How religion is lived, argued and imagined in contemporary Europe
Dr. Ömer F. Gürlesin is a sociologist of religion. His research looks at how religious meaning, moral orientation and authority take shape in everyday life and public debate, with a focus on Islam in Europe, the Sufi tradition and, more recently, religious language in climate discourse. He is a fellow researcher at the Center for Religion in the Public Sphere (CRiPS), Tilburg University.
Background: first-generation Turkish workers at tarāwı̄ḥ prayer in a Protestant church in Karlsruhe, Germany, 16 November 1971. Image shared by DiasporaTürk (@diaspora_turk).
New books and articles
Tussen geloof en groene taal: Klimaatorganisaties op Twitter/X in Nederland (2023)
Social Media, Environmental Activism and Implicit Religion: A Case Study of Extinction Rebellion
Understanding the Political and Religious Implications of Turkish Civil Religion in the Netherlands
Four areas of research
Lived religion and Islam in Europe
Popular and everyday religiosity among Muslims in the Netherlands, from Friday sermons and the changing role of imams to religious identity among young people.
Sufi thought and Islamic art
Classical Sufi texts, alongside the arts they shaped: calligraphy, manuscripts and music.
Religion and climate
Religious and apocalyptic language in Dutch climate debates, studied with computational text analysis. NWO-funded project at Tilburg University, 2023–2026.
religionclimate.org →Religion, cohesion and public policy
Research with direct policy relevance: prevention of radicalisation, transnational religious governance through mosque sermons, citizenship and religious education, and polarisation in public debate.
In 310 Friday sermons of the Islamic Foundation Netherlands (2017–2023), a state-sponsored civil religion of Turkish nationalism and Islamism outweighs a liberal, pluralistic one.
The word for “nation” appears some 345 times in these sermons, mostly in reference to Turkish national identity rather than a community of faith.
Of 72 mentions of “Holland” in the sermons, only 17 concern the Muslims who actually live in the Netherlands.
Religious, national and homeland identities are woven together in the sermons rather than kept apart.
Without naming them, the sermons cast political opponents such as the Gülen movement as deceitful, using the concept of taqiyya.
Diyanet has become one of the most significant religious authorities shaping the hybrid identity of Turks abroad, reproducing an “us versus them” divide.
Recent articles and chapters
Tussen geloof en groene taal: Klimaatorganisaties op Twitter/X in Nederland (2023)
Islamic history and philosophy, explained for a wider audience
Tahqiq Studio is a YouTube channel with videos on Islamic intellectual history, Sufi thought and religion in today’s world. The videos draw on academic research but are made to be accessible to anyone interested.
Conferences co-organized
Cosmos: Goddelijk Canvas? Kunst, religie en klimaatverandering
Geloven in tijden van stijgende zeeën
New events and talks will be announced here.