Becoming ‘Good Muslim’

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction

   • Bulbul Siddiqi

   Pages 1-10

3. Accessing the Tablighi Jamaat

   • Bulbul Siddiqi

   Pages 11-27

4. Bangladesh

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 29-29

      PDF

   2. Islamic Reforms in Bangladesh

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 31-47

   3. Undertaking a Chilla: Becoming a Tablighi Follower

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 49-60

   4. Spiritual Journey Within the Tablighi Jamaat

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 61-76

   5. Bishwa Ijtema as a New Form of Islamic Pilgrimage

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 77-100

   6. Reconfiguring Gender Relations

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 101-115

5. UK

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117

      PDF

   2. Tablighi Jamaat in the UK

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 119-128

   3. Weekly Gasht: The Backbone of Tablighi Dawah

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 129-134

   4. The Implications of the Tablighi Jamaat in the UK

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 135-148

   5. Searching for a Global Identity

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 149-165

   6. Conclusion

      • Bulbul Siddiqi

      Pages 167-172

6. Back Matter

   Pages 173-178

   PDF

The book uses an ethnographic approach to explore why the Tablighi Jamaat movement remains so successful in contemporary times. It shows that this success results from the positive image that it cultivates, and the systematic preaching activities of Tablighi Jamaat followers, and that the organisation’s apolitical image, the public profile of the ijtema, the humbleness of Tablighi followers, and the attraction of belonging to the global Tablighi community all help to create a positive image of the Tablighi Jamaat among ordinary Muslims. The book also argues that the Tablighi Jamaat remains successful because of its ability to hold its followers within a Tablighi-guided life, which is perceived as protection against the Western lifestyle. Many elements of contemporary Western lifestyle are considered non-Islamic, and so by clearly defining what is Islamic and non-Islamic in modern society, the Tablighi Jamaat provides a way in which Muslims can live in the contemporary world, but remaingood Muslims.

• Tablighi Jamaat
• Anthropology of Religion
• Muslims in the Contemporary World
• Ethnography
• Piety Movement
• Tablighi-guided Life
• Dawah
• Propagation

• Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  Bulbul Siddiqi

​Bulbul Siddiqi is an anthropologist, specialising in the Islamic movement in South Asia and the UK, citizenship and identities, development and public health. After undergraduate and graduate studies in anthropology in Bangladesh, he completed his MA in Global Citizenship, Identities and Human Rights at the University of Nottingham in 2007 and his PhD in Anthropology of Religion at Cardiff University in 2014 researching the Tablighi Jamaat in the UK and Bangladesh.  His ethnographic fieldwork has included several research trips to Bangladesh and the UK. He is now working as an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Sociology at North South University, Bangladesh.

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