Religio

O čem diskutuje současná česká a slovenská islamologie?

2024-07-11T12:38:48+02:00

The Sultan as a servant of Brahmans? : tracing the peregrinations of an early modern legend

2024-07-29T12:50:06+02:00

The paper analyzes a series of legends from the Deccan region of India, which situate the Bahmani Sultan in the position of a Brahmin servant. It starts with a discussion of the intense debates between historians about the origin of the sultan, which took place in the first half of the 20th century. Drawing on these debates, it argues that the legends, as available in Persian and Marathi primary sources, reveal the personal and contemporary goals of their Muslim and mostly Brahmin authors and are directly related to their authors' contemporary ideal of the king (from a just king to a sacralized king), rather than contribute to the knowledge of his personal history as the 20th century historian would interpret them. The article, thus, both contrasts and connects early modern sensibilities and the modern search of the historical past, which bears the repercussions of the past divided into its modernly imagined Hindu and Muslim parts.

Vliv osmanských předobrazů na současnou architekturu tureckých mešit

2024-07-19T13:02:44+02:00

Turkey is characterized by an exceptionally rich historical development of mosque architecture. The mosques of the Ottoman period, especially of the 16th and 17th centuries, are usually perceived as the pinnacle of this development. The study focuses on the architecture of Turkish mosques of approximately the last two decades. It aims at answering the following question: To what extent and in what way do the historical models, namely the Ottoman ones, influence the form of contemporary Turkish mosques? At the same time, the study aims to explain the causes of this influence, as well as its interpretation in the broader cultural and political context of contemporary Turkey. Based on the description and analysis of specific buildings, documented by the author during his field research, the study demonstrates that the Ottoman influence is an exceptionally important factor in contemporary Turkish mosque architecture. It manifests itself in the largest and the most significant projects located in prominent places such as the hilltops of major Turkish cities. From a distance, some of them could easily be mistaken for the 16th or 17th century monuments. However, a closer examination reveals multiple differences. They are built with different materials, mainly reinforced concrete combined with bricks. Moreover, they are often equipped with underground floors, including parking lots. This way, they are adapted to the needs of modern society. Such structures can be interpreted as a means of expressing the continuous connection with the Islamic religion, as well as with the Ottoman past, which is reflected in various aspects of the current Turkish political leadership.

Právne a spoločenské postavenie moslimov v stredovekom Uhorsku v 11.-13. storočí

2024-09-11T09:46:40+02:00

The text provides an overview of the state's attitude towards the Muslim community in medieval Hungary between the 11th and 13th centuries. Based on the reports of Arab historians, geographers, and travelers, as well as legislative texts from the Kingdom of Hungary, the article aims to delineate the individual phases of persecution, regulation, and tolerance of the state towards Muslims. From the beginning of the 11th century, coinciding with the Christianization of Hungary, we lack specific legislation targeting Muslims; however, their position was likely influenced by the general policy and attitudes of the kingdom toward non-Christian minorities. Legislation from the late 11th century penalized manifestations of Christianized Muslims (as well as Jews) reverting to their original religion. Early 12th-century laws criminalized Muslim customs and regulated the majority population's interactions with former Muslims. Throughout the 12th century, religious and ethnic diversity increased in Hungary, potentially leading to a more tolerant attitude toward the Muslim population later on. However, we do not have documents from this period that explicitly define their legal status and social position. From the mid-12th century, Arabic reports describe the dual status of Muslims in Hungary: there were secret (former) Muslims and those who practiced their faith openly. Thus, Islam was tolerated to a certain extent. By the early 13th century, Arabic accounts portray a prosperous rather than a persecuted community. This change in perception is confirmed by correspondence between the papal curia and the Hungarian royal court, and by Hungarian legislation from the first third of the 13th century, which directly addressed Muslims. This legislation attempted to regulate their involvement in the royal administration but largely overlooked their religious affiliation.

Nauka ne-já v rané orientalistice : buddhistický ateismus, evropský textualismus a protestantská východiska

2024-08-07T11:04:59+02:00

The beginnings of the academic study of Buddhism date back to late 18th century reaching its culmination by the middle of the 19th century with the works of E. Burnouf. Since this period was crucial for the formation of the field, it is necessary to understand how the Orientalists of the time understood the main Buddhist teaching of not-self (anatman). In line with contemporary postcolonial studies, the paper argues for a pivotal role of textualism in the early Orientalist perspective. It further shows the Protestant bias in orienting research toward textual evidence while ignoring all other data, such as material culture. Guided by such a presupposition, early Orientalists assumed that the teaching of not-self was fully explained in Buddhist scriptures, neglecting to explore its implications for living practices. Furthermore, the examination of Buddhist texts by early Orientalists was constrained by the intra-religious debates that prevailed in nineteenth century Europe, where questions about the possibility of atheism and natural religion dominated. Consequently, any attempt to explain the concept of not-self was circumscribed by questions such as the belief in God among Buddhists, the immortality of the soul in Buddhism, and the nature of nirvana as either the annihilation of the soul or its absorption into Divinity. For these reasons, I do not see Buddhists of the 19th century in early Orientalist discourse, but rather Orientalists themselves, prejudiced by their own religious biases.

Tibetanisticko-buddhologický workshop, 18. března 2024, Brno

2024-06-30T13:33:14+02:00

International interdisciplinary workshop "Prague and its Myths", CEFRES, Prague, 5th April 2024

2024-06-30T13:25:52+02:00

The ISORECEA Conference "Religious Diversity and Social Cohesion in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond", Tirana, April 25-27, 2024

2024-06-30T13:22:38+02:00

Konferencia "Sociológia a vedecké skúmanie náboženstva v ne/náboženskom svete", 15.-16. mája 2024, Bratislava

2024-07-29T12:59:41+02:00

Report on the Center for Studies on New Religions' 2024 conference, held in Bordeaux, France, from 12 to 15 June, 2024

2024-07-29T12:55:06+02:00

Second World Conference for Religious Dialogue and Cooperation, 19.-22. 6. 2024, Strumica (Severní Makedonie)

2024-06-30T13:20:00+02:00

The international workshop "Religions and the Environment: Methodological Reflection and the Contribution from Social Sciences", held in Warsaw 27-28 June 2024

2024-07-16T15:19:13+02:00

A review essay on four recent reference books on magic

2024-06-30T13:09:31+02:00

Reviewed works:

Davies, Owen. Magic: a very short introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 135 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-958802-2.
Davies, Owen, ed. The Oxford illustrated history of witchcraft and magic. First edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. viii, 310 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-960844-7.
A history of magic, witchcraft and the occult. Foreword by Suzannah Lipscomb; editors: Rose Blunkett-Ord, Anna Fischel; consultant: Sophie Page; contributors: Thomas Cussans, John Farndon, Ann Kay, Philip Parker. New York; London: DK, 2020. 319 pp. ISBN 978-1-4654-9429-0. ISBN 9780241386118.
Davies, Owen, ed. The Oxford history of witchcraft and magic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, c2023. 325 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-288405-3.

[Spalová, Barbora; Lukeš Rybanská, Ivana; Tížik, Miroslav a kol. Vize zdaru, vize zmaru: proměny církví v Česku a na Slovensku v kontextu restitucí]

2024-06-29T13:26:39+02:00

Spalová, Barbora; Lukeš Rybanská, Ivana; Tížik, Miroslav a kol. Vize zdaru, vize zmaru: proměny církví v Česku a na Slovensku v kontextu restitucí. Vydání první. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, nakladatelství Karolinum, 2023. 263 s. ISBN 978-80-246-5623-6.

[Riecky, Martin (ed.). Michal Bodický a jeho Rozpomienky: aktuálne v každom čase]

2024-07-16T15:23:04+02:00

Riecky, Martin, ed. Michal Bodický a jeho Rozpomienky: aktuálne v každom čase. Liptovský Mikuláš: Tranoscius, a.s., 2024. 479 s. ISBN 978-80-7140-603-7.

[Stähle, Hanna. Russian church in the digital era: mediatization of orthodoxy]

2024-08-01T13:45:18+02:00

Stähle, Hanna. Russian church in the digital era: mediatization of orthodoxy. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2022. xii, 224 s. Media, religion, and culture. ISBN 978-0-367-41040-7.

[Groot, Kees de (ed.). Comics, culture, and religion: faith imagined]

2024-09-05T11:41:32+02:00

Groot, Kees de, ed. Comics, culture, and religion: faith imagined. London; New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023. xii, 250 p. ISBN 978-1-350-32158-8.

[Máté, Imre. Yotengrit. Vol. 1, 2]

2024-06-30T13:29:24+02:00

Máté, Imre. Yotengrit. 1. Győr: Palatia Nyomda és K.; Budapest: Püski, 2004. 178 pp. ISBN 963-86305-7-4. ISBN 978-963-7692-11-8.
Máté, Imre. Yotengrit. 2. Győr: Palatia Nyomda és K.; Budapest: Püski, 2005. 208 p. ISBN 978-963-9906-61-1.

Response to Jack David Eller's review of my latest book

2024-06-30T13:12:40+02:00

Testa, Alessandro. Ritualising Cultural Heritage and Re-enchanting Rituals in Europe. Durham (NC): Carolina Academic Press, 2023. xvi, 253 p. ISBN 978-1-5310-2673-8. Review by David Eller, published in Religio 32/1, 2024, 238-240. Available at: https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/cs/handle/11222.digilib/digilib.79960