scholarly journals The Dynamics of Islamic Ideology with Regard to Gender and Women’s Education in South Asia

Asian Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-52
Author(s):  
Forkan ALI
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Women's Education ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
Historical Practices

The article presents an investigation on certain anthropological-social aspects and the social organization of women with a focus on female education and women’s rights in Islam in South Asia, and especially in the subcontinent. It starts with the Moghul period and then turns to the colonial era and contemporary developments. Through the movement for independence from colonial rule of Britain, the Muslim identity in the South Asian region rose in a state of transformation, reform and development. This occurred due to several factors that encouraged the regeneration and reviewing of Indian society in response to the condemnation, discrimination and chauvinism of their colonial rulers and their deep-seated legacy. Women of the society, who were censured to be subjugated by the native men as entitled by colonial rulers, empowered this transformation by taking direct and indirect participation in it even though patriarchal norms and mind-sets have been a durable feature of South Asian society, cutting across faith communities and social strata, including the Hindu, Buddhist and other non-Islamic traditions on the subcontinent. While religious arguments are generally used in efforts to preserve the asymmetrical status of men and women in economic, political, and social arenas, this investigation attempts to show that religious traditions in South Asia are not monolithic in their perceptions of gender and women’s education. The structure of gender roles in these traditions is a consequence of various historical practices and ideological influences. Today, there is a substantial variability within and between religious communities concerning the social status of women. At different times and in different milieus, religious points of view have been deployed to validate male authority over women and, in opposition, to call for more impartial gender relations. 

«Имперский синдром»: концепция османского халифата на Ближнем Востоке и в Южной Азии (первая четверть XX в.)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.A. Kirillina ◽  
A.L. Safronova ◽  
V.V. Orlov
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Aspect Interaction ◽  
Muhammad Rashid Rida ◽  
Political Actions

Аннотация В статье изучены общие и специфические черты идейных воззрений, пропагандистской риторики и политических действий представителей халифатистского движения на Ближнем Востоке и в Южной Азии. В ретроспективном ключе прослеживается эволюция представлений о сущности и необходимости возрождения института халифата в трудах исламских идеологов, реформаторов и политиков Джамал ад-Дина ал-Афгани, Абд ар-Рахмана ал-Кавакиби, Мухаммада Рашида Риды, Абул Калама Азада. Внимание авторов сосредоточено на общественно-политических дискуссиях 2030-х годов XX столетия, а также на повестке дня халифатистских конгрессов и конференций этого периода. На них вырабатывались первые представления современников о пост-османском формате мусульманского единства и идейно-политической роли будущего халифата. Авторы демонстрируют различие между моделями реакции мусульман Ближнего Востока и Южной Азии на упразднение османского халифата республиканским руководством Турции. Установлена многоаспектная взаимосвязь между халифатистскими ценностями, проосманскими настроениями и формами самоотождествления, которые сложились в арабских и южноазиатских обществах. Отдельно намечено соотношение между подъемом халифатистских настроений и радикализацией антиколониальных действий мусульман Индостана.Abstract The article deals with analysis of common and specific features of ideas, propaganda, rhetoric and political actions taken by representatives of the movement for defense of the Caliphate in the Middle East and South Asia. The retrospection showing the transformation of conception of the Caliphate and the necessity of its revival in the works of eminent ideologists and politicians of the Muslim world Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Muhammad Rashid Rida and Abul Kalam Azad, is also given in the article. The authors also focus on the social and political discussions of the 1920s 1930s, as well as on the agenda of Caliphatist congresses and conferences of this period. They helped to elaborate the early representations of post-Ottoman pattern of the Muslim unity and the ideological and political role of the future Caliphate. The authors demonstrate the difference between the forms of reaction of Muslims in the Middle East and South Asia to the repudiation of the Caliphate by the Republican leaders of Turkey. The article establishes a multi-aspect interaction between the Caliphatist values and forms of self-identification, emerged in Arab and South Asian societies. The correlation between the rise of Caliphatist attitudes and radicalization of anti-colonial actions of South Asian Muslims is also outlined.

A Dictionary of Sikh Studies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pashaura Singh
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Sacred Sites ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
South Asian Studies ◽  
Northern India ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Over 350 entries This new dictionary provides accessible definitions of the terms that the growing number of students of Sikhism will encounter. It covers beliefs, practices, festivals, sacred sites, and principal languages, as well as the social and religious processes through which Sikhism has evolved. A major focus is the teachings of the founder of Sikhism, Gurū Nānak, and doctrinal developments under subsequent Gurūs. Incorporating the 500-year history of Sikhism, from its birth in northern India to its more recent spread around the world, it covers the interplay between the Sikh tradition and other religious traditions, including Hindu and Sufi. It is an invaluable first reference for students and teachers of Sikhism, religious studies, South Asian studies, philosophy, and the related disciplines of history, sociology, and anthropology, as well as for all practising Sikhs and anyone with an interest in Sikh religion and culture.

Realizing Women's Sexual Rights: Challenges in South Asia

1998 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Female Sexuality ◽  
State Level ◽  
Sexual Rights ◽  
Sexual Autonomy ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
Human Rights Norms

AbstractSexual rights are a new category of human rights still in the process of being clearly articulated subsequent to the debates at the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). In South Asia this process is fraught with obstacles, among which are taboos concerning the meaningful public discussion of sexuality, and negative attitudes towards women's sexual autonomy. It is also affected by the negotiations of, and contests for, political power among the different ethno-religious communities in a South Asian state, which in turn can constrain progressive law-makers from developing and implementing legislation favorable to the realization of women's sexual rights. Using the 1995 parliamentary debates on reforms to the Sri Lankan Penal Code, this paper explores the challenges to realizing women's sexual autonomy in a multi-ethnic South Asian society. It highlights how the fear of female sexuality can be manipulated by state-level actors, serving certain political exigencies, to justify the denial of sexual autonomy and even to validate sexual violence against women. It also reflects on the implications for the movement for women's rights in South Asia, premised increasingly on the universality of human rights norms, when its advocates collide with ethno-nationalist proponents of `group rights' which are rooted in a cultural specificity whose markers are frequently assumed to be embodied by the female members of the group.

The Voice in the Drum

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard K. Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Novelistic Form ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

Based on extensive research in India and Pakistan, this book examines the ways drumming and voices interconnect over vast areas of South Asia and considers what it means for musical instruments to be voice-like and carry textual messages in particular contexts. The book employs a hybrid, novelistic form of presentation in which the fictional protagonist Muharram Ali, a man obsessed with finding music he believes will dissolve religious and political barriers, interacts with the book's field consultants, to communicate ethnographic and historical realities that transcend the local details of any one person's life. The result is a daring narrative that follows Muharram Ali on a journey that explores how the themes of South Asian Muslims and their neighbors coming together, moving apart, and relating to God and spiritual intermediaries resonate across ritual and expressive forms such as drumming and dancing. The story charts the breakdown of this naiveté. A daring narrative of music, religion and politics in late twentieth century South Asia, the book delves into the social and religious principles around which Muslims, Hindus, and others bond, create distinctions, reflect upon one another, or decline to acknowledge differences.

scholarly journals ‘WAR AS REMEDY OR POISON’: READING THE BLIND MAN'S GARDEN AND THE KITE RUNNER WITH A CRITICAL LENS OF MBEMBE’S NECROPOLITICS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1577-1584
Author(s):  
Sara Iqbal Kakar ◽  
Humaira Riaz ◽  
Nayab Ahmad Khan
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Political Consciousness ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reading Technique ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Asian People

Purpose of the Study: This study emphasizes the contribution of fiction in highlighting the American exercise of power around the world predominantly Pakistan and Afghanistan. It investigates how America has become a dictating body deciding the life and death of human beings mainly in South Asian developing countries. Methodology: Being Qualitative, this study uses Eaglestone’s (2000) close reading technique to analyze words and structure of the texts of Khalid Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Nadeem Aslam Khan’s The Blind Man’s Garden. It develops a descriptive thesis leading to construct arguments by drawing a theoretical framework from Mbembe’s necropolitics (2003). Mbembe took his inspiration from Foucault’s idea of bio-power. Modern narrative discourse on sovereignty and its relation to war is taken as the main subject of necropolitics. Mbembe’s idea of sovereignty as an exercise to get control of the mortality of the enemy helps to interpret the texts via the close reading method. Main Findings: This study evaluated two novels to assert that necropolitics by taking its four basic concepts, power, war, politics, and death was the actual controlling power of a country. It analyzed fictional characters to argue how individuals endured hardships because of the necropolitical exercise of America and Russia in Afghanistan. Mbembe’s conception of necropolitics helps in understanding fiction. Applications of this study: The present study has significant implications from both theoretical and interpretative perspectives. Necropolitics, originally a political notion is reworked in fiction, which asserts that using this concept, power relations, their roots, and exercise around the world can be explored in various fields. This study contributes to dismantling the latent necropolitics in the society represented in fiction. It elevates the social and political consciousness of the general public of South Asia, particularly Pakistan and Afghanistan. This study can be helpful in the field of psychology to popularize the notion of necropolitics in contemporary society. Novelty/Originality of this study: Comparatively a new field, Necropolitics has been discussed in the fields of medical sciences and education. This study significantly highlights its existence in the field of literary studies. Fiction as a direct reflection of society helps in deconstructing the prevailing exercise of necropolitics in South Asian society. It is also helpful in raising the social and political consciousness of South Asian people.

The Nadwat al-‘Ulama's Romance with Iqbal: Narrative construction and historiography

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (06) ◽  
pp. 1762-1796
Author(s):  
MASHAL SAIF
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Narrative Construction ◽  
Social Imaginaries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Milieu ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article examines the Indian poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal's appropriation by three Nadwat al-‘Ulama scholars: Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi (d. 1953), Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi (d. 1999), and ‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi (d. 1956). It argues that the particular depictions of Iqbal by the Nadwa ‘ulama can be mapped onto larger evolutions within the institute. The early Nadwa ‘alim Sulayman Nadwi imagines Iqbal as a Muslim leader par excellence. A more conservative understanding of Islam emerged with the later Nadwa ‘ulama. They emphasize traditional theological ideas, particular modes of piety, and ritualistic actions. The article suggests that the later Nadwa ‘ulama’s writings on Iqbal are reflective of this particular understanding of Islam and morality, although there are two distinct responses to the poet. The above examination of the Nadwa is placed within its broader historical context. In so doing, the article contends that the impact of the political milieu in India must be taken into account to understand shifts in the Nadwa and South Asian Islam more broadly. It also asserts that the political environment in South Asia influenced Iqbal's reception by the Nadwa ‘ulama as well as by Muslims in South Asia and beyond. Additionally, this article argues that all three works by the Nadwa ‘ulama are subjective portrayals informed by the social imaginaries of their authors. In fact, in a broader sense, all works of narrative historiography are subjective accounts. This realization problematizes the boundaries between the categories of historiography and hagiography, and this research calls for a rethinking of these tensions.

scholarly journals Introduction: Historicizing Sayyid-ness: Social Status and Muslim Identity in South Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-393
Author(s):  
LAURENCE GAUTIER ◽  
JULIEN LEVESQUE
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Anthropological Literature

AbstractThe introduction to the special issue provides a framework to think about the changing conceptions of Sayyid-ness in various historical contexts in South Asia. First, we review some of the sociological and anthropological literature on caste among South Asian Muslims, to argue for a contextualised and historicised study of Muslim social stratification in Muslims’ own terms. Second, we throw light on the fact that Sayyid-ness, far from being a transhistorical fact, may be conceptualised differently in different socio-political and historical contexts. For instance, Sayyid pedigree was at times downplayed in favour of a more encompassing Ashraf identity in order to project the idea of a single Muslim community. Far from projecting an essentialising image of Sayyid-ness, by focusing on historical change, the articles in this collection de-naturalise Sayyids’ and Ashraf's social superiority as a ‘well-understood and accepted fact’. They further shift attention from the debate on ‘Muslim caste’, often marred by Hindu-centric assumptions, to focus instead on social dynamics among South Asian Muslims ‘in their own terms’. In so doing, these studies highlight the importance of the local, while pointing to possible comparisons with Muslim groups outside South Asia.

Bombay Films: The Cinema as Metaphor for Indian Society and Politics

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akbar S. Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Group Behaviour ◽  
Fantasy World ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
Film Stars

It is difficult to distinguish between art and life in South Asian society; they no longer imitate each other but appear to have merged. Political philosophies, social values, group behaviour, speech and dress in society are reflected in the cinema and, like a true mirror, reflect back in society. Furthermore, film stars cross over from their fantasy world into politics to emerge as powerful figures guiding the destiny of millions. It is thus possible to view the cinema as a legitimate metaphor for society; this perception helps us to understand society better.

scholarly journals Charity and Philanthropy in South Asia: An introduction

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
FILIPPO OSELLA
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
South Asians ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Charitable Donations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Causes

There are no reliable figures to help us measure the volume of charitable donations in South Asia but, according to the 2014 World Giving Index, Sri Lanka is ranked ninth in the world for the charitable efforts of its citizens, while other South Asian countries figure in the top 75 out of 135 countries surveyed. According to the same index, India comes first in the world for the overall number of people donating money to charities and volunteering for social causes; Pakistan is ranked sixth for the number of charitable donations; India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are within the top ten countries for the number of people who have ‘helped a stranger’ in the 12 months prior to the survey. According to a 2001 survey by the Sampradaan Centre for Indian Philanthropy, among members of the A–C socio-economic classes, 96 per cent of respondents donated annually an average of Rs 1,420. The total amount donated was Rs 16.16 billion. Two surveys conducted in West Bengal and Sri Lanka suggest that South Asians across the social spectrum contribute readily to charity.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 355-367
Author(s):  
Usha Sanyal
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Women's Education ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
The World

The book concludes by asking ‘Why Now?’ How do we make sense of the contemporary surge in Muslim women’s religious education across South Asia and elsewhere in the world? To start, we must recognize that the growth of Muslim women’s education is part of a wider phenomenon that crosses religious boundaries. This is not an exclusively Muslim phenomenon. Beyond that, I situate the ethnographies presented here in their national contexts, both Indian and Pakistani, to illustrate the growing trend of South Asian Muslim women’s religious education across all social classes. The comparative focus of this book, I argue, encourages us to discard unhelpful binaries such as ‘Sufi’ and ‘Wahhabi’, and to think of the efforts of Muslims across different ideological and class categories as shared, albeit different, responses to the precarious conditions of modernity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document