Islamic Minorities of South Asia: An Ethnographic Account

Islam and Islamicate South Asia have generated interest since 9/11 as never before. However, Islamic Minorities, specifically, is still a relatively neglected area of study in South Asian Islam. It may be due to the reason that there has been a tendency to look at Islam as a monolithic faith and Muslims as a monolithic population to the western world.

This book focuses on such Islamic minorities as the Shias (dominant Isna Ashari/Twelwer Shias), Ismaili Khoja, Dawoodi Bohra and Ahmedia/Qadiyani communities and looks at them from the perspective of their interaction with the Hindu cultures and traditions. Written in a lucid language from a sociological perspective, it should be an important contribution to the field of ＂Lived Islam’ or ’Islam in Practice’.

This book will be invaluable to all those interested in religion, society, and culture of Muslim South Asia.

Nadeem Hasnain is a social scientist with a broad range of interests. He is formerly Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Lucknow, India, Fulbright ’Scholar in Residence’, and Visiting Professor in the US and Senior Fellow of Indian Council of Social Science Research.