Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India

Winner of Tataiteratureive ! Book of the Year Award- Non-fiction 2021 Winner of Atta Galatta- Bangaloreiterature Festival – Book of the Year 2021 (Non-fiction) Who are the Indian Muslims? Are they a monolithic community practising a faith alien to India? Or are they a diverse people, geographically rooted in the cultural ethos of theand? Is there an ?Indian Islam?, a religion that grew out of Arabia but was nurtured in India and influenced byocal traditions and customs? Has the power of Islam declined over the centuries because the faithful have forgotten the spirit of the religion, and are sticking to dogma and rigid rules instead? Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India attempts to answer these questions by taking a hardook at how the world?s secondargest religion is practised in the country. The author takes a clear-eyedook at every aspect of Islam in India today. She examines the factors that have stalled the socio-economic and intellectual growth of Indian Muslims and attributes both internal factors?such as a disproportionate reliance on the ulema?as well as external ones that have contributed to the backwardness of the community. She shows atength, and with great empathy and understanding, what it isike toive as a Muslim in India and offers suggestions on how theirot might be improved. Weaving together personal memoir, history, reportage, scholarship, and interviews with a wide variety of people, the author highlights how an apathetic and sometimes hostile government attitude and prejudice at allevels of society have contributed to Muslim vulnerability and insecurity. Born a Muslim goes beyond stereotypes and news headlines to present an extraordinarily compelling and illuminating portrait of one of theargest and most diverse communities in India.