Da'wa and Other Religions

Dawa, a concept rooted in the scriptural and classical tradition of Islam, has been dramatically re-appropriated in modern times across the Muslim world. Championed by a variety of actors in diverse contexts, dawa "inviting" to Islam, or Islamic missionary activity has become central to the vocabulary of contemporary Islamic activism. Dawa and Other Religions explores the modern resurgence of dawa through the lens of inter-religious relations and within the two horizons of Islamic history and modernity. Part I provides an account of dawa from the Quran to the present. It demonstrates the close relationship that has existed between dawa and inter-religious relations throughout Islamic history and sheds light on the diversity of dawa over time. The book also argues that Muslim communities in colonial and post-colonial India shed light on these themes with particular clarity. Part II, therefore, analyzes and juxtaposes two prominent dawa organizations to emerge from the Indian subcontinent in the past century: the Tablgh Jamat and the Islamic Research Foundation of Zakir Naik. By investigating the formative histories and inter-religious discourses of these movements, Part II elucidates the influential roles Indian Muslims have played in modern dawa. This book makes important contributions to the study of dawa in general and to the study of the Tablgh Jamat, one of the worlds largest dawa movements. It also provides the first major scholarly study of Zakir Naik and the Islamic Research Foundation. Further, it challenges common assumptions and enriches our understanding of modern Islam. It will have a broad appeal for students and scholars of Islamic Studies, Indian religious history and anyone interested in dawa and inter-religious relations throughout Islamic history.