Introduction
The relationship between Muslims and the world is in crisis-mode, and the effects are felt in many ways and in many different instances. One of the themes that often succumbs to ideological cooptation is the issue of authority in Islam and for Muslims. What role is there for Muslims within a minority context both as agents in charge of their own destiny, or as demanders of social justice, and recognition and representation in time, place, and public space? Is there space for and actions of solidarity transcending boundaries, either geographic or socio-cultural? To what extent can Muslims engage with non-Muslims and state authorities, whether as minorities in non-Muslim territories or in countries with a Muslim majority? Are there limits for Muslims in its ability to practice their faith in a secular state? What texts are to be considered authoritative when approaching these questions? And is there one locus or multiple loci for legitimate interpretive authority?

Although the focus of the public discourse remains on the headlines, this book aims to offer a much deeper insight into examining the relationship between authority and agency for Muslims and Islam today.

Objective of the Book
The overall mission is for this book to be one of the leading  publications within the area of contemporary Islamic and Muslim studies. We envision this book to be a key reference at a number of levels, across a wide variety of fields both within and outside of academia. The main objective is to bring together academic minds from a variety of fields all connected by an interest in understanding the role of authority and the dynamics of agency in contemporary Islam as lived by Muslims today.

Paper proposals to be included may engage the above theme from any perspective appropriate for this cross-disciplinary book. A list of suggested topics is the following:

• Religious vs. State authority
• Effects of cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism
• Institution-building and citizenship
• Geopolitics, power, and economic interests
• Race and gender
• Authority in a historical perspective (particular interest may go out to the effects that can be felt in the post-Ottoman, nationalist and post-colonial setting).
• Health and behavioural change through social changes felt by Muslims
• Islam and business (e.g. Islam and financial authority, commodification of Muslims, effects of marketing, branding, human resource training and motivation, sales, crowdsourcing and product
  development)
• Environmental issues
• Islam and Muslims in the news and as journalists, authority of public perception and reproducible images
• Cross-cultural issues
• Privacy, risk, ethics, and legal issues facing Islam and Muslims domestically or globally

The above list is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive. Individual papers will be combined to form thematic but multi-layered approach to the relationship between Authority, Agency and Islam and/or Muslims.

Submission Procedure
The editors invite papers from diverse disciplines interested in expanding the body of knowledge in this intriguing area to submit chapters for publication consideration. Individuals interested in
submitting chapters should submit a 300-word abstract in a Microsoft Word or pdf document, with a short bio, to either  laurens.de-rooij@durham.ac.uk or law.ilm@durham.ac.uk by March 22nd, 2015.

Notification of Abstract acceptance will be March 30th, 2015. Following that a letter of interest, including your name, affiliation, and chapter proposal should be sent electronically by April 19th, 2015.

Proposals (2-3 pages) should provide a descriptive outline and clearly explain the purpose and contribution of the chapter. Definitive acceptance notifications will be sent by April 27th, 2015. We also
invite advanced graduate students and recent PhDs to submit proposals that address one or more of the themes above. Upon acceptance, authors will have until August 31st, 2015 to prepare a chapter of approximately 6,000 and 10,000 words, including notes and references. Each chapter will be subject to a peer review process and must not have been published, accepted for publication, or presently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Guidelines for preparing the final chapter will be sent upon acceptance notification.

Note: No late abstracts will be accepted. The final papers are due August 31st, 2015. We look forward to reading your abstracts.

Important Dates

• Abstract Deadline: March 22nd, 2015
• Abstract Notification: March 30th, 2015
• Full Chapter Proposal Due: April 19th, 2015
• Definitive Acceptance Notifications: April 27th, 2015
• Full Chapters Due: August 31st, 2015