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Good Muslims PDF

261 Pages·2011·2.73 MB·English
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Creating “Good Muslims”: Qawmi madrasa Schooling in a Rural Town of Bangladesh A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Md. Nurul Momen Bhuiyan Department of Social Anthropology, Brunel University November 2010 To my parents Dr. Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan and Mrs. Rabeya Khatoon 2 Abstract This thesis is about the processes and practices that underpin everyday life in a Bangladeshi qawmi madrasa, a rather contentious faith-based Islamic schooling system that is very popular among the rural poor. Based on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork that took place in Biswanath, a rural town in northeastern Bangladesh, this thesis focuses specifically on the processes that are considered by the qawmi madrasa system to be crucial for the creation of a „good Muslim‟ persona. The thesis is, therefore, primarily about a particular form of (religious) schooling and (religious) identity formation processes in rural Bangladesh. This study describes a wide range of issues, traditions, and practices embedded within the qawmi madrasa system. The economic and social dynamics of the locality have also been observed closely, as these are directly linked with and influenced by the centrality of Islam in the life of the people. The protagonists of this system believe that every Muslim requires authentic Islamic schooling in order to become a „good Muslim‟. Essential to the construction of the „good Muslim‟ within the qawmi madrasa system therefore lies the assumption that this type of schooling is transformative in nature. Hence, my analysis highlights the centrality of the believer‟s body and suggests that for the successful construction of a Muslim persona it is the Islamic orthopraxy, rather than the orthodoxy, that they (learners) receive here most of their faith schoolings on. Central to such orthopraxy is Sunnah (ritual and non-ritual actions approved by the Prophet), which is reinforced and inculcated by the wider community of adults (parents, teachers) into learners by systematically addressing and synchronizing various qualities and expectations through the schooling process. Loyalty is one such quality that both the qawmi protagonists and the wider society believe is infusible. Loyalty towards the moral and social order is thought to be achievable through both moral and corporal discipline. Hence, accustoming one‟s body and mind to the knowledge of adab (manner) constitutes the fundamental knowledge of all within this system. In other words, in this study I suggest that the qawmi madrasa system is a system of schooling where adab signifies not 3 only the moral but also the political identity of a person. However, an ideal Muslim persona or an approved Muslim body‟s construction within this context also rests on religious beliefs (iman) and deeds (amal). In Bangladesh the qawmi madrasa system is categorized as an ultra orthodox Islamic schooling system on the basis of its stance for authentic and scripture based Islam. However, as I will demonstrate, in reality, the system is sustained by both accommodating many secular expectations of the people and by compromising many of its stances. 4 Table of Content Acknowledgement 11 Glossary of Selected terms 13 Chapter One: Introduction 23 1.1 Qawmi madrasa and some relevant issues 24 1.2 The rise of Islam in Bangladeshi polity and Islamic education 29 1.3 Islamic education, its elements, and madrasa 35 1.4 Qawmi madrasa and its anthropological relevance 38 1.5 On field and fieldwork 40 1.6 Structure of Study 45 Chapter Two: The forces of change and the qawmi madrasa 48 Section 1 50 2.1 The context 50 2.2 Jamian responses to reform 52 2.3 Infrastructural development, proliferation of educational institute 56 2.4 Lodging-mastery 58 Section 2: Impact of the state‟s involvement in religious affairs and institutions 59 2.5 Eid-e-Miladunnaby and the aliya madrasa issues 61 Section 3 64 2.6 Looking within: Jamians during the State of Emergency 64 2.7 Secret grievances 67 2.8 Power struggle 70 2.9 Conclusion 74 5 Chapter Three: The political economy of Bishwanath 75 Section 1: Londoni money and the centrality of consumption 77 3.1 Symbols of development 77 3.2 Consuming the landscape 79 3.3 Households and the pattern of consumption 83 Section 2: Land and its socio-political implications in Bishwanath 85 3.4 Land disputes and mitigation 85 3.5 Economic value of land 87 Section 3: Intermediaries, extortion and the dynamics of power around land 91 3.6 The regime of secrecy within the economy of extortion 91 3.7 The actors and dynamics of land deal 93 Section 4: Economy of charity and the Jamia of Bishwanath 96 3.8 The clients and patrons of the economy of charity 97 3.9 Charity as a religious means to achieve a personal benefit 100 3.10 Conclusion 103 Chapter Four: Understanding the line 104 4.1 (a) The underlying motif 106 4.1 (b) The line 106 Section 1: The behavioural aspect of line: 108 4.2 Mr. Ali‟s line 109 4.3 Mr. Ali‟s choices 113 4.4 Munna‟s line 115 Section 2: 118 6 4.5 The connection and orientation aspects of line: Jamia‟s line 118 4.6 Learning line in everyday context 122 4.7 Khadim 123 4.8 Qu‟tar 129 4.9 Conclusion 134 Chapter Five: Adab and the Muslim body 135 5.1 Jamia, Jamians, and the body‟s Muslim show 137 5.2 Ways of learning adab! 139 5.3 Khan‟s story 142 Section 1: The adab of the body‟s surface 145 5.4 The „look‟ of the Muslim body 145 5.5 Realizing the „good look‟ in Jamia 147 5.6 The symbolisms in the hair cutting 149 Section 2: The adab of the body‟s action 152 5.7 Body‟s secular actions 153 5.8 Body‟s inadequate actions 156 5.9 Conclusion 161 Chapter Six: Iman and Amal 163 6.1 (a) Amal and iman 164 6.1 (b) Centrality of iman and Jamian mission 167 6.2 Learning to “believing”: What is learnt? 171 6.3 The initiation 173 6.4 The iman-schooling 176 7 6.4 (a) “Aamantu billahi… (I believe in Allah..)” 176 6.4 (b) “Wa Malaikatihi...(His Angels…)” 178 6.4 (c) “Wa Kutubihi…( His Books...)” 180 6.4 (d) “Wa Rasulihi…(His Messengers…)” 181 6.4 (e) “Wal Yawmil Aakheri…(The Day of Judgement…)” 182 6.4 (f) “Wal Qadri Khirehi Wa Shar‟rehi…(that Fate good and bad is given..)” 183 6.4 (g) “Wa..Bawsee Bawdal Mawat…(the life after death…)” 184 6.5 Coming to terms with a time 185 6.6 Conclusion: 190 Chapter Seven: Learning to be “good” Muslims 192 7.1 On Institutional policy and pedagogical techniques 193 7.2 A day in the Jamia 196 7.3 Mohammad Imtiaz: The “good” Muslim 205 7.4 Kamran: The in the line type 210 7.5 Monwar: The be-line and be-adab type 216 7.6 Conclusion 222 Chapter Eight: Summary and Conclusion 224 Bibliography 229 Appendix 1 243 Appendix 2 246 Appendix 3 247 Appendix 4 250 Appendix 5 253 8 Appendix 6 254 Appendix 7 259 9 List of Maps and plates Map 1: Political map of the South Asia 29 Map 2: Political map of Bangladesh 30 Map 3: Sylhet district and Bishwanath upazila in maps 51 Plate 1: A demolished Bishwanath madrasa during the emergency 65 Plate 2: The brick walls and cane fences are taking over 81 Plate 3: A Londoni house in the middle of a paddy field 89 Plate 4: A large jamaat spills into the courtyard without disrupting the qu‟tars 129 Plate 5: Men prior to a Ju‟ma at the Jamia mosque 146 Plate 6: A typical Bishwanath tea-stall with a TV mounted refrigerator 188 Plate 7: One of the packed ibtedai (primary) classes of Jamia 198 Plate 8: A group of students are having their midday meal together 202 Plate 9: Jamia students attending the annual examination 219 10

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following the fourteenth century‟s politician and historian Ibn Khaldun‟s famous book. Muqaddima, shows how adab A little after 2 pm, an impressive golden Toyota Voxy multi-purpose vehicle (MVP) drove the Mawlana into the
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