This article examines the Islamic concept of takfīr (the declaration that one is not a Muslim) as it is used in secular-pluralistic contexts, within a larger delegitimizing discourse against terrorism. I argue that this takfīr as deployed by “liberal” Muslims, functions to legitimate the state’s use of coercive force. Furthermore, the secular state may in turn draw upon these discourses to co-opt the right to determine authentic Muslim identity. However, in doing so the state is forced to enter into a religiously discursive space. Takfīr notably becomes the site of contention over secular state sovereignty for determining the value of life, where religious individuals both challenge and affirm this sovereignty. This reveals the dynamics in the relationship between secular conceptions of sovereignty and religion, as it pertains to the justification of violence.

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intellectual life of this organization, but that they acted as partners with, rather than subordinates to, men in these ventures. The volume relies on archival research largely drawn from organizational minutes, correspondence, and the institutional histories that have languished on the shelves of divinity libraries. It stands less as a "hidden" history of women's achievement and more as a forgotten one, a story that has been supplanted by more thematic recent studies. The decision to prioritize examination of institutional structures and biographical sketches precludes placing the story of the SCM into sustained conversation with scholarship that has examined relationships between the turn-of-the-century Anglo-American missionary movement and global women's movements, colonialism and independence movements, and the evolution of Christian internationalism. For that reason, the book may better serve as a reference work, rather than a starting point, for scholars investigating women in mission, international ecumenicalism, and Christian student groups. Nevertheless, the account shows the value of a renewed attention to the SCM, and it points to important areas for future inquiry by indicating the importance of this history to the study of contemporary global networks of student religious groups as well as debates over women's positions in religious leadership.

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