Religious Institutions, the State, and Society in Muslim-Majority Countries

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

How do religious institutions interact with both the state and society in Muslim-majority countries (MMCs)? Brown explores this theme by looking at the historical evolution of religious institutions in post-Ottoman states. Gallien, Javed, and Boogaard use survey data to assess how zakat practices and formal state taxation interact with one another in Pakistan. Jones and Nisar also use survey data to examine the extent to which the state’s effort to cultivate an official Islam resonates with the public in Kyrgyzstan. Weiss and Tayeb test the inclusion-moderation hypotheses in the context of Malaysia by analyzing the extent to which differing state-level incentives shape Islamist party behavior and ideology. Collectively, these papers provide invaluable insights into the interaction between religious institutions, the state, and society with different methodological perspectives and across MMCs.

Sub Unit

• Division 33: Religion and Politics

Individual Presentations

• Religion Is Not Always What Rulers Want: Official Islam in Post-Ottoman States - Nathan J Brown, George Washington University

• Believing Like a State: Official Islam and Public Opinion in Kyrgyzstan - Pauline Jones, University of Michigan; Hasher Nisar

• Islamist Government in Malaysia: Ideology, Policies, and Competition - Meredith L. Weiss, SUNY, University at Albany; Azmil Tayeb, Universiti Sains Malaysia

• The Consequences of State Regulation of Religious Institutions - Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed, Toulouse School of Economics

• Religious Organizations and Democratic Regression in Indonesia - Alexander R. Arifianto, Nanyang Technological University

Chair

• Pauline Jones University of Michigan

Discussant

• Mark Tessler University of Michigan