The destruction of Hyderabad by A G Noorani
A. G. Noorani offers a revisionist account of the Indian Army’s ‘police action’ against the armed forces and government of Hyderabad, ruled by the fabulously wealthy Nizam.
His forensic scrutiny of the diplomatic exchanges between the Govt of India and the Govt of Hyderabad during the Raj and after Partition and Independence in 1947 has unearthed the Sunderlal Committee report on the massacre of the Muslim population of the State during and after the ‘police action’ (knowledge of which has since been suppressed by the Indian state) and a wealth of memoirs and first-hand accounts of the clandestine workings of territorial nationalism in its bleakest and most shameful hour.
Muslims and Citizens: Islam, Politics, and the French Revolution by Ian Coller
From the beginning, French revolutionaries imagined their transformation as a universal one that must include Muslims, Europe’s most immediate neighbours. They believed in a world in which Muslims could and would be French citizens, but they disagreed violently about how to implement their visions of universalism and accommodate religious and social difference.
Muslims, too, saw an opportunity, particularly as European powers turned against the new French Republic, leaving the Muslim polities of the Middle East and North Africa as France’s only friends in the region. In Muslims and Citizens, Coller examines how Muslims came to participate in the political struggles of the revolution and how revolutionaries used Muslims in France and beyond as a test case for their ideals.
The Qur’an: A Verse Translation by M.A.R. Habib & Bruce B Lawrence
This translation offers readers the first rendering in English to echo, in accessible and fluent verse, the sonorous beauty of the Arabic original as well as the complex nuances of its meaning. Those familiar with the Qur’an in Arabic know that it is a sublime blend of sound and sense, music and meaning.
While no translation can perfectly capture the inimitable virtues of the original, Habib and Lawrence have come closest to a readable, clear, and fluid English Qur’an that all readers, regardless of their faith or familiarity with the text, can read with pleasure, gaining a deeper appreciation of the book and the religious tradition it inspired.
