Teren Sevea, "Miracles and Material Life: Rice, Ore, Traps and Guns in Islamic Malaya," (Cambridge University Press, 2020)

In this ground-breaking new study, Teren Sevea reveals the economic, environmental and religious significance of Islamic miracle workers (pawangs) in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Malay world. Through close textual analysis of hitherto overlooked manuscripts and personal interaction with modern pawangs readers are introduced to a universe of miracle workers that existed both in the past and in the present, uncovering connections between miracles and material life. Sevea demonstrates how societies in which the production and extraction of natural resources, as well as the uses of technology, were intertwined with the knowledge of charismatic religious figures, and locates the role of the pawangs in the spiritual economy of the Indian Ocean world, across maritime connections and Sufi networks, and on the frontier of the British Empire.

• Islamic miracle workers in Malay world
• Teren Sevea Islamic studies
• Pawangs economic and religious influence
• Malay miracle workers and natural resources
• Islamic spirituality in 19th-20th century Southeast Asia
• Pawangs and spiritual economy
• Maritime connections in the Indian Ocean world
• Charismatic religious figures in Malay history
• Sufi networks and spiritual practices
• British Empire frontier and Islamic influence
• Islamic miracles and material life
• Natural resource extraction and religious knowledge
• Textual analysis of Malay manuscripts
• Religious figures in economic activities
• Environmental history of the Malay Archipelago
• Spiritual leaders in Southeast Asian Islam
• Intersection of technology and Islamic spirituality
• Islamic miracle workers and colonialism
• Indian Ocean spiritual economy
• Islamic charismatic figures in Southeast Asia
• East Asian Studies Podcast
• Southeast Asian Studies Podcast
• Southeast Asian History