Buitelaar, Prof. Marjo

Marjo Buitelaar is Professor of Contemporary Islam. Her research interests include Islam in daily life, Muslims in Europe and identity development in a post-migration context. In Morocco she studied people’s perception of Ramadan and the significance of the hammam or public baths. In the Netherlands she conducted biographical research among women of Moroccan descent. She is currently the programme leader of a research project investigating the contemporary practice and meaning of the pilgrimage to Mecca.Her main motivation is to conduct socially relevant research. ‘People discussing Islam, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, tend to zoom in on the Quran. But the Quran can be interpreted in lots of different ways. Focusing exclusively on holy scripts is not the best way to understand religious views and customs. You need to see them in their historical and social context. This is what I do.’ Buitelaar is particularly interested in the meaning of religion in everyday life: ‘Describing concrete people going about their daily lives makes unfamiliar things less strange.’

Buitelaar is one of the lecturers teaching the MOOC (massive open online course) in Religion and Conflict, provided by the University of Groningen via FutureLearn.

Previously in the news

• De Hadj: magischer dan Disneyland [Dutch]

• Waarom draagt jonge moslima Rozien net als steeds meer leeftijdgenoten een hoofddoek? Nou, óók omdat ze het mooi vindt [Dutch]
• Professor Marjo Buitelaar focuses on the ordinary Muslim (in Dutch)
• Not every conflict is the fault of religion (in Dutch)

Contact and more information

• See the profile page

Publications