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Muslim communities in modern Indian society are often seen through the lens of race and politics. The separate mechanisms of faith and secularism, which, as Judith Butler observes, may well be "a fugitive way" for certain kinds of "religion to survive", are meshed together with the politics of representation and counter-representation of Islam and Muslims in the framing of identities. From the Babri masjid demolition to the wake of Ram mandir bhoomi pujan, and the hijab controversy, religion and culture run the risk of being employed in disloyalty, as a threat, in an artistically compromised manner. This article will examine how the tensions between individual subjectivity and a communitarian adherence to culture and faith manifest themselves in the present-day situation in India, as they negotiate between the pull of a liberal individualist lifestyle and that of family and community—between speaking as an "I" and on behalf of a collective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to unravel the idea, the history, the theological understanding and the socio-cultural influences on the idea of "Talaq" in general and "Instant Triple Talaq" in particular. The paper also unearths the possibilities of the misuse, misinterpretation and politicization of the concept which have taken place at various historical junctures. At empirical level, the paper attempts to draw the attention toward the perception and opinion of the Muslim women through the structured questionnaire regarding the Instant Triple Talaq and Triple Talaq Act enacted by the Government of India. The study focuses on how the existing power structure in the Muslim community and the deeply rooted cultural practices that in a way were antithetical to the basic Islamic beliefs have shaped the lives of Muslim women in India. The study does not find the Triple Talaq Act passed by Indian parliament as something constructive, rather regards it as interference on part of state institutions into the religious affairs of a particular community. The study finally draws a parallel between the literate and illiterate strata of Muslim women and their perception toward the Triple Talaq Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communal violence in India has become more frequent due to the unwanted interplay between religion and political manipulation, by which India has been affected many times. Communal violence has also been recognized as a significant social and public health problem, resulting in long-term human and economic costs. The dominant form of communal violence in India has involved the two communities, i.e. Hindus and Muslims. Post-violence studies worldwide have shown a short and long-term higher prevalence of mental health disorders. To the best of our knowledge, no earlier study has investigated the association between communal violence experience and self-rated psychological health in India. Thus, the current study was designed to provide valuable addition to the existing literature on mental stress among riot victims. This paper explores the association between mental health and socio-economic characteristics among riot victims based on a primary survey (N = 300 participants) conducted in two riots-affected districts of Uttar Pradesh in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independent India has witnessed a surge of right-wing militant Hindu extremism since the 1980s. The long term political and ideological goal of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is to create a Hindu Rashtra through propagating Hindutva. To realize this goal, proponents of Hindutva radicalize youth and children with conservative and fictional thoughts which lead to Islamophobia. This paper examines the link between radicalization and spread of Hindutva discourse, and communal violence. It also surveys campaigns used by the VHP to prevent proselytism. The paper also analyses how RSS aims to rewrite textbooks and control education patterns and establish conservative schools to further its interests. Findings of the paper also indicate that governments have been either complicit or negligent while dealing with Muslim riot victims. Analysis of news article regarding communal violence involving Hindus and Muslims indicate that the media acts as an echo chamber and enable Hindutva and Islamophobia in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is widely accepted as a key to decent employment, better health and development; however, in a region of large religious diversity it is necessary that all religious communities should have equal access to education. Thus, keeping in view significance of education in the overall development of a region the present study attempts to examine the access of Muslims to education in India's most populated state—Uttar Pradesh with about 200 million population and where Muslims constitute about one-fifth of the total population. Various indicators of education, such as literacy rate, completed level of education, gross attendance ratio, dropout rates, gross enrolment ratio and enrolment by types of institution have been analysed to examine the access of Muslims to education vis-à-vis other religious communities in the state. The study is based on secondary data obtained from Census of India 2011 and National Sample Survey Office (71st Round, NSS 2014). The results revealed that the significant disparities exist in access to education for Muslims and other religious communities in the state. Muslims have emerged as the worst sufferers as far as their access to education is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the status of Indian Muslims in Malaysia from a historical perspective and its definition as a minority ethnic group. It also highlights the political reality of the Indian Muslims, particularly as a smaller and relatively insignificant minority group in comparison with the numerically larger Malays as well as the non-Muslim Chinese and Hindu Indians. It describes the social interactions of the various ethnic groups in Malaysia and the Indian Muslims as a minority fighting for their identity and survival. It discusses the “position” of the Indian Muslims with particular reference to Article 152 of the Malaysian Constitution which states that a Malay person is defined as one speaking the Malay language, practicing Malay customs, and following the religion of Islam. The great contributions of Indian Muslims are also elaborated. This inquiry highlights the reality facing the Indian Muslims in Malaysia today: they have no political power but remain a marginalized minority in the midst of Malay political domination and Chinese economic hegemony. Indeed they are facing the grim prospect of permanent bifurcation of their identity—some are slowly but surely being assimilated into the Malay cultural milieu, mainly through marriage and for political expediency, on the one hand and others stubbornly resist this cultural absorption, and resiliently retain and preserve their ethnic traditions and purity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper connects the historic consolidation of corporate Muslim identities at the national level in India with the narration of local identities in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in South Delhi. The discussion is based on interviews with women and men living in the predominantly Muslim area of Zakir Nagar in Delhi. Residents often spoke about the existence of a “Muslim mahol” (social environment or culture), that existed in their neighborhood. However, the way that this sense of “Muslim-ness” was constructed varied and was differently privileged, depending on the social position of the narrator. For middle-class respondents in particular, the Muslim character of the neighborhood was listed as a priority. As well, the way religious identity was privileged was different for women and men. Therefore, although increasing feelings of marginalization and insecurity amongst Muslims can be connected to the construction of the locality and localized identities, the ways in which religious identity is described and privileged must also be looked at in relation to a host of other identifications including class, gender and regional affiliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on the integration of a Muslim minority community in a non-Muslim majoritarian-national context has often been conducted, from an Islamic point of view, in terms of a single discourse of compatibility, or non-compatibility of Islam, with the given majoritarian-national ethos. This paper rejects such a discourse and reflects on the role of Islam(s) in the construction of "self" and "other" and its attended consequences in terms of integration, both in India and in Western Europe. It does so by underlying the plural character of Islam in its two broad dimensions: Scholarly Islam and Everyday Islam. Within the limitation of structure of nation state that burdens the minority community with the idea of proving loyalty, the paper shows that politics of Islamic representation of "self" and "other" primarily belong to the domain of Scholarly Islam. It then goes on to demonstrate the variation in the (Scholarly) Islamic representation of "other" depending upon the context, while asserting the superiority of "Islamic self" in any given situation. By taking examples from contemporary Indian and West European history, the paper concludes how the bi-polarity, totalizing and homogenizing features of Scholarly Islam, including its liberal facet, hamper the prospect of integration, while the multiple, fuzzy, non-ideological character of Everyday Islam promotes the prospect of social and political integration in the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Muslim community in India is the second largest community in the country, following the Hindu community, and it forms the largest Muslim minority in the world. Ever since the decline of Moghul rule in India, Muslims in India have been facing communal riots and conflicts from some segments of the Hindu community who are communalists and militants. In this paper, an attempt is made to shed light on the Hindu-Muslim riots and conflicts in India from pre-independence to post-independence, with particular reference to the demolition of the historic Babri Masjid in 1992 and the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. The paper also discusses the causes of these problems and presents a few suggestions of some Muslim scholars on the resolution of the Hindu-Muslim tensions and conflicts in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article invites a rethinking of the relation between homeland, diaspora and religion. We reflect on Muslims of Indian origin whose ancestors left British India long before 1947, when the country was partitioned and the new nations of Pakistan and India were established. The article interrogates the understanding of the Indian diaspora with religion as its core feature. It cautions that such a conceptualization often leads to the perception of the Indian diaspora as a Hindu diaspora and consequently to the exclusion of Muslims of Indian origin. Empirical evidence is presented illustrating that Muslims of Indian origin in Surinam and in the Netherlands feel connected to each other as well as to Hindus of Indian origin through a shared sense of ethnic consciousness, a sense of distinctiveness, common history, the belief in a common fate and the perception of their homeland. We therefore argue in favour of the inclusion of these Muslims in the Indian diaspora (studies). Their exclusion means denying these Muslims their history as well as rendering them ‘homeless’. This amounts to a re-enactment of the 1947 partition in the countries which the Indian diaspora now tries to retain a collective memory of, and tries to reinstate as their original homeland in which Hindus ànd Muslims were ‘brothers of one mother’ i.e. Hindustan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the origins and development of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), one of the few Indian Muslim groups that are voicing the need for Indian Muslims to respond to the threats that they are faced with by resorting to armed jihad. Growing influence of anti-Muslim Hindu militancy in contemporary India; Ideology of the SIMI; Growth of radicalism within the SIMI.