This chapter centers on the South Asian Muslim scholar, Muhammad ‘Ali Mongiri (1846–1927), one of the founders of the Nadwat al-‘Ulama religious reform movement in colonial India. The chapter takes a special interest in Mongiri’s views on the teaching of multiple languages at the inaugural seminary of the Nadwat al-‘Ulama movement. Through focusing Mongiri’s linguistic ideal, the chapter sheds light on several broad issues in the study of religion and South Asian Islam in particular. These inclu…
Read moreThis chapter centers on the South Asian Muslim scholar, Muhammad ‘Ali Mongiri (1846–1927), one of the founders of the Nadwat al-‘Ulama religious reform movement in colonial India. The chapter takes a special interest in Mongiri’s views on the teaching of multiple languages at the inaugural seminary of the Nadwat al-‘Ulama movement. Through focusing Mongiri’s linguistic ideal, the chapter sheds light on several broad issues in the study of religion and South Asian Islam in particular. These include: i) the impact of colonialism on Indian Muslims; ii) debates over whether language is only a means of communication or if it is also inextricably linked with culture and might even serve as a medium for shaping one’s worldview, and; iii) tensions between Arabic (Islam’s “original” language) and local South Asian languages. While the focus of the chapter remains on Nadwat al-‘Ulama and Mongiri, I also shed light on the historical context in which Indian Muslims’ attitudes towards languages were being formed.
