The article proposes a review, based on the work of Talal Asad, of the critical turn in the studies of religion and secularism. I revisit some aspects of Asad’s genealogical and anthropological approach to religion, the secular, and secularism, and address two lines of research it has encouraged: the comparative study of actually existing secularisms and the symmetrical study of frictions and controversies between the secular concept of religion and the traditions it encompasses. I conclude by debating whether the recent realignment of religion in secular scholarship would indicate a “turn” or a “paradigmatic shift”.