If We Don’t …Wage Jihad, What Will We Do?

IIAS LECTURE

Presented by Dr Irfan Ahmad
Affiliated fellow at IIAS

Tuesday 23 May 2006
15.30 - 17.00 hrs.

‘If We Don’t …Wage Jihad, What Will We Do?’
Alternative Thesis on Islamist Radicalization in India

Too often, the radicalization of Islamists or jihad has been explained in terms of sacred beliefs or ‘culture’ of Islam. For instance, it has been argued that the mindset of Islamists stems directly from reading the Koranic verses on jihad. This paper calls such a line of reasoning into question. It instead pleads for an anthropological approach to jihad. My main argument is that to understand radicalization, we need to look at the concrete political events and processes in a relational, contextual and dialectical way rather than simply analyze religious beliefs in isolation. The radicalization of Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a tiny young breakaway group from the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, was articulated in the twin calls for jihad and installation of caliphate. It is my contention that SIMI’s radicalization unfolded in direct response to the rise of virulent Hindu Nationalism or ‘Hindutva’ which sought to fashion a ‘Hindunation’ (whose quintessential other were Muslims) by undermining the secular Constitution of the Indian Republic. As the assault on secularism by Hindutva – culminating into in the demolition of Babri mosque and accompanied with large-scale violence against Muslims – grew fiercer, so did SIMI’s call for jihad. In showing its radicalization, I also discuss the interpretation of Islam SIMI offered as a justification for its radical turn.

Venue
Leiden University Leiden University
Building 1103/room 329
Nonnensteeg 1-3 Nonnensteeg 1-3
2311 VJ Leiden

Information
Amis Boersma
a.boersma@let.leidenuniv.nl