The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (www.isim.nl) was established in 1998, in Leiden, The Netherlands. Its mission is to promote and conduct interdisciplinary research on contemporary social and intellectual trends and movements in Muslim societies and communities. ISIM’s research approaches are interdisciplinary and comparative, covering a large geographic range, which includes North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Muslim communities in the West. ISIM cooperates with various institutions and scholars in the Muslim world and the West.
ISIM and the Royal Tropical Institute have organized a series of lectures to accompany the exhibition “Urban Islam,” which is currently being held in the Tropenmuseum at the Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam. Each lecture is preceded by a guided tour of the exhibition.
Urban Islam (urbanislam.nl) shows the diversity of Islam through the personal stories of Muslim youngsters in Istanbul, Marrakech, Dakar and Paramaribo. The stories set in each city focus on a central theme: Diverse Islamic lifestyles — from liberal to conservative to traditional — in Marrakech; the role of Islamic leaders in society in Dakar; the role of Islam in a multicultural society in Paramaribo; and secularism as seen through the eyes of a young Turkish teacher in Istanbul.
In addition, one section of the exhibition provides background information about Islam, illustrated with classical Islamic objects, including beautifully decorated copies of the Qur’an. At the exhibition people from diverse backgrounds in the Netherlands have also been given a chance to express their ideas about Islam in an audio-video format. This allows feedback on the public perception of Islam in the Netherlands.
