Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

Chapter FourDebating Orthodoxy,Contesting TraditionIslam in Contemporary South AsiaR O B E R T R O Z E H N A LIn the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Islam has fallen under an intense andunrelenting mass media spotlight. Newspapers, television, and cyberspace inundateus with a daily stream of images, arguments, and innuendo. Much of thisinformation views religion through the prism of ideology, blurring the boundariesbetween piety and politics. With rare exceptions, the modern Muslimworld is portrayed as a fossilized monolith: Arab, patriarchal, rigid, violent, andutterly at odds with modernity. As the chapters in this volume illustrate, howev e r, contemporary Islam is simply not so easy to encapsulate; its complexity beliesreductive stereotypes and sound-bite summaries. A study of history showsthat Muslims have always evolved with the times, evoking remarkably differentbeliefs, practices, and cultural symbols in response to changing local realities.From Morocco to Indonesia to the United States, Islam is as diverse and dynamicas the cultural continuum it inhabits. In pursuit of a more nuanced understandingof Islam’s place in today’s world order, therefore, we need to getbeyond politics and polemics to explore the tradition as a lived religious enco u n t e r, rooted in a sacred past, inscribed in texts and embodied in ritual practiceswithin localized contexts. In few places is the Muslim world’s heterogeneitymore apparent than in its contemporary demographic center, South Asia.The Legacy of PartitionIslam today has a global reach, but above all it is a pan-Asian religion centeredin South Asia. At first, this may seem paradoxical. It certainly challenges the1 0 3