Introduction The arrival of Muslims in the landmass called South Asia, from the eleventh century onwards, set in motion a complex series of political and sociocultural transformations which continue to shape the terrain in our…
[Book Review] Tauseef Ahmad Parray, Recent Trends in Qur’anic Scholarship (New Delhi: Viva Books, 2020), xxxv + 304 pages. | Reviewed by Owais Manzoor Dar The Qur’anic studies is a rich academic sub-field of Islamic…
Ever since its inception, the modern madrasa system has been striving to prove its worth and practicality. Though reform has tended to shun the influence of modern (and Western) social and natural sciences, some modernist…
In the first part of the twentieth century, Muslims in the monarchical state of Kedah, Malaysia used to give zakat through long-standing informal patterns that supported community and religious life. Known as the “rice bowl”…
Islam, like all religious identities, is both a way of knowing and a mode of practice. Racial identity is also a way of knowing and a mode of practice. In other words, like all identities,…
The ink of scholars is holier than the blood of martyrs. -Attributed to the Prophet Muhammad Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword. -Edward Bulwer-Lytton Peace cannot…
In the middle of the nineteenth century, while colonial rule in India was in full swing, the British Empire considered reforming the imperial education system. Thomas Macaulay, president of the Committee of Public Instruction in…
“This is the practice of the yogis. It is not the activity of the people of Muhammad, but it is correct.”[1] This line, taken from the margins of a mid-eighteenth century South Asian Persian manuscript…
Introduction Ahmed was the clerk of a firearms store on one of the main roads of Lucknow’s Aminabad bazaar. I had a survey question listing multiple possible reasons or motivations to give charity, and asked…