This article provides a brief overview of the heuristic framework of the Modern Muslim Subjectivities Project that is being conducted at the University of Southern Denmark as of the writing of this article. The project explores ways in which Islamic traditions have played a role in the construction of modern Muslim subjectivities. Applying a problem-driven perspective, it selectively borrows from theories of successive modernities, sociology of religion, and poststructuralist approaches to modern subjectivity formation, introducing a novel heuristic framework to the field of Islamic studies. In posing the question as to the ways in which Muslims have constructed modern selfhoods, the project combines studies on Islamic reform, young Muslims in Egypt and Denmark, (post)modern Sufism, Islamic higher education, and changing notions of intimacy in two Egyptian revolutions. In criticizing the alleged exclusivity of Western modernity, the project wants to make original contributions to both conceptual discussions in the humanities and our knowledge of modern Muslim societies.

The aim of this project is to discuss how Islamic universities in the West facilitate and condition the formation of modern Muslim subjectivities. The central question of the study is: How is the formation of modern forms of subjectivities tied together with the reinterpretation of Islamic traditions? The paper provides analysis of the curricula, and institution background, values and aims of two universities—Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, the first Muslim liberal arts college in the U.S.; and Cambridge Muslim College, the first to offer a Diploma in Muslim community leadership in Britain. Alongside the textually founded analysis, interviews conducted with leadership, faculty and students, and participatory observation inform the discussion. Analysis demonstrates that both institutions see themselves as mediators between Islamic traditions and modern Muslims in the West, and as having a responsibility to engage in the development of both Muslim minorities and the wider societies within which they operate.