Safeguarding Islam’ in modern times: Politics, piety and Hefazat-e-Islami ‘ulama in Bangladesh

Within Muslim communities, the ‘ulama are considered the most crucial corporate social agency that drives the ideological and spiritual energy to the members of the society who find religious teachings necessary for their individual and social, if not always political, lives. However, when the ‘ulama of Bangladesh gathered under the umbrella platform of Hefazat-e-Islam (HI) in 2010, agitated by the numerous upheavals of the government’s policies (which they argued were contrary to the teachings of the Qur’ān and Sunna), scholars and members of the civil society often dubbed them as regressive, reactionary, and insensitive to modern changes. While anthropologists have challenged this dichotomy, this article aims to understand the HI ‘ulama’s views on modern changes and how the ‘ulama safeguard the traditional integrity in legal, educational, and gender aspects within the domain of the Bangladeshi state mechanism. Based on anthropological notions of tradition and piety, this article argues that the ‘ulama’s position on education, woman, and legal questions is neither monolithic nor static; rather there is always discussion, debate, and dynamism within the ‘ulama itself.