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Hakim Sameer Hamdani is Design Director at INTACH Kashmir, Kashmir. He has published in the International Journal of Islamic Architecture amongst others and his book The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir is forthcoming.
Shi'ism in Kashmir is a richly documented and immensely valuable addition to the literature on Islam in South Asia. Highlighting the historical complexity of a pivotal region, the book shows how Islamic ideas and identities form, and constantly evolve, in conjunction with political and sociocultural circumstances. The book is an indispensable resource… * SHAHZAD BASHIR, BROWN UNIVERSITY, USA * Using a rich array of unknown Persian, Kashmiri, and Urdu sources, the book covers a large temporal span to offer unique insights into the cultural, spiritual and material practices of the minority Shi i? community in relation to the Sunni majority in a context of non-Muslim rule. Analytically nuanced and meticulously researched, this is a highly informative and useful corrective to the notion that sectarian differences between Shias and Sunnis are primarily due to religious differences, a view that has gained ground in recent years. The book deserves to be widely read and is a welcome addition to the burgeoning scholarship on Kashmir. * AYESHA JALAL, TUFTS UNIVERSITY, USA *
