There are more Muslims – over 400 million – in South Asia than in any other region in the world. Many of the most important political, intellectual and spiritual developments within Islam have had their origins, or have flourished, in the area, and Muslims from the region have played important roles in the global history of Islam. Pakistan was specifically created to provide a homeland for South Asia’s Muslim population, and its trials and tribulations over the past 60 years have been carefully watched by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Muslims constitute India’s largest minority, with an often uneasy relationship to the majority.
The early history of Islam in South Asia, including migration, conversion and Muslim dynasties, as well as religious developments, are studied in depth, as is the role of Islam in the colonial period, including resistance to colonial rule, and intellectual responses to, and dialogue with, Western thought. Articles also cover Islam since independence, including political movements, Muslims as majorities and minorities, and the South Asian Muslim diaspora. In addition, Islam and development, including material related to women and Islam, legal reform, Islamic finance, and education issues, are all areas that Islam in South Asia considers.
During the last hundred years there has been extensive English-language writing and research on Islam in South Asia, both by Muslim scholars and by non-Muslims. This new Major Work from Routledge brings together the most significant and enduring work, most of it published in the past thirty years, but with occasional use of older material. Islam in South Asia, with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor to place the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, is destined to be an essential work of reference.
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