Society for the Anthropology of Europe

Oral Presentation Session

On Prayer and the Ambiguities of Minority Citizenship

Presenter(s)

• HH

  Heiko Henkel

  University of Copenhagen

In Denmark as elsewhere, one of the chief functions of mosques is it to gather Muslims for the 5-times-daily prayer, especially for the jumu'ah, the communal Friday prayer. With its intricate bodily discipline and literary rhythm and texture, the prayer, like other canonical ritual, is designed to tie the practitioner into the spiritual universe of Islam and the collective of the ummah. But as institutions serving citizens and long-time residents, established and run according to elaborate national legislations, and attuned to the scrutiny of the authorities and majority publics, mosques - and the formal and informal ritual they host - also tie their visitors and staff into regimes of (minority)citizenship. This paper examines some of the ambiguities, challenges and opportunities this double incorporation entails.