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Constructions of Muslim identity : women and the education reform movement in colonial India

This thesis examines educational reforms initiated by British colonial officials in late nineteenth/early twentieth century India and the responses they ensued from Indian Muslim reformers. Focusing on the "woman question," British colonizers came to the conviction that the best method to "civilize" Indian society was to educate women according to modern Western standards. Muslim reformers sought to resolve the "woman question" for themselves by combining their own ideologies of appropriate female education with Western ones. Muslim reformers were also deeply concerned with the disappearance of Islamic identity owing to colonial educational policies. Reformers placed the responsibility of maintaining Islamic culture on the shoulders of women so as to both resolve the debate over the proper place of women in society and retain a distinct Islamic identity in the changing Indian context. This resolution limited Indian Muslim women's access to education as well as their participation in Indian society at large.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.98555
Date January 2005
CreatorsMadhani, Taslim.
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Institute of Islamic Studies.)
Rights© Taslim Madhani, 2005
Relationalephsysno: 002494387, proquestno: AAIMR24893, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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