INDIA - MUSLIMS IN MODERN INDIA
"MUSLIMS IN MODERN INDIA" - by Prof. Rasheeduddin Khan
With kind permission of "India Perspectives" - Special Independence Edition, August 1997
I feel inspired to make this article available at a time when rumours are spreading that India is intolerant towards Muslims living within the nation. Nothing could be further from the truth. As with all societies, world wide, there will always be those who desire to maintain power at the expense of minority groups. I lived in India for 31 years and have nothing but praise for the broad and liberal Constitution of India which grants to all ethnic and religious groups, equal rights of citizenship. It is only a very small and radical minority that is intolerant of the Muslim population. Generally, religion is tolerant of other concepts and points of view; it is only when conservative religionists, be they of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism or whatever, take a rigid, fundamentalist and legalistic stance, that intolerance and even violence can erupt, to bring about such evils as "Ethnic Cleansing" and other forms of genocide. In India, I have many friends within all sections of society - Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Animist and Buddhist. When one gets to know such people and really understands their concept of spirituality, it is amazing just how much there is in common. Certainly there is more that unites than that which divides. This article will help us to see the other person's point of view and be thankful that Harare Pyare Bharat has a place for all, within the richness of a multicultural, secular, society in a diversity of faiths. We thank Professor Rasheeduddin for his informative article which follows:-
"MUSLIMS IN MODERN INDIA" :- The people of India are in the midst of a gigantic process of democratic, secular, federal nation-building in their continental polity. It is, in essence, the initiation of the construction of a new civilisation around a liberated people. Our diverse people, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-regional and newly freed from the shackles of foreign thraldom, have been struggling to emancipate themselves from feudal exploitation, religious obscurantism and inequalities of social and economic existence.
The quest for a new civilisation in India, pursued through the methods of persuasion of consent and based on the values of democracy like egalitarianism, adult franchise, representative institutions, rule of law, secularisation of polity and distributive justice in economy, is an ongoing process. It is in this context and framework that one should locate and comprehend the character and process of emerging Muslim identity in modern India. This identity is being shaped by the interaction of at least four factors:-
1) Basic norms and values propagated by Islam
2) The heritage of Islam in India
3) India's socio-cultural situation and
4) The process of federal nation building in India
In the long and complex process of human development, the historic contribution of Islam is its emphasis of five cardinal tenets, namely - Unity of God (Taubid); universality of faith (Din); fraternity of mankind; organic unity between obligations to God and obligations towards his creatures, and justice (Adl), as the axial principle of governance and social peace and order.
Islam sought to unify mankind through obeisance to the God of all the Universe (Rab-ul-A'lameen) and not of any exclusive tribe, race, people, nation, country or region. There is the clear, resonant affirmation of this basic credo in the historic 'Farewell Address of the Prophet' at Mecca. He said :-
"All are equal…The Arab is not superior to the Ajami or non-Arab, nor an Ajami superior to the Arab; neither the White to the Black, except by the degree of righteousness that he displays in his transaction with each other. Bring me not your genealogies but your good deeds" (Musnad Iman Ahmad Hanbal)
In his brilliant commentary of the Quran-Tarjumanul-Quran, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad emphasises the doctrine of Rububiyat as the quintessence of Islam in its universal appeal and validity. Rububiyat, as doctrine, entails the recognition of God as (Rab-ul-A'lameen) - Lord of all being,, Progenitor of all Existence, circumscribing all Creation. The word "Rabb" in Arabic, implies 'the Cherisher', 'the Nourisher', ' the Sustainer', ' the Provider, for all His creation. It encompasses in a sense, the attributes of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu in the Hindu pantheon. The system of Divine Nurture (Niazam-e-Rububiyat) transcends all divisions and fragmentation of mankind based on any consideration like creed, colour, region, nation etc.. Hence, "Rabb" is not the God only of one people, but of all people. Then Azad lays stress on reason (Aql) as the instrument of comprehension and explanation of all matters, divine and secular.
Commitment to universal humanism, he says, is indeed the essence of the Quranic message. Islam in India is a confluence of at least four major regional, linguistic and cultural variations - the Arab, the Turkish, the Persian and the Afghan. They had converged to lay the substratum of a new and distinct heritage of Islam in India. What provides novelty to the spirit of Islam in this ancient land is the fact that, in no other place, did it encounter a more than one thousand years old and radically dissimilar and existentially more resilient Hindu civilisation which was neither fully conquered nor assimilated. Nor could it, in turn, conquer nor assimilate Islam which, nevertheless is a typical Indian phenomenon in its many ramifications.
One of the most formative influences in the making of the Muslim ethos in India has been that of Sufism. Saints like Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer (1142-1236); Khwaja Fariduddin Ganj Shakar, better known as Baba Farid (1174-1265) and Khwaja Nizamuddin Aulia (1238-1325) were essentially humanists par excellence who drew to themselves persons of all castes and creed and fought the Muslim tyrants of their times in defence of justice, peace and the rights of men.
Islam in India, particularly at the mass-level, was profoundly influenced by the "Tariqat" of the Sufis, rather than by the "Shariat" of the orthodox Ulema. These "Saints of the People" were among the finest specimen of mankind known to any part of the world. They built bridges between the orthodox and the heterodox, the rich and the poor and between groups and communities. The Indo-Muslim strands have woven into the texture of India's national existence a rich design of "composite culture", by intertwining the threads of the "Bhakti Marg" with the Islamic Sufi (mystic) traditions, thereby creating a new inter-cultural synthesis. It is not surprising, therefore, to realise that the composite culture in India originated in an environment of reconciliation rather than refutation, cooperation rather than confrontation, coexistence rather than mutual annihilation.
The mosaic of the Indian socio-cultural situation is composed of segments constituting language and dialect groups, religious communities, denominational sects, castes and sub-castes, regional and sub-regional, ethnic formations and defined culture patterns. India is the second largest state in terms of population. All the major religious communities of the world have a place in the sun in this benevolent motherland. India is not only multi-religious but also a polyglot society. Eighteen languages are recognised as the major languages of India. Besides, there are about 1800 languages and thousands of dialects. Hindus and Muslims constitute the two major religious communities in India. And only they have a all-India spread. All other religious communities are regional and sub-regional in their dimension. But even at the regional and sub-regional level, the numerically large communities are the Hindus and Muslims.
The Muslims in India constitute an aggregate of about 100 million people, which, apart from being the second largest Muslim population in the world, next only to Indonesia, represent a population figure bigger than that of 140 out of the 170 odd sovereign states of the world. The Muslims have played a historic role in the shaping of the medieval society in India and its composite culture, architecture, calligraphy, miniature paintings, handicrafts, handloom, music, poetry, literature in mystic humanism, culinary arts and sartorial fashions. Only in numerical proportion are they in a minority. Otherwise, in terms of their absolute number, socio-cultural heritage and political relevance, the Muslims constitute the second dominant segment of the Indian people.
India has launched a gigantic process of federal nation-building. In terms of socio-cultural diversities, India is bigger than a country, larger than a nation and more than a mere state. It is a defined civilisation with all its varieties. Centuries of coexistence of its many segments have given it an impress of "unity in diversity". It is in this context that India should be called a Federal Nation. Its hallmark is unity of polity and plurality of society. It is in such a federal democratic polity that the new Muslim identity is emerging. In New India, the Muslims are faced with a doctrinally new and socially radical situation. A leading Muslim leader, the late President of the Republic, Dr. Zakir Hussain, clinching the basic political challenge facing the community said :- "In the past, the Muslims had been either the rulers or the ruled; today, in India, they are co-rulers as joint-sharers of national sovereignty" A new Muslim identity in each region, each language area, each professional group, and each class of people is emerging in response to the massive process of socio-economic transformation that is changing the face of this ancient land into a modern polity. The interlinked processes of modernisation - industrialisation, urbanisation, spread of secular, scientific education and development of cosmopolitan culture have laid the foundation of a new vibrant India.
In practically ever sphere of life, some of these leading Indians in contemporary times, have been Muslims, be they scientists, artists, architects, actors, journalists, Judges and Chief Justices, Vice-Presidents and Presidents of the Republic. Like the Hindus, the Muslims, being a multi-regional, multi-lingual, multi-sect and multi-professional population, there are wide variations in their specific group identities. In more realistic terms, there are Muslim communities (plural) rather than a Muslim community (singular) in India. And these communities are spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. But in the context of secular federal-nation building , the Muslims will have to play their legitimate role in stabilising the foundations of a new democratic, secular India by increasing participation as equal citizens.
There is a need for developing even a new Muslim identity in Modern India, commensurate with the humanistic teachings of Islam, and in response to the challenge of building a new India around the values of democracy, secular polity, federal nation and social justice. (The late author was the Director of the Indian Institute of Federal Studies, New Delhi.)
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