Reflections on the Special Issue: Burning of the Qur’an

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.148361

Keywords:

Qur’an burnings, Sweden, Rasmus Paludan, Denmark, Middle East, research ethics, law, blasphemy, sacrilege

Abstract

The following three short texts are the outcome of a roundtable discussion at the European Association for the Study of Religion (EASR) conference held on 19 August 2024 in Gothenburg. The focus of the roundtable was the special issue, Burning of the Qur’an, which was edited by Göran Larsson, Iselin Frydenlund, and Torkel Brekke and published in Temenos, Vol. 60, No. 1 (2024). The special issue contained articles on the development in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland and a meta reflection on the burning of the Qur’an from a British and South Asian perspective. At the EASR conference the editors invited Assistant Professor Verena Meyer from Leiden University and Professor Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen from the University of Copenhagen to comment on and discuss the special issue. This section of Temenos publishes Meyer’s and Skovgaard-Petersen’s responses, with a short reply from Iselin Frydenlund and Göran Larsson. The discussion focuses on research ethics (‘why study a controversial topic’), legal frameworks, and the lack of ‘Muslim voices’ in the study of controversial topics.

Author Biographies

  • Verena Meyer, Leiden University

    is Assistant Professor of Islam in South and Southeast Asia at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University, Netherlands.

  • Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, University of Copenhagen

    is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen.

  • Iselin Frydenlund, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

    is Professor of the Study of Religion at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway.

  • Göran Larsson, University of Gothenburg

    is Professor of the Study of Religion at the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Guest Professor at the Faculty of Police Work, University of
    Borås, Sweden.

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Published

2024-12-17

Issue

Vol. 60 No. 2 (2024): Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion

Section

Discussion

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Copyright (c) 2024 Verena Meyer, Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, Iselin Frydenlund, Göran Larsson

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How to Cite

Meyer, V., Skovgaard-Petersen, J., Frydenlund, I., & Larsson, G. (2024). Reflections on the Special Issue: Burning of the Qur’an. Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion, 60(2), 203-223. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.148361