Digital Islam across Europe: Understanding Muslims' Participation in Online Islamic Environments

Contemporary social, religious, and political hierarchies within Muslim communities are transformed by the eroding monopolization of knowledge by elites. The digital revolution intensified transnational diasporic ties and widened inter-generational differences within Muslim populations throughout Europe. Yet, our general comprehension of the creation, use, and influence of Online Islamic Environments (OIEs) is highly limited. This project investigates the characteristics of contemporary OIEs, and their consequences for the social and religious practices of different Muslim populations within and across distinct European contexts. Focusing on the interactions between producers and users of OIEs, it examines how, when and why individuals and groups seek advice on the internet about a range of social and religious issues, as well as how their online and offline experiences and practices shape one another. The project entails in-depth research on the production and use of OIEs in in five European countries: Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. At its core, the project will provide an examination of how diverse Muslim populations engage with the online ecosystem providing formal or informal advice on issues related to Islam. It will show how these interactions shape, and are shaped, by the success of specific online producers. It will also analyse on how these usages of OIE can induce revisions of individual behaviour and belief in different national settings. The research for the project combines qualitative and quantitative methods. These include semi-structured interviews of producers and users of OIEs, a netnographic tracing of online habits, and a transnational survey of producers of online Islamic guidance and their followers. The research will provide concise explanations of the dynamics and social implications of OIEs to specific stakeholders, including Muslim organisations and networks, national policy makers, and third sector organisations.