Taha Kazi – Religious Television and Pious Authority in Pakistan

Describe your book

In Pakistan, religious talk shows emerged as a novel genre of religious programming in 2002, following President Pervez Musharraf’s media liberalisation reforms. When the first religious talk show, Aalim Online, aired on Geo Television, people were intrigued by the prospect of being able to call in and pose their questions directly to a panel of religious scholars of varying doctrinal persuasions and educational backgrounds. Many practitioners also welcomed the restrained and, for most of the part, civilised interactions between these scholars, which was not the norm outside the context of the show where scholars from competing persuasions were generally at each other’s throats. My book analyses the implications of these programming developments for religious authority, sectarian politics, and everyday religious practice in Pakistan. I also examine the political relevance of these shows, given the strategic timing of their introduction, soon after 9/11, at a time when President Musharraf’s government was busy promoting an agenda religious moderation in the country and looking to garner broad support for Pakistan’s participation in the United States led “War on Terror.” The book is grounded in research conducted in a wide range of social and institutional settings in Karachi, including with religious producers and presenters, with religious scholars based in the city’s seminaries, and with members of the viewing and non-viewing public. Drawing on these multiple perspectives, the book offers a highly nuanced account of religious media movements, and includes a consideration of the complexity of the Muslim engagement with Islam and the ambivalent outcomes of these movements. An important argument that I pursue in the book, is the idea that religious media movements do not simply encourage greater religious conformance, but can equally provoke practitioners to engage more expediently with their faith and rethink religion’s privileged place in their lives. The distinct ideas of Muslim agency and self-reflexivity contained in the book, position it in contrast to scholarship on Islam, which has privileged a consideration of piety and Islamic tradition as essential features of Muslim lives.

Why did you decide to publish it with a university press?

University presses are ideally placed to allow meaningful scholarly engagement with your work earlier on in the publication process, through peer reviews. They are also better suited to promoting academic works, due to their established networks of academics, scholars, and universities. I opted for Indiana University Press because of its reputation for publishing important and meaningful works in my area of interest. 

What is the last thing you read not for research or work?

I recently read Ken Follett’s, The Pillars of the Earth, which is the first book in his Kingsbridge Series. The book is situated in 12th century England and revolves around the politics surrounding the building of a Gothic cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. It beautifully interweaves the historical events transpiring between the sinking of the White Ship and Thomas Becket’s murder and subsequent veneration as a saint, with the fictional lives of the clergy and inhabitants of Kingsbridge. The book’s attention to character development and its careful depiction of how the politics of the Anarchy in England, filtered into the personal fortunes of the town’s inhabitants, and shaped their lives, make it a fascinating read. 

What piece of advice might you give to young academics looking to follow in your footsteps?

I would advise young academics to set aside some time, while at university, for networking and developing associations with scholars and academics in their respective fields. These networks and associations will prove to be indispensable for academics hoping to pursue a serious career in academia. 

Taha Kazi earned a PhD in Social Anthropology from SOAS University of London. She is the author of Religious Television and Pious Authority in Pakistan (2021), published by Indiana University Press.