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Book Review
Focus on Bohras
By William P. Collins,
Library of Congress
Book:
Mullahs on the Mainframe : Islam and Modernity Among the Daudi Bohras
Author: Jonah Blank
Hardcover - 352 pages (May 2001)
University of Chicago Press; ISBN: 0226056767 ; Price: $40.00
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Policy adviser to the US Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations and a senior editor at U.S. News and World Report, Jonah
Blank (Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God) here focuses on the Bohras, a
community of Shia Ismaili Muslims from Gujarat numbering upwards of a
million worldwide.
This is a groundbreaking work for two reasons: it is the first full
description of a community never before studied from outside, and it
demonstrates that an orthodox Islamic community can also embrace Western
ideas and technology by adopting all aspects of modern culture that are
not forbidden to it. The Daudi Bohras are both "traditional" and
"modern." Blank reviews the community's history, organizational
structure, rituals, domestic life, orthopraxy, and maintenance of
community boundaries.
The Bohra have dramatically improved orthopraxy among members, creating a
high level of observance of basics while increasing the educational level
and scientific sophistication of the community ("there is no conflict
whatsoever between science and faith"). The author demonstrates the
extent to which Westerners have adopted a view of Islam distorted by
stereotypes, fostered by media reports, and sustained by a triumphalism
about values that Westerners believe are exclusively theirs.
What the Bohras have done, Blank concludes, is to "break down the
false dichotomy between modernity and tradition, to let members of the
community revel in both." This brilliant study is both academically
rigorous and a welcome introduction to the real success of this Islamic
community in the modern world. Highly recommended for all academic
libraries and large public libraries. q
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