The Muslim Secular: Parity and the Politics Of India's Partition

‘Meticulously researched, intricately argued, and elegantly written. This is a splendid and original contribution to the understanding of the intellectual foundations of Indian nationalism.’ – Cécile Laborde, University of Oxford

‘A trail blazing account that promises to rewrite the story of India’s Partition. Sohal’s masterful study of the ‘Muslim secular’ sheds light on a compelling yet little known ‘third way’ to Indian nationalism. Crafted in opposition to the harsh binaries of ‘secular’ and ‘communal’ nationalisms, it offered a majestic vision of India, inspired by the universalist claims of Islam, as a shared cultural space where Hindu and Muslims were equally valued as the makers of an Indian nation and architects of a future Indian republic.’ – Farzana Shaikh, author of Making Sense of Pakistan

‘Amar Sohal displaces the acusation – popular and scholarly – that Muslim politics, nationalist or otherwise, was a series of bargains driven by interest. In this well-argued account matched by rigorous evidence, Sohal centrally places the arguments and ideas of Muslim leaders and thinkers who enabled and strengthened Indian nationalism and secularism. This is a major tribute to both the power of political ideas and indeed, to the now forgotten or deliberately misunderstood Muslim thinkers who laid the foundation of the Indian Republic. An essential book for our contemporary times and a valuable and original addition to the growing scholarship on the vibrant if young field of Indian political thought.’

– Shruti Kapila, University of Cambridge

An intellectual historian of modern India and Pakistan, Amar Sohal completed his DPhil in History at Merton College, Oxford. Now a Lecturer in the History of Political Thought at King’s College London, his research focuses on anti-colonial nationalism, religious politics, and the secular state. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and was previously an Early-Career Research Fellow in Politics and International Studies at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His writing has been published in leading academic journals: Modern Intellectual History, Global Intellectual History, and South Asia. He has also scripted and presented an hour-long documentary titled Azad and Jinnah: A Political Rivalry in Late Colonial India.