From 'rational' to 'Sufi Islam'?: The changing place of Muslims in Tamil nationalism
While studying for my MA, I spent a year at the Department of Anthropology at Pondicherry University. Among other tasks, my local guide had given me the assignment to study a particular Muslim shrine in a predominantly Muslim town some 50 kilometers south of Pondicherry. Before leaving India, I had...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Chapter/Article |
| Language: | English |
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2016
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| In: |
Islam, Sufism and everyday politics of belonging in South Asia
Year: 2016, Pages: 196-211 |
| Online Access: | Aggregator, Volltext: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315693316-14/rational-sufi-islam-torsten-tschacher
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| Author Notes: | Torsten Tschacher |
| Summary: | While studying for my MA, I spent a year at the Department of Anthropology at Pondicherry University. Among other tasks, my local guide had given me the assignment to study a particular Muslim shrine in a predominantly Muslim town some 50 kilometers south of Pondicherry. Before leaving India, I had to visit the registration office to inform local officials that my exchange had come to an end and I would be returning to my home country soon. I was treated to tea and some snacks as I was politely questioned about the activities I had engaged in during my exchange by the same official who had registered my arrival 12 months earlier. I mentioned the assignment at the dargāh, and was innocuously asked what I had learned from this assignment. Seeing where this was going, I told of the astonishing harmony between Hindus, Muslims and Christians visiting the shrine and the shared culture of worship I supposedly encountered. The face of the official registered friendly satisfaction with my answer, a satisfaction that I believe derived as much from my glorification of Indian ‘unity in diversity’ as from the fact that I had understood what the politically correct answer had been that I was supposed to give. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 27.10.2023 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISBN: | 9781138910683 |