Popular representations of Pakistan's North West Frontier have long featured simplistic images of fanatical religion. The radical Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan enhanced the region's reputation as a place of anti-Western militancy. Magnus Marsden shows that the life of a good Muslim in Chitral is above all a mindful life. Challenging much that has been assumed on the Muslim world, this study makes a powerful contribution to the understanding of religion and politics in the Muslim societies of southern Asia and beyond.