Islamic Revivalism: a Study of the Tablighi Jamaat in Sydney
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ISLAMIC REVIVALISM: A STUDY OF THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT IN SYDNEY Jan Ashik Ali BA(UWS),MA(UNSW),MPP(MACQ) Thesis submitted to the University of New South Wales in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology March 2006 ABSTRACT Since the great Iranian revolution of 1978-79, there has been a significant increase in Islamic consciousness and activity in Muslim communities across the globe. As a phenomenon it has become known as “Islamic revivalism”. Its hallmark is a return to Islamic origins, the fundamentals of the faith embodied in the Qur’an and the sunnah (sayings and practices of Prophet Muhammad). Contemporary Islamic revivalism has its roots in Muslim responses to European colonialism and imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century, when the darker sides of modernity began to reveal themselves in what was perceived as less than desirable social, cultural, economic, and political conditions of many Muslim communities and societies. Islamic revivalism has constantly featured in Islamic history and is by no means a new phenomenon. What distinguishes contemporary Islamic revivalism from earlier revivalisms is its complex multifacetedness as a defensive reaction to a new epoch of modernity described in revivalist circles as jahiliyah (ignorance). This thesis argues there is a central relationship between modernity and Islamic revivalism. Using in-depth interviews and participant observation techniques this study is an ethnography of the Tablighi Jamaat (Preaching Party), a transnational Islamic revivalist movement active in Sydney. It also seeks to locate the Tablighi Jamaat in the spectrum of Australian Islam. The principal argument of the thesis is that contemporary Islamic revivalism is a defensive reaction to modernity. Contrary to popular belief it neither constitutes an anti- modernity nor does it seek to destroy modernity. Rather, it highlights that Muslims as adherents to a revealed tradition - Islam - are in a serious state of crisis. They are confronted with both material crisis and the threat of losing their faith and identity in modernity. Through a study of the Tablighi Jamaat the thesis argues that contemporary Islamic revivalism is, therefore, an attempt to rescue Muslims from their modern malaise through selective use of modern ideological and technical means. I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a number of people that I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for helping bring this study to fruition. First and foremost I wish to thank Professor Michael Humphrey for his unceasing patience, support, and encouraging advice all along the life of this study. Also a sincere thank you to Professor Clive Kessler for his insightful comments on issues pertinent to this study and constant encouragement. I also would like to thank Lester Adorjany for proofreading the draft and Frances Lovejoy for her encouraging words of wisdom. My heartfelt gratitude to all my Tablighi interviewees who provided me with clear and great insight into the Tablighi Jamaat and other members of the Tablighi Jamaat who provided assistance and support during my thirteen-month participant observation. Last, but certainly not least, I wish to offer a special thank you to my beloved wife for her support, perseverance, encouragement, and insightful comments during my study and my three precious children who have been very patient in letting me complete this study. II TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. Abstract i Acknowledgement ii Table of Contents iii List of Tables viii Chapter One: INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. THESIS OUTLINE 18 Chapter Two: A REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE 22 INTRODUCTION 22 2.1. ISLAM AND THE COLONIAL EXPERIENCE 23 2.2. EXPLANATIONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC REVIVALISM 27 2.2.1. Islamic Revivalism Defined 27 2.2.2. Theoretical Underdevelopment 29 2.2.3. The Literature on Contemporary Islamic Revivalism 30 2.2.4. The Concepts of Tajdid and Mujaddid 32 2.2.5. The Concept of Jihad 33 2.2.6. The Concept of Jahiliyah 33 2.2.7. The Concept of Tawhid 34 2.3. THREE KEY PERSPECTIVES 36 2.3.1. Socio-economic and Political or Crisis Perspective 40 2.3.2. Success Perspective 41 2.3.3. Defensive Reaction to Modernity Perspective 43 2.4. THE IDEOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC REVIVALISM 46 2.5. THE OBJECTIVES OF CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC REVIVALISM 48 CONCLUSION 51 III Chapter Three: THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND RELIGIOUS RESPONSE 53 INTRODUCTION 53 3.1. CHURCH-SECT THEORY 54 3.2. DEPRIVATION THEORY 63 3.2.1. Economic Deprivation 64 3.2.2. Social Deprivation 66 3.3. MAUDUDIAN ISLAMIC REVIVALISM 67 3.3.1. Modern Civilization 72 3.3.2. Secularism 73 3.3.3. Nationalism 74 3.3.4. Democracy 76 CONCLUSION 77 Chapter Four: METHODOLOGY 78 INTRODUCTION 78 4.1. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION 79 4.1.1. Complete Participant 83 4.1.2. Participant-As-Observer 86 4.2. ETHICS 88 4.3. PARTICIPATING WITH THE TABLIGHIS IN SYDNEY 90 4.4. FIELDNOTES 95 4.5. INTERVIEWING 96 4.5.1. Informal Interviews 97 4.6. CASE STUDY 99 4.6.1. Types of Case Studies 100 CONCLUSION 103 IV Chapter Five: ISLAM IN THE WEST 105 INTRODUCTION 105 5.1. MUSLIMS IN THE WEST 105 5.2. EMERGENCE OF MUSLIM COMMUNITIES AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISLAM 109 5.3. INTEGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 112 5.4. ISLAMOPHOBIA 115 5.5. THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR OVER THE SATANIC VERSES 117 5.6. THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT IN THE WEST 120 5.7. EUROISLAM 123 CONCLUSION 126 Chapter Six: THE ORIGINS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT 128 INTRODUCTION 128 6.1. MEWAT AND THE MEOS 128 6.1.1. Islamic History of Meos 131 6.2. THE CRISIS OF EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY 134 6.2.1. The Socio-economic Crisis 134 6.2.2. The Meo Peasant Uprisings of the 1930s 135 6.3. MAULANA MUHAMMAD ILYAS 136 6.4. THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT 140 6.4.1. Six Principles of Tablighi Jamaat 141 6.4.2. Tablighi Participants 143 6.5. TABLIGHI ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 143 V 6.6. TRANSNATIONALIZATION OF THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT 146 CONCLUSION 148 Chapter Seven: ISLAM IN AUSTRALIA 150 INTRODUCTION 150 7.1. MUSLIMS IN AUSTRALIA 150 7.1.1. Post-World War II Muslim Immigration 152 7.1.2. Muslim Ethnic Diversity 155 7.2. IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 157 7.3. ISLAM AND MULTICULTURALISM 158 7.3.1. Muslim Marginality 161 7.4. MUSLIM COMMUNITIES AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MOSQUES 162 7.5. ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS 166 7.5.1. The Tablighi Jamaat 169 7.6. FIRST GENERATION MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS 172 7.7. SECOND GENERATION MUSLIMS 174 7.8. ISLAMIC REVIVALISM 177 7.8.1. Reflexive Muslim Identity 178 CONCLUSION 181 Chapter Eight: THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT 182 INTRODUCTION 182 SECTION ONE: TABLIGHI PRACTICES IN SYDNEY 183 8.1. RETREAT AT THE IMAM ALI MOSQUE IN SYDNEY 183 VI 8.1.1. Hidayah Bayaan 186 8.1.2. Taleem 190 8.1.3. Jolah 192 8.1.4. Bayaan 194 8.2. EXPERIENCING KHURUJ 197 8.3. MUSHAWARA 202 8.4. THE ONGOING IMPORTANCE OF SELF-FASHIONING: THE THREE CASE STUDIES 205 8.4.1. Case Study One 205 8.4.2. Case Study Two 209 8.4.3. Case Study Three 213 SECTION TWO: DISCUSSION AND ANAYSIS 217 8.5. THE TABLIGHI IDEOLOGY 217 8.6. TABLIGH 225 8.7. KHURUJ 230 8.8. THE TABLIGHI WORLDVIEW AND ISLAMIC REVIVALISM 234 8.9. INNER-WORLDLY ATTENTION 241 8.9.1. Salvation 249 8.9.2. Piety 250 8.10. SELF REFORMATION 253 8.11. POLTICAL ALOOFNESS 257 8.12. IDENTITY 259 CONCLUSION 261 Chapter Nine: CONCLUSION 263 GLOSSARY 268 APPENDIX: DETAILS OF THE INTERVIEWEES 279 REFERENCES 280 VII LIST OF TABLES Page No. Table 1: Muslims in Europe 108 Table 2: Australian Muslim Population by State/ Territory 153 Table 3: Australian Muslims – Country/Region of Origin 154 VIII CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION This thesis explores the phenomenon of contemporary Islamic revivalism through an analysis of the transnational Islamic revivalist movement of the Tablighi Jamaat1. In the last few decades there has been a significant surge in Islamic consciousness in Muslim communities across the globe. This has become known as “Islamic revivalism”. Islamic revivalism as a phenomenon is not new to Islamic history. In fact, Islamic history is constantly punctuated by Islamic revivalism. The hallmark of Islamic revivalism throughout Islamic history has always been, even today, a desire for the return to Islamic origins – the basics of the faith as enshrined in the Qur’an and the sunnah (sayings and practices of Prophet Muhammad). Since the early fifteenth Islamic century (A.D. 1980s) to the present, what distinguishes the contemporary Islamic revivalism from earlier expressions is its complex multifacetedness (Dessouki, 1982) and new defensive reactionary ideological character (Arjomand, 1995). In other words, contemporary Islamic revivalism manifests itself in multiplicity of forms as a defensive reaction to an epoch characterized by modernity. It needs to be noted at the outset that there is little agreement on the conceptualization and meaning of the term “revivalism”. Dessouki (1982), Voll (1982), Dekmejian (1995), and Burgat and Dowell (1997), for instance, have all drawn attention to this fact pointing out the heterogeneity of this phenomenon which has been studied under the umbrella of Islamic revivalism. Forms of Islamic consciousness as diverse as “fundamentalism”, “reassertion”, “awakening”, “renewal”, “resurgence”, and “reformation” have all been, at one time or another, referred to as Islamic revivalism. These writers emphasize the difficulties in properly understanding contemporary Islamic revivalism that arise from the lack of definitional and conceptual agreement. Also, they point out that this leads to 1 Tablighi Jamaat means a Preaching Party. It is an Islamic revivalist movement founded in 1927 in India by a Deoband trained Muhammad Ilyas (1885- 1944).