The Muslim Secular

Reviews / Votes

Meticulously researched, intricately argued, and elegantly written. This is a splendid and original contribution to the understanding of the intellectual foundations of Indian nationalism. * Cecile Laborde, University of Oxford * A trail blazing account that promises to rewrite the story of India's Partition. Sohal's masterful study of the 'Muslim secular' sheds light on a compelling yet little known 'third way' to Indian nationalism. Crafted in opposition to the harsh binaries of 'secular' and 'communal' nationalisms, it offered a majestic vision of India, inspired by the universalist claims of Islam, as a shared cultural space where Hindus and Muslims were equally valued as the makers of an Indian nation and architects of a future Indian republic. * Farzana Shaikh, Author of Making Sense of Pakistan * Amar Sohal displaces the accusation-popular and scholarly-that Muslim politics, nationalist or otherwise, was a series of bargains driven by interest. In this well-argued account matched by rigorous evidence, Sohal centrally places the arguments and ideas of Muslim leaders and thinkers who enabled and strengthened Indian nationalism and secularism. This is a major tribute to both the power of political ideas and indeed, to the now forgotten or deliberately misunderstood Muslim thinkers who laid the foundations of the Indian Republic. An essential book for our contemporary times and a valuable and original addition to the growing scholarship on the vibrant if young field of Indian political thought. * Shruti Kapila, University of Cambridge * Sohal studies the political ideas of three leading Muslim nationalists - Abul Kalam Azad, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and Abdul Ghaffar Khan - which he feels have been ignored by historians. These men, who all came from Muslim majority areas of British India, drew confidence from the sheer numbers of Muslims in the subcontinent both to oppose the separatism of Jinnah's All-India Muslim League and to support the drive to establish a secular Indian republic. This is a deeply learned book, which embraces many Muslim voices in addition to the main three. It would always be a major intervention in Indian political thought, but is particularly so now when Hindu nationalism has established an unprecedented hegemony in India. * Francis Robinson, Royal Holloway, University of London * The Muslim Secular stands out as a seminal work that transcends traditional historiography. Sohal's narrative is not only informative but also reflective, inviting readers to engage deeply with the complexities of India's political trajectory. * Saleem Rashid Shah, Outlook India Magazine * The Muslim Secular is an extremely resourceful, well-argued research work that is going to provoke a great deal of discussion, especially in India. * Shakir Mir, Scroll.in * This volume is a revised version of the author's 2019 dissertation. Recommended. * Choice * This book makes a serious contribution to the great Indian debate on secularism, at least in two ways. First, it underlines the distinctiveness of Indian secularism, one of the most original intellectual political formulations in the postcolonial period....Second and importantly, the book is deeply invested in what political theorist Sudipta Kaviraj calls the languages of secularity in India. The author systematically investigates those crucial intellectual-political trajectories that deal with India-specific secular concerns. In this sense, an attempt is made to redefine secularism as a public virtue...The Muslim Secular is a fascinating attempt to remind us of the political values of modern Muslim secular ideas. * Hilal Ahmed, Business Standard * Amar Sohal's The Muslim Secular makes a powerful intervention in Indian political thought, especially in the body of literature known as Indian secularism. * Md Mizanur Rahman, The Review of Politics *