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Caste system among South Asian Muslims refers to units of social stratification that have developed among Muslims in South Asia, despite Islam's egalitarian tenets

Origins

According to some sources including Encyclopedia of Britannica, and Encyclopedia of Islam the castes among Muslims developed as the result of close contact with Hindu culture, as well as Hindu converts to Islam who chose to retain their caste customs..

According to other scholars like Sajida Sultana Alvi and Imtiaz Ahmad, certain narratives regarding the Stratification of Muslim society were developed based on the idea of nasab, or claims of descent from the prophet Mohamed, which would give the Arab-descended endogamous groups superior status and a social system that was not exclusively influenced by Hindu Castes. The latter is evident from the fact that Muslim clerics were not influenced by Hindu caste narratives in the middle ages.

In addition, scholars such as Yoginder Sikand, have asserted that while the influence of Hindu social mores on the Muslims might partially explain the continued salience of caste among them it does not fully explain how the Muslims of the region came to be stratified on the basis of caste in the first place. He has said that the claim that Muslim castes were "entirely influenced by Hinduism" is "based on the untenable assumption of a once pure, radically egalitarian Muslim community in India later coming under the baneful impact of Hinduism".

Stratification

Ashrafs have a superior status derived from their foreign ancestry. The non-Ashrafs are assumed to be converts from Hinduism, and are therefore drawn from the indigenous population. They, in turn, are divided into a number of occupational castes.

Ashraf are further divided into groups of Sayyids, Sheikhs, Mughals and Pathans, in that order of rank. It is however believed that some of them, like the other group are also converts from Hinduism. The Sayyids are said to be descendants of the Prophet and regarded in high esteem. The Sheikhs are of Arab descent and are next in line in prestige. The Mughals are descendents of the Islamic Mughal emperors of India, and occupy third place. Pathans including Sepahis hail from the northwestern regions including Afghanistan and form the last group of Ashraf. Sections of the ulema (scholars of Islamic jurisprudence) provide religious legitimacy to caste with the help of the concept of kafa'a. A classical example of scholarly declaration of the Muslim caste system is the Fatawa-i Jahandari, written by the fourteenth century Turkish scholar, Ziauddin Barani, a member of the court of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. Barani was known for his intensely casteist views, and regarded the Ashraf Muslims as racially superior to the Ajlaf Muslims. He divided the Muslims into grades and sub-grades. In his scheme, all high positions and privileges were to be a monopoly of the high born Turks, not the Indian Muslims. Even in his interpretation of the Koranic verse "Indeed, the pious amongst you are most honored by Allah", he considered piety to be associated with noble birth. Barrani was specific in his recommendation that the "sons of Mohamed" "be given a higher social status than the low-born .His most significant contribution in the fatwa was his analysis of the castes with respect to Islam. His assertion was that castes would be mandated through state laws or "Zawabi" and would carry precedence over Sharia law whenever they were in conflict. In the Fatwa-i-Jahandari (advice XXI) ,he wrote about the "qualities of the high-born" as being "virtuous" and the "low-born" being the "custodian of vices". Every act which is "contaminated with meanness and based on ignominity, comes elegantly ". Barani had a clear disdain for the Ajlaf and strongly recommended that they be denied education, lest they usurp the Ashraf masters. He sought appropriate religious sanction to that effect. Barrani also developed an elaborate system of promotion and demotion of Imperial officers ("Wazirs") that was primarily on the basis of their caste.

In addition to the Ashraf/Ajlaf divide, there is also the Arzal caste among Muslims, who were regarded by anti-Caste activists like Babasaheb Ambedkar as the equivalent of untouchables. The term "Arzal" stands for "degraded" and the Arzal castes are further subdivided into Bhanar, Halalkhor, Hijra, Kasbi, Lalbegi, Maugta, Mehtar etc. The Arzal group was recorded in the 1901 census in India and are also called Dalit Muslims “with whom no other Muhammadan would associate, and who are forbidden to enter the mosque or to use the public burial ground”.They are relegated to "menial" professions such as scavenging and carrying night soil..

Indian Muslims also stratify their society according to 'Quoms' in the Bengal region of India. These Muslims practise a ritual-based system of social stratification. The Quoms who deal with human emissions are ranked the lowest. Studies of Bengal (India) Muslims indicate that the concepts of purity and impurity exist among them and are applicable in inter-group relationships, as the notions of hygiene and cleanliness in a person are related to the person's social position and not to his/her economic status. Muslim Rajput is another caste distinction among Indian Muslims.

Genetic data has also shown proof of this stratification. Pathans and Sheikhs are one group, Syed and Bania another, and the lower castes are composed of Saifis and Ansaris.

Interaction and Mobility

Interactions between the oonchi zat (upper caste) and neechi zat (lower caste) are regulated by established patron-client relationships of the jajmani system, the upper castes being referred to as the 'Jajmans', and the lower caste as 'Kamin'. Upon contact with an low-caste Muslim, a Muslim of a higher zat can "purify" by taking a short bath, since there are no elaborate rituals for purification. Higher caste Muslims and lower caste Muslims are sometimes even segregated by graveyards.

Some data indicates that the castes among Muslims have never been as rigid as that among Hindus. The rate of endogamous marriage, for example, is less than two thirds. An old saying also goes "Last year I was a Julaha (weaver); this year a Shaikh; and next year if the harvest be good, I shall be a Sayyid.". However, other scholars, such as Ambedkar, disagreed with this thesis (see criticism below).

Criticism

Many Muslim scholars have termed the caste-like features in Indian Muslim society as a "flagrant violation of the Qur'anic worldview.". However, a few Muslim scholars tried to reconcile and resolve the "disjunction between Qur'anic egalitarianism and Indian Muslim social practice" through theorizing it in different ways and interpreting the Quran and Sharia to justify casteism.

While some scholars have asserted that the Muslim Castes are not as acute in their discrimination as that among Hindus, Ambedkar argued otherwise, writing that the social evils in Muslim society were "worse than those seen in hindu society".

Babasaheb Ambedkar was an illustrious figure in Indian politics and the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. He was extremely critical of the Muslim Caste System and their practices, quoting that "Within these groups there are castes with social precedence of exactly the same nature as one finds among the Hindus". He was critical of how the Ashrafs regarded the Ajlaf and Arzal as "worthless" and the fact that Muslims tried to sugarcoat the sectarian divisions by using euphemisms like "brotherhood" to describe them. He was also critical of the precept of literalism of scripture among Indian Muslims that led them to keep the Muslim Caste system rigid and discriminatory. He condemned the Indian Muslim Community of being unable to reform like Muslims in other countries like Turkey did during the early decades of the twentieth century.

References

1. ^ "Islamic caste." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 18 Oct. 2006
2. ^ Burton-Page, J. "Hindū." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzeland W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2006. Brill Online.
3. Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh (A Study of Culture Contact), Ghaus Ansari, Lucknow, 1960, Page 66
4. ^ Singh Sikand, Yoginder. "Caste in Indian Muslim Society". Hamdard University. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
5. ^ Sajida Sultana Alvi, Advice on the art of governance, an Indo-Islamic Mirror for Princes P122, State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-88706-918-5
6. Ahmad, Imtiaz, "The Ashraf-Ajlaf dichotomy in Muslim social structure in India", Indian economic and social history review 33 (1966) pgs 268-78
7. Aggarwal, Patrap (1978). Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India. Manohar.
8. ^ Social Stratification Among Muslims in Indiaby Zarina Bhatty
9. Das, Arbind, Arthashastra of Kautilya and Fatwa-i-Jahandari of Ziauddin Barrani: an analysis, Pratibha Publications, Delhi 1996, ISBN 81-85268-45-2 pgs 138-139
10. ^ Ibid pg124
11. Ibid p143
12. Das pgs 138-139
13. ^ Ambedkar, Bhimrao. Pakistan or the Partition of India. Thackers Publishers.
14. ^ Web resource for Pakistan or the Partition of India
15. Dereserve these myths by Tanweer Fazal,Indian express
16. Leach, Edmund Ronald (November 24, 1971). Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan (Pg 113). Cambridge University Press.
17. Gene Diversity in Some Muslim Populations of North India Human Biology - Volume 77, Number 3, June 2005, pp. 343-353 - Wayne State University Press
18. Backward Muslims protest denial of burial
19. ^ Muslim Communities of South Asia: Culture and Society Edited by T.N. Madan. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1976 pp. 114
20. Muslim Civilization in India S. M. Ikram, New York: Columbia University Press, 1964
21. Yoginder Singh Sikand, Caste in Indian Muslim Society

• Indian caste system
• Islam in India