Popular Islam

The current wave of religiously motivated protest movements throughout the Islamic world has frequently been associated with popular Islam. This concept of a popular, as opposed to an official, practice has deep roots, however, extending back to the formative period of the Muslim tradition. Classically, the emergence of a clerical elite defined in terms of their functions in the fields of law, education, and administration as well as religion coincided with the rise of a parallel folk piety inspired by Sufism which adapted Islam to local circumstances. The sweeping changes of the last two centuries have undermined many of the old religious institutions belonging to both these spheres. But the overall structures of social relations have largely remained within the context of the nationstate. With few and short-lived exceptions, rural peasants and urban masses who continue to regard Islam as the primary basis for their identity have not responded positively to the summons of the current revival. On the other hand, Islamicists, despite divisions among themselves, have established their importance. Popular Islam persists therefore as a vital concept pointing in two directions.