In A Pure Muslim Land: ShiIsm Between Pakistan And The Midd

Seminal WorkIn A Pure Muslim Land [Makes] Several Innovative Arguments That Relate To The Dimensions Of Shia Islam In Late Colonial India And Independent Pakistan.Zia Ur Rahman, The News Centering PakistanThe Land Of The PureIn A Story Of Transnational Islam Stretching From South Asia To The Middle East, Simon Wolfgang Fuchs Offers The First InDepth Ethnographic History Of ShiIs And Their Religious Competitors In The Region. The Notion Of Pakistan As The Pinnacle Of Modern Global Muslim Aspiration Forms A Crucial Component Of This Story. It Has Empowered ShiIs, Who Form About Twenty Percent Of Pakistani Population, To Advance Alternative Conceptions Of Their Religious Hierarchy While Claiming The Support Of Towering Grand Ayatollahs In Iran And Iraq. Fuchs Shows How Popular Pakistani Preachers And Scholars Have Boldly Tapped Into The Esoteric Potential Of ShiIsm, Occupying A Creative And At Times Disruptive Role As Brokers, Translators, And SelfConfident Pioneers Of Contemporary Islamic Thought. They Have Indigenized The Iranian Revolution And Formulated Their Own Ideas For Fulfilling The Original Promise Of Pakistan. Challenging Typical Views Of Pakistan As A Mere ShiI Backwater, Fuchs Argues That Its Complex Religious Landscape Represents How A Local, South Asian Islam May Open Up Space For New Intellectual Contributions To Global Islam. Yet, Religious Ideology Has Also Turned Pakistan Into A Deadly Battlefield: Sectarian Groups Since The 1980S Have Been Bent On Excluding ShiIs As Harmful To Their Own Vision Of An Exemplary Islamic State, Which Has Resulted In Terrible Violence.