'Reviving religion': The Qadiri Sufi order, popular devotion to Sufi Saint Muh&dotbelow;yiuddin `Abdul Qadir al-Gilani, and processes of 'Islamization' in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka

Through a multi-faceted research strategy incorporating ethnographic, literary, and historical exploration, the dissertation documents living and literary Qadiri traditions and popular traditions of devotion to Sufi saint Muh&dotbelow;yiuddin `Abdul Qadir al-Gilani in the Tamil-speaking region of South Asia. Part I, the ethnographic portion of the dissertation, describes the special characteristics and annual `urs (saint's death anniversary) celebrations at four regional shrine-like sites devoted to the saint, and presents an indepth description of Qadiri traditions in the Tamil Nadu coastal maraikkayar (Arab-settled) town of Kayalpat&dotbelow;t&dotbelow;an&dotbelow;am. Part II presents profiles of important Kayalpat&dotbelow;t&dotbelow;an&dotbelow;am Qadiriyyat from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, as well as Qadiri literary traditions of devotion to Saint Muh&dotbelow;yiuddin. Part III, "Analyzing Islamization", first highlights the theoretical contributions of Catherine Bell on ritual theory and Paul Connerton on social memory, in an attempt to shed new light on the relationship of ritual practice to historical processes of Islamization. Research findings suggest that commemorative ceremonies, bodily habit, and ritual creativity have played critical roles in "Islamizing" processes. Next, the important role of Tamil Qadiri literary traditions in the Islamization of the Tamil region is analyzed with reference to other South Asian regions. Evidence suggests that Qadiri scholars engaged whole-heartedly in well-established Tamil literary traditions, emulating and adapting extant literary works and genres to fit their own devotional and didactic agendas. Lives of the Kayalpat&dotbelow;t&dotbelow;an&dotbelow;am Qadiri community leaders suggest that basic Islamic scholarship and educational efforts---integrated with a Qadiri Sufi worldview---and an emphasis on Islamic reform, especially reform agendas directed toward Muslim women, preoccupied Qadiri scholars from at least the seventeenth century. Interest in "conversion" of non-Muslims is only faintly discernible in our sources. Finally, a critique of Susan Bayly's 1989 Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society 1700--1900 suggests that scholar's pioneering study of conversion to Islam in Tamil Nadu presents a valuable, but incomplete explanation of "Islamization" in the region.