The defining of religion and secular categories is itself a contested act.

Evidence

How, when, and by whom are the categories of religion and the secular defined? What assumptions are presupposed in the acts that define them? Does the shift from a religious political order to one that is governed by a secular state simply involve the setting aside of divine authority in favor of human law? — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 976

Categorization

• QUESTION: Asad moves from critiquing the secularization thesis to asking who gets to define these categories — a question parallel to the earlier complaint that immigrants ‘misuse’ religion’s proper space.