Week 8
Popular Islam
Islam
• Before 622– Judaism & Christianity spread– Older polytheistic religion.
• Mecca & Medina– Mercantile center– Pilgrimage center.
Gap between two views
• Anthropological view of Islam: – A cultural tradition that takes many forms. – Not heterogeneous collection of beliefs and
practices
• Muslim view:– Coherent Religion, – Civilization– Social order
Muhammed• One God- Tauhid
– Equivalent to Judeo-Christian God
• Prophet– Equivalent to Biblical prophets.– Last of 124,000
• Orthopraxy: righteous actions– Proclamation of faith– Worship– Alms– Fasting– Pilgrimage
Islam-- Commonalities
• Lack of priesthood- anyone can go on path to knowledge & salvation – Direct, unmediated relationship with God.
• Egalitarian emphasis.
• Umma= community—Muslim community must remain undivided.
Muhammed
• Khalifa was his successor.• Jihad= reform, personal endeavor, or conquest
– military struggle “lesser Jihad”.– Personal struggle with faith & society “greater Jihad”.
• Ulama; learned ones– Sharia: “Ways”– Quest to obey God’s will– Sunnah & Kuran
• Sufi tradition
Ernst Gellner: Two trends in Islam
• Ulama= scholarly tradition– Literacy, – Egalitarianism.– Universalist ideal of a single deity, available to
all who care to read.
Mosque• No custom or ritual within Islamic practice for
which one needs any particular set of credentials– general rule: most knowledgeable among group
should lead prayers
• Typical function of ‘alim : Imam of mosque– leads daily prayers– delivers Friday sermon– teaches neighborhood children basics of Islamic
law • Qur'anic recitation • sometimes writing & calligraphy
Ernst Gellner: Two trends in Islam
• Associationist- Sufi tradition – Mediation – Propitiation – Ritual & devotional excess – Religious hierarchy.
Shi’a ‘Ulama
• Fifth Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 733)– Founder of Shi’i law – to whom Kufans turned increasingly for
rulings on religious matters.
• Sixth Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (d. 765),– systematized Shi’i law, – body of rawis ("transmitters") of sayings of
the Shi’i Imam emerged.
Modern Political Shi’a ‘Ulama
• Shi’a ‘Ulama– Political leader within Iran
• Iran is governed on Islamic Religious Law called Governance of the faqih (wilayat-i faqih)– wilayat = rule, supremacy or sovereignty– Also: friendship, loyalty, or guardianship– Ruling guardianship of jurisprudence
• Gives religious power over the land
Madrasah• 2 common modes of study in pre-colonial
period: – tutelage with individual scholars– attendance at Madrasah
• Mustaniriyah in Baghdad, • Niiimiyah in Baghdad, • al-Azhar in Cairo
• Colonization caused radical curriculum changes – Like modern Western UniversityFatwa: applied law
• Only mufti is qualified to identify what rules apply • matter of training --not esoteric knowledge
Islam-- diversity
• Islam often associated with Middle East & Arabs.– Half of all Muslims live in Southeast Asia.– Not all Muslims speak Arabic, and not all
Arabs are Muslim.– Often, local customs defined in terms of Islam;
• “if we do it, and we are Muslim, then it is a Muslim practice.”
Kohistan-- R. Lincoln Keiser
• Thull—Kohistan; small village on Afgan-Pakistani border.
Kohistan-- R. Lincoln Keiser
• Strict code of honor:• Dushmani: men engage in blood revenge; will
kill another for slight of honor.• Special source of shame is women; if a strange
man so much as looks at wives or daughters, he has dishonored the husband/father.
• Hospitality• Give refuge to anyone asking.• Compassion for a fallen adversary.
300 years ago
• Villages organized into endogamous partilineal descent groups.
• Relationship between men and women very casual; women not secluded.
• Perhaps some wife stealing; perpetrator could pay fine.
• Revenge known, but generally against other tribes.
16th century
• Conversion to Islam; generally, no major changes in social system. – God is an imperious ruler.– God gives ghrairat—personal honor, integrity
to men; at birth.– Can easily be lost,
19th century: Under British India
• Nawabs- Pathan chief who captured region in 1888
• Britain threatened by Russia.
• Troops had to go through the region to protect India from Russian invasions.
• Policy: let Nawabs have unfettered rule; they keep roads open & maintain them.
19th century: Under British India
Imposed code of honor on people of Thull;
• Ruled by arbitrary decrees.
• The Nawabs exacerbated local disputes within the community to weaken opposition.
• Levied light fines for murder; encouraged people to take revenge rather than pay fines.
1947 independence
• Pakistani government developed region. – Schools, roads, telephone service, buses.– increased importance of potato farming;
undercut ties between herding groups.– Newfound wealth made guns more easily
available.
1947 independence
• Roads also brought fundamentalist teachings.– Saint worship considered heresy; humans
with special access to God.– Opposition to music and dancing;
• seduced women; • personalized connection between male honor and
sexual purity of women.
Java: Suzanne Brenner
Java: Suzanne Brenner
• Value restraint; concentration of inner spiritual strength through self-control.– Associated more with men; men “naturally’
have greater control than women.– Upper classes have it more than lower
classes.
• Women don’t always agree with this view.– Women have absolute control in
• Home- including household finance.• Market- Women traders
Java: Suzanne Brenner
• Often viewed in terms of Islamic values:– Men more in control of emotions; women more
irrational or sexual.– Hence, women need to be controlled by men.
• But some argue that men are less capable of controlling emotions.– Lust and greed. – Women are better at business because men will be
spend money on women—take a second wife or gamble.
Java: Suzanne Brenner
• Kebaya
• Veil– Considered “foreign”– Viewed as “modern” but not “Western.”