The Politics of Dreams: Religious Imagination and the Making of Political Communities in South Asia

Abstract

A dream is the most personal aspect of a being which cannot be seen, measured, or verified. This paper examines the process of a personal, unprovable dream becoming part of the public sphere. The question this paper addresses is: How does the dream, as a socially constructed legitimation narrative in religion, influence the nature of political legitimation and authority? This paper adopts religious constructivist theory. It suggests that dreams are not observed but can be given political relevance. They become politically meaningful through socially and religiously constructed meanings. This study employs qualitative methodology, using primary sources of hadith literature, books of Islamic History, historical texts on the Deobandi andtraditions, social media lectures, speeches, Durus, and anthropological literature on Islamic dreams. This article analyzes three case studies that shape multiple Islamic Identities in modern South Asia: dreams in the Sufi tradition and the making of Deoband (Making of Deoband Madrassa); dreams and Barelwi Politics in Pakistan; and Mullah Omar and the beginning of the Taliban, all grounded in religious dreams. In these cases, political authority grows out of shared belief rather than force alone. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on religious authority and religious dreams.