The Muslim Question: Understanding Islam and Indian History

The debates around Hindus and Muslims, Islam and the West have become ever-more relevant in contemporary politics. In this timely book, historian Raziuddin Aquil conducts a dispassionate and incisive study of Islam in India-from its heyday in the medieval period to its transformation by colonialism. Drawing on texts from the medieval and early modern periods, Aquil reveals the host of factors that contributed to the evolution of Indian Islam and its diverse practices-the orthodoxy of the ulama, the attempts by Muslim rulers to establish religious dominance, the conflict with Sikhism, the impact of Sufi traditions and the rise of Urdu as a popular language. Ambitious in scope, provocatively argued and painstakingly researched, The Muslim Question examines the legacy of the Muslim rule in India and, in the process, presents Islam as a complex and continually changing tradition.