Publisher : Swiss Centre for Islam and Society, University of Fribourg - Fribourg

French

2025

Making Muslim Chaplaincy a Profession: Work and Practices at Geneva University Hospitals

Published in October 2025 in the SZIG/CSIS-Studies series (no. 14) of the Swiss Centre for Islam and Society at the University of Fribourg, this inquiry is authored by the sociologist of religions Mallory Schneuwly Purdie and the ethnologist Claire Robinson. It appeared under the French title Faire de l’aumônerie musulmane un métier. Travail et pratiques aux Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève.

Conducted in collaboration with the Muslim Chaplaincy of Geneva (AMG), active for nearly twenty years at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), the study documents the practice of Muslim spiritual care in a hospital setting: four chaplains were shadowed for six months and some thirty interviews were carried out. The authors highlight the specific cultural mediations performed by Muslim chaplains, between patients’ needs, theological rules and the medical framework, and argue for the professionalisation of work that is today voluntary, little known and underfunded.

The study is available in open access: download the study on FOLIA (University of Fribourg).

Publiée en octobre 2025 dans la collection SZIG/CSIS-Studies (n° 14) du Centre Suisse Islam et Société de l’Université de Fribourg, cette enquête est signée par la sociologue des religions Mallory Schneuwly Purdie et l’ethnologue Claire Robinson.

Menée en collaboration avec l’Aumônerie Musulmane de Genève (AMG), active depuis près de vingt ans aux Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève (HUG), l’étude documente la pratique de l’accompagnement spirituel musulman en milieu hospitalier : quatre aumôniers ont été suivis pendant six mois et une trentaine d’entretiens ont été conduits. Les auteures mettent en évidence la spécificité des médiations culturelles opérées par les aumôniers musulmans, entre besoins des patients, règles théologiques et cadre médical, et plaident pour la professionnalisation d’un travail aujourd’hui bénévole, peu connu et peu financé.

L’étude est disponible en libre accès : télécharger l’étude sur FOLIA (Université de Fribourg).

صدرت هذه الدراسة في أكتوبر 2025 ضمن سلسلة SZIG/CSIS-Studies (العدد 14) عن المركز السويسري للإسلام والمجتمع في جامعة فريبورغ، وأعدّتها عالمة اجتماع الأديان مالوري شنولي بوردي وعالمة الإثنولوجيا كلير روبنسون. وقد صدرت بالفرنسية بعنوان:

Faire de l’aumônerie musulmane un métier. Travail et pratiques aux Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève

أُنجزت الدراسة بالتعاون مع جمعية المرافقة الروحية الإسلامية في جنيف، الناشطة منذ نحو عشرين عامًا في مستشفيات جنيف الجامعية، وهي توثّق ممارسة المرافقة الروحية الإسلامية في الوسط الاستشفائي: فقد رافق فريق البحث أربعة مرشدين روحيين طوال ستة أشهر وأجرى نحو ثلاثين مقابلة. وتبرز المؤلفتان خصوصية الوساطات الثقافية التي يقوم بها المرشدون الروحيون المسلمون، بين احتياجات المرضى والقواعد اللاهوتية والإطار الطبي، وتدعوان إلى مهننة عملٍ لا يزال اليوم تطوعيًا وقليل الشهرة وضعيف التمويل.

الدراسة متاحة بالمجان: تحميل الدراسة من موقع FOLIA (جامعة فريبورغ).

Resources related toSociology

article

Two Seas, One Course: The 2026 Jesuit Migrant Service Report on Spain’s Southern Border

  • Josep Buades

The annual report of the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM), the social apostolate body of the Society of Jesus in Spain, written by Josep (Pep) Buades Fuster, examines the migratory dynamics of Spain’s ...

publication

Photographing Ordinary Islam

  • Guillaume Chatagny

What does Islam concretely look like within a Muslim association? This is the question addressed by sociologist Guillaume Chatagny in this book, based on fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2021 w...

publication

Islam and Muslims. Doctrines, Schools of Thought, and Current Trends

  • Michel Younès

Publication date: April 16, 2026. Islam, as a historical, religious, and civilizational reality, is difficult to define. It can be perceived as a form of political governance, an expression of fait...

article

“The Reception of Rūmī’s Work in France: Cultural Mediations, Symbolic Transfers and the Recomposition of Belief”, by Khalid El Khadiri

  • Khalid El Khadiri

In the journal La Clé des Langues (ENS de Lyon, March 2026), Khalid El Khadiri, a PhD candidate in the history and sociology of religions at the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), examines th...

publication

Managing Religious Diversity in Italy: Law, Policy, and Practice in a Pluralist Era

  • Alessandro Ferrari

In this article published in the journal Religions 17/3 (2026), Alessandro Ferrari offers a comprehensive analysis of Italy’s regime for governing religious diversity, at the intersection of ...

videos

Political and religious anarchism in the musical forms of rebel Islam: from rap to taqwacore

Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...

videos

Aesthetics, ethics and identity: women’s bodies as an object of debate in contemporary Egypt

  • Nada Amin

Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Isla...

videos

The “new veils”: articulating ethics and aesthetics in Tunisian society

Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Isla...