Islam and Democracy in South Asia (The Case of Bangladesh) ||

"Critical, insightful and thought-provoking, Islam and Democracy in South Asia is a real masterpiece on religion and politics uncovering the critical nexus between Islam, political Islam, and democracy in Bangladesh. Rigorous methodologies, thought-provoking debates, and convincing arguments are among the hallmarks of the book."--Emajuddin Ahamed, Political Scientist & former Vice-Chancellor, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh "Islam and Democracy in South Asia is the sophisticated discussion of the political life of Islam that the world needs. Simplistic views of Islam-or-the sword, jihadism, and Islamic anti-modernism die a well-deserved death here. Muslims have a kaleidoscope of political options that have to balance realpolitik and dreams of social fairness." -- Samuel Cohn, Professor of Sociology, Texas A & M University, USA "A must read for all scholars, politicians, and diplomats who want to have a bird's eye view of Islam as a political ideology and a worm's eye view of its interplay with democracy in the context of Bangladesh." -- Mohammad A. Auwal, Professor of Communication Studies, California State University, Los Angeles, USA Grounded in the Weberian tradition, Islam and Democracy in South Asia: The Case of Bangladesh presents a critical analysis of the complex relationship between Islam and democracy in South Asia and Bangladesh. The book posits that Islam and democracy are not necessarily incompatible, but that the former has a contributory role in the development of the latter. Islam came to Bengal largely by Sufis and missionaries through peaceful means, and hence a moderate form of this religion got rooted in the society. Both militant Islam and militant secularism are equal threats to democracy and pluralism. Like democracy, political Islam has many faces. Political Islam adhering to democratic norms and practices, what the authors call "democratic Islamism," unlike "militant Islamism," is not anti-democratic. The book shows that the suppression of democracy and human rights creates avenues for the consolidation of militant Islamism, orthodox Islam, and "Islamic" terrorism, while the "fair play" of democracy results in the decline of anti-democratic form of political Islam. Md Nazrul Islam is Professor of Political Studies, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh. Md Saidul Islam is Associate Professor of Sociology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.-- Provided by publisher Foreword 6 Preface 10 Acknowledgements 12 Contents 14 Acronyms 16 List of Tables 18 1 Islam and Democracy in South Asia: An Introduction 19 Democracy and Islam: Compatible or Contender? 21 Studies on the South Asian Landscape 27 The Case of Bangladesh 31 Questions, Structure, and Central Arguments 34 References 35 2 Framework: Religion, Secularism, and Democracy 42 The “Secularization Theory” 42 The Decline of Religion Thesis 43 “Old Paradigm” and “New Paradigm” 45 Modalities of Secularism 48 Weberian Sociology of Religion 52 Conceptual Threads 54 “Polyarchy” by Dahl (1971, 1999) and Post-Dahl Authors 55 Hybridity of Democracy 57 References 59 3 Data Collection and Analysis 65 Triangulation of Methods 65 Sampling 67 Intensive Interviews 68 Recording, Questions, and Interview Techniques 73 Transcription 74 Focus Group Discussion 75 Other Data Collection and Analysis 77 Research Obstacles 78 References 79 4 Islam and Democracy: A Philosophical Debate 82 Divergent Scholarship on Islam and Democracy 83 Contemporary Islamic Scholars on Democracy 85 Islamic Revivalism Efforts in Eighteenth Century 94 The Nineteenth-Century Reformist Movements 95 Harmony Between Democracy and Islam 101 References 109 5 The Advent of Islam and Growth of Muslim Society in Bengal 117 Background 117 Islamization Theories in Bengal 119 Bengal During the Advent of Islam 127 Islam’s Entry to Bengal and the Rise of Muslim Society 129 The Arab Merchants: Early Contacts with Bengal 130 The Muslim Conquest: Beginning of Islamic Consolidation in Bengal 133 The Sufis, Saints, and Spiritual Figures: Islam Wins Bengal 137 The Coming of Sufis in Pre-Muslim Bengal 138 The Coming of Sufis in Bengal During the Early Muslim Period 140 References 145 6 Political Islam in Pre-independent Bangladesh: Puritanism, Muslim Nationalism, and Ethno-Nationalism 150 Defining Political Islam 151 Political Islam in Colonial Bengal: Less Political, More Puritanical 154 Political Islam in East Pakistan: Bengali Nationalism Superseded Muslim Nationalism 162 References 173 7 Piety and Politics: Secularization and Islamization in Bangladesh 180 Background 180 State-Sponsored Islamization in Bangladesh 185 Islamization Promoted by Non-state Actors/Non-political Institutions and Groups 199 Madrasas and Mosques 200 The Hefazat-e-Islam and the Ahl-i-Hadith Andolan 202 The Tablighi Jamaat 206 The Sufis and Saints/Pirs, and Their Shrines 212 Socioreligious and Cultural Organizations 216 References 220 8 Islam, Islamism, and Democracy in Bangladesh 228 Islam: An Issue of the People’s Everyday Life 231 Islamism and Democracy: Do They Necessarily Conflict Each Other in Bangladesh? 235 Pragmatist cum Opportunist 237 Idealist and Orthodox (Political) 250 Pir (Saint)/Mazar (Shrine)-Based 256 Urban Elite-Centric 260 The Jihadists/Militant Orthodox 261 “Democratic Islamism” Versus “Militant Islamism” 266 References 270 9 The “Islam Question” in South Asia: From Militancy to Democratic Islamism 274 Islam and Democracy Are Not Necessarily Incompatible 274 Islam Was Spread in South Asia Through Peaceful Means 275 Political Islam Emerged in Bengal as an Anti-colonial Nationalist Movement 277 Both State and Non-state Actors Made Contributions to Islamization in Bangladesh 279 Islamist Parties Are Characterized by Factionalism, Disintegration, and Dynastic Politics 281 Mainstream Islamists Represent Democratic Islamism as Opposed to Militant Islamism 287 Policy Recommendations 287 The Establishment of Democracy 288 No “Ism” Should Be in the Constitution 288 Stop Suppression of Democratic Islamism 289 Address the Root Causes of Militancy and Terrorism 289 Proactive Islamism and a Reinterpretation of Islamist Movement 289 References 290 Bibliography 293 Index 331 "Critical, insightful and thought-provoking, Islam and Democracy in South Asia is a real masterpiece on religion and politics uncovering the critical nexus between Islam, political Islam, and democracy in Bangladesh. Rigorous methodologies, thought-provoking debates, and convincing arguments are among the hallmarks of the book." -- Emajuddin Ahamed, Political Scientist & former Vice-Chancellor, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh "Islam and Democracy in South Asia is the sophisticated discussion of the political life of Islam that the world needs. Simplistic views of Islam-or-the sword, jihadism, and Islamic anti-modernism die a well-deserved death here. Muslims have a kaleidoscope of political options that have to balance realpolitik and dreams of social fairness." -- Samuel Cohn, Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University, USA "A must read for all scholars, politicians, and diplomats who want to have a birds eye view of Islam as a political ideology and a worms eye view of its interplay with democracy in the context of Bangladesh." -- Mohammad A. Auwal, Professor of Communication Studies, California State University, Los Angeles, USA Grounded in the Weberian tradition, Islam and Democracy in South Asia: The Case of Bangladesh presents a critical analysis of the complex relationship between Islam and democracy in South Asia and Bangladesh. The book posits that Islam and democracy are not necessarily incompatible, but that the former has a contributory role in the development of the latter. Islam came to Bengal largely by Sufis and missionaries through peaceful means, and hence a moderate form of this religion got rooted in the society. Both militant Islam and militant secularism are equal threats to democracy and pluralism. Like democracy, political Islam has many faces. Political Islam adhering to democratic norms and practices, what the authors call "democratic Islamism," unlike "militant Islamism," is not anti-democratic. The book show s that the suppression of democracy and human rights creates avenues for the consolidation of militant Islamism, orthodox Islam, and "Islamic" terrorism, while the "fair play" of democracy results in the decline of anti-democratic form of political Islam. Md Nazrul Islam is Professor of Political Studies, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh. Md Saidul Islam is Associate Professor of Sociology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore "Grounded in the Weberian tradition, Islam and Democracy in South Asia: The Case of Bangladesh presents a critical analysis of the complex relationship between Islam and democracy in South Asia and Bangladesh. The book posits that Islam and democracy are not necessarily incompatible, but that the former has a contributory role in the development of the latter. Islam came to Bengal largely by Sufis and missionaries through peaceful means, and hence a moderate form of this religion got rooted in the society. Both militant Islam and militant secularism are equal threats to democracy and pluralism. Like democracy, political Islam has many faces. Political Islam adhering to democratic norms and practices, what the authors call "democratic Islamism," unlike "militant Islamism," is not anti-democratic. The book shows that the suppression of democracy and human rights creates avenues for the consolidation of militant Islamism, orthodox Islam, and "Islamic" terrorism, while the "fair play" of democracy results in the decline of anti-democratic form of political Islam."--Publisher description