Highlighting the dynamic, pluralistic nature of Islamic
civilization, Sufia M. Uddin examines the complex history of
Islamic state formation in Bangladesh, formerly the eastern part of
the Indian province of Bengal. Uddin focuses on significant moments
in the region's history from medieval to modern times, examining
the interplay of language, popular and scholarly religious
literature, and the colonial experience as they contributed to the
creation of a unique Bengali-Islamic identity.
During the precolonial era, Bengali, the dominant regional
language, infused the richly diverse traditions of the region,
including Hinduism, Buddhism, and, eventually, the Islamic religion
and literature brought by Urdu-speaking Muslim conquerors from
North India. Islam was not simply imported into the region by the
ruling elite, Uddin explains, but was incorporated into local
tradition over hundreds of years of interactions between Bengalis
and non-Bengali Muslims. Constantly contested and negotiated, the
Bengali vision of Islamic orthodoxy and community was reflected in
both language and politics, which ultimately produced a
specifically Bengali-Muslim culture. Uddin argues that this process
in Bangladesh is representative of what happens elsewhere in the
Muslim world and is therefore an instructive example of the complex
and fluid relations between local heritage and the greater Islamic
global community, or
umma.