[ Sensing Islam] offers an innovative approach to studying Islamic religiosity by integrating sensory studies, ethnography, and media analysisStjernholms work ultimately enhances our understanding of how sensory engagement shapes Islamic experiences and traditions, both historically and in contemporarypractice. * Contemporary Islam * Sensing Islam focuses on the crucial significance of sound and its embodiment in understanding and practicing Islam. Avoiding over-emphasis on the word and its possible theological interpretations, this book provides a nuanced appreciation of how Islamic practices can attract believers through sensory means. This volume joins a small but growing body of critical literature on ways of approaching religion and the reasons for its appeal. * Niloofar Haeri, Johns Hopkins University, USA * Sensing Islam vividly demonstrates the importance of visceral knowledge of the divine across several interacting sensory modalities. This is a brilliant accomplishment not only in the study of Islam, but the study of religion at large. * Patrick Eisenlohr, University of Göttingen, Germany * Simon Stjernholm provides a concise and elegant study of the sensescapes of contemporary Muslim piety. This book weaves together analyses of Sufi literature, ethnographic observations, especially of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order, and insights into Islam-themed lectures, sermons, podcasts, and audiobooks. In doing so, it demonstrates how the senses are activated and calibrated to achieve closeness to truth and the sacred. A pioneering achievement. * Christian Lange, Utrecht University, Netherlands * In Sensing Islam, Stjernholm captures the intricacy of sensorial and aesthetic dimensions of contemporary Islam. Using rich fieldwork from Cyprus, Sweden, and England, along with digital ethnographic analysis of sonic cultural productions of Muslims in Denmark and more, we learn about the religious material life of diverse Muslims who approach the Quran, love the Prophet Muhammad, and honour their saintly friends. * Merin Shobhana Xavier, Queens University, Canada * Sensing Islam reminds us that, for Muslims, Islam is fundamentally about God, the Prophet, the Quran, and those who are close to God and the Prophet in this life. Simon Stjernholm uses his own fieldwork as well as classic texts to bring us into contact with aspects of Islam that are often forgotten by observers but are of great importance to Muslims, and does so in a systematic way that makes this book as thought-provoking for the expert as it will be informative for the student. A real achievement * Mark Sedgwick, Aarhus University, Denmark *
