Of Passport and Politics: Faith and Politics Among the ‘Neo-Salafis’ of South India

Abstract

There is a major assumption regarding the politics of the neo-Salafis in South India (especially in Kerala) widely shared in the political, media and academic circles; their everyday life and religiosity do not provide a conscious address to things such as state and politics and they are confined to the social and religious sphere rather than the political one . The recurring question in this study is, therefore, how to make sense of the political expressions of a group, which apparently shows no direct inclination towards the ‘mainstream’ politics. This study also tries to address the ambiguity about the role of Salafi ideology in everyday conduct of politics among the neo-Salafis. What is the position of Salafism in the scheme of political thinking and how it relates to the political imagination of neo-Salafis, are examined taking cues from the experience of some of the neo-Salafist groups, which keep a strong open disbelief in the secular polity.