The Commodification of Religious Identity: Economic Exploitation in Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18303686

Abstract

This study explores the religious identity commodification and economic exploitation in Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil (2008), with the aim of analysing how religious leaders, jihadis, and religious institutions are presented with the pursuit of material gain taking precedence over religious and moral commitments. Primary data collection took place through the close reading of the novel, analysing select text passages that demonstrate financial dealings, materialism, or religious manipulation, supplemented by secondary texts concerning Islamic ethics, political economies, and literary interpretations. This study takes a qualitative interpretative methodology, with the use of thematic analysis techniques to determine patterns in the text including economic opportunism, corruption, or the use of religious power. This study takes Critical Race Theory and Political Economy as its theoretical framework to position the intersectionality of religious systems, economic motivation, and politico-social structures. This study finds that the novel represents religious leaders, institutions, and jihadis as exploiting religious power for economic motives, deconstructing the trust that religious institutions have with the rest of the public, as well as the corresponding lawful and right-minded principles behind the religion of Islam, while concurrently reinforcing misinformed ideas about Muslims.