Mosque archives are neither state-owned nor strictly private collections. Rather, they are community archives, places in which correspondences, registers and other records pertaining to the history of the institution that hosts the archive, but also the communities connected with it, are being preserved. As such, they are comparable to church archives and administrations of associations (orchestras, soccer), safeguarding the paper flow focusing on a specific cause.

Mosque archives in Germany usually keep track of their correspondences with the authorities and by that reflect how changing policies and official attitudes towards minority communities are perceived and dealt with on the ground. They store documents such as marriage records and divorcing procedures, conversion files, or asylum requests which provide important insights into the life of a specific community. Often, they preserve detailed information about partner institutions and their activities, both at home and abroad. By virtue of that, mosque archives are situated at the node of national and international networks. Some hold (audio-)visual materials of community events, such as the celebration of religious festivals and outings, but also recordings of sermons, lectures, and musical and other performances.

This special issue seeks scholarly contributions that engage with the material and administrative cultures of mosque archives in Germany. We welcome historical and ethnographic studies focusing on a particular mosque archive, or part of it, and examine administrative cultures, memory cultures, structures of longue durée, handling marriage and divorce, conversion, self-representation and religious identity, or religious authority.

A title and abstract of about 350 words should be sent to gerdientje.jonker@fau.de by March 1, 2021. Please direct any inquiries about the special issue to gerdientje.jonker@fau.de. Final articles should not exceed a limit of 5.500 words. The special issue is scheduled to be published in November 2022. A related writers’ workshop will take place in early 2022.