Chapter 9
A Case Study of Pakistani Diaspora in Canada
In: Dynamics of Islam in the Modern WorldSearch for other papers by Syed FurrukhZad in
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Abstract
In his seminal study Islam in South Asia, Jamal Malik contends that studies on Islam and Muslims should be done in the light of articulations of specific social and cultural realities. This is because the context and content of mundane ordinary life are overlooked by primarily focusing on theological reflections, prescribed normativity and institutionalized religion. Everyday life experiences of believers allow for a wider interpretation of religions, as lived and situated within specific contexts. This argument is anchored in the concept of “lived religion” (la religion vécue) derived from the French sociology of religion. It provides an ethnographic framework for comprehending the everyday practices, attitudes and experiences of social agents, who as narrators and interpreters of their own personal spiritual experiences and religious practices are more valuable than theological texts, rituals and institutions. Their experiences, practices and interpretations hold lived meaning and thus serve as insightful sources for textual analysis. They enact religion in specific local contexts to reveal what it means to be religious on an individual level rather than on the social level. This study examines dimensions of Pakistani Muslim diaspora religiosity to explain what tactical mechanisms of negotiation they adopt to (re)live Islam in Canada’s multicultural society.