ABSTRACT
This book looks at the study of ideas, practices and institutions in South Asian Islam, commonly identified as ‘Sufism’, and how they relate to politics in South Asia. While the importance of Sufism for the lives of South Asian Muslims has been repeatedly asserted, the specific role played by Sufism in contestations over social and political belonging in South Asia has not yet been fully analysed.
Looking at examples from five countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan), the book begins with a detailed introduction to political concerns over ‘belonging’ in relation to questions concerning Sufism and Islam in South Asia. This is followed with sections on Producing and Identifying Sufism; Everyday and Public Forms of Belonging; Sufi Belonging, Local and National; and Intellectual History and Narratives of Belonging. Bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines, the book explores the connection of Islam, Sufism and the Politics of Belonging in South Asia. It is an important contribution to South Asian Studies, Islamic Studies and South Asian Religion.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|84 pages
Producing and identifying Sufism
chapter 1|23 pages
Sufis, dervishes and Alevi-Bektaşis
chapter 2|22 pages
Who's the master?
part II|74 pages
Everyday and public forms of belonging
chapter 6|17 pages
The everyday as an enactment of the trauma of being a Muslim woman in India
chapter 7|17 pages
Who is in? Who is out?
part III|71 pages
Sufi belonging, local and national
chapter 9|21 pages
Abdul Kader Mukadam
chapter 10|16 pages
From ‘rational' to ‘Sufi Islam'?
chapter 12|17 pages
The politics of Sufism on the ground
part IV|69 pages
Intellectual history and narratives of belonging