Synopsis This timely volume discusses the meanings of Islam, the Muslim community, and the changing nature of Muslim consciousness from colonial to contemporary times in South Asia. The essays explore issues crucial to a holistic understanding of Islam--reform and revival, moral economy, ethnicity, identity formation, pluralism, politics and democracy, and regional manifestations. In an insightful introduction, Asim Roy investigates global and local challenges and the critical problems currently facing Islam and Muslims.This book will be useful for scholars and students of history, Islamic studies, political scientists, sociologists as well as the general reader.