2016 Cole Lecture delivered by Dr. Ingrid Mattson - Day One

Ingrid Mattson
London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies
Huron University College at Western University
Thursday, October 6, 2016
The Landed Muslim, At Home, On the Earth
7:00 p.m., Benton Chapel
Muslims, like many other modern people, have internalized the essentializing concept of “identity” that has more to do with the myth-making and racializing processes of modern nationalism, than with a Qur’anic vision of what it means to be a believer. “Identity” is a concept that, more often than not, is nostalgic, conformist, divisive and ultimately, superficial. The believer who is at peace in the world is one who embraces the Qur’anic view that humanity is always in a state of change and movement, that migration is a persistent feature of the human condition and that cultural diversity is a necessary adaptation to this reality. What, then, does it mean to be a Muslim in the world? It is, to paraphrase the Qur’anic Jesus, to be a blessing wherever we might be.
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