Pathans to the East! The Development of the Tablighi Jama'at Movement in Northern Malaysia and Southern Thailand

Transnationalism and the Transfer of the Ideas and Practices of the Tablighi Jama'at

This article looks at one particular form of South-to-South transfer and exchange, focusing on the transcultural transfer of religious knowledge, norms, and values between South and Southeast Asia via the medium of a global Muslim missionary network. Among the many transnational Islamist movements and trends that exist in the world today, the Tablighi Jama'at—described by Muhammad Khalid Masud as "a transnational Islamic movement for faith renewal"—stands out as the most well known, best organized, and most widely connected of all.¹

Much has already been written about the Tablighi Jama'at movement, particularly its distinctively South Asian character and appearance. The origins of the Tablighi go back to the Indian Deobandi movement that was started by Maulana Muhammad Qassim Nanotawi and Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi at the Deoband seminary in 1867. The Tablighi Jama'at was formed in the late 1920s (ca. 1927) by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalawi (d. 1944), whose family was closely linked to the Deobandi leadership and its sister school, the Mazahiru'l-Ulum in Saharanpur. Like the Deobandis, the Tablighis were conservative fundamentalists who were inspired by the reformists of the Wahhabi movement. Unlike the Deobandis, who were educationists, the Tablighis were missionary-activists who sought to transform Muslim society and bring Muslims back to the path of true Islam.

The movement spread over the world, from Europe to Asia, and was held together by its close internal linkages and networks. In time it penetrated into many guilds, business communities, and elite networks as well. In most cases, however, its members were ordinary Muslim males from the lower levels of society. The movement has always been able to attract such followers thanks to its emphasis on the egalitarian ethos of Islam. By the end of the twentieth century the regular congregation of Tablighis in Raiwind, Pakistan, and Tungi, Bangladesh, could attract several million followers, making it the second biggest gathering of Muslims after the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

In the decades that followed, the Tabligh spread its activities and expanded its networks as far as East Africa to the west and to Southeast and East Asia to the east. By the 1980s the movement had clearly established itself in the Muslim countries of Southeast Asia (Malaysia and Indonesia) and in the predominantly Muslim areas of countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore.²

Many of the early studies of the Tabligh in these countries identified it as part of the global resurgence of popular Islam that was sweeping the globe at the time. Scholars such as Judith Nagata and Chandra Muzaffar noted that the movement had grown particularly strong and visible in the urban areas of west-coast Malaysia and had attracted a significant following among the urban poor and (male) blue-collar workers of the cities.³

The unstated assumption then was that the Tablighi Jama'at was a primarily urban-based movement that was operating via networks of guilds, business networks, and in-city missionary activity. The spectacular success of the movement in recruiting a large number of urban followers was explained in terms of its ability to provide a sense of meaning and a comfort zone for working-class laborers who were suffering the alienating effects of rapid modernization and mass rural migration to the cities. The Tabligh was particularly effective in recruiting drug addicts, whom they claimed were "rehabilitated" after joining the movement.

Another important feature of the Tabligh movement is its apparently passive outlook and character. In both Malaysia and Indonesia, the movement was seen as quietist and passive in nature and was conspicuously absent from the political scene.⁴ This in part explains the appeal of the Tablighi Jama'at for urban Muslims in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia and accounts for the relative indifference of the governments of the countries concerned about the group.

Despite the Tablighi Jama'at's long-standing presence in Southeast Asia, comparatively little research has been done...