
Faithful Transformations
Islamic Self-Help in Contemporary Singapore
Nurhaizatul Jamil(Author)
University of Illinois Press
Published on 8. July 2025
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-0-252-04661-2 (ISBN)
Description
Malay Muslim women in Singapore cultivate piety by attending popular Islamic self-help classes. Nurhaizatul Jamil's ethnographic study offers an interdisciplinary analysis of this phenomenon. The Islamic self-help classes in this book exist at the nexus of sacred texts, aphorisms, and social media engagements, scaffolded by the neoliberal economy that shapes idealized Muslim subjectivities. Within a context whereby the Singapore state discursively frames Malayness in terms of cultural deficiency, Malay Muslim women's inward focus on transformative ethics rather than societal change underscores the appeal of gendered pious self-help discourses. At the same time, Jamil's referencing of Black, Indigenous, and Ethnic studies offers a compelling analytical frame that places affective transformation within the context of racial capitalism, historical trauma, and embodied healing.
A provocative and rich ethnography, Faithful Transformations tells the stories of Malay Muslim women desiring piety and self-improvement as minoritized subjects in contemporary Singapore while exploring the limitations of self-care.
A provocative and rich ethnography, Faithful Transformations tells the stories of Malay Muslim women desiring piety and self-improvement as minoritized subjects in contemporary Singapore while exploring the limitations of self-care.
More details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
New edition
Illustrations
1 chart
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-252-04661-2 (9780252046612)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Nurhaizatul Jamil is an assistant professor of global south studies at Pratt Institute.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction "Hope Is a Discipline"?: Introducing Islamic Self-Help
Whose Singapore Story?: Historicizing Malay-Muslim Subject-Formation
"God Tests Us with Hardship and Ease": Self-Help Pedagogies
Eat, Pray, Love?: Racializing Affective Self-Help
"Just Listen to Your Husband!": Gender, Religious Authority, Agency
Striving to Do Good Deeds Consistently: Everyday Islam, Discursive Traditions
Coda I'm Not Sure if I Still Want to Be a Feminist Killjoy: Thoughts on Self-Help, Ventral Vagal Regulation, and Collectivizing Care
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction "Hope Is a Discipline"?: Introducing Islamic Self-Help
Whose Singapore Story?: Historicizing Malay-Muslim Subject-Formation
"God Tests Us with Hardship and Ease": Self-Help Pedagogies
Eat, Pray, Love?: Racializing Affective Self-Help
"Just Listen to Your Husband!": Gender, Religious Authority, Agency
Striving to Do Good Deeds Consistently: Everyday Islam, Discursive Traditions
Coda I'm Not Sure if I Still Want to Be a Feminist Killjoy: Thoughts on Self-Help, Ventral Vagal Regulation, and Collectivizing Care
Notes
Bibliography
Index