The Struggle to Define a Nation : Rethinking Religious Nationalism in the Contemporary Islamic World

In the present edited volume, a serious of internationally recognised scholars adopt an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of 'religious nationalism' and the 'nationalization' of religion, through focusing on case studies and the religious affiliations and denominations of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The aim of this book is to reconsider the ongoing debate between different communities of the so-called Islamic World regarding the nature of the nation and state, and the role of religion in a nation-state's institutional ground, both as a viable integrative or segregating factor. It is through focusing on the state dimension, as the subject of collective action or socio- cultural and political representation, that the book proposes to reconsider the relationship between religion, politics and identity in the perspective of 'religious nationalism' and the 'nationalization' of religion in the contemporary Islamic World. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS INTRODUCTION. THE STRUGGLE TO DEFINE A NATION: RETHINKING RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC WORLD 1. RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM IN THE OFFICIAL CULTURE OF MULTI-CONFESSIONAL LEBANON 2. SYRIA’S LEBANONIZATION: AN HISTORICAL EXCURSUS WITHIN THE ‘NON-EXISTENCE’ OF SYRIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY 3. NATION-NARRATING MONARCHIES: THE RELIGIOUS ‘SOFT POWER’ OF THE MOROCCAN AND JORDAN KINGS 4. SAUDI NATIONAL IDENTITY: HISTORICAL AND IDEATIONAL DIMENSIONS 5. RELIGION AND NATIONALISM: PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP IN THE MIDST OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT 6. ‘UNDER THE SAME FLAG’: THE COPTS OF EGYPT AND THE CHALLENGES OF NASSERIST NATIONALISM 7. THE LONER DESPERADO: OPPRESSION, NATIONALISM AND ISLAM IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE 8. SELF-SACRIFICE AND FORGIVENESS: RELIGION AND NATIONALISM IN THE NEW ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN CINEMA 9. RELIGION AND NATION BUILDING IN TURKEY: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONALIZED RELIGION IN THE CASE OF DIYANET 10. JUNDALLAH AND RADICAL RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM 11. NATIONALISM AND ISLAMISM AS OPPOSING DETERMINANTS OF IRANIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY 12. EVOLVING FACE OF PAKISTAN’S RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM 13. THE LIMITS OF SECULAR NATIONALISM: REVISITING THE POLITICS OF ISLAM AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN BANGLADESH 14. THE BROKEN MIRROR: HOW THE CONTEMPORARY JIHADIST NARRATIVE IS RE-SHAPING THE CLASSICAL DOCTRINE OF JIHAD 15. EMERGING TRENDS IN THE BROADER JIHADI GALAXY: BETWEEN RADICALIZATION AND NEW MODELS OF JIHADISM 16. CONCLUSION 1: FROM THE NAHDA TO NOWHERE? 17. CONCLUSION 2: DEMOCRACY, NATIONALISM AND RELIGION IN THE ARAB WORLD The present volume analyses the relation between religion and nationalism within the wider context of the so-called "Islamic World" from the first half of twentieth century until the most recent events of the Arab Spring. In particular, the book seeks to investigate the historical significance of this relationship, evaluating and exploring its multidimensional character, with a particular focus on the concepts of the 'nationalization' of religion and 'religious nationalism'. The book comprises chapters from seventeen specialists