USHA SANYAL

Scholars of Faith: South Asian Muslim Women and the Embodiment of Religious Knowledge. (Oxford University Press, 2020.)

A Sept 2022 review of this book on H-Net by Gail Minault is here: Minault on Sanyal, Scholars of Faith
“Usha Sanyal’s comparison of two contemporary examples of Muslim women’s encounters with Qur’anic learning is an example of dedicated and culturally sensitive research… Sanyal ultimately succeeds in making her point about how improvement in their religious knowledge gives Muslim women heightened social and religious authority in their families and their communities.”

A 2022 review of this book in Samaj can be found here: Review by Mashal Saif
“Girls’ madrasas are thriving in India and growing at a faster rate than boys’ madrasas. Relatedly, enrollment at girls’ madrasas is rising while that at boys’ madrasas is dwindling. And—Sanyal convincingly asserts—as sects (maslaks) continue to compete, female literacy rates continue to rise, the desire for “educated” wives and companion marriage becomes more of the norm, girls’ madrasas will keep blooming in number and enrollment….”

A 2021 review of this book in The News (Pakistan) can be found here: Women in the Sphere of Islamic Learning.
“In the book in question, the author focused on the emergence of Muslim girls and women in the sphere of Islamic learning. The trend of acquiring in-depth Islamic education – using both a traditionalist and classical methodology and a contemporary, modern approach – has increased among South Asian women particularly since the latter part of the 20th Century, whether these are women living in the urban or peri-urban areas of their own countries or are part of the Diaspora now settled in the West…”

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Food, Faith and Gender in South Asia: The Cultural Politics of Women’s Food Practices. Usha Sanyal and Nita Kumar, eds. Bloomsbury, 2020

A 2022 review of this book on the website of International Institute for Asian Studies can be found here: Review by Swati Mantri 
“What one might find remarkable across the ten chapters is the research methodology adopted to traverse through the descriptive narratives. The thick ethnography captured in these chapters paints a vivid picture of the events that unfolded for the researchers, but it also visualises the role of food in constructing, sustaining, and even unwrapping the underlying societal peculiarities…”

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Muslim Voices: Community and the Self in South Asia. Usha Sanyal, David Gilmartin, and Sandria Freitag, eds. Delhi: Yoda Press, 2013.

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Ahmad Riza Khan: In the Path of the Prophet. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. 2005

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The third edition of the book, “Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920,” with a new introduction, was published by Yoda Press in June 2010.

A Review by M. Raisur Rahman, Wake Forest University, 2011. Review_of_Usha_Sanyal_Devotional_Islam_a

“The strength of this book can be gauged by the relevance of the subject and the freshness of its matter, despite being reissued almost after a decade and a half later. It is highly recommended to anyone interested in South Asian Islam, British colonialism, religious movements and Muslim societies, in general…”

Bartanwi Hindustan main Aqeedat par Mabni Islam aur Siyasat: A’la Hazrat Mawlana Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi aur unki Tahreek (1870-1920). Global Media Publications, New Delhi, 2013. (This is an Urdu translation of “Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920.”)

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Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920. 3^rd edition. (1^st and 2^nd eds. New York and Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996 and 1999.)

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