Other Ethical Approval

Abstract

The researcher, in carrying the name of the institution, is bound to an ethical standard of behaviour; standards which are maintained through ethical approval that researchers must obtain from their departments before conducting research. There exists another form of ethical approval a fieldworker must obtain, that of their research participants. This Other Ethical Approval is often related to access; a participant must consider the researcher to have integrity in order to allow them the privileged insight into their own lives and behaviours. The article outlines and explores this secondary ethical approval derived from the author’s experience of conducting research as a doctoral student. It is argued that being attentive and conscious of the ethical standards of the research field can only improve the quality and rigour of the research, and is increasingly important in spaces where access is not easily obtained. After outlining the research project, there follows a statement of ethics as the author encountered and negotiated it in the field. It is expressed through statements derived from Islamic sacred texts, structured in a similar way to statements of ethics produced by scholarly associations such as the American Anthropological Association. This reflexive account will be of value to researchers interested in British Muslim studies, as well as to scholars researching contemporary religious communities more generally, who need ethical approval from their research participants.

Shedding Light on the Modalities of Authority in a Dar al-Uloom, or Religious Seminary, in Britain

“…The fieldwork took place over 14 months, and it was my identity as a 'trusted' graduate that paved the way for access to the fieldsite (Ahmed 2017). This is because being a graduate of the DU is insufficient in gaining access.…”

Muslim geographies, positionality, and ways of knowing migration

“…Being drawn towards certain kinds of spaces by Muslim spatiotemporal rhythms enabled a more immersive fieldwork experience and continuously challenged the more rigid ways we tend to frame our research before entering the field. Islamic teachings that encourage compassion, kindness, hospitality, and being proactive in helping others produce a geographical, ethical, and humanistic space that we enter when in the presence of other Muslims (Ahmed, 2018). Given our shared Muslim background, interactions with my interlocutors were informed by the expectations of a shared Muslim morality (Moosavi, 2013).…”

“…There is a need for more scholars and graduate students to write on their fieldwork experiences ‘in other worlds’ to build intellectual alliances with racialised and marginalised communities within and outside the academy (Sidaway, 1992). Being able to think of the world from ‘perspectives of the mosque from the inside looking out’ (Ahmed, 2018, p. 206), rather than from the outside looking in, has the potential to further problematise the treatment of Islam and Muslims in geography.…”