This comparative approach to the various uses of the ethnographic method
in research about Islam in anthropology and other social sciences is
particularly relevant in the current climate. Political discourses and
stereotypical media portrayals of Islam as a monolithic civilisation
have prevented the emergence of cultural pluralism and individual
freedom. Such discourses are countered by the contributors who show the
diversity and plurality of Muslim societies and promote a reflection on
how the ethnographic method allows the description, representation and
analysis of the social and cultural complexity of Muslim societies in
the discourse of anthropology.