02-03-2008, 09:56 PM
This award winning book makes a major contribution to scholarship about religion and society. By carefully examining the local and regional causes and the national consequences of ex-untouchables' conversion to Islam in South India, the author has deepened our understanding of the beliefs and actions associated with the pursuit of social justice and equality in India."
Winner of the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award, from the American Library Association.
"One of the most sensational events in recent Indian history was the mass conversion of several thousand untouchables to Islam, in the South Indian village of Meenakshipuram in 1981-82. The resulting backlash on the part of Hindu fundamentalist groups was one of the most important ingredients in the formation of current Hindu religious nationalism. This book is a careful sociological study of the nature and motivation of untouchable conversion to Islam. Mujahid emphasizes the ongoing massive discrimination and official persecution still leveled against untouchables, and he describes the motivation behind conversion as a search for social equality in which foreign funding played no part. The painstaking use of official statistics on untouchables and the capable research on the status of Tamil Muslims maintain an impersonal and profesional tone despite the controversial nature of the subject.
The author raises convincing objections regarding accepted sociological dogmas, such as the use of caste categories (ashra/ajlaf) to analyse Indian Muslim society. The book will be a valuable corrective for students and scholars in Indian studies, history of religions, and sociology. The bibliography, glossary, and index are usefull aids. Recommended for college and university libraries..." C.W. Ernst, American Library Association
AuthorBio: Abdul Malik Mujahid is an author, producer, and imam in the Chicagoland area. He is also the president of Sound Vision.
http://www.soundvision.com/Shop/pview.asp?Item=4316-001
The author does not talk about discrimination by the higher caste Muslims against the
lower caste Muslims and against dalits by the Muslims from the Mughal period to the present times.
Winner of the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award, from the American Library Association.
"One of the most sensational events in recent Indian history was the mass conversion of several thousand untouchables to Islam, in the South Indian village of Meenakshipuram in 1981-82. The resulting backlash on the part of Hindu fundamentalist groups was one of the most important ingredients in the formation of current Hindu religious nationalism. This book is a careful sociological study of the nature and motivation of untouchable conversion to Islam. Mujahid emphasizes the ongoing massive discrimination and official persecution still leveled against untouchables, and he describes the motivation behind conversion as a search for social equality in which foreign funding played no part. The painstaking use of official statistics on untouchables and the capable research on the status of Tamil Muslims maintain an impersonal and profesional tone despite the controversial nature of the subject.
The author raises convincing objections regarding accepted sociological dogmas, such as the use of caste categories (ashra/ajlaf) to analyse Indian Muslim society. The book will be a valuable corrective for students and scholars in Indian studies, history of religions, and sociology. The bibliography, glossary, and index are usefull aids. Recommended for college and university libraries..." C.W. Ernst, American Library Association
AuthorBio: Abdul Malik Mujahid is an author, producer, and imam in the Chicagoland area. He is also the president of Sound Vision.
http://www.soundvision.com/Shop/pview.asp?Item=4316-001
The author does not talk about discrimination by the higher caste Muslims against the
lower caste Muslims and against dalits by the Muslims from the Mughal period to the present times.