The visible increase in religious practice among young European-born Muslims has provoked public anxiety. New government regulations seek not only to restrict Islamic practices within the public sphere, but also to shape Muslims', and especially women's, personal conduct. Pious Practice and Secular Constraints chronicles the everyday ethical struggles of women active in orthodox and socially conservative Islamic revival circles as they are torn between their quest for a pious lifestyle and their aspirations to counter negative representations of Muslims within the mainstream society. Jeanette S. Jouili conducted fieldwork in France and Germany to investigate how pious Muslim women grapple with religious expression: for example, when to wear a headscarf, where to pray throughout the day, and how to maintain modest interactions between men and women. Her analysis stresses the various ethical dilemmas the women confronted in negotiating these religious duties within a secular public sphere. In conversation with Islamic and Western thinkers, Jouili teases out the important ethical-political implications of these struggles, ultimately arguing that Muslim moral agency, surprisingly reinvigorated rather than hampered by the increasingly hostile climate in Europe, encourages us to think about the contribution of non-secular civic virtues for shaping a pluralist Europe.
"This book is a welcome contribution to the anthropology of ethics, diasporic Islam, and feminist studies. Jouili takes her place alongside the likes of Saba Mahmood, Nadia Fadil, and Mayanthi Fernando. As a fascinating source of ethnographic and theoretical material, Pious Practices and Secular Constraints can be useful in many disciplines."
Journal of Church and State
"This is an impressive, engaging, and well-written study of ethical practice in a contradictory world. Focusing on pious Muslim women in Europe, Jouili expertly weaves together the voices of these women with a sophisticated theoretical approach that takes the study of ethical practice in a significant new direction. Pious Practice and Secular Constraints is an important contribution to the anthrop
Columbia University, author of Stolen Honor: Stigmatizing Muslim Men in Berlin
"Without doubt, Pious Practice and Secular Constraints is the best ethnographic examination of gender and Islamic practice in Western Europe. Jeanette Jouili offers a thought-provoking, nuanced exploration of Muslim piety and ethics, tackling issues of broad interest to those engaged with debates surrounding Muslims in Europe today."
Washington University in St. Louis, author of Can Islam Be French?
