This chapter investigates how Islamic values shape market engagement in contemporary Bangladesh, focusing on pilgrimage (Hajj) and women’s lifestyle consumption. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2020 and 2024, it explores how the Hajj has been transformed by commercialization and individualization. The study highlights how the quota system and the rise of authorized travel agencies have turned pilgrimage into a packaged service industry, shifting its practice from communal religious experience to individualized spiritual journeys. At the same time, the chapter examines how urban Bangladeshi Muslim women, particularly university students, navigate lifestyle consumption such as halal cosmetics and modest fashion not merely as followers of market trends but as active agents expressing their religious identity. Rather than imitating Western consumption styles, these women integrate Islamic principles into their everyday purchasing choices, demonstrating the growing individualization of religious practice in consumer behavior. The chapter thus positions Bangladesh within the broader context of the global Islamic economy, emphasizing that Muslim consumption today is not only a matter of religious observance but also a form of personal agency and identity-making within market structures.

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Faith and Markets: Pilgrimage and Women’s Religious Lifestyle Consumption

  • Tetsuya Nakatani

摘要

This chapter investigates how Islamic values shape market engagement in contemporary Bangladesh, focusing on pilgrimage (Hajj) and women’s lifestyle consumption. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2020 and 2024, it explores how the Hajj has been transformed by commercialization and individualization. The study highlights how the quota system and the rise of authorized travel agencies have turned pilgrimage into a packaged service industry, shifting its practice from communal religious experience to individualized spiritual journeys. At the same time, the chapter examines how urban Bangladeshi Muslim women, particularly university students, navigate lifestyle consumption such as halal cosmetics and modest fashion not merely as followers of market trends but as active agents expressing their religious identity. Rather than imitating Western consumption styles, these women integrate Islamic principles into their everyday purchasing choices, demonstrating the growing individualization of religious practice in consumer behavior. The chapter thus positions Bangladesh within the broader context of the global Islamic economy, emphasizing that Muslim consumption today is not only a matter of religious observance but also a form of personal agency and identity-making within market structures.