Spiritual and Material Development The politics of Islamic charitable action in North India Catherine Larouche Department of Anthropology McGill University Montreal, Quebec, Canada October 29, 2017 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Catherine Larouche, 2017 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................... v RÉSUMÉ ................................................................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................................... vii NOTE ON TRANSLATION AND TRANSLITERATION ............................................................................... x ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................................. xi Chapter One. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 A disadvantaged minority ............................................................................................................................. 1 Muslim charitable organizations ............................................................................................................. 11 Improvement ................................................................................................................................................... 16 Charitable aid .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Islam and economic development ........................................................................................................ 19 Everyday practices of care and development ................................................................................... 26 Civil society, the state, and politics of welfare .................................................................................... 30 Sites and study ................................................................................................................................................ 39 Lucknow and Muzaffarnagar................................................................................................................. 40 Fieldwork research .................................................................................................................................... 43 Working with, on, and in NGOs ................................................................................................................ 47 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................................................. 48 Chapter Two. Crossroads ............................................................................................................................ 52 Islamic charity and the regulation of charitable organizations in India .................................. 54 Continuities and changes ............................................................................................................................ 60 Duty, reward, and social change .............................................................................................................. 68 Working where others have failed .......................................................................................................... 78 Muslim NGOs: A new avenue for social change ................................................................................. 81 iii Chapter Three. Aspirations and actions: The challenges of doing good ............................ 85 Community Trust ........................................................................................................................................... 90 Everyday donation practices ..................................................................................................................... 97 Case 1: The genuine poor ......................................................................................................................... 98 Case 2: Good Muslims .............................................................................................................................. 101 Case 3: Terminal illness .......................................................................................................................... 104 Case 3: English-medium schools .......................................................................................................... 105 Case 4: Weddings ...................................................................................................................................... 108 Trust and the pressures of institutionalized Islamic charity ...................................................... 110 Making choices ............................................................................................................................................. 115 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 120 Chapter Four. Moral underpinnings of development: Muslim women and pious empowerment ................................................................................................................................................. 123 Muslim women, development, and economic participation ....................................................... 130 Bazm-e-Khawateen ..................................................................................................................................... 133 Being a good Muslim woman: Zenana Park meeting 1 ............................................................... 140 The solution is within you! Zenana Park meeting 2 ..................................................................... 144 Pious Empowerment .................................................................................................................................. 148 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 157 Chapter Five. Political expectations and performances of secularism ............................. 161 State, secularism, and welfare responsibilities ................................................................................ 165 Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind ................................................................................................................................... 168 State neglect ................................................................................................................................................... 172 A secular and nationalist past ................................................................................................................. 176 Performing secularism .............................................................................................................................. 184 Pragmatism and politics ........................................................................................................................... 190 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 194 Chapter Six. Emergency relief and the Muzaffarnagar riots ................................................... 196 The production of communal riots ....................................................................................................... 200 iv An “institutionalized riot system” ....................................................................................................... 201 Caste, class and voting patterns .......................................................................................................... 207 Everyday Hindu-Muslim interactions ................................................................................................ 210 Humanitarian aid ......................................................................................................................................... 216 The ambiguity of victimhood ............................................................................................................... 220 Resettlement and the making of legitimate victims ..................................................................... 224 Between “riot victims” and “poor Muslims” .................................................................................... 230 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 234 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 237 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 246 v ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the politics of Islamic charitable action