God Willing

Is Bangladesh becoming a Taliban state? Talibanization has become an international fear in our post-9/11 era, and attention has begun to focus on Bangladesh in light of the growing strength of militant groups supposedly aligned with Al Quaeda, the landslide victory of the center-right coalition in the general election of October 2001, and the deliberate and planned violence against religious minorities that followed. God Willing answers the explosive question of Talibanization by analyzing the politics of Islamism in Bangladesh, the world's third most populous Muslim country. The book's detailed analysis of events, constitutional measures, and political processes reveals how once-banned religio-political forces assumed a preeminent position within the democratic polity. Far from being a recent trend, the Islamization process in Bangladesh has been escalating for more than two decades. Looking beyond the sensational glare of media coverage, Ali Riaz helps the reader to understand the emergence of Islamism as a legitimate political force through democratic means in a largely secular state, as opposed to the media's portrayal of Bangladesh as a country overrun by Islamist forces with a supranational agenda. The author compares Bangladesh with Indonesia and Pakistan, thus adding a valuable global context for evaluating the politics of Muslim countries.

In a post 9/11 world wherein the words 'Islam' and 'fundamentalism' seem inextricably intertwined, Ali Riaz provides a judicious and important corrective to such facile and simplistic sloganeering. God Willing is superbly argued, passionately written, and an important ethical intervention into one of the most charged debates of our time. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the rise of Islam in contemporary Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world...., Recommended., A hugely readable, well researched and politically important book which will certainly attract all who have an interest in the development of Bangladesh. [Includes] a useful bibliography and a helpful chronology of events., God Willing provides a service by drawing our attention to how deeply entrenched Islamism is [in Bangladesh], and how much nearer the possibility of some form of Talibanization has become., This work explains a crucial aspect of the predicament of secular modernity in the contemporary political world and is a must-read for students of politics and Islam.

Ali Riaz is associate professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University.