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| The sense of insecurity experienced by the Indian Muslims in the post partition period has been compounded in last decade with demolition of ] in ] in ] by Hindu-nationalist ] and its sister organisation like ] , ], ], ], etc. | The sense of insecurity experienced by the Indian Muslims in the post partition period has been compounded in last decade with demolition of ] in ] in ] by Hindu-nationalist ] and its sister organisation like ] , ], ], ], etc. | ||
| Some of the most horrific of such events took place in recent times during the infamous Gujarat massacre (]) in which more than one thousand people died. This event is seen by many, including international human rights organizations as the utter failure of the so-called secular government of India to provide security to all of its citizens. In a report subtexted "State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat," the Human Rights Watch condemned the government for actually participating in the violence against the Muslim minority. | |||
| Following are some of the issues that have the potential to be used in aggravating the communal divide for political mobilization as has been done in the past: | Following are some of the issues that have the potential to be used in aggravating the communal divide for political mobilization as has been done in the past: | ||
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Islam is the second-largest religion in India (after Hinduism - 80.5%), where Muslims number around 137 million (13.4%) . India has the third-largest population of Muslims in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan
Since its introduction to India, Islam has made religious, artistic, philosophical, culture, social and political contributions to Indian history, heritage and life.
Arrival of Islam
Contrary to general belief, Islam came to India long before Muslim invasions of India. Islamic influence first came to be felt in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders.Trade relations between Arabia and Indian sub-continent are very ancient. Arab traders used visit Malabar region to trade which was a link between the ports of South and South East Asia, even before Islam had been established in Arabia. According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book The History of India as told by its own Historians, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 AD. H.G. Rawlinson, In his book Ancient and Medieval History of India claims the first Arab Muslims settled on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th century AD. This fact is corroborated, by J. Sturrock in his South Kanara and Madras Districts Manuals, and also by Haridas Bhattacharya in cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV.It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural race in the world. The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went. Arab Muslim traders attracted the people to Islam by their behavior in the contact, honesty in trade, discipline in dealings and peaceful religious and pious life A number of Indians living in the coastal areas of Kerala were moved by the principles of Islam and converted.
King Cheraman Perumal is said to be the first convert to Islam in India, Legend has it that a group of Muhammad’s companions visited Kodangallur, Cheraman Perumal Bhaskara Ravi Varma, then the Chera ruler, had witnessed a miraculous happening, the sudden splitting of the moon, the celebrated miracle of Muhammad, and learning on inquiry that this was a symbol of the coming of a Messenger of God from Arabia, Soon after, Cheruman Perumal travelled to Makkah, embraced Islam, and accepted the name Thajudeen. On his way back to India he died in Salala in the Sultanate of Oman, On his deathbed he is said to have authorized some of his Arab companions to go back to his kingdom to spread Islam. Accordingly, a group of Arabs led by Malik Bin Deenar and Malik bin Habib arrived in north Kerala. . This story appeared in the book Keralolpathi Origin of kerala, origianaly in palm leaves, first published by Hermann Gundert in 1843. The reliability of this book as a historical record has been seriously compromised as a result of contradictions.
The first Indian mosque was built in during 629 A.D, at the behest of Cheraman Perumal, during the life time of Muhammad(c. 571 – 632)in Kodungallur by Malik Bin Deenar.</ref>-Cheraman Juma Masjid A Secular Heritage</ref>
In Malabar the Mappilas may be the first community to come to the fold of Islam because they were more closely connected with the Arabs than others. Intensive missionary activities went on the coast and a number of natives also embraced Islam. These new converts were now added to the pile of the Mappila community. Thus among the Mapilas, we find, both the descendants of the Arabs through local women and the converts from among the local people
In the 8th century, the province of Sindh was conquered by Syrian Arabs led by Muhammad bin Qasim. Sindh became the easternmost province of the Umayyad Caliphate. In the first half of the 10th century a Mahmud of Ghazni added the Punjab to the Ghaznavid Empire and conducted several raids deeper into mordern day India. A more successful invasion came at the end of the 12th century by the Muhammad of Ghor. This eventually led to the formation of the Delhi Sultanate.
See Also:
Sufism and spread of Islam
Most likely Majority of the Muslims follow Sufi traditions known as Sufis or Barelwis .Sufis (Islamic saints) played an important role in the spread of Islam in India. They were very successful in spreading Islam, as many aspects of Sufi belief systems and practices had their parallels in Indian philosophical literature, in particular nonviolence and monoism. Sufis' unorthodox approach towards Islam made it easier for Hindus to practice. Hazrat Khawaja Muin-ud-din Chisti, Nizam-ud-din Auliya, Shah Jalal, Amir Khusro trained Sufi groups for the propagation of Islam in different parts of India. Once the Islamic Empire was established in India, Sufis invariably provided a touch of colour and beauty to what might have otherwise been rather cold and stark reigns. The Sufi movement also attracted followers from the artisan and Untouchable communities; they played a crucial role in bridging the distance between Islam and the indigenous traditions. Even today Sufi tombs are visited by Hindus and Muslims alike.
Role of Muslims in India's freedom movement
The contribution of Muslim revolutionaries, poets and writers is immense in India's struggle against the British. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Rafi Ahmed Qidwai are a few of Muslims who devoted their life for this purpose. Muhammad Ashfaq Ullah Khan of Shahjehanpur who conspired and looted the British treasury at Kakori (Lucknow) to cripple the administration and who, when asked for his last will, before execution, desired: No desire is left except one that some one may put a little soil of my motherland in my winding sheet. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (popular as Frontier Gandhi), a great nationalist who spent 45 of his 95 years of life in jail for the freedom of India; Barakatullah of Bhopal, one of the founders of the Ghadar party which created a network of anti-British organizations and who died penniless in Germany in l927; Syed Rahmat Shah of the Ghadar party who worked as an underground revolutionary in France and was hanged for his part in the unsuccessful Ghadar (mutiny)uprising in 1915; Ali Ahmad Siddiqui of Faizabad (UP) who planned the Indian Mutiny in Malaya and Burma along with Syed Mujtaba Hussain of Jaunpur and who was hanged In 1917; Vakkom Abdul Khadar of Kerala who participated in "Quit India" struggle in 1942 was hanged ; Umar Subhani, an industrialist and a millionaire of Bombay who provided Gandhi with congress expenses and who ultimately gave his life for the cause of independence. Among Muslim women, Hazrat Mahal, Asghari Begum, Bi Amma contributed heavily in the struggle of freedom from Britishers.
The following is a list of some famous Muslims who fought for a unified India (as opposed to Pakistan): Maulana Azad, Hakeem Ajmal Khan, Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Hasrat Mohani, Professor Barkatullah, Dr. Zakir Husain , Saifuddin Kichlu, Allama Shibli Nomani, Vakkom Abdul Khadir, Dr. Manzoor Abdul Wahab, ,Bahadur Shah Zafar, Hakeem Nusrat Husain, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Samad Achakzai, Maulana Mohammad Ali, Colonel Shahnawaz, Dr. M.A.Ansari, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, Ansar Harwani, Tak Sherwani, Viqarul Mulk, Mustsafa Husain, VM Ubaidullah, SR Rahim, Badruddin Tyabjee, and Moulvi Abdul Hamid.
Law and politics
Muslims in India are Governed by The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.. it directs the application of Muslim Personal Law to Muslims in a number of different areas mainly related to family law which includes marriage, Mahr(Dower), Divorce, Maintenance, Gifts, Wakf, Wills and Inheritance. The courts generally apply the Hanafi Sunni law, with exceptions made only for those areas where Shia law differed substantially from Sunni practice.
Although Indian constitution provided equal rights to all citizens irrespective of their religion and Article 44 recommended Uniform civil code for all. The attempts by successive political leadership in the country to integrate the Indian society under common civil code was was strongly resisted and is still viewed by Indian Muslims as an attempt to dilute the cultural identity of the minority group of the country. All India Muslim Personal Law Board was established for the protection and continued applicability of “Muslim Personal Law” i.e. Shariat Application Act in India.
Hindu Muslim Conflict
India maintains a constitutional commitment to secularism and does not distinguish amongst the people on the basis of religious beliefs. However, Hindu-Muslim relation in India can be characterized as conflictual. This communal conflict is inherited from the convulsive and turbulent course of a history, starting with the Islamic invasion of India. The aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947 saw large scale sectarian strife and bloodshed throughout the nation. Since then India have witnessed occasional bouts of large-scale violence sparked by underlying tensions between sections of its majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities.
The sense of insecurity experienced by the Indian Muslims in the post partition period has been compounded in last decade with demolition of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 by Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and its sister organisation like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh , Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, etc.
Some of the most horrific of such events took place in recent times during the infamous Gujarat massacre (2002_Gujarat_violence) in which more than one thousand people died. This event is seen by many, including international human rights organizations as the utter failure of the so-called secular government of India to provide security to all of its citizens. In a report subtexted "State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat," the Human Rights Watch condemned the government for actually participating in the violence against the Muslim minority.
Following are some of the issues that have the potential to be used in aggravating the communal divide for political mobilization as has been done in the past: - *Understanding of and dealing with history, especially that of Medieval India in the context of role of Islam in India.
- Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura as special cases of the legacy of history.
- characterization of one by the other community as malicha and kafir.
- religious processions and playing of music before mosques.
- conversions from one religion to another.
- Vande Matram.
- cow protection.
- Hindu culture, national heroes, and Muslims.
- communal riots.
- the de facto status of Urdu especially in U.P.
- conflicting perceptions of discriminatory-exclusionary practices against Muslims and perceptions of their appeasement.
- Muslim Personal Law and Uniform civil Code.
- Muslims loyalty to India.
- perception of threat of worldwide Islamic fundamentalist domination by Hindus and of assimilation by Muslims.
Muslims in Modern India
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Like in all minorities,Muslims have played a special role in all fields of the country's advancement.
Prominent Indian Muslims include:
- Khwaja Abdul Hamid, who in 1935 founded one of the first Indian-owned industries in the colonial era, CIPLA (The Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories). In 1939, when Mahatma Gandhi visited CIPLA he wrote that he was "delighted to visit this Indian enterprise". CIPLA today is a pharmaceutical company with a global presence, it's products being sold in over 150 countries worldwide.
- There have been three Muslim presidents of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and the current president, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
- Salim Ali (November 12, 1896 - July 27, 1987) is one of India's best known ornithologist and naturalist. Known as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys in India and his books have contributed enormously to understanding and protecting India's birds and also other wildlife.
- Azim Premji, owner of Wipro Ltd. is the richest man in India. In 2005, Yusuf Hameed of CIPLA and Azim Premji received one of India's highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to the country.
Muslims are also playing pivotal roles in the advertising industry, film industry (Bollywood), modern art, academics, theatre and sports. Some large industries like Wipro Ltd., Wockhardt, Himalaya health care, Hamdard Laboratories and Mirza Tanners are owned by Muslims.
see: List of notable muslims of independent India
Muslim Institutes
There are several well established Muslim institutes in India. Here is a list of reputed institutes established by Muslims.
- Modern College and University: Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Hamdard University, Al Ameen College Bangalore, Al Kabir college Mysore, .
- Traditional Islamic University: Raza Academy,
Sunni Markaz Kerala ,an One the most Large university of India,
- Media: IMI Daily News, Milli Gazette, Siasat,
almanar monthly, vichinthanam weekly( ahle hadith supportes from kerala)
Population Statistics
Islam is India's largest minority religion, with Muslims officially constituting 13.4 % of the country's population, or 137 million people as of 2001census. However, unofficial estimates show a far higher figure supposedly discounted in censuses. For instance, in an interview with a well circulated newspaper of India The Hindu Justice K.M. Yusuf, a retired Judge from Calcutta High Court and Chairman of West Bengal Minority Commission, says that the real percentage of Muslims in India is atleast 20%. . As per Syed Shahabuddin, a diplomat-turned-politician, a Muslim scholar and one of the members in the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, both Hindu and Muslim ‘spokesmen’, speaking for their respective communities amplify and exaggerate the Muslim population in India, the first, to convince their followers about the rising ‘Islamic menace’, a threat to the country and at least to its Hindu character, the second, to raise the morale of a politically deprived, educationally backward, economically poor and socially vilified, frustrated community.
The largest concentrations--about 47% of all Muslims in India--live in the 3 states of Bihar (13.7 million) (16.5%), West Bengal (20.2 million) (25%), and Uttar Pradesh (30.7 million) (18.5%), according to the 2001 census. Muslims represent a majority of the local population only in Jammu and Kashmir (67 % in 2001) and Lakshadweep (95 %). High concentrations of Muslims are found in the eastern states of Assam (31 %) and West Bengal (25 %), and in the southern state of Kerala (25 %) and Karnataka (12.2%). Muslims are generally more educated, urban, integrated and prosperous in the Western and Southern states of India than in the Northern and Eastern ones, this could be due to partition when the more affluent and educated population migrated over the border, To Pakistan in the North and Bangladesh( then East Pakistan) in the East. India has the third largest Muslim population (after Indonesia and Pakistan) and also the third largest Shia Muslim population (after Pakistan and Iran) in the world.
The truth was that Muslims have seen a significant fall in population growth rates. The false impression about a rising Muslim growth rate is created because the 1991 census did not include Jammu & Kashmir,the only Muslim majority state and strife-torn Assam, while the 2001 census does include Jammu & Kashmir. Adjusted for this and the Muslim growth rate plunged from 36 per cent to 29.3 per cent.
The History of Islam in India
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The first Islamic presence in India came in the 8th century CE, when Syrian Arabs led by Muhammad Qasim conquered the region of Sindh and made it an eastern province of the Umayyad Caliphate.
Islamic Traditions in South Asia
A Majority Population of Indian Muslim has the importance of Sunni Barelwi (Sufi) traditions attached to the memory of great Sufi saints. Sufism is a mystical path (tarika) as distinct from the legalistic path of the sharia. A Sufi attains a direct vision of oneness with God, often on the edges of orthodox behavior, and can thus become a Pir (living saint) who may take on disciples (s) and set up a spiritual lineage that can last for generations. Orders of Sufis became important in India during the thirteenth century following the ministry of Moinuddin Chishti (1142-1236), who settled in Ajmer, Rajasthan, and attracted large numbers of converts to Islam because of his holiness. His Chishtiyya order went on to become the most influential Sufi lineage in India, although other orders from Central Asia and Southwest Asia also reached to India and played a major role in the spread of Islam. Many Sufis were well known for weaving music, dance, intoxicants, and local folktales into their songs and lectures. In this way, they created a large literature in regional languages that embedded Islamic culture deeply into older South Asian traditions.
The leadership of the Muslim community has pursued various directions in the evolution of Indian Islam during the twentieth century. The most conservative wing has typically rested on the education system provided by the hundreds of religious training institutes (madrasa) throughout the country, which have tended to stress the study of the Qur'an and Islamic texts in Arabic and Persian but little else. Several national movements have emerged from this sector of the Muslim community. The Jamaati Islami (Islamic Party), founded in 1941, advocates the establishment of an overtly Islamic government through peaceful, democratic, and non-missionary activities. The Indian branch of the party had about 3,000 active members and 40,000 sympathizers in the mid-1980s. The Tablighi Jamaat (Outreach Society) became active after the 1940s as a movement, primarily among the ulema (religious leaders), stressing personal renewal, prayer, a missionary and cooperative spirit, and attention to orthodoxy. It has been highly critical of the kind of activities that occur in and around Sufi shrines and remains a minor if respected force in the training of the ulema. Conversely, other ulema have upheld the legitimacy of mass religion, including exaltation of pirs and the memory of the Prophet. A powerful secularising drive led by Syed Ahmad Khan resulted in the foundation of Aligarh Muslim University (1875 as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College) -- with a broader, more modern curriculum -- and other major Muslim universities. This educational drive has remained the most dominant force in guiding the Muslim community.
Islamic art and architecture
Post - Independence
The Muslims of India have generally been treated well although there has been many anti-Muslim riots.
- Indian Muslim Students
- Muslims in India
- Muslims in India Census 2001
- IndianMuslims.info Informational website on Indian Muslims
- South Asian Islam Links
- Islam, Muslim and Politics in India
- IndianMuslimsOrg One-start portal for IndianMuslims
See also
- Mappila (Muslim community from Kerala)
- Bombay(film) a film by Mani Rathnam, which depicts a real face of Muslim Hindu relations in India's rural areas
Notes and References
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This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Misplaced Pages:Copyrights for more information.
- "The World Factbook". CIA. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
- ISBN 8186050795 Ancient and Medieval History of India]
- Sturrock, J.,South Canara and Madras District Manual (2 vols., Madras, 1894-1895)
- ISBN 8185843058 Cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV
- http://www.jaihoon.com/watan/indarbmappilacommunity.htm -Genesis and Growth of the Mappila Community]
- HINDU PATRON OF MUSLIM HERITAGE SITE
- Bahrain tribune World’s second oldest mosque is in India
- Hindu Daily- Kalam to visit oldest mosque in sub-continent
- Bahrain tribune World’s second oldest mosque is in India
- -A mosque from a Hindu king
- - Genesis and Growth of the Mappila Community
- The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937
- Article discussing Muslim personal law in India
- Hindu-Muslim conflict – need for conciliation
Literature
- Elliot and Dowson: The History of India as told by its own Historians, New Delhi reprint, 1990.
- Majumdar, R. C. (ed.), The History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume VI, The Delhi Sultanate, Bombay, 1960; Volume VII, The Mughal Empire, Bombay, 1973.
- M K A Siddiqui (ed.), Marginal Muslim Communities In India, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi (2004) (review)
