BOOK REVIEW

increase in the number of problems faced by Muslims. Thus, somewhat cognizant of the social forces at work, they presently have become less confrontational, less law-invoking, and more conciliatory towards people of other faiths. What distinguishes Wahiduddin Khan from scores of other ulema (religious scholars) in the Muslim world in general and in India in particular is his very idea of Islam. He sees Islam as a personal struggle for faith in God and sincere reaching out to God in pursuit of a life of piety. Simply put, he is emphatically opposed to any political understanding of Islam. To him, the political struggles of Muslims around the world cannot and must not be promoted on the basis of Islamic teachings. Islamic lifestyle and culture are decisively separate from any worldly matters that engage Muslims. This does not necessarily imply a dichotomized view of being Muslim in an increasingly secular world. It simply disallows the construction of an artificial connection between Islam’s religious calling and Muslims’ worldly challenges. Khan does not denounce politics as such, but he argues that politics is a matter of choice whereas Islam is not. One may or may not take up a political cause such as a separatist movement organized in Kashmir but one must not confuse such causes with Islam. Islam and the Other Maulana Khan’s perception of the world does not include the “other.” He is critical of the generally dichotomized view of some Muslim leaders who interpret Islam as an ideology pitted against other, in their view, deviant ideologies, that is, the worldview which sees “us” vs. “them” without regard for the complications that such a worldview may pose in the real world. In fact, the ideologizing of Islam has reached a point where in some Muslim groups the process of identifying “us” is limited to those who subscribe to the narrow interpretations of that group. Thus rhetorically, “us” for such groups may rhetorically mean all Muslims, but in reality, it includes only those who agree with the authoritative voice that speaks on behalf of the group while claiming to speak on behalf of the whole of Islam itself. Khan deconstructs this ideological worldview presented in the name of faith. He understands “Islam”—an individual’s quiet surrender to the will of God—as primarily a personal relationship between the believer and God. This understanding of Islam, he argues, emanates from the Quran and was lived out by Prophet Muhammad as evidenced through a careful study of his life.