Barbara Oudová Holcátová, "In the Shadow of Islam"(review), Central European Journal of Contemporary Religion 3 (1, 2018): p. 77-80. DOI: 10.14712/25704893.2018.4 Download PDF
In the Shadow of Islam: Minority Religions in
the Middle East is
a monograph on the topic of non-Islamic religions that can be found in the
Middle East, with particular focus on the recent history of these religious
groups and their current situation. The book is intended as an overview for an
educated non-expert audience, however, it does not disguise that it is not
exhaustive or even entirely representative of the situation of religious
minorities in the Middle East.
There is generally very little
idea among Czech laymen about non-Islamic religions in the Middle-East.
Presently there exists a great mistrust of Islam, which sometimes generates
sympathies for these groups, which they would otherwise not garner given a
degree of negativity with which anything Middle-Eastern tends to be viewed in
Czech society. At the same time, there is often little other information about
these groups among the Czech public, other than the mere fact that they are
being persecuted by either Muslim governments or radical and terrorist
organizations in the area. In this light, a book like this is an invaluable
contribution to the available Czech writing on the topic of both religious
studies and the Middle East. Simultaneously, by its mosaic nature and detailed
explanation of historical backgrounds, it also contributes to the frequently over-simplified
image of the Middle East that tends to prevail in the general Czech idea of the
region. In some ways, there is no better way to break the image than exploring
how the situation of different religious groups is interconnected and tied to
every aspect of the region’s political and religious landscape. In this sense,
its importance cannot be overstated.
Nevertheless, a reader looking
for more than widening their knowledge of the Middle East can on occasion be
disappointed. The book would benefit from a clearer conception, or a more
unified execution. The foreword declares that given the different realities of
the different communities, there was no point in creating one universal
framework the individual chapters would follow. That is certainly true, and the
very different religions that can be found in the Middle East require very
different approaches. Still, this does not fully explain the vast differences
where some chapters are focused purely on history, and chiefly recent history,
while other speak much more of religious teachings and sometimes religious
practice of the said groups. This does not detract from the erudition displayed
in these chapters, but it makes the book less coherent as a whole, and the
image of the Middle East it presents is a little less complete for this.
The choice of which religious
groups to include is sometimes a little questionable as well – the claim that
Judaism was excluded because of the very complicated relationship of politics
and religions related to that in the Midde East is perhaps acceptable, but the
exclusion of Baha’i or Zoroastrism is difficult to explain away, particularly
in light of the inclusion of much more marginal communities. Any publication
that includes the Shabak and the Yaresan but excludes Baha’i skews the picture
of the Middle East it presents, however much it is declared in the beginning
that the reason for the choice of the included religions lay chiefly in the
availability of Czech experts on the topic. Perhaps the fact that the book is
aimed at least partly at the public makes it the most problematic – after all,
experts do not need to be informed of the existence of the Baha’i faith. Still,
this books remains the only one to let the public know about many of the other
religious groups included, and no omissions, however marked, take away from
that.
The book is divided into
sections of general introduction, Christian groups in the Middle East,
religions related to Islam, and other relevant religions in the region. In the
general introduction, Bronislav
Ostřanský’s chapter concerns the relationship of Islam to minority
religions, both in the theory of theology and Sharia and in practice. This
provides crucial context for what we find later in the book, and in fact the
publication could have benefited from a little longer exposé on this topic, but
all the key points were covered in the short space.
Stefano Taglia’s piece about religion in Ottoman Empire is much
longer. It covers the Empire’s approach towards its religious minorities, as
well as a rather detailed history of the realm in relation to them. As a sort
of long addendum, there is a recapitulation of post-Second World War
Middle-Eastern history. This is the chapter that perhaps shows the unclear goal
of the book best. While fascinating in itself, it goes into great detail and
has the character of an original journal article more than a summarizing piece
in a monograph. The addendum about the early 20th century is much needed, though it is so
different in style from the first part that it can effectively be considered a
separate chapter.
Michal Řoutil is the author of the introductory chapter on
Christianity in the Middle East, which provides a historical summary as well as
an overview of the relevant denominations. It is succinct and exhaustive,
though his own personal sympathies towards Christianity show through rather
markedly in some places. Řoutil is also the author of a very detailed article
about the Assyrian Church of the East and its branches, which focuses mainly on
its history, though it does provide a more detailed overview of the theology
towards the end. It is perhaps a little confusing for non-expert readers,
especially given that it uses different names for the same religious
organization.
Petra Košťálová introduces the readers to the Armenian Church,
which focuses almost exclusively on its history, but does it in a beneficent
and clear manner that makes it easy for non-experts to follow, without the
information contained suffering in any way.
Viola Pargačová writes about Coptic Christianity, uniquely covering
very many aspects – from history through teachings and practice to the current
situation both in Egypt and in the diaspora. Some parts are a little unclear
and confusing, but the current situation is examined with a great deal of
detail and written in an accessible manner. The value of the examination of
ritual practice in this chapter, too, cannot be overstated, since it is so
rarely found in any resource on Christianity.
Monika Langrock’s chapter on Maronite Christianity gives an
overview of the demographic situation and then focuses on modern history, which
is deeply interlinked with the history of Lebanon as a whole. The text is a
little inaccessible to non-theologians, since she uses theological terms without
clear explanations at times, but offers detailed information and context
especially for the modern situation.
The next section of the book
deals with minority religions that relate to Islam. The first chapter is Luboš Kropáček’s contribution on the Alawis.
It offers a balanced and accessible overview of theology and history, though
there is little mention of religious practice. There is a focus on modern
history, and at times the lack of explanation of specific terminology can be a
little confusing for non-experts too. Kropáček’s chapter about the Druze shares
the positive qualities of his first one, and additionally includes some
essential information on religious practice.
Kateřina Vytejčková’s chapter about the Alevis is among the best
contributions of this book. It offers a very balanced and accessible account of
the religious group in question, and in this case the section about religious
practice deserves special attention, for the author’s fieldwork in the area
shows, without a doubt, the invaluable nature of such expertise. The more
theory-focused parts of the article are not lacking in any way, however, and
the section on identity stands out as worthy of any reader’s attention.
Petr Kubálek’s contribution about the Shabak and the Yaresan is perhaps
a little unstructured and confusing in places, but it is also unique in being
one of the very few pieces written about these religious groups in Czech, and
deserves a high degree of attention for this alone. Additionally, it is a
well-balanced account of the teaching and history of said religious groups.
The last section concerns
religions unaffiliated with any major tradition, and contains two articles. The
first is Petr Kubálek’s piece about
the Yazid, which, just like his previous piece, deserves attention for being a
well-balanced overview and provides good information about the Yezidi religious
practice.
The last article is by Jiří Gebelt, and focuses on the Mandean
community. It provides a good (though a little compressed) introduction into
teachings and religious practice, and a detailed account of modern history and
contemporary situation. Attention should be called to the analysis of recent
changes in ritual practice as the community reacts to its changed living
conditions.
There is also a photography
section to be found in the book, containing pictures which perfectly complete
the image presented by providing the readers with a visual guide to different
religious groups, something that is without a doubt an extremely important
aspect in understanding the richness of these traditions. All in all, while
perhaps not wholly balanced or entirely comprehensive, this book is an
absolutely crucial contribution to the available Czech literature on the Middle
East and on smaller religious communities in general.
References:
Jiří Gebelt et
al., Ve stínu islámu: Menšinová
náboženství na Blízkém východě, Praha: Vyšehrad 2017, 445 p.
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