1st Edition

Frontiers of Embedded Muslim Communities in India

Edited By Vinod K. Jairath Copyright 2011
    286 Pages
    by Routledge India

    286 Pages
    by Routledge India

    This volume approaches the study of Muslim societies through an evolutionary lens, challenging Islamic traditions, identities, communities, beliefs, practices and ideologies as static, frozen or unchangeable. It assumes that there is neither a monolithic, essential or authentic Islam, nor a homogeneous Muslim community. Similarly, there are no fixed binary oppositions such as between the ulama and sufi saints or textual and lived Islam. The overarching perspective — that there is no fixity in the meanings of Islamic symbols and that the language of Islam can be used by individuals, organizations, movements and political parties variously in religious and non-religious contexts — underlies the ethnographically rich essays that comprise this volume.

    Divided in three parts, the volume cumulatively presents an initial framework for the study of Muslim communities in India embedded in different regional and local contexts. The first part focuses on ethnographies of three Muslim communities (Kuchchhi Jatt, Irani Shia and Sidis) and their relationships with others, with shifting borders and frontiers; part two examines the issue of ‘caste’ of certain Muslim communities; and the third part, containing chapters on Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai and Gujarat, looks at the varied responses of Muslims as Indian citizens in regional contexts at different historical moments.

    Although the volume focuses on Muslim communities in India, it is also meant to bridge an important gap in, and contribute to, the ‘sociology of India’ which has been organized and taught primarily as a sociology of Hindu society.

    The book will appeal to those in sociology, history, political science, education, modern South Asian Studies, and to the general reader interested in India & South Asia.

    Preface Introduction: Towards a Framework Vinod K. Jairath 1. Border Transgressions and the Frontiers of Faith in Kachchh, Gujarat Farhana Ibrahim 2. We are Different from Shias Here; We Are Different from Iranis There: Irani Shias in Hyderabad Vinod K. Jairath and Huma R Kidwai 3. Sidis of Gujarat Building Community — Their Role in Indian History into Contemporary Times Beheroze Shroff 4. Consanguineous Marriage and Kinship System: Impact of Socio-cultural Dynamics Among the Muslims of Delhi, India R. Nasir and A.K. Kalla 5. Social Stratification Among the Muslims of Kerala P.R.G. Mathur 6. Ethnic Identity and Islamization among the Borewale Muslims of Andhra Pradesh S.A.A. Saheb 7. Taleem, Tanzeem aur Tijaarat: The Changing Role of the AIJQ Zarin Ahmad 8. Multiple Identities and Educational Choices: Reflections on Ansari Students in a School of Banaras Nirmali Goswami 9. Tamil Muslims and the Dravidian Movement: Alliance and Contradictions S. Anvar 10. Muslim Perceptions and Responses in Post-police Action Contexts in Hyderabad M.A. Moid 11. Naata, Nyaya: Friendship and/or Justice on the Border Rowena Robinson

    Biography

    Vinod K. Jairath is Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad.