A Modern Day Perspective On Islamic Divisions

Alisha Khan

SYBA

2020-21

This essay examines the community-based divisions in Islam, which may be understood to replicate the caste-based stratification model in Hinduism, as well as ideological sects through the lived experiences of my family members and empirical perspectives based in the Western region of India, specifically the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, where my forefathers have resided for centuries. Islam, a religion that has been practised by my family for generations, is known for preaching egalitarian ideals enshrined in the holy book of Quran. It also depicts the fact that such views not only extend to its followers but mankind in general. However, it is essential to take into account that these theoretical principles are far from being practised in reality as it is inevitable for vertical social structures to arise in Islamic societies around the world given the cultural milieu. 

ISLAMIC CASTES 

The community that I belong to, commonly known as the Pathan Muslims, has had an extremely complex background before even entering the realms of the Indian subcontinent and furthermore adjusting itself to the domestic features of the caste culture. Historically, Pathans originating from the Yousafzai tribe in Afghanistan were brought to the subcontinent by Royal princes (Maharaja Man Singh 1, ruler of Amer, in the case of Jaipur) as they were known for their valour for serving in the army forces (Singh, 1998). In an introspective conversation with my grandmother, I was able to gain insights of how my great great grandfather fought in the World War 1 while serving for the Alwar State Forces. This occupational background of Pathans was able to earn them a place in the upper strata of a divisive hierarchy that seemed to become more and more evident amongst different regional and occupational Islamic settlements in the region. Pathans, amongst three other castes, namely Sheikhs, Mughals, Syeds together formed an umbrella of elitism known as ‘Ashrafs’. 

My grandmother demonstrated instances of interactions with other occupational communities or ‘biradari’, for example, the Bishti, which is the equivalent of the Dalit Hindu sub-caste Chamar. Rahman, a Bishti was a daily wage worker, whose labour included gardening, cleaning the veranda, daily outside chores, etc. As she pointed out how there were clear boundaries of his entrance inside the house which were never spoken of, but were implicitly followed by both the ends of the caste spectra, I was then able to comprehend the sharp stratification reflected in the daily practices which were always blindsided by my ignorance. I further realised that my ignorance, which was a product of my privileged position in the society stemming out from the economic class established by my parent’s financial position, shadowed me from acknowledging the reality. She further delineated the endogamous practises of my community which till date are veritably followed. Even while exploring marriage options for my brother, it became apparent that one of the main criteria for finding the “ideal” match was that her roots should strictly belong to the Pathan community, and marrying into other Ashraf castes was discouraged as well. In my own experience, my parents' marriage was an inter-religious affair. While my father was a Sunni Pathan, my mother was a Rajput, particularly Rajawat. However, the reconciliation between the two happened along the lines of my mother’s religious conversion to Islam, albeit not without severe opposition from such a union. This further manifested into a desire to inculcate within us the values of Islam, and thus my sister and I were both raised as Muslims while also keeping close ties with our maternal relatives took no issue to religious divide. 

As I interviewed my father, while questioning him about the ethnically stratified divisions, he seemed quite ecstatic as he felt that I was gaining more societal knowledge. During his childhood in the seventies, he was often left curious when the mailman belonging to the Nai, a lower caste, would only deliver a message or an invitation to an auspicious occasion outside the house whereas other guests would be called inside to have a cup of tea. One could say that these practices were often influenced by the proximity of the the Hindu caste system. Thus, from a general sociological point of view, the only usual similarities found between the Hindu caste system and the Islamic caste like stratifications were ‘hierarchy’ and ‘endogamy’ (Ahmad, 1973:26). However, he mentioned that when it came to the site of worship, mosque, the holy practises conducted were always devoid of any discrimination. For example, during the public prayer, an Ashraf, in all chances, could be sitting beside a Lohar (lower caste) and an extremely essential element of the prayer was a religiously binding rule applied to everyone; every person’s elbow shall physically be in contact with their neighbour’s elbow as they stood up with their arms crossed during the jamat (assembling for prayer). This was specified in the Quran as an act that metaphorically reflected equality amongst all Muslim brothers and that Allah saw no division. 

It should fairly be noted that many sections of Indian Muslims are majorly converts from indigenous populations such as the backward, Dalit and tribal Muslims which together form the Pasmanda category and have sustained their social and occupational structure which has allowed the Hindu social structure to seep inside that of Indian Islam’s. (Ahmad, 1973:66). The motive behind these conversions is usually due to the acute discrimination faced by them on the grounds of purity and pollution which hinders them from achieving a life of quality and free of caste atrocities. However in the political arena, the Pasmandas do not seem to attain the advantage they rightfully deserve due to the over representation of the Ashraf castes in the Northern and Western states for the sake of vote bank politics. Political and social marginalisation remains an issue for Pasmanda castes wherein they are dominated by the institutions created by the Ashrafs. However, on a broader outlook, central politics has generally made Muslims belonging to the lower and upper strata more intact due to their minority status often being targeted by the “Hindutva” ideology. 

ISLAMIC SECTS

The Islamic split of Shias and Sunnis, right after Prophet Muhammad’s death in A.D. 632 originating from the rifts in the belief of who succeeded the Prophet, is considered to be one of the most bitter ideological rifts all around the globe (Pruitt, 2019). Being a Sunni Muslim, my grandmother gave me some deep insights about the social dichotomy that still exists between the sects. She told me that the sourness in relations was such that in some cases Shias and Sunnis would refuse to eat each other's food due to the inherent lack of trust amongst them. She narrated the story of a police officer called Munshi Ahmed, a very close companion of my grandfather, never ate food at our house regardless of the friendship between the two. However, while being a Sunni himself, my grandfather overlooked these differences in sects and propagated an assimilation of practices as he enjoyed consuming delicacies in homes of his Shia friends. 

Shockingly, when she went to Pakistan to meet some of her relatives, she was also explicitly warned of letting her own kids out of her sight, as it was widely rumoured that people from the other sect would often abduct kids in order to strike fear and assert social dominance. I have further experienced the difference in the manner in which religious festivals, like Muharram are celebrated, wherein Sunnis would be prohibited from entering into the Shia's venue of practice. Within our immediate cultural environment, however, we have witnessed some changes to the opposability of Sunnis and Shias. For example, the sons of Munshi Ahmed would often come to dine with us, breaking the barriers their own father held a couple of decades ago. Speaking in experiential terms, the divisive nature, rather than being based on social ranking and assigning of status by birth, has borne out from ethnic differences that compel both parties to advocate their moral positioning through political mediums, endogamic practices and general boycotting from each other’s cultural realm, nonetheless Shias and Sunnis have been able to peacefully coexist for a long time. 

CONCLUSION

Islam, an ideology that has had a humanistic outlook and attracted millions of people to its fold due to its tolerance and egalitarianism in the case of the Indian context can be seen being wrapped around in a tragic paradox (Momin, 1975). As a Sunni Pathan, I was able to identify my caste positioning and familiarise myself with these divisions and differences on the basis of regional, ideological, ethnocultural and mainly occupational backgrounds through a retrospective approach. I finally realised that while the society is slowly and steadily moving away from caste-based divides and ethnic sects, especially within your own economic and cultural environment, subtle manifestations still exist as nostalgic and melancholic reminders of ideological skirmishes that lie dormant. 

References: 

Ahmad, I. (1973). ‘Introduction’ in Imtiaz Ahmad (Ed.). Caste and Social Stratification among the Muslims (p.19). Delhi Manohar Book Service.

Momin, A. (1975). Muslim Caste: Theory and Practice. Economic and Political Weekly, 10(14), 580-582. Retrieved October 1, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4537008

Pruitt, S. (2019). Islam's Sunni-Shia Divide, Explained. Retrieved 1 October 2020, from https://www.history.com/news/sunni-shia-divide-islam-muslim

Singh, K., Lavania, B., Samanta, D., Mandal, S. and Vyas, N. (1998). People Of India. Ramdas G. Bhatkal for Popular Prakashan.