In Kerala, Vakkom Moulavi motivated Muslims to embrace modernity, especially modern education, in order to reap maximum benefit. In this process, he initiated numerous religious reforms. However, he held fairly ambivalent attitudes towards individualism, materialism and secularization, defending Islam against the attacks of Christian missionaries.

Socio-religious Reform Movements in British India will appeal to students and scholars in a wide variety of social scientific disciplines.

Examining modern Muslim identity constructions, the authors introduce a novel analytical framework to Islamic Studies, drawing on theories of successive modernities, sociology of religion, and poststructuralist approaches to modern subjectivity, as well as the results of extensive fieldwork in the Middle East, particularly Egypt and Jordan.

"Published to accompany a major exhibition at Tate Britain, this fully illustrated catalogue explores the history of attacks on art in Britain, from the reformation of the sixteenth century to the present day, demonstrating how religious, political, moral and aesthetic controversy can become arenas for assaults on art. Through eight essays, the broad subject of iconoclasm is broken into three overarching themes: the state-sanctioned iconoclastic zeal of religious reformers, who aimed to purge both churches and minds of the sin of idolatry; the symbolic statue-breaking that accompanies political change such as the targeted attacks on cultural heritage by the suffragettes; and attacks on art by individuals stimulated by a moral or aesthetic outrage. Importantly, the aim of the study is to present the rationale of iconoclasm, its significance to the history of an object, and how it has become a productive and transformational practice for some modern and contemporary artists."--Publisher's description.

India is frequently represented as the quintessential land of religion. Johannes Quack challenges this representation through an examination of the contemporary Indian rationalist organizations: groups who affirm the values and attitudes of atheism, humanism, or free-thinking. Quack shows the rationalists' emphasis on maintaining links to atheism and materialism in ancient India and outlines their strong ties to the intellectual currents of modern European history. At the heart of Disenchanting India is an ethnographic study of the organization ''Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti'' (Organization for the Eradication of Superstition), based in the Indian State of Maharashtra. Quack gives a nuanced account of the Organization's specific "mode of unbelief." He describes the group's efforts to encourage a scientific temper and to combat beliefs and practices that it regards as superstitious. Quack also shows the role played by rationalism in the day-to-day lives of the Organization's members, as well as the Organization's controversial position within Indian society. Disenchanting India contributes crucial insight into the nature of rationalism in the intellectual life and cultural politics of India.