Distinguished Professor Ali Riaz has published a book chapter on Islamist politics in Bangladesh. The chapter, titled “Islamist Politics in Bangladesh: the nature, scope, and the pathway” is included in the volume Fifty Years of Bangladesh: Economy, Politics, Society and Culture, edited by Rounaq Jahan and Rehman Sobhan and published by Routledge.
The chapter explores various strands of Islamist politics in Bangladesh, focusing on both political parties and social groups that pursue the agenda of Islamization of society and state. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that the emergence of the Islamist politics in Bangladesh is a mid-1970s phenomenon exclusively as a “state project,” the chapter argues there is a long tradition of Islamist politics in the country, and that Islamism as an ideology has gained traction as a bottom-up process, too. Various entities within the traditions of political Islam have reconfigured themselves at various times.
A taxonomy of Islamist political entities presented in the paper shows that the Islamist politics in Bangladesh can be divided into five broad categories. The differences among the various denominations with emphasis on their positions on Islah, Taqlid, and Bid’at are discussed. The chapter concludes with an outline of the future trajectories of Islamist politics.