BORN A MUSLIM: Some Truths About Islam in India Hardcover

Author: Ghazala Wahab

Release Date: 01-12-2021

Details: Winner of Tata Literature Live ! Book of the Year Award- Non-fiction 2021 Winner of Atta Galatta- Bangalore Literature Festival – Book of the Year 2021 (Non-fiction) Who are the Indian Muslims? Are they a monolithic community practising a faith alien to India? Or are they a diverse people, geographically rooted in the cultural ethos of the land? Is there an ?Indian Islam?, a religion that grew out of Arabia but was nurtured in India and influenced by local traditions and customs? Has the power of Islam declined over the centuries because the faithful have forgotten the spirit of the religion, and are sticking to dogma and rigid rules instead? Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India attempts to answer these questions by taking a hard look at how the world?s second largest religion is practised in the country. The author takes a clear-eyed look at every aspect of Islam in India today. She examines the factors that have stalled the socio-economic and intellectual growth of Indian Muslims and attributes both internal factors?such as a disproportionate reliance on the ulema?as well as external ones that have contributed to the backwardness of the community. She shows at length, and with great empathy and understanding, what it is like to live as a Muslim in India and offers suggestions on how their lot might be improved. Weaving together personal memoir, history, reportage, scholarship, and interviews with a wide variety of people, the author highlights how an apathetic and sometimes hostile government attitude and prejudice at all levels of society have contributed to Muslim vulnerability and insecurity. Born a Muslim goes beyond stereotypes and news headlines to present an extraordinarily compelling and illuminating portrait of one of the largest and most diverse communities in India. ‘A well-researched, empathetic, and passionate work about India’s Muslim community and the challenges they face. A must read, especially in these polarized times. ’ —Shashi Tharoor ‘This is a sensitively written and deeply empathetic work on the place and predicament of Muslims in India. Drawing on memoir, reportage, and documentary analysis, it contains many moving stories of individuals across class and regional divides, with these case studies skilfully located in a wider political and historical context. An important and timely intervention in our public discourse, Born a Muslim would be of interest to thinking Indians of all faiths and ideologies.’ —Ramachandra Guha, historian and author ‘Ghazala Wahab has written a powerful reflection on what it means to be Muslim in modern India. Fusing memory and history, she has produced a poignant state-of-the-community report that every Indian should read. Born a Muslim is a remarkable book:a rare synthesis of lived experience and the roar of history.’ —Mukul Kesavan, historian and author ‘Here is a book written with sensitivity and amazing insight. Part memoir, part history, part marvellous storytelling, it speaks with conviction and courage at a time when Muslims in India feel they are under siege. Read it for sure.’ — Pritish Nandy ‘We are witnessing today the deliberate reshaping of the idea of India as an accommodative and eclectic nation that celebrates its diversity as a source of enrichment and strength. This project is founded on the systematic ‘othering’ of the Indian Muslim... To understand this unique historic movement, the distinguished writer on strategic issues, Ghazala Wahab, has robustly entered this arena of mutual ignorance and mutual prejudice to shed light on what it is to be a Muslim in contemporary India. Her insights draw on scholarship, wide interactions, and the telling personal anecdote to weave a narrative that is at once objective, dispassionate, and, when required, intensely personal. As India confronts the demons of communal discord and watches in horror the distorted reinvention of its time-honoured traditions, Ghazala Wahab’s Born a Muslim will help us understa

EAN: 9789390652167

Languages: English

Binding: Hardcover

Item Condition: New