The making of an Islamist public sphere in Bangladesh
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2057891118811952 |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Author | Md Mizanur Rahman |
| Subject Matter | Research articles |
Research article
The making of an Islamist
public sphere in Bangladesh
Md Mizanur Rahman
Department of Politics and Government, Illinois State University, USA
Abstract
The article examines the process of makingan Islamist publicsphere in Bangladesh and identifies the
actors involved. It argues that Islamist social Islamization movements in the form of various da’wa
(preaching) activities, madrassah activisms, and Islamist political parties’ Islamization projects col-
lectively contribute to the making of an Islamist public sphere. It shows how da’wa movements’
everyday living experiences, madrassah’s absolute authority over public Islam, and Islamist political
parties’ social welfare, and associated activities construct an Islamist imagination. A parallel counter
Islamist discursive arena with secular discourse is in construction and circulation that formulates
oppositionalinterpretations based on Islamistidentities, interests, and needs.The article argues that
instead of explicitly challengingthe secular hegemonic discourse, Islamist socialmovements engage in
a contested relationship with it, and gradually claim their separate position. It further maintains that
although these Islamist movements differ ideologically, and vary the ways they perform and pro-
pagate Islam, they invariably contribute to the rise of an Islamist public sphere in Bangladesh.
Keywords
Bangladesh, Islamist parties, madrassahs, public sphere, Tabligh Jamaat
Introduction
In Muslim majority countries, a new sense of public is emerging that is shaped by the authoritative
use of a symbolic language of Islam. Traditional Islamic institutions, Islamist parties, Islamist
preaching groups, and other Islamist social organizations have become the flagbearers of this new
Islamist public sphere. The mainstream media and the unprecedented proliferation of the internet
and social media space have added a new dimension to the Islamist public sphere in recent years.
This emergence of an Islamist public sphere has unfolded various avenues of debate in contem-
porary Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country of South Asia. However, the rise of Islam in the
Corresponding author:
Md Mizanur Rahman, Department of Politics and Government, Illinois State University, 214 S Linden St apt 1, Normal,
Illinois 61761, USA.
Email: mrahma3@ilstu.edu
Asian Journal of Comparative Politics
2019, Vol. 4(4) 330–351
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/2057891118811952
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public sphere of Bangladesh has remained an unexplored area of research. The extant research
demonstrates substantial evidence that the role of Islam in Bangladesh’s public sphere has
increased dramatically in recent decades. Riaz’s research grounded on prevailing data confirms
that there is palpable support for a public role of Islam in Bangladesh, which has grown in the past
decades, and that society has gradually moved towards providing more space to a religiously
informed sphere (Riaz, 2017). He elsewhere reveals the Islamization of the public sphere in the
country with the emergence of Islamist fiction and the activism of women’s discussion groups
(Riaz, 2013). Similarly, Huq (2003) demonstrates how Islamic literature shapes a new public
imagination in Bangladesh, and Huq and Rashid show how women da’wa (preaching) movements
have become an Islamist tool for entering into public space in Bangladesh (Huq, 2014; Huq and
Rashid, 2008).
However, the existing literature seldom deals with which actors are involved and how they
contribute to the making of an Islamist public sphere in contemporary Bangladesh. The present
article attempts to explore this. I argue that various da’wa movements, madrassah activism, and
social Islamization projects of Islamist political parties contribute to the making of an Islamist
public sphere in Bangladesh. I demonstrate how da’wa groups’ distinct self-identification that
mediates into other aspects of life, madrassah’s absolute authority over social Islam and their
activism, and Islamist politic al parties’ social and welfare activities combinedly constr uct an
Islamist imagination, and gradually claim a position in an otherwise secular public sphere in the
country. Instead of rejecting the secu lar hegemonic discourse overtly, they ra ther construct a
parallel counter Islamist discursive arena with secular discourse through oppositional interpreta-
tions predilecting on Islamist identities, interests, and needs. Although ideologically and in terms
of practices these movements differ, they unvaryingly contribute to the construction of an Islamist
public sphere in Bangladesh.
Before starting the discussion of the making of an Islamist public sphere, two relevant concerns
need to be clarified. First, when I mention the secular public sphere, I do not mean the French
version of secularism.
1
Bangladeshi secularism
2
is the co-existence of all religions, and the state is
“secular” to safeguard the uninterrupted practices of all of these religions and cultures. In Bangla-
desh, religion has been always a part of the public sphere, blended with ethno-linguistic Bengali
traditions and cultures. Asim Roy and others argue that unlike Islam in the Middle East, Islam in
Bengal has been marked by syncretic practices which have converged with and assimilated various
longstanding cultural affinities grounded in Sufi traditions (Roy, 1984; Uddin, 2006), which Eaton
(1993) identifies as “creative adaptation.” By the secular public sphere I mean these syncretic
practices in the public sphere where Islam has been so finely woven into the Bengali fabric that it is
almost impossible to determine whether a thread has come from local traditional practices or from
Islamic beliefs and practices. Instead of establishing a separate Islamic identity, a unique Bengali
Muslim identity emerged in the public sphere where Muslims and Hindus could venerate common
deities and holy men (pirs) and pay tributes to the same shrines (Mazars) (Anisuzzaman, 2002).
The ideas and practices of Yoga, Tantric, and Natha cults all gained popularity and peacefully
coexisted with mainstream Islamic practices.
However, it is also worth mentioning but seldom acknowledged in mainstream scholarship that
a conservative version of Islamic practices has also existed in Bengal. It was primarily led by the
Faraizi movement of Haji Shariatullah. It was heavily influenced by the early Wahabi movement
of North India, imported to South Asia by Shah Waliullah and others, and carried to and prolif-
erated in Bengal by Karamat Ali Jaunpuri (Ahmed, 1983). Shariatullah championed radicalized
Islam, breaking up the linkage with the traditional practices of religion in the region impacted by
Rahman 331
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