Terrains of Exchange : Religious Economies of Global Islam

__Terrains of Exchange__ offers a bold new paradigm for understanding the expansion of Islam in the modern world. Through the model of religious economy, it traces the competition between Muslim, Christian and Hindu religious entrepreneurs that transformed Islam into a proselytising global brand.Drawing Indian, Arab, Iranian and Tatar Muslims together with Scottish missionaries and African-American converts, Nile Green brings to life the local sites of globalisation where Islam was repeatedly reinvented in modern times. Evoking terrains of exchange from Russia's imperial borderlands to the factories of Detroit and the ports of Japan, he casts a microhistorian's eye on the innovative new Islams that emerged from these sites of contact.Drawing on a multilingual range of materials, the book challenges the idea that globalisation has given rise to a unified "global Islam." Instead, it reveals the forces behind the fracturing of Islam in the hands of feuding and fissiparous "'religious firms".__Terrains of Exchange__ not only presents global history as Islamic history. It also reveals the forces of that history at work in the world today. Drawing Together Indian And Iranian Muslims With Christian Missionaries, Hindu Nationalists And Japanese Imperialists, This Book Brings To Life The Local Sites Of Globalisation That Transformed Muslim Religiosity Through The Long Nineteenth Century. Nile Green Evokes Terrains Of Exchange Thatrange From The Russian Empire's Borderlands To The Indian Princely States And The Car Factories Of Detroit. He Casts A Microhistorian's Eye On The Religious Productions That Spilled From These Many Sites Of Contact. Whether Looking At Imperial Evangelicals And Iranian Language-workers, Or Indianmuslims And Yogi Masters Of Breath Control, Each Chapter Unravels Local Forces Of Religious Contact, Competition And Exchange. Green Draws On A Huge Range Of Materials, From Indian Magazines For African Americans To Muslim Japanology; From Urdu Tales Of Ocean-going Saints To The Diaries Of Germanmissionaries; From Bibles In Tatar To The First Arabic Printed Books. Challenging Perceptions Of An Age Usually Identified With The Unifying Ideologies Of Pan-islamism And Nationalism, His Book Reveals More Muddled Human Terrains In Which Muslims Defended, Reformed And Promoted In An Increasingly Connected World. Terrains Of Exchange Presents Not Only Global Historyfrom The Bottom Up But Global History As Islamic History. Terrains of Exchange offers a bold new paradigm for understanding the expansion of Islam in the modern world. Through the model of religious economy, it traces the competition between Muslim, Christian and Hindu religious entrepreneurs that transformed Islam into a proselytising global brand. Drawing Indian, Arab, Iranian and Tatar Muslims together with Scottish missionaries and African-American converts, Nile Green brings to life the local sites of globalisation where Islam was repeatedly reinvented in modern times. Evoking terrains of exchange from Russia's imperial borderlands to the factories of Detroit and the ports of Japan, he casts a microhistorian's eye on the innovative new Islams that emerged from these sites of contact. Drawing on a multilingual range of materials, the book challenges the idea that globalisation has given rise to a unified "global Islam." Instead, it reveals the forces behind the fracturing of Islam in the hands of feuding and fissiparous "'religious firms". Terrains of Exchange not only presents global history as Islamic history. It also reveals the forces of that history at work in the world today. Contents 10 List of Illustrations 12 Preface and Acknowledgments 14 Introduction: Terrains of Exchange 19 Evangelicals: Missionary Catalysts, Muslim Responses 59 1. Parnassus of the Evangelical Empire 61 2. The Christian Origins of Muslim Printing 85 3. The Islamic Opportunities of Bible Translation 121 Innovators: Communal Competitors, Local Cosmopolitans 157 4. Missionaries, Mystics and Mill-Owners 159 5. The Invention of a Hindu Sufism 195 Exporters: Pious Passengers, Islamic Impresarios 223 6. Making Islam in the Motor City 225 7. Founding the First Mosque of Japan 253 Conclusions 299 Notes 307 Bibliography 355 Index 387 Examines how encounters throughout Eurasia and beyond transformed Muslim practices and the history of Islam.--Provided by publisher