A minority within a minority?: the complexity and multilocality of transnational Twelver Shia networks in Britain

Contemporary Islam (2019) 13:287–305 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-018-0431-0 A minority within a minority?: the complexity and multilocality of transnational Twelver Shia networks in Britain Oliver Scharbrodt 1 Published online: 8 November 2018 # The Author(s) 2018 Abstract Academic scholarship on Shia Muslim minorities in the West has described them as ‘a minority within a minority’ (Sachedina 1994: 3) or as ‘the other within the other’ (Takim 2009: 143), referring to a certain sense of double-marginalization of Shia Muslims in nonMuslim societal contexts. They need to undertake particular efforts to maintain both an Islamic as well as particular Shia identity in terms of communal activities and practices and public perception and recognition, responding to the rise of Islamophobia more generally and anti-Shia sectarianism more specifically. This article problematizes this notion of a double-marginalization of Shia minorities in the West as too simplistic. The article investigates the dynamics around the creation of transnational Shia communal spaces in north-west London, the public representation of Shia Muslim identities by networks and organizations based there to illustrate their multilocal connectivities and internal heterogeneity. The article is based on research in the borough of Brent, north-west London, and presents novel insights into Shia spaces in Britain and thereby makes an important contribution to complexifying academic discourse on Muslims in Britain which has focussed on Sunni Muslims almost exclusively. The ethnographic data is contextualized by providing background information on the historical and social formations of the networks and the centres examined in the article. To analyze the multilocal spatial manifestations and connections of these network, the article utilizes Werbner’s notion of ‘complex diasporas’ (2002, 2004, 2010) and recent contributions to the development of a spatial methodology in Religious Studies (Knott 2005; Vásquez 2010; Tweed 2006; McLoughlin and Zavos 2014). The article thereby constitutes the very first attempt to apply recent contributions on the nature of diasporic religions and their spatial multilocality to the case study of Twelver Shia networks based in London. Keywords Muslims in Britain . Shia Islam . Diaspora . Transnationalism . Multilocality . Religion and space * Oliver Scharbrodt 1 Department of Theology and Religion, ERI Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK 288 Contemporary Islam (2019) 13:287–305 Introduction Academic scholarship on Shia Muslim minorities in the West has described them as ‘a minority within a minority’ (Sachedina 1994: 3) or as ‘the other within the other’ (Takim 2009: 143), referring to a certain sense of doublemarginalization of Shia Muslims in non-Muslim societal contexts. They need to undertake particular efforts to maintain both an Islamic as well as particular Shia identity in terms of communal activities and practices and public perception and recognition, responding to the rise of Islamophobia more generally and anti-Shia sectarianism more specifically. This article problematizes this notion of a double-marginalization of Shia minorities in the West as too simplistic. The article investigates the dynamics around the creation of transnational Shia communal spaces in north-west London, the public representation of Shia Muslim identities by networks and organizations based there to illustrate their multilocal connectivities and internal heterogeneity. The article is based on research in the borough of Brent, north-west London, between September 2014 and November 2016 as a part of a larger research project investigating transnational Twelver Shia networks operating between Britain and the Middle East.1 Ethnographic research was undertaken in Arabic, Persian and English at numerous religious gatherings in twelve community centres and five private homes, mostly located in Brent. As part of the research, 32 semi- and unstructured interviews and seven focus group discussions were conducted, primarily with the male elites within networks and community centres. As such, the article presents novel insights into Shia spaces in Britain which have been overlooked in academic research with some exceptions (Spellman 2004; Flynn 2013; Corboz 2015; Gholami 2014, 2015; Dogra 2017; Gholami and Sreberny 2018; Degli Esposti 2018a, 2018b) and thereby makes an important contribution to complexifying academic discourse on Muslims in Britain which has focussed on Sunni Muslims almost exclusively. The ethnographic data is contextualized by providing background information on the historical and social formations of the networks and the centres examined in the article. The transnational and diasporic Shia networks in London, examined in the article, are situated in a ‘diaspora space’ (Brah 1996) marked by complexity and heterogeneity. Therefore, Werbner’s notion of ‘complex diasporas’ (Werbner 2002; Werbner 2004; Werbner 2010) will be used. To analyze the multilocal spatial manifestations and connections of these network, the article engages with recent contributions to the development of a spatial methodology in Religious Studies (Knott 2005; Vásquez 2010; Tweed 2006). It utilizes in particular McLoughlin and Zavos’ (2014) reflections on the place of religion in British Asian diasporas as part of which they develop different spatial scales ‘to analyse changing patterns of diasporic consciousness and practice’ (2014: 160). The article thereby constitutes the very first attempt to apply recent contributions on the nature of diasporic religions and their spatial multilocality to the case study of Twelver Shia networks based in London. 1 Funding for this project was provided by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Contemporary Islam (2019) 13:287–305 289 From diaspora2 to multilocality Werbner (2002, 2004, 2010) develops the notion of ‘complex diasporas’ to articulate the ‘social heterogeneity (2010: 74, original emphasis) of diasporas, the convergence and co-existence of different, often mutually exclusive, discourses in diasporic communities, and the dynamic and chaordic processes involved in their formation.3 Diasporas share a certain sense of ‘co-responsibility’ (Werbner 2002: 121) with other members of their diaspora, as ‘deterritorialised imagined communities’ (Werbner 2002: 121) shaped by a shared collective memory. The ‘dual orientation (Werbner 2010: 74, original emphasis) of diasporas is articulated in their efforts to represent their communities and to be recognised as such in the new diasporic context while at the same time maintaining transnational links and the community’s diasporic identity; diasporas are involved in the developments of their countries of origin, reflecting, influencing and responding to them. Based on this double-character of diasporas, Werbner describes them as ‘both ethnic-parochial and cosmopolitan’ (2010: 75, original emphasis). Des (...truncated)