Brand Islam

Abstract

Brand Islam: The Marketing and Commodification of Piety examines the growing business of Muslim merchandise, ranging from food products considered ḥalāl (permissible) to children’s dolls that represent devout Muslim behavior through sartorial choices such as modest clothing and the wearing of the veil. Faegheh Shirazi illustrates how a growing Muslim market often intersects, in both problematic and intriguing ways, with capitalism. Using an extensive survey of case studies, illustrations, and diverse Muslim communities (Iran and Indonesia are often cited), the book provides a useful exploration of the question of Muslim consumption and contributes to larger discussions surrounding material religion. In chapter 1, Shirazi begins her investigation into these topics by discussing the problem of Islamophobia and how it may influence Muslims to seek out markers of religious identity, thus influencing the market. Her definitions of xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Islamoparanoia are useful, although I felt myself wanting a richer discussion of how these trends intersect with white supremacy, colonial politics, and misogyny. Symbols— especially the veil and the mosque—can be used, as other scholars have shown, to generate anxiety in non-Muslim populations. Although Shirazi is less interested in how these symbols are used to shore up white, male, Christian, or secular authority, she employs them to show the ways in which Islamophobia and radical, literalist Islamic rhetoric feed off each other. The manipulation of this rhetoric is even used when non-Muslims make concessions in an effort to improve relations with Muslims, such as Queen Elizabeth’s 2010 visit to the UAE, when she covered her hair. As Shirazi points out, “Sheikh Yasser Burhani, one of Egypt’s leading Islamic scholars, jumped on the queen’s gesture as justification for furthering an oppressive, fundamentalist Salafi Islamic position” (p. 32). The ways in which the body—in this case a white, regal body—is used in debates surrounding Islam and modernity is at the crux of this book ...