Centre for South Asian Studies

Description

This paper will explore the creation of "certain faith" (yaqeen) and the management of doubt in the Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan. Like Islamic pietists in other parts of the world, Tablighis believe that the ritual practices of Islam are a means for the cultivation of pious virtue. Specifically, Tablighis say that their distinct form of face-to-face peaching (dawat) is especially designed to create the faith (iman) that is the basis for an Islamic life. In this paper, I argue that "certain faith" is secured by drawing one's family into the movement and creating a pious Islamic home. I show, however, that many Tablighis fail to realize this ideal of a pious Islamic home and therefore experience uncertainty and doubt about their faith. I show in this paper how uncertainty and doubt are managed in pious companionship (sohbat) and how this becomes the basis for the spread of the movement across social and political contexts. 

Chaired by: Dr Ayaz Qureshi, Social Anthropology, UoE