"Toor's book is part of the current re-emergence of a foundation for progressive politics in Pakistan. A deeply informed study of Pakistan's unfinished journey, marked by the historical suppression of its vibrant Left." Vijay Prashad author of The Darker Nations (2007) and co-editor of Dispatches from Pakistan (2011)
"Saadia Toor reveals a country that is nothing like the hotbed of Islamic extremism and military dictatorship we read about constantly A powerful antidote to reactionary stereotypes of Pakistan." David Ludden Professor of History, New York University, and author of India and South Asia (2002)
"A rare insight into the debate on liberal Pakistani nationalism." Ayesha Siddiqa author of Military Inc. (Pluto Press, 2007)
The State of Islam tells the story of Pakistan through the lens of the Cold War, and more recently the War on Terror, to shed light on the domestic and international processes behind the global rise of militant Islam.
Unlike existing scholarship on nationalism, Islam and the state in Pakistan, which tends to privilege events in a narrowly-defined "political" realm, Saadia Toor highlights the significance of cultural politics in Pakistan from its origins to the contemporary period. This extra dimension allows Toor to explain how the struggle between Marxists and liberal nationalists was influenced and eventually engulfed by the agenda of the religious right.
Timely and unique, this book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the roots of modern Pakistan and the likely outcome of current power struggles in the country.
