CS2 - Revisi1 1 26-7-2007 17:41:08 ‘RAISE YOUR VOICES and KILL YOUR ANIMALS’ ISLAMIC DISCOURSES on the IDD ELHAJJ and SACRIFICES in TANGA TANZANIA
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‘RAISE YOUR VOICES AND VOICES YOUR ‘RAISE KILL YOUR ANIMALS’ YOUR KILL ‘RAISE YOUR VOICES AND KILL YOUR ANIMALS’ In Tanzania, the Idd el-Hajj is the local celebration of the Islamic Sacrificial Feast, marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). Although its three most important elements (prayer, sermon and sacrifice) identify the ritual as a text- based phenomenon, this study shows how, despite its conformity to authoritative texts, the Idd is shaped by a dialectic of global and local events. Within these vari- ous influences, Muslim groups use the Idd el-Hajj as a tool to symbolically express their sense of belonging to the global Islamic community as well as to more local groups such as the Tanzanian nation-state and various urban mosques. Through discussions and performances of the Idd, they assume a position within an imagi- nary spatial and historical continuum that sometimes emphasises elements of the shared Muslim legacy, while at other times it stresses their need to differentiate themselves from other groups. GERARD C. VAN DE BRUINHORST Gerard van de Bruinhorst (1973) received his M.A. in Cultural Anthropology and ‘RAISE YOUR VOICES AND Arabic from Utrecht University and an Advanced Masters degree (with distinction) BRUINHORST DE VAN C. GERARD from the research school CNWS, Leiden. He conducted research on Islamic rituals in Northern Ghana and Tanzania. KILL YOUR ANIMALS’ ISBN 978 90 5356 946 7 ISLAMIC DISCOURSES ON THE IDD ELHAJJ AND SACRIFICES IN TANGA TANZANIA Gerard C. van de Bruinhorst ISIM ISIM DISSERTATIONS ISIMISIM DISSERTATIONS Omslag Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisi1 1 26-7-2007 17:41:08 ‘RAISE YOUR VOICES AND KILL YOUR ANIMALS’ ISLAMIC DISCOURSES ON THE IDD ELHAJJ AND SACRIFICES IN TANGA TANZANIA Authoritative Texts, Ritual Practices and Social Identities Gerard C. van de Bruinhorst Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 1 26-7-2007 17:27:07 Cover illustration: Idd el-Hajj animal sacrifice, Tanga 2002; photo by the author Cover design and lay-out: De Kreeft, Amsterdam ISBN 978 90 5356 946 7 NUR 741 / 717 © ISIM / Amsterdam University Press, 2007 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 2 26-7-2007 17:27:07 ‘Raise your voices and kill your animals’ Islamic Discourses on the Idd el-Hajj and Sacrifices in Tanga (Tanzania) Authoritative Texts, Ritual Practices and Social Identities “Verheft uw stemmen en doodt uw dieren” Islamitische vertogen over de Idd el-Hajj en offers in Tanga (Tanzania) Gezaghebbende teksten, rituele praktijken en sociale identiteiten (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. W.H. Gispen, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op donderdag 6 september 2007 des middags te 12.45 uur door Gerard Cornelis van de Bruinhorst geboren op 14 december 1973 te Apeldoorn Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 3 26-7-2007 17:27:07 Promotor: Prof. Dr. L.P.H.M. Buskens Co-promotor: Dr. G.L.A.M. Mommersteeg Dit proefschrift werd mede mogelijk gemaakt met financiële steun van het International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 4 26-7-2007 17:27:08 Summary contents Glossary and Abbreviations 15 Acknowledgements 21 Some stylistic idiosyncracies 23 I INTRODUCTIONS 1 Introduction 29 2 Introduction to the Literature 59 3 Local Contexts: an introduction to the field 87 4 Local Texts: production, dissemination and consumption 105 5 Local Rituals 131 II TIME 6 The Idd el-Hajj and the Contest of the Calendars 165 7 Time and Texts 195 8 Time and Identity: the construction of temporally-specific imagined communities 221 III PLACE 9 Preparations and Performance of the Pilgrimage 253 10 Meaning of the hajj 283 11 Sacred Sites and Sacrifice 297 IV CHRONOTOPES 12 Praying, preaching and playing: the moral community defined 325 13 The Idd el-Hajj sacrifice in Tanga: places and persons 359 14 Sacrificial animals and social meals 393 15 Texts, Rituals and Identities 419 Appendices I Questionnaire Kuchinja wanyama na sadaka mjini Tanga 441 II Number of public holidays for Muslim feasts in the period 1961-1994 451 III Farewell sermon by the prophet Muhammad, Arafa 9 Dhulhija 10 H./632 453 IV Idd el-Hajj sermon by Salim Barahiyan, Tanga 10 Dhulhija 1417 H./1997 456 Notes 473 Bibliography 544 Samenvatting in het Nederlands 577 Curriculum Vitae 583 Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 5 26-7-2007 17:27:08 Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 6 26-7-2007 17:27:08 Detailed contents Glossary and Abbreviations 15 Acknowledgements 21 Some stylistic idiosyncracies 23 PART I: INTRODUCTIONS 1. Introduction 29 1. The social relevance of Idd el-Hajj 29 2. A general overview of the Idd el-Hajj in Tanga 31 3. Islam, authoritative texts, ritual practices and social identities 33 a. Local and global Islamic discourses 33 b. Text and ritual 38 c. Ritual and social identities 43 d. A working definition of ritual 46 4. Research, questions and methodology 49 5. The organisation of the book 53 2. Introduction to the Literature 59 1. The Idd el-Hajj, the hajj, and sacrifice in the Qur’an and Sunna 59 a. The Qur’an and the Idd el-Hajj 59 b. The Qur’an and the hajj 61 c. The Qur’an and Ibrahim’s sacrifice 63 d. The Idd el-Hajj and the Prophet Muhammad 64 2. Theories on Islamic sacrifice 68 a. Kafara: expiation, redemption, atonement and purification 69 b. Sadaka: gift, homage, communion and exchange 70 c. Fidya: substitution 71 d. Bismillah: consecration 73 e. Questioning the “thing” of sacrifice 74 3. Ethnographies of Islamic sacrific 76 a. The Great Feast in Morocco 76 b. The Sacrificial Feast in Egypt 80 c. The Sheep Festival in France 81 d. Summary: text, ritual and identity 83 Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 7 26-7-2007 17:27:08 ‘RAISE YOUR VOICES AND KILL YOUR ANIMALS’ 3. Local Contexts: an introduction to the field 87 1. Tanzania 87 a. Socio-economic situation 87 b. Modern political history 89 2. Tanga 91 3. Islam in Tanzania 93 a. General 93 b. ‘Pure Islam’: the Ansaar Muslim Youth Centre (AMYC) 96 c. ‘Marginal Islam’: Ahmadiyya 97 d. ‘Political Islam’: the Islamic Propagation Centre (IPC) 98 4. The memory of oppression: Muslim grievances 100 4. Local Texts: production, dissemination and consumption 105 1. Venues of textual transmission 106 a. The madrasa 106 b. The mosque 110 c. The state school 112 2. Published texts 115 a. Madrasa literature 115 i. jurisprudence from the Shafi’i school of law (fiqh) 115 ii. prophetical traditions (hadith) 118 iii. other schools and other subjects 119 b. Non-madrasa literature 121 i. books 121 ii. newspapers 123 3. Language of transmission 125 a. Arabic and Swahili 125 b. Orality and Literacy 128 5. Local Rituals 131 1. Local descriptions of the Idd el-Hajj 131 a. The day of the Idd el-Hajj 131 b. The rituals of the Idd el-Hajj 133 2. Siku ya mwaka: New Year’s Day or crisis ritual 137 a. The performance 137 i. Tanga 138 ii. Lamu 140 iii. Mombasa 141 iv. Zanzibar 142 v. Kilwa Kivinje 144 vi. Mayotte 144 b. Text, ritual and identity in the siku ya mwaka 145 Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 8 26-7-2007 17:27:08 CONTENTS 3. Akika: child birth or funeral ritual 150 a. The performance 150 b. Text, ritual and identity in the akika ritual 152 c. Summary 160 PART II: TIME 6. The Idd el-Hajj and the Contest of the Calendars 165 1. Introduction 165 2. The Idd el-Hajj and Islamic Calendars 166 a. Three Islamic calendars 166 b. Three Idds: great or small? 170 c The mawlid 174 d. Other Islamic festivals 177 3. The Idd el-Hajj and the national calendar 178 a. Religion and national identity 178 b. Inequality and calendars 182 4. The Idd el-Hajj and the sacred calendar 186 a. Time and ritual 186 b. Time-bound rituals 189 5. Conclusion 192 7. Time and Texts 195 1. Introduction 195 2. The questions 196 a. How to determine the start of the new lunar month? 196 i. sighting 197 ii. counting 199 iii. astronomical calculation 200 b. Whether crescent-sighting at one place has consequence for other places? 202 c. Whose sighting is valid? 203 3. The answers 205 a. The Qur’an 205 b. Hadith 207 c. Ijtihad 211 4. The moral (comm)unity endangered 215 5. Conclusion 219 Bruinhorst - CS2 - revisie.indd 9 26-7-2007 17:27:08 ‘RAISE YOUR VOICES AND KILL YOUR ANIMALS’ 8. Time and Identity: the construction of temporally-specific imagined communities 221 1. Introduction 221 2. Ahmadiyya 222 a. One khalifa… 222 b. …or Islamic authority contested 228 3. Arafa 231 a. One place… 231 b. …or the Saudi hegemony contested 235 4. Tanzania 238 a. One nation… 238 b. …or the nation-state contested 242 5. Latitudes and longitudes 246 a. One madrasa… 246 b. … or local custom contested 248 6. Conclusion 249 PART III: PLACE 9. Preparations and Performance of the Pilgrimage 253 1. Introduction 253 2. The hajj prepared 254 a. Facts and Figures 254 b. Gender 256 c. Tanzania and East Africa 259 d Provenance of the pilgrims within Tanzania 261 e.