Abstract
What do we, as human beings—religious, non-religious, Muslim and non-Muslim—care about, and how do experiences of caring and being cared for come to shape the way we lead our lives with and among others? In this special issue, we set out to explore the relations between Muslims and various religious and non-religious others through the concept of ‘care’. Doing this, we dwell specifically on what we describe as tensions in care relations and the way they are experienced, thought of, conceptualized and negotiated: 1) tensions between individual aspirations and care for others 2) tensions between care as duty and care as pleasure and ground for human flourishing 3) tensions between practical and emotional dimensions of care 4) tensions between universal and cultural or ideological aspects of care and 5) tensions between state projects of care and religiously motivated care practices.
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Notes
The conference was made possible by a generous grant from the Danish Institute in Damascus. Despite not being part of this special issue, the papers and insights of all participants in the conference have contributed widely to our thinking on care and to the becoming of this special issue.
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This special issue is based on a conference, “Muslim Care Beyond the Self: Ethics of Care among Muslims and their Neighbors”, which was held at Aarhus University in December 2017. The conference was funded by a grant from the Danish Institute in Damascus.
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Louw and Mortensen have contributed equally both to the editing of the special issur and the writing of the introduction.
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Louw, M., Mortensen, E. Introduction: Muslim care beyond the self: Ethics of care among Muslims and their Neighbors. Cont Islam 15, 123–138 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-021-00467-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-021-00467-1