Covid-19, social stigma and changing religious practice in Tablighi Jamaat communities in Lombok, Indonesia

The emergence of Covid-19 has presented serious challenges to people's lives, and as a result many are in the process of reconstructing aspects of what used to be considered ‘normal’ life. In Indonesia, religious practice in 2020 experienced a kind of disempowerment and disruption in the areas of ritual and proselytization in Muslim communities. Religious people have been challenged to find ways to reconstruct their ritual and worship practices in safe ways that avoid spreading the virus. This article discusses the changes to religious practice and the ability to adapt to new forms of proselytization in Tablighi Jamaat environments where many followers have been infected with Covid-19. In particular, the article aims to explore how Tablighi Jamaat members interpret and define the Covid-19 pandemic, and what discourses have developed in their environments. Research for this article was conducted in Lombok, Indonesia from February till September 2020 and is based on observations and snowball-sampling interviews conducted online and offline with over 50 individuals. When the Indonesian government locked down mosques and large meetings, the Tablighi Jamaat took a position that Covid-19 was not a serious danger—indeed they saw it as an anti-Islamic conspiracy, instead—and they continued to gather and preach as before. This led to a disease cluster from a Tablighi event in Gowa, South Sulawesi, causing a stigma in broader society toward the Tablighi practice of Islam.