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 tarāwīḥ prayer in a Protestant church in Karlsruhe, Germany, 16 November 1971. Image shared by DiasporaTürk (@diaspora_turk).
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, such as Rumi and Ahmed Avni Konuk’s Mathnawī commentary, read 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.
Three factors shape the image of imams among Dutch-Turkish Muslims: limited language skills and local knowledge, the politicisation of Diyanet, and the secularisation of young people’s identity.
Muslims with a popular religiosity trust imams’ answers far more than those with a spiritual, elite religiosity (3.8 against 2.0 on a five-point scale).
The higher their level of education, the less Dutch-Turkish Muslims see imams as intellectual figures.
Real power in the mosque often lies not with the imam but with the mosque board, while sermons are written centrally by Diyanet.
Despite this criticism, for most Dutch-Turkish Muslims the image of the imam remains positive and keeps its authority.
Spiritually oriented Muslims tend to keep their distance from mosque-based religious education and prefer to shape their own religiosity.
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.