The nature of Muslim cultures in South Asia is so complex that at any point, it is a difficult task to capture the ever-changing dynamics of these societies. In addition to that, many aspects of these Muslim societies are totally embedded in their local cultures, particularly in their religious histories. While the discussions are still continuing about the extent and realm of this dialogue between local and universal religions, Jamal Malik in his new book, Islam in South Asia, endeavors to provide a picture of South Asian Islamic ethnoscapes in detail. This picture, however, is not limited to portraying the ground realities, but clearly reads the past and present of these communities in the new light of a plural perspective. Malik's observations in this book are guided by a vision that “plurality and pluralism actually endow Islam with dynamic power which, however, has through the centuries been taken advantage of by different players” (p. 11). Effectively providing a survey of multiple aspects of South Asian Islam, Malik tries to capture various responses to the question of religious self-presentation of South Asian Muslims. Though writing a short history of Islam in South Asia is, as observed by Malik, is “an ambitious project,” the organization of this book makes that hard task possible in a brilliant manner.
Focusing on topical subjects such as historiography, caste, conversion, and gender, Malik divides this task into four “clusters.” The first cluster describes the early Muslim expansion and the journey of the Arabs into South Asia and their formative phase, which produced a unique blend of Islamicated culture (ca. 700–1300 ce). The second cluster portrays the process of empire building and the establishment of Muslim empire cultures, oscillating between Islamic and Islamicate (ca. 1300–1700). The third cluster narrates the tensions between the territorial states and colonial rule, supplemented with the description of various processes of integration and differentiation of Muslim cultures in colonial settings (ca. 1700–1930). The final cluster is about the friction between Muslim pluralism and singularity, with an emphasis on distinctively regional Islamicated and Islamic manifestations in a pluralist context (ca. 1930–2002). Aiming to understand the complex images of Islam in South Asia, Malik makes an effort to analyze the aspects of cooperation and conflict, accommodation and appropriation that are predominant themes in many local Islams. In a way, Malik's organization of this book provides a model to study Islamic cultures beyond South Asia.
In his introduction, Malik touches on the major issues in the current historiography of Islam. Most importantly, the questions that this book endeavors to explore are crucial in the present juncture of nationalist and fundamentalist tendencies. Beginning with the basic question about the arrival of Muslims, their early settlements, and their interactions with local cultures, Malik deals with deeper aspects of Muslim conceptions of their destinies in different political contexts and through different times. Well informed of the difficulties of finding answers to these questions, Malik takes a method and an approach that sheds light on labyrinthine and unexplored corners of local Islams through the times of colonialism and postcolonialism. Malik effectively explores the strategies of “traditionalizing” and “modernizing” that communalized South Asian communities. As he clearly observes, “the policy of civilizing mission served the policy of homogenization and official nationalism” (p. 21). On the way, Malik discusses the role of language and gender in the making of postcolonial homogenized spaces in South Asia. Clearing his path from those well-taken inroads, Malik continues on his journey through Muslim heterogeneity, thus building on his own tools of historiography.
Malik's focus on the rise of recent Muslim publics in South Asia brings a new dimension to this discussion in part IV (pp. 359–75). Malik discusses at length the construction of recent “normative” contexts that rebuilt the centrality of prophetic tradition, which eventually led to the question of the identity of South Asian Muslims. Malik provides fresh insights into this journey by revealing the historical process of Islamization in South Asia. Despite being the minority, in many places in South Asia, reformist groups have been trying their best to reorganize their force and take control of everyday life and lived religious spaces. As a historian, Malik also observes that “despite all the cultural overlappings and compositeness, there are limits to mutual assimilation between Hindus and Muslims” (p. 447). Though beginning with a perspective of pluralism, Malik never fails to grasp the ground reality that is disheartening now.
The afterword of this book is as important as its introduction. As Malik states appropriately, “Even if we dislike the grim scenario, it is a reality occupying not only our minds but also the public sphere and holding much visibility” (p. 459). Undoubtedly, Malik's short history improves our understanding of the current situation with all available data on South Asian Islam with clearly defined interdisciplinary tools.
