ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author offers a reading of how some Muslim prisoners experience Islam as something more than a set of beliefs and practices. He observes that Muslims in prison, even more than outside it, linked the idea of justice to that of dignity by during the author fieldwork. Doctrinal modes of religiosity, such as main monotheistic religions, are based upon repetitive rituals, structured around complex theological teachings, induce a low level of arousal and rely often upon scriptures or fixed narratives. Religions derived from the doctrinal mode tend to have a diffuse social cohesion (e.g. not all Muslims, Christians or Hindus know each other); have a dynamic leadership; are inclusive; spread rapidly and on a large scale and are much organised. Whitehouse has explained religious transmission through a cognitive theory known as ‘modes of religiosity’. The theory is quite complex, and Whitehouse has provided compelling evidence to support his model that readers unfortunately have no space to discuss.
