Decoding the Reality of Bohra Muslims

Mohsina Sakriwala

SYBA

Our identities are constructed on various layers. For some, however, these layers are ripped out in the open, mercilessly, becoming their only evidence of existence. Though for others, the layers are hidden deep within that they may go unremembered. I am a Muslim. To be more specific, a Choti Jamaat (small community) Dawoodi Bohra Muslim also known as the reformist group. The specificities are a clear indication of the stratification existing among Muslims. This essay examines the division of Islamic communities which resemble the vertical social structures of the Hindu varna system juxtaposed with the lived experiences of my family and the ethnic violence that entails these narratives. 

Socio-political organization

In the 16th century, when the Arabs arrived on the Indian peninsula, a bunch of Gujarati merchants who were known to be Brahmins then converted to Islam and especially advanced under the guidance of the then Syedna (high priest), The Bohras . The term 'bohras' means traders in Gujarati and although the community is known for it, I come from a family of farmers. 

In the year 1588, a split resulted in the Bohra community between followers of Dāʾūd ibn Quṭb Shāh and Sulaymān, who both claimed leadership of the community. This was the 1st split in Bohras. But in 1922, in Malegaon (the place of my community), the pontiff (the Pope) - Najmuddin, was discriminatory and the people revolted against his unjust rules. Badi jamaat and the reformist group were created. Choti jamaat - the community I belong to - was the rebel group.

Hindutva supremacists who are eager to either indigenize Muslims or send them to either Pakistan or Kabristan, cannot remove the projected population of 19.75 crores of Indian Muslims at once (as per NCP reports, July 2020). I became aware of this in 2019 when the Ghar Wapsi program was being initiated by the BJP government. All the Hindus (especially upper caste Hindus) were urged to return home to India. Islamic scholar Sheeba Aslam Fehmi lashed out at the conversion program, asking, "Why is that Hindutva forces become active when they have a comfortable majority in Parliament? In Modi's regime, it has suddenly dawned upon them that Bohras were Brahmins." Recently Narendra Modi was invited to inaugurate the newly built madrasa of Bohras in Mumbai . A month after that, following the preparation of Ram Navami, various madrasas across the country were burnt, destroyed, and closed off . This is a political strategy to separate the Bohras from other Muslim communities and create a rift between them. Does that mean Bohras are safe? I am not sure if I can answer that. What about my community that doesn't follow the pontiff? There is almost no data available about our existence in any media. 

Personal experiences  

My family (paternal) used to live in the slums of Govandi and I expected them to have an encounter with caste in this setting. I was shocked by the intensity of their belief which chose to deny such a reality. Rereading the Ghar Wapsi news helped me understand their viewpoints. When the Bohras converted from Brahmins, their former caste identities were conveniently lost and forgotten and this new identity became the marker of their existence. The convenience of being left unbothered by an identity, however, transcended generations. It is visible through the conversations I had with my family. Although the knowledge about this hierarchy wasn't completely kept out of context. I remember my father mentioning the hierarchy of the Muslim caste and proudly declaring Bohras being placed at the top. His citations of Prophet Mohammad famously saying in his farewell khutbah (speech), "There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, or of a non-Arab over an Arab, and no superiority of a white person over a black person or of a black person over a white person, except on the basis of personal piety and righteousness", then felt ironical . Although this pretentiousness of the caste system existed and was forgotten after some years, this new form of identity brought different problems in the Bohra's lives. 

As mentioned earlier, the Bohra community was split into two groups; one that followed the pontiff and the other who rebelled. The community I belong to, separated from the main community as their ideals didn't align. Many relatives were left on the other side while our family chose this community. It was a 2nd partition altogether. As the community chose to function without a leader, other Islamic groups alienated the reformist group. A rift between the Badi and Choti Jamaat existed before but now even other Muslim groups isolated the community. This community was even alienated from being a part of Islam. The identity crisis further increased, as living in a Hindu-majority country and being a convert was already a rejection from a certain religious group. 

Finding out about the caste identity was an eye-opening experience. The fact that I wasn't aware of my caste was a clear indication of my privileged position. The only other identity I was always made aware of, was my religious identity. Historically, after partition, the condition of Muslims was made dire and the further events (the Pakistan war) did not help with the reputation of Muslims either. For a community that was not allowed to belong to either Muslims or Hindus, they were also snatched of many opportunities. Dalit Muslims have different experiences in  terms of discrimination. Lower caste groups like Dalits and OBCs benefit from the positive discrimination in terms of educational, occupational and electoral  reservations. The fact that they are unable to access these advantages for themselves is another story. But for Dalit Muslims, these opportunities don't exist.

Casteist Narratives 

The varna system was a convenient divide for social order but the ingraining of this division was extremely inherent in people that even conversions could not erase this ascribed identity easily. Formerly, Dalit Muslims were only Dalits, but to protect themselves from the atrocities of belonging to lower strata of society, they converted to Islam. With conversion, they expected their caste identities to fade away. Unlike the Bohra community, Dalit Muslims did not enjoy this luxury. Now, they were oppressed from both ends; one for their caste identity and the other for being a Muslim.

There are a few commonalities between Dalits and Muslims. Especially in terms of their food habits. Dalits have been kept at the lowest strata of society and have been denied food considered 'pure' by Savarna. For Muslims, the staple was cultural transmission.  Even famous media presence like Sudha Murty speaking about the purity of table manners shows the ingrained casteism that exists within the most 'educated' scholars of this country.  

The Badi jamaat believes in “baraat” which is a kind of debarment or boycott from the community which is similar to what the untouchables face too. When a family gets baraat, they get isolated from the entire community. They are not allowed to socialize with the group and are forced to cut ties with everyone from the community. They don't get to bury their dead ones in the community graveyard where the other family members were buried. Members of my family were also given baraat for burying their dead ones in the other community's graveyard. Asgar Ali Engineer, a pioneer of progressive Bohra movement, also suffered a similar fate and revolted against the community leaders. His questioning of the community funds and their functions, targeted him and resulted in his debarment and was further rejected from burying his mother in the community graveyard. 

The hierarchy of the varna system did enter the domain of Islam. Syyedism (Bohra community) is the Muslimized version of Brahmanism. Marriage institutions follow the same rules of purity to not infiltrate the sanctity of upper caste communities. My cousin wanted to marry a girl belonging to the Sunni community. Not only was the idea strongly rejected by his family but he was threatened to be removed from the community if he proceeded to indulge in this union. Sunni community is a caste lower than Bohras and has different traditions and methods of worship. The social dignity of Bohras can be harmed if such a union is approved. Even when my family resided in the slums, other Bohra families living there got marriage proposals from people living near them who engaged in works like tailoring, washing laundry, owning butcher shops, etc. These are also caste groups existing within the Muslims. Although the intention of not accepting their proposal could be the economic background and the place of residence, the idea of existing hierarchies cannot be dismissed. 

Conclusion 

As  Arundhati Roy writes in her novel - Ministry of Utmost Happiness,  "People – communities, castes, races and even countries – carry their tragic histories and their misfortunes around like trophies."  How unfortunate that we choose to not look at some of these trophies. Probably because they are stained with our blood. Writing this essay made me reconnect with my own caste identity which I chose to leave behind due to experiences I suffered while belonging to it. My perception of my identity and what I found while researching the historical contexts were so different. Caste exists ingrained in every Indian and Islam, although seeming humanistic in its values does in fact harbor casteist narratives. It's only through great inspection that one can truly know and embrace one's own identity.  

References

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