Publisher : Academic Press Fribourg - Fribourg, Switzerland
French
Photographing Ordinary Islam
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 within an Albanian Islamic cultural centre in Switzerland.
Over the course of his visits, the author observed the everyday life of the Muslim association and took a large number of photographs. He examines the objects and gestures, more broadly the contours of the activity that shapes Islam within a local community. Rather than serving a merely illustrative purpose, photography plays a central methodological role here: the image is the primary data on which both analysis and text rely.
Combining ethnographic analysis with reflection on photographic method, this book invites readers to look at Islam differently, away from media clichés, debates, and controversies, by highlighting the details of Muslim activity in an associative context.
The book is drawn from the doctoral thesis Guillaume Chatagny completed at the Swiss Centre for Islam and Society (SCIS) at the University of Fribourg, a partner institution of Pluriel.
À quoi ressemble concrètement l’islam au sein d’une association musulmane ? C’est à cette question que répond le sociologue Guillaume Chatagny dans cet ouvrage issu d’une enquête de terrain menée entre 2017 et 2021 au sein d’un centre culturel islamique albanais en Suisse.
Au fil de ses visites, l’auteur a observé la vie ordinaire de l’association musulmane et a réalisé un grand nombre de photographies. Il examine ainsi les objets et les gestes, plus globalement les contours de l’agir qui façonnent l’islam dans une communauté locale. Plus qu’un simple usage illustratif, la photographie y occupe une place méthodologique centrale : l’image est la donnée principale sur laquelle reposent tant l’analyse que le texte.
Alliant analyse ethnographique et réflexion sur la méthode photographique, ce livre invite à porter un autre regard sur l’islam, loin des clichés médiatiques, des débats, voire des polémiques, en pointant les détails de l’agir musulman en contexte associatif.
L’ouvrage est issu de la thèse de doctorat que Guillaume Chatagny a réalisée au Centre suisse Islam et société (CSIS) de l’Université de Fribourg, institution partenaire de Pluriel.
كيف يتجلى الإسلام فعليًا داخل جمعية إسلامية؟ هذا هو السؤال الذي يجيب عنه عالم الاجتماع غيوم شاتانيي في هذا المؤلَّف المستمَد من بحث ميداني أُجري بين عامَي 2017 و2021 داخل مركز ثقافي إسلامي ألباني في سويسرا.
خلال زياراته المتكرّرة، لاحظ المؤلف الحياة اليومية للجمعية المسلمة، والتقط عددًا كبيرًا من الصور الفوتوغرافية. وهو يدرس من خلالها الأشياء والإيماءات، وبشكل أعمّ ملامح الفعل الذي يشكّل الإسلام داخل جماعة محلية. وأبعد من كونها استخدامًا توضيحيًا بسيطًا، تحتل الصورة الفوتوغرافية مكانة منهجية مركزية: فهي المعطى الأساسي الذي يستند إليه التحليل والنص معًا.
يجمع هذا الكتاب بين التحليل الإثنوغرافي والتأمل في المنهج الفوتوغرافي، ويدعو إلى نظرة مختلفة إلى الإسلام، بعيدًا عن الصور النمطية الإعلامية والجدالات وحتى الخلافات، وذلك بتسليط الضوء على تفاصيل الفعل المسلم في سياق جمعوي.
يستمد هذا الكتاب مادته من أطروحة الدكتوراه التي أنجزها غيوم شاتانيي في المركز السويسري للإسلام والمجتمع بجامعة فريبورغ، وهي مؤسسة شريكة لمنصة «بلورييل».
publisher's website
Resources related to
Islam Studies
article
Kenneth Cragg and the Event of the Qur’an
- Timo Güzelmansur
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran on the theological portal feinschwarz.net (12 June 2026, open access). Timo Güzelmansur presents the A...
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...
article
Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the Pluriel working group on AI-assisted interreligious dialogue
- Wael Saleh
Text by Wael Saleh, researcher at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and member of the Pluriel coordination committee. The simultaneous appearance of Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Human...
videos
From Lavigerie to PISAI: The Institutional History of the Missionaries of Africa’s Engagement with Islam
Delivered on 21 May 2026 at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, this lecture opens the series of conferences marking the institute's centenary (1926-2026). Fr. ...
publication
The Muslim Brotherhood in International Relations: Roles and Outcomes
- Wael Saleh
In this book published by TRENDS Research & Advisory (Abu Dhabi, May 2026), Wael Saleh, a member of Pluriel‘s coordination committee, examines the place and modes of action of the Muslim ...
videos
Opening address of the Cordoba congress
- Michel Younès
On Tuesday 10 February 2026 in Cordoba, Michel Younès, general coordinator of Pluriel and dean of the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy), delivered the opening address of...
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...
publication
Canon and Censorship in Islamic Intellectual History
- Amir Dziri
Published in De Gruyter’s series “Islam: Thought, Culture, and Society” (vol. 16, 2026), this collective volume is edited by Mohammad Gharaibeh and Bacem Dziri (Humboldt University of Berlin)...