The Garden and the Fire: The Hereafter in the Bengali Muslim Literary Imagination

Hell (al-nar, the Fire) and Paradise (al-janna, the Garden), as punishment and reward for Muslims for failing in performing obligatory practices or perfecting them, appeared in popular print in late nineteenth-century Bengal, to coalesce an audience as belonging to the umma. In a reformist attempt t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Islam in Asia
Main Author: Halder, Epsita (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2022
In: International Journal of Islam in Asia
Further subjects:B Bengali Muslims
B Islam in Bengal
B Islamic reform in Bengal
B Bengali Muslim literature
B dobhāṣī
B print culture and Islamic reform
B Islamic eschatology
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Summary:Hell (al-nar, the Fire) and Paradise (al-janna, the Garden), as punishment and reward for Muslims for failing in performing obligatory practices or perfecting them, appeared in popular print in late nineteenth-century Bengal, to coalesce an audience as belonging to the umma. In a reformist attempt to offer Islamic eschatology to the masses, references were based on Qurʾanic and hadith-based traditions, available in Urdu and Bangla and borrowed freely from several sources. The fear of torment in Hell and sensory indulgence in Paradise, articulated by the ʿulamaʾ as part of reformist Islam in Bengal, drew awe towards God and piety towards the Prophet. With the Qurʾan and hadis repertoire in Bangla, sharīʿa-based knowledge was standardized, but ʿulamaʾ who were writing doctrinal treatises for the masses created multiple layers of negotiation between high and popular forms of eschatology by exploring the creative potential of the hereafter.
ISSN:2589-9996
Contains:Enthalten in: International Journal of Islam in Asia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/25899996-20230016