Beyond Turk and Hindu
Beyond Turk and Hindu grew out of a collection of papers presented at a conference on "Islam in South Asia," held at Duke University in April 1995. It has 3 sections, 13 chapters, 8 photographs, 3 maps, 2 tables, a glossary, and an index. The book deals with the broad subject of civilizati...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Institute of Islamic Thought
2002-07-01
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| Series: | American Journal of Islam and Society |
| Online Access: | https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1932 |
| _version_ | 1798027649057030144 |
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| author | Nazeer Ahmed |
| author_facet | Nazeer Ahmed |
| author_sort | Nazeer Ahmed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Beyond Turk and Hindu grew out of a collection of papers presented at a conference
on "Islam in South Asia," held at Duke University in April 1995. It
has 3 sections, 13 chapters, 8 photographs, 3 maps, 2 tables, a glossary, and
an index. The book deals with the broad subject of civilizational interfaces in
the South Asian context. It belongs to the category of interfaith relations and
is addressed to a general audience interested in the Hindu-Muslim dialectic.
The authors do not accept the premise that interreligious differences in
South Asia are set and irreconcilable. To quote the editor: "We vigorously
contend that there is a larger point to make, namely, that the constant interplay
and overlap between Islamic and Indic worldviews may be at least as
pervasive as the Muslim-Hindu conflict ... " This position is a challenge to
those scholars who view India and Pakistan as embodiments of two separate
religious identities.
Section One contains three essays on textual analysis to assess the sameness
and otherness of identity formation. The authors do not avoid the controversies
that are bound to emerge from the sometimes disparaging tenns
used by Hindus and Muslims to refer to each other, or the animosities that
have emerged from the desecration of mosques and temples:
Arabic and Persian use of the term Hindu had a range of meanings that
changed over time, sometimes denoting an ethnic or geographic referent
without religious content. Similarly, Indic texts referring to the invaders
from the northwest used a variety of terms in different contexts, including
yavanas, m/ecchas,farangis, musafmans, and Turks. These terms sometimes
carried a strong negative connotation, but they rarely denoted a distinct
religious community conceived in opposition to Hindus. In and of
themselves, however, such terms tell us little. To understand the usage of
these terms, one must move beyond the terminology itself- beyond Turk
and Hindu - to analyze the framing categories and generic contexts within
which these terms are used.
The authors illustrate the power of bidirectional cultural forces by offering
the example of the Punjab's Bulle Shah and Bengal's mystical Satya Pir.
Bulle Shah, a contemporary of Shah Waliullah of Delhi, lived in the late ... |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:56:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2ea6ad16f21941969f7e0d65d75268a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2690-3733 2690-3741 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:56:05Z |
| publishDate | 2002-07-01 |
| publisher | International Institute of Islamic Thought |
| record_format | Article |
| series | American Journal of Islam and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ea6ad16f21941969f7e0d65d75268a52022-12-22T04:08:11ZengInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtAmerican Journal of Islam and Society2690-37332690-37412002-07-0119310.35632/ajis.v19i3.1932Beyond Turk and HinduNazeer AhmedBeyond Turk and Hindu grew out of a collection of papers presented at a conference on "Islam in South Asia," held at Duke University in April 1995. It has 3 sections, 13 chapters, 8 photographs, 3 maps, 2 tables, a glossary, and an index. The book deals with the broad subject of civilizational interfaces in the South Asian context. It belongs to the category of interfaith relations and is addressed to a general audience interested in the Hindu-Muslim dialectic. The authors do not accept the premise that interreligious differences in South Asia are set and irreconcilable. To quote the editor: "We vigorously contend that there is a larger point to make, namely, that the constant interplay and overlap between Islamic and Indic worldviews may be at least as pervasive as the Muslim-Hindu conflict ... " This position is a challenge to those scholars who view India and Pakistan as embodiments of two separate religious identities. Section One contains three essays on textual analysis to assess the sameness and otherness of identity formation. The authors do not avoid the controversies that are bound to emerge from the sometimes disparaging tenns used by Hindus and Muslims to refer to each other, or the animosities that have emerged from the desecration of mosques and temples: Arabic and Persian use of the term Hindu had a range of meanings that changed over time, sometimes denoting an ethnic or geographic referent without religious content. Similarly, Indic texts referring to the invaders from the northwest used a variety of terms in different contexts, including yavanas, m/ecchas,farangis, musafmans, and Turks. These terms sometimes carried a strong negative connotation, but they rarely denoted a distinct religious community conceived in opposition to Hindus. In and of themselves, however, such terms tell us little. To understand the usage of these terms, one must move beyond the terminology itself- beyond Turk and Hindu - to analyze the framing categories and generic contexts within which these terms are used. The authors illustrate the power of bidirectional cultural forces by offering the example of the Punjab's Bulle Shah and Bengal's mystical Satya Pir. Bulle Shah, a contemporary of Shah Waliullah of Delhi, lived in the late ...https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1932 |
| spellingShingle | Nazeer Ahmed Beyond Turk and Hindu American Journal of Islam and Society |
| title | Beyond Turk and Hindu |
| title_full | Beyond Turk and Hindu |
| title_fullStr | Beyond Turk and Hindu |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond Turk and Hindu |
| title_short | Beyond Turk and Hindu |
| title_sort | beyond turk and hindu |
| url | https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1932 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nazeerahmed beyondturkandhindu |