Rhetorical Strategies of Kosovo’s Imams in the Fight for ‘Women’s Rights’

Abstract

This chapter aims to give an account of how Islam is read and recast by important religious figures in the case of Kosovo. The way Islam is articulated by a selected pool of popular imams can be related here to the idea of different ‘modalities of revival’ that followed the collapse of communism in the Balkans (see Introduction). Such choices reflect important ‘breaks’, which have affected Muslims in this part of Europe, all of which are relevant to this present chapter: the legacies of state-enforced secularism; the opening up of a free market of religiosity whereby new forms of communication and actors begin to take authority away from the state-sanctioned authorities; and lastly, the impact of the EU accession process. To begin unpacking these issues I look at how imams in Kosovo navigate between important trends outlined in the Introduction, particularly the trends toward secularization, international influences, and impact of European normative spaces, by focusing on their critiques of state-led attempts to ban the hijab in public schools.