(Re)Turning to Proper Muslim Practice: Islamic Moral Renewal and Women's Conflicting Assertions of Sunni Identity in Urban Mali

Abstract

This article explores competing discourses and understand ings of proper Muslim practice as they are reflected in contro versies among female supporters of Islamic moral renewal, and between them and Muslims who do not consider them selves part of the movement. Supporters of Islamic moral renewal highlight the primacy of deeds, such as proper behav ior and correct ritual performance, as ways to validate their newly adopted religious identity. Their emphasis on proper action, and their dismissal of talking about religiosity, stand in tension with their own tendency to construct elaborate narratives about their decision to embrace what they con sider a more authentic form of Islam. The importance they attribute to the embodied performance of virtue leaves many supporters of Islamic renewal in a double bind: despite their claim to unity, their conception of the relationship between individual ethics and the common good, combined with the tendency among supporters of Islamic moral renewal to set themselves apart from other Muslims, reinforces trends of differentiation among Muslims who aspire to a new- moral community.