“Do Maslaks Matter? The Construction of Sunni Muslim Identities in South Asia” Panel

Panel Description

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Panel Description

This panel will examine the importance of inter-maslak identities among South Asian Muslims historically and at the present time. Maslak—Deobandi, Barelwi, and Ahl-i Hadith, among others—is the term commonly used by Sunni Muslims to distinguish between different ulama-led groups. Having originated in the late nineteenth century during British colonial rule, the groups that self-identify as such appear to have hardened in their self-affirmation and hostility toward rival maslaks in postcolonial South Asia. I am interested in exploring this history, and probing when and how these identities are invoked currently, whether polemically or not, and in what contexts. Contrariwise, sometimes Muslims deliberately distance themselves from such terminology, preferring to speak of themselves simply as Sunni Muslim. Could there be a class dimension to such differences? Thus, to reformulate the question, Do maslaks matter? this panel seeks to explore how and when, and to whom maslaks matter today, and in what ways the subjective meanings of maslak identities have changed over time. More broadly, the panel is interested in boundary construction and the policing of these boundaries in print and through social and political means by different Sunni Muslim groups in South Asia over the course of the past century and a half.

Panel Organizer