (minority fiqh) to assist in integration and overcoming the hardships of being a minority. Long-held understandings of the taqlīd were reexamined considering immigration to non-Islamic territories. Al-Alwani and al-Qaradawi adopted a method of renewed ijtihād and examination of the maqaṣid al-shari’ah. Al-Qaradawi was foundational for the establishment of the European Council of Fatwa Research (ECFR), which issued fatwas based on minority fiqh pertaining to the military, marriage, and interest, which proved to be controversial.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Middlesex University, London, UK

    Matthew Reifsnider

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  1. Matthew Reifsnider
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Sociology and Anthropology, University of North Florida Dept of Sociology and Anthropology, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Ronald Lukens-Bull

  2. Arizona State University, TEMPE, AZ, USA

    Mark Woodward

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Reifsnider, M. (2021). Muslim Minorities and Minority Fiqh. In: Lukens-Bull, R., Woodward, M. (eds) Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_11-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_11-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73653-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73653-2

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