Hughes/Muslim Identities, Introduction. Religious Studies and the Academic Study of Islam

The opening chapter highlights the approach taken in this book: critical religious studies, while, at the same time, aware that what follows must account for Muslim belief, practice, and theology. This means understanding basic concepts in the study of religion, such as “insider v. outsider” and “critic v. caretaker.” Such a distinctions allow for an appreciation that Muslim identities, like all identities, are actively constructed by social groups in distinct contexts. This active construction then functions as the leitmotif that links up the following chapters.