Amplifying Islam in the European Soundscape: Religious Pluralism and Secularism in the Netherlands

212 Pages·2017·2.04 MB·English

by  Pooyan Tamimi Arab

Amplifying Islam in the
European Soundscape
Islam of the Global West
Islam of the Global West is a pioneering series that examines Islamic beliefs,
practices, discourses, communities, and institutions that have emerged from
“the Global West.” The geographical and intellectual framing of the Global West
reflects both the role played by the interactions between people from diverse
religions and cultures in the development of Western ideals and institutions in
the modern era, and the globalization of these very ideals and institutions.
In creating an intellectual space where works of scholarship on European and
North American Muslims enter into conversation with one another, the series
promotes the publication of theoretically informed and empirically grounded
research in these areas. By bringing the rapidly growing research on Muslims
in European and North American societies, ranging from the United States and
France to Portugal and Albania, into conversation with the conceptual framing
of the Global West, this ambitious series aims to reimagine the modern world
and develop new analytical categories and historical narratives that highlight
the complex relationships and rivalries that have shaped the multicultural,
poly-religious character of Europe and North America, as evidenced, by way
of example, in such economically and culturally dynamic urban centers as
Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Madrid, Toronto, Sarajevo, London, Berlin, and
Amsterdam, where there is a significant Muslim presence.
Amplifying Islam in the
European Soundscape
Religious Pluralism and Secularism
in the Netherlands
Pooyan Tamimi Arab
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2017
© Pooyan Tamimi Arab, 2017
Pooyan Tamimi Arab has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission
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refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted
by Bloomsbury or the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4742-9143-9
ePDF: 978-1-4742-9144-6
ePub: 978-1-4742-9145-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tamimi Arab, Pooyan, author.
Title: Amplifying Islam in the European soundscape: religious pluralism and
secularism in the Netherlands / Pooyan Tamimi Arab.
Description: New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017. | Series: Islam of the
global West | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016039052| ISBN 9781474291439 (hb) | ISBN 9781474291453 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Adhan–Netherlands. | Sound–Social aspects–Netherlands. |
Loudness–Social aspects–Netherlands. | Islam–Netherlands.
Classification: LCC BP184.3 .T345 2017 | DDC 297.3/8209492–dc23 LC
record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016039052
Series design by Dani Leigh
Cover image © Brian Stablyk / gettyimages.co.uk
Series: Islam of the Global West
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
In memory of Mohammad and Mehdi
vi
Contents
List of Figures viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 “A Minaret of Light”: Transducing the Azan? 21
2 A History of Public Worship: From Procession Prohibition
to Amplified Azan 47
3 Conflicting Secularisms: The Constitutional Protection
of the Azan and Nativism 79
4 Regulating Nostalgias: Azan Negotiations in a Dutch Town 111
Epilogue 151
Notes 163
Bibliography 180
Index 194
List of Figures
Figure 1 The Essalam Mosque, Rotterdam 28
Figure 2 Design for the An Nasr Mosque in Rotterdam 31
Figure 3 Light-azan for the An Nasr Mosque 32
Figure 4 The Ar-Rahman Mosque, Hoofddorp 36
Figure 5 Design for the Marseille Grand Mosque 40
Figure 6 The Ulu Mosque, Utrecht 44
Figure 7 Design for the Turkish Cultural Center in Enschede 45
Figure 8 Cover image of Dutch Racism 115
Figure 9 First informational evening on the azan in Deventer 120
Figure 10 Osman Üre, the father, and Aydin Üre, his son 127
Figure 11 Mevlut Erarslan, the father, and Huseyn Erarslan, his son 128
Figure 12 Second informational evening about the azan 135
Figure 13 The Western Mosque, Amsterdam 160
Figure 14 First Friday prayer at the Western Mosque, Amsterdam 161
Figure 15 The Fatih Mosque and the Western Church, Amsterdam 162
Acknowledgments
I am indebted, most of all, to Forough Nayeri, my dear mother who never hesitated
to make sacrifices for my sake. My explorations in cultural anthropology began
as a child when she studied the anthropology of non-Western societies. She and
our close friend Halleh Ghorashi were able to pursue their degrees thanks to the
support given to them by the University Assistance Fund in the Netherlands. If it
was not for this much-needed support for the exiled and the vulnerable, I would
not have had the opportunity as a child to be inspired by my mother, by Halleh,
and by their friends.
The research for this book was funded by the Netherlands Organization
for Scientific Research. I would like to thank all the people who agreed to be
interviewed for this project, without whom I could not have conducted research
on Islam in the Netherlands. I am also particularly thankful to Patrick Eisenlohr
and Martijn Oosterbaan for giving me the opportunity to do anthropological
research at Utrecht University, and for introducing me to new styles of thinking.
I cannot name all who supported me in this period, but I want to mention
the names of Ben Visser, Victor Kal, Kootje Willemse-van Spanje, Christoph
Baumgartner, Birgit Meyer, Veit Bader, Rajeev Bhargava, Peter Jan Margry,
Daan Beekers, Ammar Maleki, Kamel Essabane, Hamed Khosravi, Ernst van
den Hemel, Paul Mepschen, Jan Willem Duyvendak, Oskar Verkaaik, Mehmet
Yamali, Jaap Kapteyn, Manon Tiessink, and Corina Duijndam. A special thanks
goes to Rasna Dhillon, who did a fantastic job brushing up my English, and to
Lammert de Jong, who never complained about reading yet another version of the
text. I am also indebted to Bloomsbury for publishing this book, to Frank Peter
for his comments on the manuscript, and especially to Kambiz GhaneaBassiri,
with whom it was a pleasure to work thanks to his clarity of thought as well as his
kindness. My wife Sara put up with a lot during the entire research and writing
process. For our honeymoon, we booked a room next to one of Istanbul’s many
mosques so that I could enthusiastically listen to the azan in the mornings. Our
sweet daughter Shiva learned to walk and speak as the book manuscript reached
its completion.
My older respondents often said that they found the call to prayer nostalgic;
it reminded them of their youth. During this research, in 2013, I visited my