Seventh Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer Memorial Lecture

Date: 13th October 2016
Venue: Conference Hall, India-Arab Cultural Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

At a time when Islam and Muslims have become severely contested references in global and Indian politics, it is highly pertinent to remember the pluralist nature of religion. As a result of globalization, translocal and transnational Muslim networks and institutions play an increasingly independent role that goes much beyond diaspora religious activism. Outside the Arabian Peninsula, Muslim groups from South Asia are unique in their ability to create spheres and networks of influence outside their home region and across the globe. This relates to groups of all doctrines and persuasions, from the Deobandis, to Barelwis, to Ahl-I Hadith, Jamaat-I Islami and the dissenting sects of the Ahmadiya, or the Ismailis and even to secularizing Muslim discourses from the region. The lecture will look at the nature of globalizing Muslim actors, networks and institutions from South Asia giving an overview of their different formats as to their doctrinal, cultural and ideological differentiation. It will thus look into their world-making both for their own followers and the global spaces they inhabit. Such pluralistic understanding of Islam and Muslim pays tribute to the rich intellectual heritage of Asghar Ali Engineer to whose memory this lecture is devoted.

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Information:

Chok Tsering
Program Co-ordinator, Democracy & Dialogue Programme
E: chok.tsering@in.boell.org