Sincere religious emotion must arise from inner feeling, not public performance

Evidence

I cannot stand to go to these mosques anymore for Friday prayers because I fi it offensive that so many people start to sob when the time for supplication [duea] comes. I am not saying that these women are not moved by real love for God. How can I say that ? It is only He who knows what is in the heart. But I know from talking to many of these people that when they cry in prayer they do not really feel it fr within; they do it because they think they will gain merits [l) with God. Or they think that “Oh, Abu Bakr [the fi caliph and Muhammed’s close Companion] did this, so should 1.” Where is sincerity of intent [ikhlz4 al.. niyya] here? You should cry not because you want recompense from God, or you want to follow the Companions blindly without thinking. You should cry for God because you really feel inside you what Abu Bakr felt, and cannot prevent yourself fr crying, whether you are alone or in public. And I am telling you, it never happens to me when I am in the company of others. — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1019

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Amna’s critique of ritual-as-merit, which mirrors Protestant critiques of Catholic ritualism — echoes Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic discussion and themes in Hindu-Muslim reform debates where inner bhakti/niyya is privileged over public rite. Also resonates with the author’s claim that outward forms are means of acquiring religiosity, which parallels the ‘complaints about immodesty’ moral-panic frame where outward conduct is inseparable from inner virtue.