Mapping the Assembly of Muslim Exceptionality and Exceptional Muslims in Colonial Modernity Ismaili Muslim Encounters through Discourses, Bodies and Space in the Canadian Colonial Nation By Salima Bhimani A thesis in conformity with the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Education Graduate Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto © Copyright by Salima Bhimani 2013 Mapping the Assembly of Muslim Exceptionality and Exceptional Muslims in Colonial Modernity Ismaili Muslim Encounters through Discourses, Bodies and Space in the Canadian Colonial Nation Salima Bhimani Doctor of Philosophy of Education Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto 2013 Abstract What is produced through the encounters with specific “modern Muslims” in the Canadian colonial nation state? In the last decade in Canada there have been efforts to engage in a demarcation between Muslims and other racialized groups in order to define some bodies as part of the nation whilst others outside of the national imaginary. This is particularly important in the nation-building project of Canada in retaining a tolerant, liberal and multiculturally celebrated society. This critical feminist ethnography makes visible the encounters and present economies of sociopolitical currents in which the Ismailis, as a Muslim community and gendered ethnicized bodies, move and animate in Canada as a settler colonial race formation as well as in a broader geography of Muslim social and cultural politics. It is in the constitutions and movements of their collective subjectivities as a religious community and in their ethnicized gender, race, and class difference that they locate and engage in interlocking systems of power rooted in nation, empire, colonialism, modernity, and religion. This thesis aims to show that in order to make sense of Ismaili ii encounters it is necessary to map multiple pasts and multiple presents, which they are part of and that shape them. Different from most studies on the Ismailis in Canada, I also place Ismailis’ entrance and settlement in Canada within a broader dynamic of colonial power and management of racialized peoples and within current shaping of Muslims as racial constructs. This thesis argues that Ismailis are becoming Muslims of “exceptionality.” First, through their high level public encounter with the colonial settler Canadian nation state; second through their intersecting encounters with other Muslims and non-Muslims in Canada; and third in their encounters with each other as Afghan, Pakistani, and Indian Ismailis. These three encounters intervene the discourse of pluralism of which the Ismailis are becoming advocates and Canada its global exemplar. It is through seeing what is produced between these “bodies” in specific moments of their meeting in Canada that, bodily, spatial and discursive practices of social relationship making emerge. These show the paradoxical outcomes of embodying modern coloniality and Muslim exceptionality. iii Acknowledgements We begin by remembering the sound and feeling of the One Being, The well spring of Love. We affirm that the next thing we experience shimmers with the light of the whole universe. - Sufi Saying - This thesis is a labour of mind, body, and spirit. It is in service of the world and to the Divine. To say that it “takes a village” to raise a PhD is no exaggeration. I must begin then, with my thesis committee-community, Ruben, Heather and Sarfaroz, through whom I have grown tremendously. I have come to see myself as a scholar because of their willingness to bring their best to me. As an integral part of this community a great supervisor is one who understands the whole person in the student they mentor. Dr. Ruben Gaztambide-Fernandez’s steadiness, wisdom, insight, and incisive intellectual nudging provided the right balance of belief in me when I waivered and trust that there were some things I needed to figure out on my own in the puzzle of this thesis and PhD life. Mentorship is not limited to the thesis and so all the opportunities to learn the different aspects of what it means to be an academic that works in the world, I owe largely to Ruben. Being a whole person in academia also means that our emotional, intellectual, spiritual and political being is interconnected. Dr. Heather Sykes is a mentor that not only understands but has the presence, leadership and acute insight to show how to be an ally, an intellectual guide, a teacher of human relationships, a being who hears deeply and is infinitely capable of helping one see the many hues in any given situation. These lessons, particularly as women in academia, have made me a better teacher and academic, something only Heather could have taught me. There are other wonderful professors who have given me opportunities to teach and to be in generative conversations that have shaped me greatly. Dr. John Portelli has taught me much about living theory as your practice and making the practice, your theory. Thank you also Tara Goldstein, Lance McCready, Roland Sintos Coloma, Kathy Bickmore, Kathy Broad, and Usha James for your gifts to me. Also, thank you to the administrative staff, Cheryl, Danny, Terry-Louise, Karolina, amongst others for your help vi throughout the years. Finally I want to thank my thesis defence committee and in particular Sunera Thobani, the external examiner, whose insightful feedback and necessary intellectual challenges provided a dialogue with the thesis and me that I had been longing for. A thesis is not simply words on a page or research in narrative form. In this thesis it is the very lives of people that are present. Without the participants’ generous sharing this thesis would not be what it is. Thank you for your honesty, trust and willingness to voice the complexity of your experiences. Thank you also to the Ismaili community for giving me a space to do such work. The friendships made while in academia are possibly quite unique as it is rather difficult for those not in the throws of PhD life to really understand its many nuances, grooves, tensions, joys, struggles and opportunities. Kirk and Jaddon made coming to OISE an event that was always uplifting. They managed to transform an office space into a home away from home. I am tremendously grateful to have had a community of powerful women - up and coming scholars who were my embodied academic sisters in solidarity: Sameena, Christina, Zahra and Chandni. Christina, Zahra and Chandni provided the intellectual circle where I could walk in my work through their questions, readings of draft chapters, and feedback only these brilliant women could provide. You were integral in helping me see how to put the puzzle together in those early stages. After years of writing and coming to the last sentence of the thesis, it is hard to always know whether in fact one is saying anything of value. Thank you Zahra, Fayaz, Chandni and Shaira for reading my thesis and helping me see it for what it is and for asking questions that reminded me of the gaps, silences and gems. Sometimes in this academic circle, one also needs someone who will firmly hold your hand and remind you of where you want to go, no matter what. Chandni has been that person, without whom that last year of the PhD would not have been what it was. My friends outside of OISE have carried the weight of this process for me and with me as well. Thank you to Zainab, Samira and Amina. Finally, to my sister Shaira, who is not only one of the most amazing women in my family lineage but is also my teacher, my friend, my intellectual partner, and the centre of my soul. Not having to leave home to bring home the excitement and challenge of the intellectual journey reminded me that this is the work of our family, not just my own. Thank you for this very special space you made available to me. When we write and create from a place of producing ripples in the world, one inevitably reflects on the impact this can have on family. Thank you, (Zainab, Alikhan, Sherrise, Riaz, Mo, Murad, Munir, Rahim, Didar Mama, Amina Mami, Parin Mami, and Fui’s and Fua’s) for standing vii by me, even when you didn’t always understand what I was doing and for “having my back.” To my sisters, Ferenaz and Nimira, I know I can always count on you and know that I will be held in love and confidence. You have done this and more, for me, throughout this process. To my nieces and nephews, Amy, Jenna, Imaan, Noah, Maya and Azaan this work is as much for you and your future, as it is for this moment. I hope the courage of this work will continue to inspire and feed your own incredible spirits and life purpose. Thank you to the McMonagles – Michelle, Uncle Fionn, Greta, Melinda and Kevin for showering me with that special McMonagle laughter and love that sustained me through these years. I grew up with my mom telling me that a child’s joys, sorrows and successes belong to the parents, as much as they are the child’s. All of who I am and what this work is I owe to my parents. Thank you for the tiniest to universe-enveloping bits of love, understanding, dedication and generosity of every kind. Dad, you taught me to work hard and to do what you need to in life. It’s a lesson I carry with me all the time. Mom, you are one of the greatest inspirations in my life. You never asked me to leave myself or be to anyone less than who I am.