Books | Born a Muslim

Born A Muslim

Winner of Tata Lit Live! Book of the Year 2021 (Non Fiction) and Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize 2021 (Non Fiction)

Weaving together personal memoir, history, reportage, scholarship, and interviews with a wide variety of people, Ghazala Wahab highlights how an apathetic and sometimes hostile government attitude and prejudice at all levels of society have contributed to Muslim vulnerability and insecurity. Born a Muslim goes beyond stereotypes and news headlines to present an extraordinarily compelling and illuminating portrait of one of the largest and most diverse communities in India.

 

 

Reviews

What lies at the root of the insecurities of Indian Muslims
Ghazala Wahab’s new book ‘Born A Muslim: Some Truths About Islam In India’ is a riveting and comprehensive account of the Indian Muslim experience
By Shrabonti Bagchi in LiveMint (What lies at the root of the insecurities of Indian Muslims (livemint.com))

 

Islam in India – Some reality checks and balances
Ghazala Wahab spectacularly fulfills her mandate of informing non-Muslims about Islam in India and engaging Muslims in a conversation about the way forward
By Suhit Kelkar in Business Standard (https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/book-review-islam-in-india-some-reality-checks-and-balances-121043001397_1.html)

 

‘Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India’ review: A sense of disillusionment
Ghazala Wahab explains what it is to be a Muslim, a member of the largest religious minority in India today, and why the community lives in fear as prejudices persist
By Soma Basu in The Hindu (Soma Basu reviews Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India, by Ghazala Wahab – The Hindu)

 

Mint
A Misunderstood Minority Gets Further Marginalised
By Rahul Jacob A misunderstood minority gets further marginalized (livemint.com)

 

The Tribune
Ghazala Wahab on what it means to be a Muslim in India today
By Rasheed Kidwai Ghazala Wahab on what it means to be a Muslim in India today : The Tribune India

 

Scroll
From Muslims in history to Muslims today, this book traces the lives of followers of Islam in India
In ‘Born A Muslim’, Ghazala Wahab skilfully combines personal memories and experience, history and reportage.
By Abdullah Khan  https://scroll.in/article/989978/from-muslims-in-history-to-muslims-today-this-book-traces-the-lives-of-followers-of-islam-in-india

Interviews

Ghazala Wahab on what it means to be an ‘Indian Muslim’ today
How diverse is the Indian muslim community? To what extent is it influenced by the Middle East? How much did the Partition shape it? And what fears and insecurities does the community experience today? In this episode, author Ghazala Wahab joins Sandip to answer these questions, busts myths about Islam in India, and talk about her latest book, Born A Muslim: Some Truths About Islam In India.
(Ghazala Wahab on what it means to be an ‘Indian Muslim’ today | The Indian Express)

 

 

Ghazala Wahab in conversation with Dr Aamir Khan on Tawarikh Khwani
(#GhazalaWahab #Bornamuslim #Alephbooks #IndianMuslims #History #Booktalks #IndianIslam – YouTube)

 

The Note with Mahrukh Inayet Ep. 40: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MUSLIM IN INDIA feat. Ghazala Wahab

‘Hindus, Muslims Have A Legacy Of Living, Working, Loving Together: Ghazala Wahab

Author Ghazala Wahab talks about her new book, Born a Muslim, what it means to live as a Muslim with the fear of violence and humiliation in today’s India, and why she’s hopeful amid a wave of Islamophobia.

By Namita Bhandare (‘Hindus, Muslims Have A Legacy Of Living, Working, Loving Together: Ghazala Wahab (article-14.com))

 

The Wire
Journalist Ghazala Wahab tells Karan Thapar than Indian Muslims are caught “in a pincer grip” comprising two prongs.
Watch | What Does It Mean to Be Muslim in India? (thewire.in)

 

The Swaddle
Tell Me More: Talking Muslim Identity In India With Ghazala Wahab
With Aditi Murti Tell Me More: Talking Muslim Identity In India With Ghazala Wahab | The Swaddle

 

The Print
हिंदुत्व और सोशल मीडिया के दौर में भारत का मुसलमान
With Renu Agal

 

 

The Seen and The Unseen
Episode 216: Being Muslim in India
With Amit Varma Episode 216: Being Muslim in India | The Seen and the Unseen (seenunseen.in)

Book Discussions

 

“BORN A MUSLIM SOME TRUTHS ABOUT ISLAM IN INDIA”: Manthan w Ghazala Wahab

(“BORN A MUSLIM SOME TRUTHS ABOUT ISLAM IN INDIA”: Manthan w Ghazala Wahab [Subs in Hindi & Telugu] – YouTube)

 

Kolkata Literary Meet

Ghazala Wahab in conversation with Avik Chanda  Born A Muslim

 

 

Kalinga Literary Festival
KLF Bhava Samvad: S Y Quraishi & Ghazala Wahab in conversation with Rasheed Kidwai

 

 

Centre for Development and Policy Practice
Panel Discussion on Born a Muslim
Facebook

 

My interview with Ghazala Wahab, author of Born A Muslim. In so many ways this was just one of the hardest, most heart-breaking interviews I have ever done. Do read if you like:
https://www.article-14.com/post/hindus-muslims-have-a-legacy-of-living-working-loving-together-ghazala-wahab

Advance Praise for Born a Muslim

 

This is a sensitively written and deeply empathetic work on the place and predicament of Muslims in India. Drawing on memoir, reportage, and documentary analysis, it contains many moving stories of individuals across class and regional divides, with these case studies skilfully located in a wider political and historical context. An important and timely intervention in our public discourse, Born a Muslim would be of interest to thinking Indians of all faith and ideologies.

Ramachandra Guha, historian and author

 

 

Ghazala Wahab has written a powerful reflection on what it means to be Muslim in modern India. Fusing memory and history, she has produced a poignant state-of-the-community report that every Indian should read. Born a Muslim is a remarkable book: a rare synthesis of lived experience and the roar of history.

Mukul Kesavan, historian and author

 

 

As India confronts the demons of communal discord and watches in horror the distorted reinvention of its time-honoured traditions, Ghazala Wahab’s Born A Muslim will help us understand the full dimensions of the catastrophe being shaped for our nation and what we can do to preserve our shared national heritage.

Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia,
Oman and the UAE, and Ram Sathe Chair Professor for International Studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune

 

 

Excerpts

Hindustan Times
Born a Muslim by Ghazala Wahab
Ghazala Wahab’s new book looks at how the world’s second largest religion is practised in India. This exclusive first excerpt is from a chapter on the changing face of Muslim society in the country Excerpt: Born a Muslim by Ghazala Wahab | Hindustan Times

 

Scroll
Indian Islam: This book examines how the world’s second largest religion is practised in the country

An excerpt from ‘Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India’, by Ghazala Wahab.
Indian Islam: This book examines how the world’s second largest religion is practised in the country (scroll.in)

 

Firstpost
Read an excerpt from Born a Muslim: A critical approach towards locating the Islamic identity in contemporary India
Using interviews, histories, memoirs and scholarship, Wahab pieces together a narrative which is at once critical and sympathetic, to address the dogma within and the prejudice against the community in India
Read an excerpt from Born a Muslim: A critical approach towards locating the Islamic identity in contemporary India – Art-and-culture News , Firstpost

 

The Wire
Minority Politics: Notes on How Muslims Have Been Political in India
A Muslim mainstream politician has needed to appear to be devout for the benefit of his (it has rarely been she) Muslim constituents and flaunt his liberal credentials to non-Muslim voters.
Minority Politics: Notes on How Muslims Have Been Political in India (thewire.in)

 

Times of India
What does it mean to be an Indian Muslim today?
What does it mean to be an Indian Muslim today? – Times of India (indiatimes.com)

 

Insecurities of Muslims in India: Exclusive Excerpts from Ghazala Wahab’s Book Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India
Insecurities of Muslims in India: Exclusive Excerpts from Ghazala Wahab’s Book Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India | Ghazala Wahab | New Age Islam | Islamic News and Views | Moderate Muslims & Islam

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