The Khōjā of Tanzania : discontinuities of a postcolonial religious identity / by Iqbal Akhtar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Akhtar, Iqbal, 1981- author.

Contributor:

Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Studies on religion in Africa ; v. 43.

Studies of religion in Africa ; v. 43

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Muslims.

Islam.

Colonial influence.

Shīʻah.

History.

Tanzania--Religious life and customs.

Tanzania.

Shīʻah--Tanzania--History.

Islam--Tanzania--Customs and practices.

Islam--Tanzania--Colonial influence.

Muslims--Tanzania.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2015.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

text file

Summary:

The Khoja of Tanzania, Discontinuities of a Postcolonial Religious Identity attempts to reconstruct the development of Khoja religious identity from their arrival to the Swahili coasts in the late 18th century until the turn of the 21st century. This multidisciplinary study incorporates Gujarati, Kacchi, Swahili, and Arabic sources to examine the formation of an Afro-Asian Islamic identity (jamati) from their initial indie caste identity (jñati) towards an emergent Near Eastern imaged Islamic nation (ummati) through four disciplinary approaches: historiography, politics, linguistic and ethnology. Over the past two centuries, rapid transition and discontinuities have produced the profound tensions which have resulted from the willful amnesia of their pre-Islamic Indie civilizational past for an ideological and political 'Islamic' present. This study aims to document, theorize, and engage this theological transformation of modern Khoja religious identities as expressed through dimensions of power, language, space and the body. Book jacket.

Contents:

Foreword; Acknowledgments; List of Figures; Introduction; The Khōjā: History and Importance; The Khōjā from the Perspective of Indian Ocean Studies; The Current Study: Methodology; A Note on Terminology; The Current Study: Overview; Chapters 1 and 2. The Genealogy and Migration of the Khōjā; Chapter 3. Religious Citizenship; Chapters 4 and 5. Quranic Gujarati, Epigraphy, and the Dōʻāʼōnō Majmūʼō; Chapter 6. Shrines; Chapter 7. The Veil; Conclusion; Part 1 Historiography; Chapter 1 Genealogy: The Origins of the Khōjā; Religious Origins; Migration and Diaspora; Schism.

From Indic Caste to Islamic NationhoodEsoteric versus Exoteric Readings of Khōjā Religion; Chapter 2 The African Khōjā: From the Colonial Period to the Present; The Colonial Period; The Postcolonial Period: African Independence; The Development of the Khōjā Community in Dar es Salaam; Khōjā Confederation from the Postwar Period to the Present; Khōjā Demographics in Modern-Day Africa; Part 2 Politics; Chapter 3 The Evolution of Khōjā Political Power: Religious Citizenship; Introduction; Khōjā Membership as Communal Citizenship; Conditions of Membership; The Center: Ethnicity and Gender.

The Periphery: Intermarriage and Half-CastesConstitutional Organization; Taxation; Social Welfare; Foreign Policy; Uganda: 1972 Asian Expulsion; Somalia: Operation Ghadeer; Conclusion; Part 3 Linguistics; Chapter 4 The Khōjā Language: Quranic Gujarati; Introduction; Background; Bōhrā Gujarati: A Move toward Persianized Urdu and Arabic; Ismā'il's Quranic Transliteration Scheme; Historical Background: Religious Texts for the Laity; Opposition and Legal Rulings; The Increasing Importance of Arabic Texts; Detailed Analysis: Consonants; Detailed Analysis: Vowels and Punctuation Marks.

Comparative Analysis: The Quran, Chapter 1, Verses 1-7Adoption; Indo-African Epigraphy: Seven Inscriptions; Inscription 1. An Early Entryway Inscription on the Khōjā Hujjatul Islam Masjid; Inscription 2. An Entryway Inscription on a Khōjā Caravanserai; Inscription 3. A Later Entryway Inscription on the Khōjā Hujjatu lIslam Masjid; Inscription 4. An Entryway Inscription on the Āgākhānī Khōjā Poor Women's Home; Inscription 6. A Façade Inscription on a Khōjā Widows' Home (Vidhvāśram); Inscription 7. A Memorial Entryway Inscription on a Kuwwatul Islam Imāmvāḍō; Polyglotism; Conclusion.

Part 4 EthnologyChapter 6 Ritual Space: Khōjā Shrines; Introduction; The Mēhphīl as a Sacred Space; Material Culture, Worship, and Fellowship in Shrines; Material Culture; Worship: The Khōjā Majlis; Communal Fellowship: The Caste Feast; Other Ritual Spaces: Taboos; The Story of a Shrine: Mēhphīlē Abbās; Sacrality; Conferring Sacrality: Historical Rituals and Modern Renovation; Permanent and Temporary Sacrality; Shifts in Sacrality; Performing Sacrality; The Proliferation of Shrines; Conclusion; Chapter 7 The Body: The Khōjā Adoption of the Veil; Introduction.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

Other Format:

Print version: Akhtar, Iqbal, 1981- Khōjā of Tanzania.

ISBN:

9789004292888

9004292888

OCLC:

932383776

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.