Methodologies of the Everyday in South Asian Islam

Abstract This introduction to the special section “Methodologies of the Everyday in South Asian Islam: Beyond Received Frameworks” explores how “the everyday” has been used conceptually across disciplines such as anthropology, history, and religious studies in the study of Islam. Through this special section, the authors argue for renewed focus on the methodologies of studying the everyday, and they assert the importance of studies of Islam in South Asia to this project. The introduction connects the interventions of the six articles in the special section, which demonstrate how scholars across disciplines use the everyday as theory and method, and it provides examples of how scholars might engage cross-disciplinary perspectives. Recognizing the well-established and extensive literature on Islam and the everyday, the introduction and the special section as a whole insist on the continued relevance of the everyday and highlight the need for increased attention to the varied methodologies that elucidate it.