Reimagining Islam in Diaspora

Abstract

This article looks at the mediation of one aspect of Middle Eastern culture, Islam, in the context of diasporic Muslim communities in the West. It explores the impact of information and communications technologies on debates relating to the normative boundaries of Islamic identity and community. It is argued that media technologies provide channels for new or previously disenfranchised voices to be heard in the public sphere of Muslim diasporas. Simultaneously, traditional structures of authority are refigured and, to some extent, marginalized in favour of alternative interpretations of religious knowledge perceived as more relevant to contemporary diasporic life in the West.