Islamic Traditions of Refuge in the Crises of Iraq and Syria

The intersection of migration and religion has received little systematic investigation in the social sciences with scant attention paid to the lived experiences of refugees. Weaving together narrative analysis within a Bourdieuian framework, this book addresses this shortcoming in the literature. The constraints and opportunities Iraqi refugees encounter in emplacing themselves indicate contesting notions of religion. The challenges of facing a protracted exile and a protection impasse in Syria means Iraqi refugees are compelled to reflect upon their specific experiences of religion and to mobilize their understandings of religious traditions in innovative ways in order to construct inhabitable worlds - in the process refugees move beyond the management and care of institutional actors. The study has immediate relevance - contributing to our understanding of power relations in the humanitarian field. Continuities are drawn between the crises of Iraq and Syria to better illustrate the role of religion during displacement crises.

Tahir Zaman is a visiting research fellow at the Center for Research on Migration, Refugees & Belonging (CMRB) at the University of East London, UK, and a Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS, University of London, UK. His research is primarily focused on the social and cultural lives of displaced people in the Middle East.