ex-Centricity, Ambivalence, Embodiment, and Situational Nonreligiosity in Josh Malihabadi’s Poetry

Abstract

This paper, by contrast, shifts attention to a relatively neglected dimension of atheism in Muslim-majority contexts—pre-social media atheism—and explores ‘ex-Centric’ (Binder, 2020), ‘Local’ (Thomas, 2017), and ‘ambivalent, embodied, and situational modes of nonreligiosity’ (Quack & Schulz, 2023). By examining the life and literary contributions of Josh Malihabadi (1898–1982), a renowned Urdu poet, the paper critiques the Western dichotomy of ‘ex-Muslim’ and ‘cultural-Muslim’ classifications. Josh Malihabadi’s life and work embodies a dualism and synthesis of atheism and Islam.