Ali Riaz's book may be too easily dismissed as either glib or alarmist. It opens with an attention-getting question that is the title of Chapter 1: “Is Bangladesh Becoming a Taliban State?” Riaz's answer is startling: For reasons elaborated upon, “it becomes clear that a variant of Talibanism is on the horizon” (p. 11). The rest of the book is divided into chapters that support his thesis. There are copious detailed footnotes, an extensive bibliography, appendices that provide a useful chronology of political events, and descriptions of the leaders of Bangladesh.

Many see Bangladesh as possessing a tolerant, inclusive Islam and a vibrant, secular civil society. That is, after all, one of the reasons proffered for the violence, the “purifying” actions, of the Pakistani army in the 1971 civil war, leading to the breakup of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. But the author shows that close attention to the rise of Islamism offers reasons for concern. Along the way, the book offers a reexamination of Bangladesh's political evolution, a coherent theoretical foundation, and useful distinctions and definitions about Islam today. It is a serious scholarly book, vividly written, and ominous.

The central contention is that recent political alliances that brought Islamist parties into government for the first time should be seen as part of a process, one that has been going on for the past two and half decades. The reason that parties once reviled by nationalists for opposing the creation of Bangladesh (and Pakistan before it) could gain such sway can be explained best, in Gramscian terms, as the failure of alternative ideologies to gain hegemony and the breakup of the of the ruling hegemonic forces. Nationalism thins out and divides; Islamists expand into the gap. Extreme competition and opportunism among mainstream parties, both military and electoral, lead to steady introduction of Islamic elements into public discourse, which over time strengthens the Islamists to the point that they impose increasingly their own specialized, conservative version of Islam. Weakness or indecisiveness by secular movements in civil society further opens the path to expansion. Successive chapters illustrate the battle lines, showing the steady enlargement of Islamist space and the decline of opposing forces.

The battle lines skillfully detailed are the stuff of Bangladeshi politics since independence. First, the author shows the intricacies of party politics and how the Islamist parties maneuver among them in an ever-successful fashion. Always rejected decisively at the polls, they gain influence by backing one mainstream party and then another, switching sides as often as needed. Nonelected military leaders seek legitimacy by turning to Islamic coloration. Felicitous phrases encapsulate the phenomenon, such as “The Politics of Expediency” and “confessional nationalism” (p. 41). He then goes on to an examination of areas of public life affected by the rise of Islamist elements. Chapter 2 is devoted to “Persecuted Minorities and the Enemy Within,” a chilling account of the fate of Hindus in Bangladesh. Although there were few communal riots in Bangladesh until the 1990s, steady pressure and state measures led to the “missing millions,” the out-migration of Hindus. Then came the riots. The next chapter deals with the rise of fatwas, religious edicts, and “Islamification” of traditional local courts in the countryside. Women and development organizations are the special victims. The following chapter examines “Three Battles of the Secularists,” including the well-known matter of the fatwa against Taslima Nasreen. Here the author faults the secularists for failure to cohere and to persevere, and so over time they lose capacity to oppose the rising influence of Islamists. The book concludes with a look “Beyond Bangladesh,” a brief comparison with Indonesia and Pakistan. And Riaz finds great similarities: the rise of Islamism due to the failure or rupture of ruling ideologies, accommodative politics of secular parties, and the relation to authoritarian regimes.

One of the strengths of the book is the careful distinctions and definitions presented. A lengthy section distinguishes between fundamentalism and Islamism, which he insists “is inherently a political phenomenon and by no means something Islamic” (p. 14). The final chapter is of interest to the broader field of comparative politics and policy, seeking to make sense of Islam in a post-9/11 context. The author is a political scientist and journalist; the book is a mix of analytical insight and evocative prose.

There are both “clinkers and blinkers” that mar the text. When in opposition to other authors' interpretation of Bangladesh politics, Riaz is unduly harsh and self-serving. Readers who care about Bangladesh will benefit from the interpretations of Talukdar Maniruzzaman, for example. When in deep Gramsci mode (mercifully brief), Riaz is capable of reductive characterization of Kamal Hossain, the distinguished human rights leader, barrister, and author of the constitution, as “an ideologue of the nationalist movement” (p. 27). Rise in day-to-day violence is attributed to the rise of Islamism, though violent lawlessness has been an endemic issue since liberation. In the section on minorities, no mention is made of Muslim minorities, including the “Biharis.” The external environment is mostly ignored; events in Bangladesh are indigenous. Thus, dropping secularism from the early state ideology is related solely to the rise of Islamism, the author's thesis, with no reference to the reported Saudi role, which withheld vital recognition of the new state until the “Godlessness” was removed, and may still be playing a role in facilitating the rise of Islamism in Bangladesh. General Zia is portrayed as introducing Islam while president in order to gain popularity and legitimacy; he also heavily relied on development and on regional diplomacy for the same reasons. India is barely mentioned.

Bangladesh seems nowhere near Talibanization in the immediate future. Secular forces are not as helpless nor ineffective as implied; the underlying culture is not as supportive of authoritarian Islam as the tight focus on the Islamist phenomenon may suggest. However, God Willing provides a service by drawing our attention to how deeply entrenched Islamism is, and how much nearer the possibility of some form of Talibanization has become.