Abstract
What are the possibilities of conceptualizing agency for religious actors beyond secular biases? This paper examines the tensions within secular conceptualizations of resistance, agency, and opposition by studying how religious practices and sociopolitical contexts are intertwined into the religious ethics of a persecuted religious community. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community self-identifies as Muslim but has been condemned by many global Muslim leaders as heretics. I analyze how this community responds to persecution and marginalization across sociopolitical contexts, and specifically how they oppose discourses and violence that delegitimize and harm the community through their practice of Islam. By evoking themselves as the “True Islam,” Ahmadis employ oppositional framing when engaging in “jihad by the pen,” as opposed to “jihad by the sword,” which they allege is practiced by “Other Muslims.” I argue that Ahmadi religious practices encompass an approach to peacebuilding based on their core religious ethics: the perseverance to continue practicing Islam as the way to oppose marginalizing discourses that delegitimize Ahmadis as Muslims. Ahmadiyya religious ethics guides community engagement with sociopolitical environments, and if scholars only study how Ahmadis respond to delegitimization without studying the underlying ethics, crucial elements of their intentionality are lost. Without actively analyzing the intentionality of actors, specifically their notions of morality and ethical action, I argue that studies of agency are incomplete. The intention to oppose claims of heresy for Ahmadis does not rely on repressive superordinate forms of power, but instead an interpretation of sacred obligation to Islam.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Religious Commonalities and Differences
KEYWORDS
Resistance, Agency, Religious Ethics, Intentionality, Islam, Persecution, Peacebuilding
