Understanding India

Vision and Mission

This ambitious program has been meticulously designed after deep thinking and discussion. It aims to create Muslim thinkers and strategists who are well-versed in our classical intellectual traditions, deeply understand contemporary issues, and possess the wisdom, foresight, and vision to guide the Muslim community.

Program Structure

The program will consist of online and in-person lectures, workshops, and research papers. Each session will include a lecture, a question-and-answer segment, and a group discussion.

Batch 2025

Muslim Thinkers Efforts From ShahWaliullah to Maulana Azad
Session 1: Muslim Thinkers Across History Part 1
  • Shah Waliullah
  • Shah Ismael Shaheed and Sayyed Sayyed Ahmed Baralvi
Session 2: Muslim Thinkers Across History Part 2
  • Allama Shibli
  • Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Session 3: Muslim Thinkers Across History Part 3
  • Allama Iqbal
  • Maulana Azad
  • Maulana Maudoodi
Session 4: Muslim Thinkers Across History Part 4
  • Nationalist School of Thought
  • Deoband School of Thought
Understanding Indian Society
Session 5: What is Left, Right and Centre
  • Understaing of Left, Right and Center ideloigies in India
Session 6: The Communist and Samajwadi Movements in India
  • History and growth of the Communist movement in India.
  • The role of socialist movements (Samajwadi) in shaping modern Indian politics.
  • Impact on marginalized communities, especially Indian Muslims.
Session 7: The Dalit Movement and the Dravidian Movement
  • History of the Dalit movement, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s influence, and its impact on Indian politics and society.
  • The rise of the Dravidian movement in South India and its challenge to Brahmanical dominance.
Ancient Indian Historical Themes (Till the Arrival of Muslims in India)
Session 8: Historical overview of the Ancient Period
  • Historical Overview , The caste system and its impact on minorities (Dalits, tribal groups, etc.).
  • Historical examples of Hindu dominance over other communities.
  • Religious conflicts with Buddhists, Jains, and other early minorities
Session 9: Who is the 'Actual' Indian? (Aryan debate)
  • Exploration of the Aryan-Dravidian debate and the question of indigenous identity.
Medieval Indian Historical Themes (From the Arrival of Muslims to The Arrival of Europeans in India)
Session 10: Historical overview of the Medieval Period
  • Arrival of Muhammad Bin Qasim, Mehmud Ghaznavi,
  • Dehli Sultanate
  • Mughal Empire
Session 11: The Contribution of Muslims to Indian Civilization
  • Cultural and intellectual contributions of Muslims during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods.
  • Contributions in art, architecture, administration, and science.
Session 12: Temple Desecration and the Role of Indo-Muslim States
  • With emphasis on Richard Eaton’s research
Understanding Hinduism and Hindutva
Session 13: Introduction to Hinduism
  • Understanding Hinduism
  • Belief, ritual, and culture.
  • Social structure.
Session 14: The Rise of Hindutva and Its Impact on Muslim Society-1
  • The historical origins of Hindutva as an ideology.
  • The influence of Hindutva on contemporary Indian politics.
Session 15: The Rise of Hindutva and Its Impact on Muslim Society-2
  • Impact on religious minorities, especially Muslims.
Modern Indian Historical Themes (Arrival of Europeans to Partition of India)
Session 16: The Composite Nationalism Debate and Its Implications Today
  • Nationalistic school of thought
  • Pro-partition school of thought
  • Islamist school of thought
Session 17: The Evolution of Muslim Politics in Pre and Post-Partition India Part 1
  • Muslims' political approach
Session 18: The Evolution of Muslim Politics in Pre and Post-Partition India Part 2
  • Different approaches and experiments after the post-partition politics
Understanding of Current Situation and Constitution rights
Sessions 19: Salient Features of the Indian Constitution
Sessions 21: Analysis of the Rise and Fall of Indian Muslims
Sessions 19: Salient Features of the Indian Constitution
Research Paper
Participants need to write a research paper on a chosen theme. They will be guided by a compendium of themes and resources.
Compendium of Books for the Course
Ancient Indian Historical Themes
  • R.S. Sharma, India’s Ancient Past
  • R.C. Majumdar, Pracheen Bharat
  • Irfan Habib, People’s History of India
  • Rajesh Kochhar, The Vedic People: Their History and Geography
  • Vincent Smith, Early History of India
  • Romila Thapar, Penguin History of India
  • A.L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India
  • Vasant Shinde, The Aryans: Myth and Archaeology
  • Richard Eaton, Temple Desecration and Muslim States in Medieval India
  • John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire
  • R. Nath, Introduction to Medieval (Indo Muslim) Architecture of India (1192-1803): Handbook for Beginners
  • Satish Chandra, History of Medieval India
  • Audrey Truschke, Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth
  • Shibli Naumani, Aurangzeb Alamgir par ek Nazar
  • Mushirul Hasan, Nationalism and Communal politics in India
  • M. Mujeeb, The Indian Muslims
  • Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani, Composite Nationalism and Islam
  • Maulana Maududi, Masla-e-Qaumiyat
  • Abdul Wahid Moini (compiler), Maqalat Iqbal
  • Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Khutbat-e-Azad
  • Jyotirmaya Sharma, Hindutva: Exploring the Idea of Hindu Nationalism
  • A.G. Noorani, The Muslims of India
  • Rashid Shaz, Hindustani Musalman Ayyam-e-Gum Gashta Ke 50 Baras
  • Ishtiaque Husain Qureshi, The Muslim Community in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent (610-1947)
  • Various Authors, Writings of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
  • Khalifa Abdul Hakim, Fikr-e-Iqbal
  • Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, The Philosophy of Hinduism
  • Sri Aurobindo, India's Rebirth
  • Kancha Ilaiah, Why I Am Not a Hindu
  • B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste
  • Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism
  • Al-Biruni, Kitab-ul-Hind
  • Imtiaz Ahmad, Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India
  • Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi, A History of Sufism in India
  • Laurent Gayer and Christophe Jaffrelot, Muslims in Indian Cities: Trajectories of Marginalisation
  • Abdur Rahman, Denial & Deprivation
  • Abdur Rahman, Absent in politics and power

Archives

Batch 2024
Module 1: Basic Concepts
Session 1: Different Schools of Thought on History
  • Why reading history is necessary in Indian context
  • Historiography in India
  • What are different schools of thought in history
Session 2: What is Left, Right and Center
  • Complete understanding of Left, Right, and Center ideologies in India
Module 2: Ancient Indian Historical Themes
Session 3: Who are the ‘Actual’ Indians?
  • Exploration of the Aryan-Dravidian debate and the question of indigenous identity.
Session 4: The Positions of Minorities in Ancient India
  • Social stratification in ancient India: The caste system and its impact on minorities (Dalits, tribal groups, etc.).
  • Historical examples of Hindu dominance over other communities.
  • Religious conflicts with Buddhists, Jains, and other early minorities.
Module 3: Medieval Indian Historical Themes
Session 5: Spread of Islam in India
  • How Islam spread in India: Trade, conquest, and Sufi missionaries.
  • Myths vs. Facts on the role of force in Islamic expansion.
  • Conversion patterns and interaction with local communities.
Session 6: The Contribution of Muslims to Indian Civilization
  • Cultural and intellectual contributions of Muslims during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods.
  • Contributions in art, architecture, administration, and science.
Session 7: Aurangzeb: Myth and Reality
  • With emphasis on Audrey Truschke’s research
Session 8: Temple Desecration and the Role of Indo-Muslim States
  • With emphasis on Richard Eaton’s research
Module 4: Modern Indian Historical Themes
Session 9: Hindu-Muslim Relations in the Modern Age
  • Impact of British colonization on Hindu-Muslim relations.
  • Divide-and-rule policy and how it fostered communal tensions.
  • The response of Hindus vs. Muslims to Western civilization.
  • Responses from different Muslim groups (Deoband, Dabistane-e-Shibli, and Sir Syed).
Session 10: The Composite Nationalism Debate and Its Implications Today
  • Nationalistic school of thought
  • Pro-partition school of thought
  • Islamist school of thought
Module 5: Contemporary Indian Issues
Session 11: The Rise of Hindutva and Its Impact on Indian Society
  • The historical origins of Hindutva as an ideology.
  • The influence of Hindutva on contemporary Indian politics.
  • Impact on religious minorities and other groups.
Session 12: The Evolution of Muslim Politics in Post-Partition India
  • Three phases of Muslim politics and strategies for the future.
Module 6: Understanding Indian Society
Session 13: Understanding the Hindu Mind
  • Understanding Hinduism through the writings of modern Hindu scholars like Sri Aurobindo, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Vivekananda, Gandhi, etc.
Session 14: Understanding Hindu Society
  • Belief, ritual, and culture.
  • Social structure.
Session 15: The Communist and Samajwadi Movements in India
  • History and growth of the Communist movement in India.
  • The role of socialist movements (Samajwadi) in shaping modern Indian politics.
  • Impact on marginalized communities, especially Indian Muslims.
Session 16: The Dalit Movement and the Dravidian Movement
  • History of the Dalit movement, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s influence, and its impact on Indian politics and society.
  • The rise of the Dravidian movement in South India and its challenge to Brahmanical dominance.
Module 7: Introduction to Important Muslim Thinkers and Their Ideologies
Sessions 17 & 18: Muslim Thinkers Across History
  • Shah Waliullah
  • Allama Shibli
  • Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
  • Allama Iqbal
  • Maulana Azad
  • Maulana Maudoodi
  • Nationalist School of thought (Dr. Zakir Husain, Muhammad Mujeeb, Dr. Abid Hussain)
  • Deoband School of Thoughts
Module 8: Understanding Indian Muslims
Session 19: Social and Economic condition of the Indian Muslims over the years
Session 20: Indian Muslims -Unity in Diversity:
  • Social Stratification Among Indian Muslims
  • Distinct cultures of Muslims living in different parts of India.
Session 21: Analysis of the Rise and Fall of Indian Muslims
  • Reasons for the Rise: Political influence, cultural contributions, religious tolerance, economic power, and military strength.
  • Reasons for the Downfall: Internal disunity, colonialism, economic decline, marginalization in education, social stratification, and decline in political representation.
  • Strategies for Revival: Education: Focusing on modern and religious education, technical skills, and higher education.
  • Political Engagement: Increased political representation, forming alliances, and legal advocacy.
  • Inter-Community Alliances: Collaboration with non-Muslim communities, civil society engagement, and national integration.
Module 9: Research Paper
Participants need to write a research paper on a chosen theme. A compendium of themes and resources will guide them.
Compendium of Books for the Course
Module 2: Ancient Indian Historical Themes
  • R.S. Sharma, India’s Ancient Past
  • R.C. Majumdar, Pracheen Bharat
  • Irfan Habib, People’s History of India
  • Rajesh Kochhar, The Vedic People: Their History and Geography
  • Vincent Smith, Early History of India
  • Romila Thapar, Penguin History of India
  • A.L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India
  • Vasant Shinde, The Aryans: Myth and Archaeology