Description
Book SynopsisHearing Allah's Call changes the way we think about Islamic communication. In the city of Bandung in Indonesia, sermons are not reserved for mosques and sites for Friday prayers. Muslim speakers are in demand for all kinds of events, from rites of passage to motivational speeches for companies and other organizations. Julian Millie spent fourteen months sitting among listeners at such events, and he provides detailed contextual description of the everyday realities of Muslim listening as well as preaching. In describing the venues, the audience, and preachersmany of whom are womenhe reveals tensions between entertainment and traditional expressions of faith and moral rectitude.
The sermonizers use in-jokes, double entendres, and mimicry in their expositions, playing on their audiences' emotions, triggering reactions from critics who accuse them of neglecting listeners' intellects. Millie focused specifically on the listening routines that enliven everyday life for Musl
Trade Review
A richly-textured and critically insightful ethnography of Islamic preaching in contemporary Indonesia.... [The book succeeds in] stimulating critical reflections on modes of cultural production and religious communication that are potentially important for scholars working on contemporary Muslim societies well beyond the borders of Indonesia.
* Reading Religion *
Offers much more than a thorough analysis of Islamic preaching, as it provides inspiring reflections on today's emerging Muslim publics that a readership interested in the development of Islamic societies generally will find highly relevant.
* Anthropological Forum *
Hearing Allah's Call is certainly an original, inspiring, and thought-provoking book and an important contribution to the study of Indonesia and the anthropology of Islam. It deserves a wide readership.
* Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia *
Currently, the nation with the most Muslims in the world is Indonesia, but it has drawn far less attention from scholars of Islam than it merits. Julian Millie's fascinating study of popular preaching is an invaluable contribution to this overlooked field.
* The Journal of Religion *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Note on Transcription
Introduction
1. Preaching Diversity in Bandung
2. The Unique Voice... and Its Travails
3. Preaching "without Performing"
4. The Languages of Preaching in the Islamic Public Sphere
5. The Listening Audience Laughs and Cries, the Writing Public Thinks
6. A Feminized Domain
7. Public Contest and the Pragmatics of Performance
8. Standing Up for Listening
Conclusion
Appendixes
A. Wedding Sermon by Al-Jauhari
B. Sunday Study Sermon by Shiddiq Amien
C. Translation of Excerpt of Sermon by A. F. Ghazali
Notes
Works Cited
Index
