Islam on the Move

SHORTLISTED for the ICAS Book Prize 2013 http://www.icassecretariat.org/icas-book-prize-2013-shortlists Much nuance and variability have been lost in the process of the reductivist analysis of Islam post 9/11 and, as this study amply demonstrates, we are all the poorer as a result. This exhaustive examination of the rise and spread of the Tablighi Jama’t, arguably the world’s largest Islamic missionary movement, locates it in the larger perspective of global Islam and developments in the Muslim societies. Combining an overview of the history and current socio-political perception of the Tablighi Jama'at with a more analytical and philosophical approach to fundamental questions of identity, subject-positioning and representation, the author creates a comprehensive resource of interest to all scholars and students of Islam. Drawing on exhaustive research and records of conversion narratives of the new members of Tablighi Jama’at, cited here at length, the author creates a unique perspective on this complex phenomenon from both an internal and external viewpoints. Ahmad-Noor locates the spiritual framework of the movement in the context of its perception in the eyes of the political and religious authorities of the countries where it has a following, as well as the Western ‘securocrat’ approach.

"This is an excellent, original study of an important transnational Islamic movement, based on a long-term acquaintance with the movement and a considerable period of participating observation in Indonesia, Malaysia and South Thailand. The existing authoritative literature on the Tablighi Jama’at is rather limited: besides the standard work by M. Khalid Masud, the major contributions were made by Barbara Metcalf, Dietrich Reetz, and Yoginder Sikand, whose work focuses on the Tabligh in South Asia. There is now a rapidly growing literature on the Tabligh in other parts in the world, but this study by Farish Noor stands out as unique in its scope and depth. No one else has ever carried out extensive fieldwork and been able to study the movement from within as he does in this book. For this reason, this study represents a major step ahead in our understanding of the Tabligh." -- Martin van Bruinessen, Chair for the Comparative Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies, Utrecht University "Farish Ahmad Noor is an extraordinary thinker: cosmopolitan, Asian, Muslim, humanist, truth-teller. Here we get him at his best, looking at the rise and spread of one of the most important missionary Muslim organizations, the Tablighis. Highly recommended!" -- Omid Safi, Professor of religious studies and Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "This is a truly impressive piece of work that will appeal to a wide audience and will be the definitive work on this complicated subject for a very long time." -- Abdullah Drury, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Farish A. Noor is Professor of Southeast Asian History at the Faculty of Arts, University Malaya.