been places which have produced some studies on religion. Dhaka University
has a department of world religions, but in general studies of Hinduism,
Christianity, or other faiths are marginalized; Islam is the main focus of
analysis. Kazi Nurul Islam, the head of the Dhaka University department, is
President of the Bangladeshi chapter of the International Association for
Religious Freedom and has been a critic of the tendency of Muslim scholars
to ignore the study of other religious traditions. A critique of Western
approaches and concepts emerges in some of the writings, but this does not
necessarily give rise to independent methodologies. Rather, often what comes
through is a defensive and apologist stance. Social analysis in Pakistan for
instance, whether of religion or other issues, has often employed the technique
of absolving the country of its problems by pointing to those of other
neighboring countries such as India. Even Akbar Ahmed (1997) is not innocent
of this approach.
Aziz (2001) has written on the pir-muridtradition in Pakistan, looking at
the subject from the perspectives of history, sociology, religion, politics, and
the economy. Jamal Malik (1996) has looked at the social basis of Islamization.
He tries to capture the state’s policy towards traditional religious structures
including endowments (waqf), religious alms (zakat) and religious schools (dini-
madaris). Razia Akter Banu’s study on Islam and social change in Bangladesh
is framed by Weberian understandings of religion (1992). Contemporary urban
and village Islam come within its compass. Also studied is the impact of Islamic
religious beliefs on contemporary Bangladesh’s socio-economic development
and political culture.
Tazeen Murshid (1995) examines the tension between religious and secular
perceptions among the Bengali intelligentsia in matters relating to their social,
cultural, and political lives. Murshid also examines the relationship of Islam,
women and the state in Bangladesh, a theme which appears as well in Kabeer
(Kabeer 1989; Murshid n. d.) (see http://www.swadhinata.org.uk/misc/Women
BdeshTazeen.pdf). Asma Barlas (2002) has explored with respect to Pakistan,
how religious knowledge, especially patriarchal exegeses of the Qur’Çn, come
to be produced by Muslims.
Akbar Ahmed has outlined the contours of what would constitute an Islamic
anthropology. Contemporary Muslim realities may be juxtaposed to but not
confused with an understanding of the ‘Islamic ideal’ (Ahmed 1988). Ahmed
uses a sociological and historical perspective to understand various aspects of
Muslim culture and society in Pakistan (1986). Ba-Yunus has also worked on
the implications and dimensions of an Islamic sociology and has pursued the
study of Muslims in North America (Ba-Yunus and Ahmad 1985, Ba-Yunus
and Kone 2005).
The Pakistan-born scholar Ziauddin Sardar has written extensively on
aspects of postmodernism, Islam and globalization (e.g. Sardar 2004, 2006;
cf. Inayatullah and Boxwell 2003). Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr (1994) examines
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