Anna Barry Bigelow

This PhD thesis is a thorough study on the history and influence of the shrine and darga (tomb) of Haider Shaikh in Malerkotla, a Muslim enclave in Punjab often dubbed an “island of religious harmony”.

Rather than adding yet another voice to the cacophony of explanations of inter-religious division, it seems equally urgent to understand how highly integrated communities function without violence becoming their primary method of managing stresses

Click here to read “Knowing the Shaikh”, an extract from chapter 2.

And click here for the entire thesis.

Here is also a link to the original PDF at the University of California, Santa Barbara (27MB).

This thesis is the foundation of Prof. Bigelow’s book, Sharing the Sacred: Practicing Pluralism in Muslim North India (Oxford University Press, 2010). Republished here with thanks.