Publisher's Synopsis
Written in 1938, Composite Nationalism and Islam laid out in systematic form the positions that the author had taken in speeches and letters from the early 1920s on the question of nationalism as well as other related issues of national im-portance. The book aimed at opposing the divisive policy of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League. It mainly deals with two aspects, i.e. the meaning of the term qaum and how it is distinct from the term millat, and secondly, the crucial distinction between these two words and their true meanings in the holy Koran and the Hadith tradition. By proposing composite nationalism, this important book strongly argues that despite cultural, linguistic and religious differences, the people of India are but one nation. According to the author, any effort to divide Indians on the basis of religion, caste, culture, ethnicity and language is a ploy of the ruling power. The book contains a lengthy?Introduction?by?Barbara?D.?Metcalf.
