Islam in the Public Sphere: Religious groups in India 1900-1947

Islam in the public sphere explores the contestation of the public sphere by different Islamic groups and traditions in colonial India. It traces the genesis of madrasa-based movements and Islamic groups in South Asia and helps understand the roots of the current state of Islamic activism and militancy in the region.

Reetz presents a detailed comparative analysis of debates, activities, and institutions of major Islamic groups and movements between 1900 and 1947. He studies a wide rang of reformist and revivalist traditions. These include seminary movements organized around a particular lead madrasa (Deobandi, Barelwi, Nadwa, Firangi Mahall) and revivalist groups attempting to increase religious awareness in ritual observance, in public life, and in politics, such as the Tablighis or the Ahl-i Hadith.

This book discusses how, in response to the political awakening during the anti-colonial movement, these groups set out to chart territories, mark areas of influence, and raise stakes of control and competition, not unlike mainstream political parties. Examining rare source material such as the speeches and documents of the Jamiyyat-e Ulama-e-Hind, the Ahrar, and the Khaksar, Reetz concludes that there is a close connection and continuity between the beginnings of these groups before Independence and their current incarnations in the subcontinent.

This book will be an interesting read for historians, political scientists, and journalists as well as scholars and students interested in religious studies and the history of Islam and Islamic groups, with respect to nationalist politics in South Asia.

About the Author:

Dietrich Reetz is a Research Fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Free University, Berlin.

	CONTENTS
	Acknowledgements	vi
	Tables and Figures	ix
	Abbreviations	x
	Glossary	xi
	Introduction	1
1	The concept of the Public Sphere and its Evolution The discourse on the Public Sphere and its Critique; the Public Sphere and Islam; the Evolution of the Public Sphere in Colonial India	11
2	The Islamic activists and their movements in India The educational movements; faith and revival movements	52
3	Religious discourse and contested doctrines The Truth : Contested Categories; The agenda: Forms and Lines of Invention; The Leader: Messiah and Renewer of the Faith; The Mission: Da'wa and Tabligh	82
4	Public action and political meaning Participation or Patrimony: On the Outlines of a Polity; Assertion or Submission: On Defence and Self-Defence; Activism or Contemplation: From Engagement to Jihad; Exclusion or Tolerance: On the Emergence of Sectarian Radicalism	72
5	Social commitment and a new society Islamic or Secular Society; Religious or National Education; Islamic or Secular Law; Islamic Social Relief or Welfare Society	263
6	Conclusion Islamic Project; Islamic Sphere	299
	Appendix I the 'Tack' of the Deoband School; Articles of Faith of the Barelwi Group; Objectives of the Nadwa Council and Seminary; Firangi Mahall Activist and Scholar Abdul Bari; Articles of Faith of the Ahl-i Hadith; The Six Essentials of the Tablighi Jama at; Articles of Faith of the Ahmadiya; Statutes of the Majlis-e Ahrar-e Islam; Creed of the Khaksar Movement	316
	Appendix II Statutes of the Jam 'ryat-e 'Ulama'-ye Hind'	335
	Appendix III Duties and Powers of the Amir al-Hind	337
	Bibliography	339
	Index	361