Behind the Veil in Khuldabad, India: 14th Century Sufi Saints, 21st Century Islamic Reformers, and Muslim Women

In January of 2009, I traveled to India to interview women in Khuldabad, a small Muslim town in the state of Maharashtra, about religious customs and rituals.With the help of my multilingual friend and colleague from this area, Surekha Shah, I interviewed twenty-nine women using a blend of Urdu and English.These women, from different economic and s

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God and the Fate of Man

Human destiny itself is foremost a religious problem because, paradoxically, it stems from a distinctive sense cactus tiki mug of disbelief, or more precisely, from a radical disagreement with the randomness of life.The latter bears a resemblance to meaninglessness insufferable for human beings.On the other hand, fate presupposes a profound belief

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