Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T09:43:23.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Seeking Security

Shi‘a ‘Ulama and State Formation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2020

Mashal Saif
Affiliation:
Clemson University, South Carolina
Get access

Summary

This chapter offers a theoretical analysis of Shi‘a ‘ulama’s conceptions of and engagements with their state in the midst of sectarian violence. My close study of Shi‘a religious journals and fieldwork among the ‘ulama highlights that many clerics view the state as culpable for Shi‘a deaths, not simply despite the state’s claim to an Islamic identity, but in some instances, because of Pakistan’s Sunni Islamic leanings. The chapter then interrogates why the very ‘ulama who critique the state for its complicity in Shi‘a deaths also appeal to the state for protection. By way of answer, I argue that when viewing the state as a configuration of institutions whose negative effects they experience, the ‘ulama rebuke the state for its complicity in anti-Shi‘a violence. However, when viewing the state as an idea, fantasy or image, the ‘ulama understand it as a legitimate authoritative body transcending society and providing security. Drawing on philosophical and anthropological works on the state, I explain that the ‘ulama’s appeals for protection help constitute the state by reproducing the effect of the state idea or fantasy through discourses and bodily practices. I argue that the approach to the state adopted by this chapter can be fruitfully applied to study state–‘ulama relations across the Muslim world.

Type
Chapter
Information
The 'Ulama in Contemporary Pakistan
Contesting and Cultivating an Islamic Republic
, pp. 186 - 235
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Seeking Security
  • Mashal Saif, Clemson University, South Carolina
  • Book: The <I>'Ulama</I> in Contemporary Pakistan
  • Online publication: 20 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108885034.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Seeking Security
  • Mashal Saif, Clemson University, South Carolina
  • Book: The <I>'Ulama</I> in Contemporary Pakistan
  • Online publication: 20 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108885034.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Seeking Security
  • Mashal Saif, Clemson University, South Carolina
  • Book: The <I>'Ulama</I> in Contemporary Pakistan
  • Online publication: 20 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108885034.005
Available formats
×