The Muslim Reality in India is a collection of articles dealing with several aspects of Muslim presence in post-independence India. This edited volume highlights not only the problems the Muslim community is confronted with, but also shows the way ahead. The most obvious and visible reality in India is its pluralistic and composite culture. Every multicultural society is a unique experience; it creates and solves problems. The book in your hand has discussed it very well. Indian Muslims feel marginalized politically, economically and socially. Their educational status is pathetic, to say the least. But what has been frightening the Muslims the most is the frequent outbreak of communal violence. There is also the lurking danger of uniform civil code which has the potential to violently polarize the country along communal lines. Similarly wide- spread discrimination, and in some cases social exclusion are also important problems. There are internal as well as external reasons behind the problems mentioned above. The Muslim Reality in India is an attempt to analyse the problems objectively and find out viable solutions to them. Like the causes of the problems, the solutions, too, are both internal and external. The Muslim Reality in India is thus an objective analysis as well as approach to solve the problems of the largest minority in the country.

This book is a collection of essays on various aspects of lived Islam and Muslim social reality in contemporary India. Moving away from the normative discourse that characterises much discussion and debate about Muslims, it seeks to highlight the complex interactions between religion and a host of economic, social and political factors that help shape Indian Muslim identities. It draws attention to the multiple expressions of Islam and Muslim identity and challenges the notion of a Muslim monolith. This it does by looking at the ways in which various Indian Muslim organisations, activists and intellectuals are seeking to respond to various challenges that Muslims in India are today faced with, such as growing demands for gender justice, the imperative to dialogue with people of other faiths and the need to respond to Hindutva, Islamist and Islamophobic discourses and politics.

The work is unique in the sense that it has not only delved into historical antecedents of the contemporary attitudes of the new generation of Indian Muslims, but has also brought out their adjustment mechanisms and reactions to the demands which are made upon them from a section of the majority. For the understanding of different aspects of behaviour of the minority vis-a-vis the majority, the author has liberally drawn upon the relevant literature of three branches of social sciences, viz., Psychology, Sociology and Political Science. The studies of minority-majority relations elsewhere are referred to for making the reader aware that to a very large extent minorities, wherever they are found, behave in the similar way. Reviews “... The perspective offered by the author in the present study augurs well for the cause of nation-building in the specific context of the persisting and ever elusive communal problem in India.†Prof. Iqbal Narain “The publication is so fascinating that I read more than half by the time I reached Lucknow†. Prof. H.S. Asthana “The first full length study of the mass psychology of the Muslim mind after Mujib’s The Indian Musilms .... Qamar Hasan has used the tools of academic research to study the Muslim factor in Indian Politics... read it because it is a same voice in the madness all around. Tapan Basu, Sunday “The book clearly brings out reactions indicative of fear of domination and urge to dominate ... the book has made a definite contribution in the understanding of inter-and intra-group relationships.†Pramod Kumar “The author must be complimented for his bold and frank revelations about the attitudes of Muslims and Hindus towards each other, their self appraisals and their assessment.†Dr. K. Ravichandra, Review Projector, Vol. VIII, Nos. 10–12 “The causes and cures of the serious problems bedevilling relations between the Muslim minority in India and the Hindu majority badly need studying within a socio-psychological framework. Qamar Hasan is on the right track for a social scientist to throw light on the problems of his people, but he needs to settle on just one frame of reference and typology and then test some bolder hypotheses.’’

A Fascinating Account Of The Muslims In Twentieth-Century India, Pakistan And Bangladesh Through His Biographical Sketches Of Eight Prominent Muslims- Sayyid Ahmed Khan (1817-1898), Fazlul Haq (1873-1962), Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), Muhammad Iqbal (1876-1938), Muhammad Ali (1878-1931), Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958), Liaqat Ali Khan (1895-1951) And Zakir Hussain (1897-1969) Rajmohan Gandhi, The Grandson Of Mahatma Gandhi, Provides A Deeply Insightful And Comprehensive Picture Of The Community In The Subcontinent Today.

A comprehensive, definitive and forceful account – by a witness to recent history in the making – which highlights the fact that Muslims do feel at home in India and also provides rare insights into their thought processes, their aspirations and their problems, As a former Union minister who has held several crucial portfolios, Salman Khurshid, on the basis of his vast and varied experience, recounts how Muslims in India accept this country as their own despite many provocations and allegations doubting their patriotism. In the process, he reinforces his contentions by providing numerous real-life examples of how the community has proved its commitment and capability by making immense contributions in almost all fields. This timely volume, which covers a wide span from the late nineteenth century to the present, brings out succinctly the pivotal roles played by a galaxy of distinguished Indian Muslims. The author describes how the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and the Jamia Millia Islamia (Delhi) came into being and how many of their alumni became part of the freedom movement and made sincere efforts at fostering and maintaining communal harmony. Post-Independence, Salman Khurshid emphasizes the importance of outstanding Muslim leaders who served as role models for the younger generation. The author does not shy away from hypersensitive issues such as terrorism, communal riots, a Uniform Civil Code, present-day Muslim leadership (or lack of) and the place of women in Islam, with a focus on the Shah Bano case. He underscores the significance of the ‘trust deficit’ on the part of Muslims vis-à-vis the police (based on a recent report of the directors-general of police from different states) and spotlights the July 2014 verdict of the Supreme Court with regard to the Shariat and fatwas. He rounds off the book with an analysis of what the future could hold after the recent victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Salman Khurshid tackles each and every topic with candour, sensitivity and forthrightness.