Paper short abstract:

The interlinkage between re-Islamization and the emotional expressions and norms that appears in the narratives of young "born-again Muslims" from Bangalore and Lahore shows that emotions said to be felt and to have to be felt partake in the political delimitation of a "Muslim community".

Paper long abstract:

The ethical and political dimensions of re-Islamization amongst the Muslim youth is fairly well studied (though marginally in South Asia). This process certainly results in the formation of a new "virtuous self" as well as in new forms of activism in the name of Islam. Yet, the emotions at play are still to be taken as valid entry points in the analysis, something this paper aims at doing by looking at the emotional vocabulary which, indeed, occupied a prominent place in the self-reflective narratives of young "born again Muslims" interviewed in Lahore and Bangalore (2006-2011). Which emotions do they associate with self-reform? Do triggering emotions differ from emotions that consolidate re-Islamization? How do they link religious emotions to political activism? These narratives show in addition that emotions are also subjected to new appraisals; suggesting the formation of a new emotional regime. Young "born-again Muslims" wonder about how God is to be loved and feared, about the legitimacy of anger, about the public expression of religious emotions, and about the "emotional work" of their own organizations. This complex interlinkage between re-Islamization, emotional expressions and emotional norms is addressed through an interpretive and a comparative perspective which focuses not on the actual feelings of the respondents but on the emotions said to be felt and to have to be felt. These, in our view, partake in the political delimitation of a "Muslim community" as much as the more obvious dynamics - ritualism and activism - provoking these very emotions do.