Presented By: Center for South Asian Studies
CSAS 2026 Kavita Datla Memorial Lecture | Minor Cosmopolitanisms: Islam, Urdu, and Secularism in Postcolonial India
Dr. Razak Khan; Senior Research Fellow in Global History, Department of History, Free University, Berlin
Attend in person or via Zoom: https://myumi.ch/e73ZQ
This lecture seeks to build upon Kavita Datla’s work by exploring Urdu as a secular language of Islam. It does so by examining the life and intellectual biography of Syed Abid Husain (1896–1978), drawing upon his extensive corpus of works – including translations from German into Urdu, creative literary writings, and educational and political activism at Jamia Millia Islamia – to paint a portrait of a nationalist Indian Muslim in colonial and postcolonial India. Moving beyond the framework of nationalist history and adopting a global intellectual history approach, my lecture aims to expand our geographical and conceptual understanding of ideas by mapping what I call the minor cosmopolitanisms of Husain’s intellectual journeys. I argue that Husain’s engagement with both German majoritarian and minority thought worlds offer valuable insights into the minority not merely as a political category but also as an intellectual and ethical one. Ultimately, I contend that Husain’s life and writings provide unique insight on both the crises facing democracy and the potential for critical secularism and minority thought in an era dominated by majoritarian nationalism.
Dr. Razak Khan is a senior research fellow in global history at the Department of History, Free University, Berlin. He is part of the European Research Council funded project “Unfamiliar: Family, Law, and Democracy in South Asia.” It looks at the intersection of religion, gender and sexual minorities, and family law on the issues of marriage, adoption, and inheritance. His monograph Minority Pasts: Locality, Emotions, and Belonging in Rampur was published by (Oxford University Press, 2022). He also edited the English translation edition of The Incomparable Festival (Penguin Random House India, 2021) and co-edited Nodes of Translation: Intellectual History between Modern India and Germany (De Gruyter, 2024). His second monograph is an intellectual biography of Syed Abid Husain and will be published by Routledge in 2027.
The lecture is made possible through the generosity of Dr. Kavita Datla's family and friends.
Free and open to the public
If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
This lecture seeks to build upon Kavita Datla’s work by exploring Urdu as a secular language of Islam. It does so by examining the life and intellectual biography of Syed Abid Husain (1896–1978), drawing upon his extensive corpus of works – including translations from German into Urdu, creative literary writings, and educational and political activism at Jamia Millia Islamia – to paint a portrait of a nationalist Indian Muslim in colonial and postcolonial India. Moving beyond the framework of nationalist history and adopting a global intellectual history approach, my lecture aims to expand our geographical and conceptual understanding of ideas by mapping what I call the minor cosmopolitanisms of Husain’s intellectual journeys. I argue that Husain’s engagement with both German majoritarian and minority thought worlds offer valuable insights into the minority not merely as a political category but also as an intellectual and ethical one. Ultimately, I contend that Husain’s life and writings provide unique insight on both the crises facing democracy and the potential for critical secularism and minority thought in an era dominated by majoritarian nationalism.
Dr. Razak Khan is a senior research fellow in global history at the Department of History, Free University, Berlin. He is part of the European Research Council funded project “Unfamiliar: Family, Law, and Democracy in South Asia.” It looks at the intersection of religion, gender and sexual minorities, and family law on the issues of marriage, adoption, and inheritance. His monograph Minority Pasts: Locality, Emotions, and Belonging in Rampur was published by (Oxford University Press, 2022). He also edited the English translation edition of The Incomparable Festival (Penguin Random House India, 2021) and co-edited Nodes of Translation: Intellectual History between Modern India and Germany (De Gruyter, 2024). His second monograph is an intellectual biography of Syed Abid Husain and will be published by Routledge in 2027.
The lecture is made possible through the generosity of Dr. Kavita Datla's family and friends.
Free and open to the public
If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
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