Healers as Informal Religious Leaders

Abstract

It is largely agreed that formal Islamic leadership centres on the calim who function as experts of the sharica. It is similarly accepted that informal expressions of Islamic faith are extremely common Ð but there is less agreement regarding the functional roles performed by those who lead these informal expressions of faith. It is suggested that there are three such (distinct but overlapping) roles, one of which is examined here. The three roles are, broadly speaking, the provision of healing, the oversight of major festivals, and the storage of core religious knowledge. Leaders of these groups collectively provide leadership that is intrinsically religious in nature. As leadership is ceded to them, they in return help those around them re-create a sense of faithcentred corporate identity. The following briefly looks at how healers operate as informal leaders who help to shape Islamic faith in rural Bangladesh.