VU Research Portal Purification of Hearts Amer, M. 2018 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Amer, M. (2018). Purification of Hearts: Rituals, Devotion and Re-creation among the Minhajul Quran followers in Europe. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 26. Sep. 2021 VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT Purification of Hearts Rituals, Devotion and Re-creation among the Minhajul Quran followers in Europe ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. V. Subramaniam, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen op dinsdag 6 maart 2018 om 15.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Mohammad Amer geboren te Rawalpindi, Pakistan 516768-L-bw-Amer Processed on: 31-1-2018 PDF page: 1 ii promotor: prof.dr. J.T. Sunier copromotor: prof.dr. M.M. van Bruinessen 516768-L-bw-Amer Processed on: 31-1-2018 PDF page: 2 iii For Sahar, Tehreem, Iqra and Shazia 516768-L-bw-Amer Processed on: 31-1-2018 PDF page: 3 iv Acknowledgements There is a long list of people with whom I communicated, discussed portions of this thesis, and who helped me with the writing process during this period. Of course, I cannot name them all, but without the help, trust and faith of a number of people and institutions, this project would never have succeeded. First of all, I would like to thank the people and institutes of the Minhajul Quran (MQ) in the Netherlands, UK, Denmark and Pakistan. Members of MQ, and other Pakistani mosques and welfare organisations, welcomed me at their Idara, mosques and homes and accompanied me to other cities during my fieldwork. In the Netherlands, I want in particular to thank Abid Qureshi, Ahmad Raza, Tasneem Sadiq, Farzanah Raja, Kiran, Anny, Ashraf, Jilani, Yawar, Adeel, Umer and Faisal Mirza who were always willing to answer my queries. In the UK, I want to thank Ishtiaq Ahmad, Ramadan Qadri, Naeem Tariq, Arshad Munir, Saeedi and Qadafi Akhtar for helping me understand the workings of MQ and other religious groups in East London. I would also like to thank Iftikhar Ahmad who remained a constant source of information and discussion and who accompanied me to different locations during my stay. In Denmark, I want to thank Noman Malik and Naveed Baig who shared MQ’s day to day activities with me and who introduced me to various Pakistani groups. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Martin van Bruinessen and Thijl Sunier for their extraordinary support, invaluable advice and continued trust in me during this long journey. There were times, when sending them a draft chapter after many months, that I was not sure if they still believed I would ever finish it. I benefited from their often oppositional approaches of looking at my work: Martin van Bruinessen had a top-down approach, linking the ethnography with broader debates, while Thijl Sunier had a bottom-up approach, in which minute details were looked at in the creation of a coherent argument. I thank Thijl Sunier for micro level changes, detailed readings of chapters and for advice on bringing structure to the thesis. I would also like to thank Professor Khalid Masud, who was there at the project’s very beginnings. I discussed the project with him in the first phase and he continued to support me whenever I approached him for advice. I would especially like to thank two institutions who acted as host during my fieldwork and writing process. I am grateful to the ISIM (International Institute for the Study of Islam in Modern World) in Leiden for giving me the opportunity to start this project. The ISIM had an excellent atmosphere for research and for interaction with exceptional scholars in Leiden. It is very disappointing—and for me still hard to believe—that such an inspiring and productive institute was closed simply because of lack of financial support in the Netherlands. At the ISIM, this thesis was part of a project called ‘Production of Islamic Knowledge in Europe’. I thank other members of the project, including Welmoet Boender and Alexander Caeiro, for fruitful discussions and company. Other people at the ISIM, teachers and colleagues—including Abdul Kader Tayyob, Annelies Moors, Martin van Bruinessen, Asef Bayyat, Nathal Dessing, Frank Peter, 516768-L-bw-Amer Processed on: 31-1-2018 PDF page: 4 v Yoginder Sikand, Tania Sheikh, Samuli Schilke, Mujibur Rahman, and Thomas Chiou—created a learning atmosphere for my academic development at the institute. In 2010, I moved to the department of Social and Cultural Anthropology (SCA) of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and continued work with my writing with new colleagues and friends. I would like to thank Aalt, Aysegul, Donya, Daan, Erik, Joan, Lidewyde, Maaike, Melanie, Mijke, Scott, Inge and Yunus for their support and company. The SCA generously made their facilities available to me and offered me valuable support in finishing my thesis. In addition to Thijl Sunier, I am particularly grateful for the support and assistance given by Ton Salman, Lenie Brouwer, Ellen Bal, Freek Colombijn, Marina de Regt, and the secretary, Annet Bakker. It is difficult to remember all the people who made contributions during different phases in the development of this thesis. They read different chapters, gave advices on portions of them or were part of some inspiring conversations and laughter. But I would like to thank Irfan Ahmed, Vazira Zamindaar, Mohammad Waked, Anouk de Koning, Nukhbah Langha, Shifra Kisch, Sida Altug and Yasir Ghani for being part of those moments. I also thank my extended family—my brothers, sister and in-laws— all in Pakistan, who most of the time did not understand what I was doing. Coming from a working class background, I was the first member of my family to pursue an academic carrier. To them, I was ‘the student’ most of the time, often hearing the question ‘When will you start working?’. I thank them for their understanding of the choices I made. Last but not least, I thank my direct family for actually becoming part of this thesis. My daughters, Iqra, Tehreem and Sahar, grew up during the course of this thesis, all the way to completion. They shared my anguish during writing, my struggles to make deadlines, and my long absences during weekends. I saw them grow up with this thesis and remember their jokes about ‘when this thesis will be completed!’ But you were a source of enormous joy and happiness for me during this period. Finally, I wish to thank Shazia, who stood by me during both the sombre and happy moments of writing this thesis. You moved to the Netherlands and finished your studies here, while taking care of three children most of the time. I realise this and feel a deep sense of gratitude. I thank you for your engagement, struggle, support and endurance over the past years. 516768-L-bw-Amer Processed on: 31-1-2018 PDF page: 5 vi 516768-L-bw-Amer Processed on: 31-1-2018 PDF page: 6 1 Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................................................. iv Contents ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction: religion, rituals and devotion ......................................................................................................................................... 3 MQ and the Barelvis ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Choosing the Sites of Field Research .............................................................................................................................................. 7 Fieldwork .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Overview of the chapters ................................................................................................................................................................. 10 1. Question, perspectives and comparisons ...................................................................................................................................... 13 1.1 Milad ............................................................................................................................................................................................