Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani (1879 – 1957) was a political activist, Islamic scholar, and supporter of Gandhi during the struggle for India’s independence. Humane and fiercely dedicated whether campaigning against the separation of Pakistan, or in favour of democracy and inter-religious peace, he brooked no nonsense and fought relentlessly for what he believed in. Spanning a lifetime of campaigning and controversy, Barbara Metcalf’s compelling biography draws from Madani’s letters and autobiographies, as well as detailed knowledge of the prevailing political climate, to create an intimate and revealing account of one of the most important men in the history of modern Islam.

The popularity of the Muslim League and its idea of Pakistan has been measured in terms of its success in achieving the goal of a sovereign state in the Muslim majority regions of North West and North East India. It led to an oversight of Muslim leaders and organizations which were opposed to this demand, predicating their opposition to the League on its understanding of the history and ideological content of the Muslim nation. This volume takes stock of multiple narratives about Muslim identity formation in the context of debates about partition, historicizes those narratives, and reads them in the light of the larger political milieu of the period. Focusing on the critiques of the Muslim League, its concept of the Muslim nation, and the political settlement demanded on its behalf, it studies how the movement for Pakistan inspired a contentious, influential conversation on the definition of the Muslim nation.

Written In 1938, Composite Nationalism And Islam Laid Out In Systematic Form The Positions That The Author Had Taken In Speeches And Letters From The Early 1920S On The Question Of Nationalism As Well As Other Related Issues Of National Importance. The Book Aimed At Opposing The Divisive Policy Of Mohammad Ali Jinnah And The Muslim League. It Mainly Deals With Two Aspects, I.E. The Meaning Of The Term Qaum And How It Is Distinct From The Term Millat, And Secondly, The Crucial Distinction Between These Two Words And Their True Meanings In The Holy Koran And The Hadith Tradition. By Proposing Composite Nationalism, This Important Book Strongly Argues That Despite Cultural, Linguistic And Religious Differences, The People Of India Are But One Nation. According To The Author, Any Effort Of Divide Indians On The Basis Of Religion, Caste, Culture, Ethnicity And Language Is A Ploy Of The Ruling Power.

This book challenges the fundamental assumptions regarding the foundations of Pakistani nationalism during colonial rule in India.

This book is a TranslaTion of Shaykh Husain Ahmad Madani’s autobiography, highlighting the colonial practices that reduced Indians to economic poverty, erasing their culture and corrupting their faith. It shows the jihad of Shaykh Madani, free from the Eurocentric paradigm of vested interest and hierarchy. It explains why the British imprisoned him in Malta, for two years in Sabarmati prison with hard labour and in Nene Jail, Allahabad. The book also brings forward the role of prominent individuals and institutes in ending the British colonialism of India. It traces the resistance movement from the foundation of Darul-Uloom Deoband by Shaykh Qasim Nanotwi and Shaykh Rashid Aḥmad Gangohi after the 1857 British occupation of Delhi. It also includes the role of Shaykh Sayyid Aḥmad Shaheed and Shaykh al-Hind Mahmud Hasan. This book is a small way of acknowledging his contribution and challenging nationalist and exclusivist historians who have written out the Muslims’ efforts in liberating India. The book will be helpful to students and researchers across colleges, universities and Darul Ulooms. More than that, it will be useful to anyone who wants to learn about the anti-colonial movement in India.

Abd al-Rahman III (891 - 961) was the greatest of the Umayyad rulers of Spain and the first to take the title of Caliph. During his reign, Islamic Spain became wealthy and prosperous. He founded the great Caliphate of Madinat al-Zahra at Cordova and did much in his lifetime to pacify his realm and stabilise the borders with Christian Spain. He died at the apex of his power on Oct. 15, 961.

This revisionist account of the history of Islamic political thought from the early to the late medieval period focuses on Ibn Taymiyya, one of the most brilliant theologians of his day. This original study demonstrates how his influence shed new light on the entire trajectory of Islamic political thought. Although he did not reject the Caliphate ideal, as is commonly believed, he nevertheless radically redefined it by turning it into a rational political institution intended to serve the community (umma). Through creative reinterpretation, he deployed the Qur'anic concept of fitra (divinely endowed human nature) to centre the community of believers and its common-sense reading of revelation as the highest epistemic authority. In this way, he subverted the elitism that had become ensconced in classical theological, legal and spiritual doctrines, and tried to revive the ethico-political, rather than strictly legal, dimension of Islam. In reassessing Ibn Taymiyya's work, this book marks a major departure from traditional interpretations of medieval Islamic thought.

In a study of the vitality of Islam in late-nineteenth-century north India, Barbara Metcalf explains the response of Islamic religious scholars ('ulama) to the colonial dominance of the British and the collapse of Muslim political power. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.