Soteriological journeys and discourses of self-transformation: the Tablighi Jamaat and Svadhyaya in Gujarat

Abstract

This chapter explores the dynamics of the local/global networks in two religious movements – Svadhyaya and Tablighi Jamaat – using ethnographic accounts from Gujarat. The movements' theology of reform is based on the claim that to change one's moral and spiritual status one needs to change the world around and vice versa. The volunteers periodically embark on self-transformative religious journeys to approach their co-religionists with their message. The chapter dwells on how the soteriological questions are posed in the movements and the method of religious journeying that acts as a double-edged process of self-transformation and organizational expansion. Locating the movements within the discursive field of secularism in the Indian context, I will problematize the concept of ‘apolitical’ movements, arguing that whether a movement is political or apolitical is not necessarily a question of choice that religious groups make but they acquire political significance under certain circumstances. The ethnography of the movements in Gujarat spanning almost a decade (2000--2009) will help us to appreciate the internal theological questions that lead to the formation of new religious communities, religious networks and the relation of these movements with the wider political context.