dr se á n mcloughlin theology & religious studies university of leeds
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Islamic Pilgrimage, Globalising Modernity & Diaspora:British-Pakistani Experiences of
Hajj, ‘Umra & Ziyarat
Dr Seán McLoughlinTheology & Religious StudiesUniversity of Leeds
‘Pilgrimage in Pluralist Europe Today’ University of Antwerp19-20 May 2011
Overview
Transforming Pilgrimage: – Tradition & Migration, Identity & Consumer Culture
The Sacred and the Profane: – Normative & Improvised Authenticities of ‘Being There’
Multiple Locations, Competing Imaginaries: – Class & Race, Puritanism & Devotionalism
Remembering the Sacred: – Souvenirs & Memories, Perfected & Pragmatic Religiosities
1) Introduction
About 25k British-Muslims go to Makkah for Hajj each year
This study:– Research Assistant an experienced pilgrimage tour leader– 18 in-depth semi-structured interviews
Respondents:– ‘British-Pakistanis’ in Lancashire, north of England – From ‘Azad’ Kashmir – dominant ethnic group of UK Muslims– Newly urbanised, first generation often farming background – Highly devotional Sunni Sufi heritage
1) Introduction
Travel & the Islamicate imagination– Negotiating similarity & difference with Muslim others– Both cosmopolitan interactions & consciousness of locality (Eickelman & Piscatori
1990)
Global modernity enables world religions– Ideological coherence of ‘High’ Islam; revival & reform more central in Islamic
discourse (Gellner 1992, Asad 1986)
But glocal complexities of competing traditions– Islam is polycentric; Holy Places not immune from wider trends– Muslims & new public spheres: electronic capitalism, everyday consumerism,
hybridity, self-identity (Turner 1994).
2) Transforming Pilgrimage
2) Transforming Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage to Makkah-Madinah Before Migration:– Expectation for the very few, yet remoteness intensified sacrality of a ‘home’
pivotal to the Sufi religious imagination– Longing yet feeling unworthy; closeness of interior journeys
Pilgrimage to Makkah-Madinah After Migration:– Who should go, when and for what purpose? – ‘Fate’, ‘duty’ & competing ‘responsibilities’ still key tropes. – But more immediate, affordable, democratised, chosen.– Shifting religiosities. Much pragmatism about expected piety but also revivalism
& young people’s journeys of self-identity.– De/remythologising with Islamic consumer cultures. DIY & limits.
3) The Sacred and the Profane
3) The Sacred and the Profane
Ihram, separation & intensified God-consciousness– Foreshadows end of time; journey from sin to purity
Rituals remember trials of Adam, Ibrahim, Muhammad– ‘Being there’, ka’ba, & returning to monotheistic beginnings
Oceanic feelings & personal mediations/ improvisations– Popular culture simulates authenticity vs modernisation
Sacrifice, patience & suffering– Danger, failure, getting it wrong, giving up
4) Multiple Locations, Competing Imaginaries
4) Multiple Locations, Competing Imaginaries
Reflexive cosmopolitanism & difference cheek by jowl – Cross-cultural encounters & emotional bonding – Commitment of poor Pakistani pilgrims vs British privilege– Discourse about danger of certain pilgrim groups stampeding /
stealing – Concern about the ‘separatism’ / ‘racism’ of others.
Theological utopias/dystopias juxtaposed– Value of ziyarah for Kashmiri Sufis – Prophet living intercessor– Sectarian outbursts understood to transgress adab– But also attempts to discipline ‘incorrect’ practice– Affirming freedoms of the UK & subversive devotional acts
5) Remembering the Sacred
5) Remembering the Sacred
Souvenirs: – Transferring blessings & gift-giving: zamzam, dates & mass produced
scarves, beads, mats & secular items from Dubai!– Trigger memories / senses & reconnecting to ‘paradise’
Fractured Efficacy: – Permanent renewal? Source of strength; struggles to reintegrate– Multiplied number of hajjis but few cut off from dunya; fading efficacy,
mixed motives, spirituality in fits & starts; rarely displaces attachments to a UK home! Can ‘top up’ / return.
– Yet one important reference point in a diasporic triad comprising a network of different ‘homes’ / ‘homing desires’.
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