Between Immanence and Transcendence: An Ethnographic Study of the Ba 'Alawi and Tariqa 'Alawiyyah in 21st Century Global Singapore

Abstract

Retaining rootedness through traditions to the transcendental lies in direct tension to the Western modernization impulse which seeks to uproot, to ‘liquefy’ (a la Bauman), or to ‘de-traditionalize’ (a la McGuigan) societies and their peoples. As opposed to the Western civilization that modernized over a period of centuries, Singapore went through a highly accelerated and recent process of modernization. This thesis seeks to analyze the implications of the city-state’s rapid modernization on traditionalist religious experience through an ethnographic study of the tariqa ‘Alawiyyah. The tariqa is the Sufi Way of the Ba ‘Alawi, a Hadrami Arab clan of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad that form a diaspora group spread around the Indian Ocean. Research was conducted by means of participant observation at Islamic classes, rituals, and gatherings that revolve around the tariqa ‘Alawiyyah. The subjects of this thesis are mainly Muslims youths that attend such gatherings, majority of whom are belong to the Ba ‘Alawi. I argue that keeping rooted to the traditionalistic Sufi Way of the Ba ‘Alawi is experienced to be a challenging endeavor in contemporary Singapore that has grown to be the most globalized, modern, and secular country that the Ba ‘Alawi have settled in.