Reforming Men, Refining Umma: Tablīghī Jamā‛at and Novel Visions of Islamic Masculinity

Abstract

Tablīghī Jamā‛at, a pietistic movement run by laypeople that originated in India is currently the most widespread Muslim missionary group worldwide. It is essentially men-oriented in terms of its main target for proselytization and organization. Spaces of proselytization are mosques, sacred spaces frequented by men, and the home, a place of reinforcement of ‘lifestyle evangelism’ dominated by women. The group has been described as anti-intellectualist, apolitical, docile, otherworldly, and a front for militant groups. Based on recent ethnographic research in northern Kenya, the paper explores two main thematic questions: What does it take to be a Tablīghī man? Does emerging Tablīghī masculinity embolden or reconfigure gender/patriarchal relations? The paper posits that the movement provides social mobility for non-‘ulamā men in an alternative religious hierarchy but also lays the foundation for the emergence of a transnational practice of Islamic masculinity that appropriates the different local versions of being and becoming a man.