Islam, Youth, and Modernity in the Gambia: The Tablighi Jama'at (The International African Library, Series Number 45)

This Monograph Deals With The Sweeping Emergence Of The Tablighi Jama'at - A Transnational Islamic Missionary Movement That Has Its Origins In The Reformist Tradition That Emerged In India In The Mid-nineteenth Century - In The Gambia In The Past Decade. It Explores How A Movement That Originated In South Asia Could Appeal To The Local Muslim Population - Youth And Women In Particular - In A West African Setting. By Recording The Biographical Narratives Of Five Gambian Tablighis, The Book Provides An Understanding Of The Ambiguities And Contradictions Young People Are Confronted With In Their (re)negotiation Of Muslim Identity. Together These Narratives Form A Picture Of How Gambian Youth Go About Their Lives Within The Framework Of Neo-liberal Reforms And Renegotiated Parameters Informed By The Tablighi Model Of How To Be A True Muslim, Which Is Interpreted As A Believer Who Is Able To Reconcile His Or Her Faith With A Modern Lifestyle-- 1. 'life Is A Test, The Hereafter Is The Best' -- 2. 'welcome To The Smiling Coast': Muslim Politics In The Gambia -- 3. The Global Meets The Local: The Tablighi Jama'at Contextualised -- 4. Back To The Ghetto -- 5. A Jihad For Purity -- 6. Learning To Be A Good Muslim Woman -- 7. Male Wives And Female Husbands -- 8. Hungry For Knowledge -- 9. 'muslims Are Sleeping And We Have To Wake Them Up'. Marloes Janson. Series Numbering From Publisher's Website. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents 11 Map and Figures 12 Acknowledgements 13 Note on Language and Quotations from Interviews 17 Glossary 19 1 ‘Life Is a Test, the Hereafter Is the Best’ 23 The Anthropology of Islam 30 Being Young 36 Being Modern 40 Being Muslim in Daily Life 45 Veiled Research 48 2 ‘Welcome to the Smiling Coast’: Muslim Politics in the Gambia 57 The Gambia: Groundnuts and Tourists 59 History of Islam in the Gambia 61 Muslim Emancipation 64 New Muslim Politics 69 Muslim Discourses and Practices in Daily Life: The Case of Sukuta and Kuyateh Kunda 74 Sila Keebaa versus Sila Kutoo 81 Muslim Identities in Practice 85 3 The Global Meets the Local: The Tablighi Jama‘at Contextualised 91 History of the Tablighi Jama‘at 93 The Jama‘at’s Expansion to Sub-Saharan Africa 97 The Rooting of the Jama‘at in the Gambia 100 Social Profile 107 Organisational Structure 113 The Globalisation of Tabligh 117 4 Back to the Ghetto 121 Ahmed 122 Breaking with the Past 129 The Jama‘at as a Countercultural Youth Movement 134 The Markaz versus the Ghetto 138 Manoeuvring between Being Young and Being Muslim 144 5 A Jihad for Purity 153 Bubacar 155 Remaking the Self 163 Ritual Orthopraxy 170 New Forms of Sociality 178 6 Learning to Be a Good Muslim Woman 183 Fatima 185 Women’s Participation in Ta‘lim 192 Wifehood, Motherhood, and Housewifehood 202 Embodying Piety 209 7 Male Wives and Female Husbands 215 Aisha 217 Women’s Involvement in Masturat 223 Reconfiguring Gender Relations 235 Religious Agency 242 8 Hungry for Knowledge 247 Bachir 248 Knowledge Production in the Gambia 257 Tablighi Sources of Knowledge 264 Islamic Reform and Language 266 The Markaz versus the Madrasa 269 9 ‘Muslims Are Sleeping and We Have to Wake Them Up’ 277 Being Born-Again 281 The Personal Is Political 287 References 293 Index 315 "This monograph deals with the sweeping emergence of the Tablighi Jama'at - a transnational Islamic missionary movement that has its origins in the reformist tradition that emerged in India in the mid-nineteenth century - in the Gambia in the past decade. It explores how a movement that originated in South Asia could appeal to the local Muslim population - youth and women in particular - in a West African setting. By recording the biographical narratives of five Gambian Tablighis, the book provides an understanding of the ambiguities and contradictions young people are confronted with in their (re)negotiation of Muslim identity. Together these narratives form a picture of how Gambian youth go about their lives within the framework of neo-liberal reforms and renegotiated parameters informed by the Tablighi model of how to be a "true" Muslim, which is interpreted as a believer who is able to reconcile his or her faith with a modern lifestyle"-- Provided by publisher "This monograph deals with the sweeping emergence of the Tablighi Jama'at - a transnational Islamic missionary movement that has its origins in the reformist tradition that emerged in India in the mid-nineteenth century - in the Gambia in the past decade. It explores how a movement that originated in South Asia could appeal to the local Muslim population - youth and women in particular - in a West African setting. By recording the biographical narratives of five Gambian Tablighis, the book provides an understanding of the ambiguities and contradictions young people are confronted with in their (re)negotiation of Muslim identity. Together these narratives form a picture of how Gambian youth go about their lives within the framework of neoliberal reforms and renegotiated parameters informed by the Tablighi model of how to be a 'true' Muslim, which is interpreted as a believer who is able to reconcile his or her faith with a modern lifestyle."--Source inconnue