Book Review: A secular need: Islamic law and state governance in contemporary India

Research output: Contribution to journalBook/Film/Article reviewpeer-review

Abstract

The book under review argues that Indian secularism does not and cannot work without the assistance of non-state Islamic legal actors. It contends that this dependence engenders an ambivalent politics of need and antipathy on the part of Indian secularism vis-à-vis Muslims. This review article summarises the book’s key claims. It then explores what it means for gender to be a central terrain on which the authority of non-state Islamic legal institutions is asserted and contested. The article takes issue with the book’s suggestion that the Supreme Court has distanced itself from the non-state Islamic arena in some ways, finding more illuminating its demonstration of the many ways in which the secular state remains dependent on and entangled with the Islamic non-state. In conclusion, it speculates on the differences and overlaps between secular judicial antipathy towards Muslims and the more overt expressions of such hatred emanating from the Hindu Right.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)209-216
JournalIndian Law Review
Volume6
Issue number2
Early online date2 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2022

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