ABSTRACT
The 'racialisation' and 'culturalisation' can be used by Indian Muslims to remove certain practices from the control of religious authorities to the permissible domain of ethnic 'culture'. Insisting on the use of non-English terms in the contexts would render it almost impossible to talk in any meaningful way about religion, and the authors concerned could themselves be faulted for the use of other terms with similarly problematic, Christian backgrounds. The naturalisation of Malay-ness as unmarked Muslim-ness in public discourse is one of the prime factors that stimulate the perception of 'Indian Islam' as deviant, because it is not 'Malay'. The most important element in perceiving 'Indian Islam' as marked by difference and otherness is the unmarked and normalised character of Islamic practice among Malays. Saint veneration is a conspicuous practice among Tamil-speaking Muslims, and few Muslim practices in South India and Ceylon have received as much attention by scholars.
