Muslim contexts I

The (Plural) Nation as a Community of Judges: A Knotty South Asian Predicament

“…The problem itself is not unique. Jamal (2018) has theorised this conflict for Muslim contexts, but fresh debates of these predicaments for India as a unique Hindu-dominated state are welcome. In both cases, the complexity of the discourse reflects the postmodern global re-emergence of ‘religion’ as a law-related entity with ethnic characteristics, crucial in identity formation of a whole nation.…”

“…Venturing into the conceptual chaos of the modern nation-state (Jamal, 2018: 52), Raghavendra asserts, highly questionably, that ‘Christian and Islamic democracies in the world have been able to conduct themselves fairly vis-à-vis their own minorities and a “Hindu democracy” is also imaginable’ (p. 2). Later he adds to this a Buddhist perspective, as seen in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and elsewhere (p. 120), without disclosing that such strong nationalism has brought disaster for non-majoritarian citizens.…”

Book review: Sonja Thomas, Privileged Minorities: Syrian Christianity, Gender, and Minority Rights in Postcolonial India

“…Shaheen Sardar Ali (2016: 1), showing the ‘religious’ individual as placed at the threshold of constant decision-making, which she describes as dihliz , an ‘inter-space’, captures this crucial moment for individual agency in breath-taking simplicity. Arif Jamal (2018) proposes more theoretically inclined arguments that there is no necessary conflict between post-secular liberalism and Islamic principles. Thomas adds a Syrian Christian voice to this global conversation among South Asianists, encouraging deeper thinking about the impacts of the relationship between private religiosity, spirituality and the public space.…”