In recent years, the Muslims of India have been besieged by the forces of Hindutva and by a series of legal measures that appear designed against them, from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to various states’ ‘love jihad’ laws. Ali Khan Mahmudabad feels that it won’t stop at Muslims – others will be targeted too. Mahmudabad,…
Much has been written about the political, economic and artistic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic but what about the spiritual dimension of this time? This Ramadan chapter of Lockdown Diaries is a conversation (recorded in stereo) with historian and political scientist Ali Khan Mahmudabad about philosophy, faith and the Islamic poetry that transcends time, and darkness.
“My relationship to it is difficult. I am from the area called Mahmudabad and my roots are there. And I have never really approached life from the perspective of profession, and what I want to do. Somehow, there has been a confluence in the things I have done because there were many aspects in the…
“One of the most pressing issues regarding Muslims across the world has to do with their relationship to the ummah or the global community of Muslims and their belonging to a particular country. Indeed, this question only became important during the period of imperialism and colonialism, because ideas of the nation travelled to various parts of the…
“The minority communities in India have never had it good, but in the recent past they are being singled out without a precedent. The most stark discrimination came to the fore following the devastating floods in the southern Indian state of Kerala with calls for religion-centric donations. Kerala was hit by heavy monsoon rains earlier…
“From its inception, Islam fostered a culture of ‘orality’. Poetry, of course, was and has been one of the most important ways in which Muslims have grappled with questions to do with religion, culture, politics, history not to forget love! This tradition of reciting poetry publicly and the prominence poets were accorded by society in…