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

D e bati ng Ort h o d ox y, Contesting Tr a d i t i o n 1 0 7for guidance and inspiration. The key question, however, is how to actualizethese traditions in order to make this sacralized past meaningful, here andn o w. Despite claims to a timeless universalism, opinions have always divergedover the interpretation and implementation of the tenets of Islamic faith. Tr a-dition, in short, has proven to be a malleable construct, subject to constantr e i n v e n t i o n .Within the complex geopolitical landscape of modern South Asia, politicalactors continue to wrestle over the mantle of Islamic authority and authenticit y. Since the nineteenth century, this contestation has involved a complexprocess of bargaining, protest, accommodation, and conflict. In the publicsphere, numerous movements for social reform were typically dominated byurban male elites. However, as Gail Minault’s monograph Secluded Scholars:Wo m e n ’s Education and Muslim Social Reform in Colonial India (1998) illustrates,Muslim women also played vital roles as writers, educators, intellectuals, andactivists, making strong and enduring contributions along the religious andpolitical spectrum. From the rise of British colonialism through Partition anddown to the present day, the competition between Muslim traditionalists, modernists,and revivalists over the message and meaning of Islam has profoundlyinfluenced the contours and trajectory of South Asian society.TraditionalistsMuslim traditionalists—the religious scholars ( u l a m a ) whose authority derivesfrom their knowledge of the Qur’an, h a d i t h , and the science of interpreting Islamiclaw (usul al-fiqh)—find solace in Islam’s past glory. Historically, the u l a m amaintained the prerogative of defining and defending “tradition,” mediatingbetween the religious and political realms. Under the impact of modernity,h o w e v e r, their monopoly on the status of arbiters of Islam has been increasinglychallenged by a host of new social actors who challenge entrenched notionsof political, social, and cultural authenticity. As their power and prestigehas eroded in South Asia, Muslim traditionalists have struggled to maintaintheir status as cultural spokesmen and the defenders of Islamic orthodoxy. Byreifying a golden-age past, they erect an essentialized, normative Islam as a bulwarkagainst pervasive societal change.In South Asia, a wide range of u l a m a leaders have sought to define Islam onthe public stage. Debating openly with one another, and against their Christianand Hindu counterparts, they often employ new technologies such asprint media to help spread their message. Their efforts have helped framepublic debate and establish select Islamic symbols as key markers of social andcultural identity. During the nineteenth century, many u l a m a worked to establishnetworks of religious schools ( m a d r a s as) across the Subcontinent in an ef-