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Caste system among South Asian Muslims

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Social system in South Asia

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Practices

Discrimination

Many Ashrafs do not recognize Arzal Muslims as part of the Muslim South Asian community (millat) and think they should not be part of liberation processes.

Representation

Over the centuries, like other South Asian societies, the Muslim society in the region has evolved into the concept of caste purity and pollution. Hence, the low-class (Ajlaf) Muslims in the region have faced other kinds of discrimination. In 20th century India, the upper-class (Ashraf) Muslims dominated the government jobs and parliamentary representation. As a result, there have been campaigns to include lower social classes among the groups eligible for affirmative action in India under SC and STs provision act.

An analysis of Muslim representation in India's Lok Sabha found that of the roughly 400 Muslim representatives from the 1st to the 14th Lok Sabha, 340 were Ashraf, while 60 were Pasmanda (meaning oppressed/marginalized); Pasmandas make up 85% of India's Muslim population and Ashrafs 15%.

Some scholars say that Ashraf Muslims are over-represented in government-run institutions for minorities (including Aligarh Muslim University).

Burial

In India's Bihar state, higher caste Muslims have opposed lower caste Muslims being buried in the same graveyard.

Another practice that has been noted includes the existence of separate burial grounds.

Cooking

A study in a Pakistani village found that a caste-like hierarchy exists in the Muslim community of the village. The sweeper group is ranked the lowest. The other Muslim communities do not allow the sweepers to touch the cooking vessels of the upper ranking groups of Muslims.

Racial and Historical

Medieval Ashraf scholars mentioned that Muslims of Afghan, Iranian, Arab, and Central Asian origin were superior while local converts were inferior. This was due not only to racial differences with local concerts generally being dark skinned and Ashrafs being lighter skinned, but also due to Ashraf being the dominant political elite, while the majority of Ajlaf were associated with ancestral professions as peasants and artisans which were looked down upon as inferior and demeaning.

Based on classical literature, particularly the Fatawa-i-Jahandari written by Turkish scholar Ziauddin Barani, a leading courtier of Muhammad bin Tughlaq (Sultan of Delhi), caste divisions were recommended among Indian Muslims. Barani warned the Sultan not to educate the lowborn and that they are not allowed to mingle with the superior race.

Barani also explained at one point how Turkish sultans discriminated against Muslims of local descent. He explains how Iltutmish discriminated against low birth Muslims by letting go 33 of them from the government. Additionally, Iltutmish appointed Jamal Marzuq to the post of Mutassarif of Kanauj; Aziz Bahruz disagreed due to low birth status, which resulted in Marzuq no longer being the Mutassarif. Low born people were not allowed to be in the post of mudabbiri or khwajgi, and they also could not be eligible for an iqta recommendation.

Balban prevented low-birth people from being in important offices, and he also criticized how Kamal Mohiyar was selected for mutassarif of Amroaha. A letter by Sayyid Ashraf Jahangiri explains how Balban thoroughly researched the ancestry of every single one of his government servants and officers; he had genealogists meet in Delhi to ascertain these ancestries.

Tughlaq had a policy of giving "preference to foreign born Muslims in administration and government" and "systematically ignored the claims of Indian Muslims". Sayyid Ashraf Jahangiri explains how:

"The Sultan went to the extent of offering the most responsible and distinguished offices of the kingdom — for instance those of a Wazir, a Dabir, a military commander, a judge, a professor of theology, or a Shaikhul-Islam — to almost any foreigner of some learning. Foreigners coming to India were collectively known as 'the Honourables' (A'izza)"

Historians and Urdu writers (including Masood Alam Falahi) have explained how discrimination of Ashraf Muslims towards lower caste Muslims and Dalit Muslims was often disguised under claims of class and "khandaani" (family line) values among Uttar Pradesh Muslims.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Delage, Remy (29 September 2014). "Muslim Castes in India". Books & Ideas. College De France.
  2. Ghaus Ansari 1960, p. 29.
  3. Azra Khanam 2013, pp. 115–116.
  4. Das, Arbind, Arthashastra of Kautilya and Fatwa-i-Jahandari of Ziauddin Barrani: an analysis, Pratibha Publications, Delhi 1996, ISBN 81-85268-45-2 pp. 124-143
  5. Sikand, Yoginder (2003), Sacred Spaces: Exploring Traditions of Shared Faith in India, Penguin Books India, pp. 7–, ISBN 978-0-14-302931-1
  6. ^ Umar, Sanober. "The Identity of Language and the Language of Erasure: Urdu and the Racialized-Decastification of the "Backward Musalmaan" in India". Brandeis University: 187. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Ali, Syed (December 2002). "Collective and Elective Identity: Caste among Urban Muslims in India". 17 (4). Springer: 602. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Chowdhury, Iftekhar Uddin (November 7, 2009). "Caste-based Discrimination in South Asia: A Study of Bangladesh". III (7). Indian Institute of Dalit Studies: 8. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. Chowdhury, Iftekhar Uddin (November 7, 2009). "Caste-based Discrimination in South Asia: A Study of Bangladesh". III (7). Indian Institute of Dalit Studies: 10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. Azra Khanam 2013, pp. 120–121.
  11. Webner, Pnina (2007). The Migration Process: Capital, Gifts and Offerings among British Pakistanis. ISBN 9781472518477. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  12. Asghar Ali Engineer. "On reservation for Muslims". The Milli Gazette. Pharos. Retrieved 2004-09-01.
  13. ^ Anis Ansari, Khalid (13 May 2019). "India's Muslim community under a churn: 85% backward Pasmandas up against 15% Ashrafs". Times of India.
  14. Anand Mohan Sahay. "Backward Muslims protest denial of burial". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2003-03-06.
  15. Ahmad, I., 2010. "Can There Be a Category Called Dalit Muslims?". Studies in Inequality and Social Justice, p.79
  16. Hastings Donnan (1988). Marriage Among Muslims: Preference and Choice in Northern Pakistan. BRILL. pp. 51–56. ISBN 978-90-04-08416-2.
  17. ^ Kanmony, J. Cyril (2010). Dalits and Tribes of India. Mittal Publications. p. 200.
  18. ^ Ahmed, Imtiaz (May 13, 1967). "Ashraf and Ajlaf Categories in Indo-Muslim Society". Economic and Political Weekly: 889. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Bibliography

Notes

A. This source used gets the quotation from the following source: E A Gait, 'Census of India' 1901: Bengal Report 6 (1), Bengal Secretariat Press. 1902, p 439; the description in 'Imperial Gazetteer of India', v. 2, pp 329

Further reading

Segregation in countries by type (in some countries, categories overlap)
Religious
Ethnic and racial
Gender
Dynamics
Related
topics
Discrimination
Forms
Attributes
Social
Religious
Ethnic/National
Manifestations
Discriminatory
policies
Countermeasures
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