Elitism among Indian Muslims: Caste, Power, Privilege and Inequality

Abid Faheem 

Abstract – Though the philosophy of caste hierarchy is quite contradictory to the basic beliefs of Islam which explicitly emphasizes equality and universal brotherhood, caste hierarchy exists among Muslims in India that can be divided into three broad category; the Ashraf (upper class), the Ajlaf (clean occupational caste), and the Arzal (unclean occupational caste or untouchable). Since the Muslims rule in India, the Ashraf category who constitute only 15% of the total Muslim population has maintained their hegemony enjoying the political, cultural, social and educational privilege. Whenever the question caste arises, the debate is turned to Babri Masjid, AMU, Triple Talaq, Urdu, Muslim communalism and so on.

 In this article, I have tried to look at the history of elitism among Muslims and how the elite class in Muslim or Ashrafs restricted the Ajlaf and Arzal Muslims from resources that include social, economic, cultural, political and knowledge capital.

Introduction

Elites can be defined as those who have vastly disproportionate control over or access to resources that are socially valued and scarce. This is not limited only to the resources they control or have access to, but it also means the conversion of those resources into other forms of capital. The study of elites is the study of power and inequality that involves looking at the distribution of social resources. It also means exploring the role of institutions such as schools, families, and clubs in how such resources are organised and distributed. In simple words, to study elites means to study the control over, the value of and distribution of resources (Khan, 2012).

The first and foremost focus on the scholarship on the elite should be on caste – the most important social institution in India. Though the subject of caste has rarely been approached from ‘elite studies’ perspective, the question of power has been an important concern of caste. Very little has been written on the existence of caste and caste-based discrimination among Indian Muslims. The notion of hierarchy or caste system and discrimination based on that among Muslims are generally denied by a very small minority among the Indian Muslims – ‘Upper’ caste (elite) Muslims, who argue that these have no sanction in Islam. The Holy book Quran or the saying of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) never supported this practice, neither, it was found in practice among the companions of the Prophet. However, though these do not have legitimacy in the Quran, their reality cannot be denied.

There should be no doubt that Islam doesn’t have castes or high-low stature and the Holy Quran makes it very clear that the whole human race is produced from the same man and woman, and family groups or Kabilas are only for the ease of identity. Birth doesn’t decide anybody’s superiority, rather whoever has greatest virtues amongst you is supreme (reference: Holy Quran 49:13). Prophet Muhammad, further emphasising this aspect explained in his last sermon that neither black has any superiority over white, nor white has any superiority over black, so also, neither Arabs have any superiority over non-Arabs, nor non-Arabs have any superiority over Arabs. Only one with greatest virtues is to be supreme.

Thus, the philosophy of caste hierarchy is quite contradictory to the basic beliefs of Islam which explicitly emphasizes on equality and universal brotherhood, there is caste hierarchy among Muslims where the Sayyads and Shaiks claim themselves to be superior to others considering themselves to be the descendants of early Islamic nobility of Mecca and Medina. The Shaiks rank second on the social scale. The Mughals and Pathans reckoning their descent from the ruling families of the past, occupy relatively an equal status.

The four Ashraf castes sets them apart from the Muslim converts of Indian origin. Ashraf is a plural of word Sharif, meaning honourable and thus enjoy the prestige. Below the rank of Ashrafs are a number of clean occupational castes like Julaha (weaver), Qasab or Qasai (butcher), Nai or hajjam (barber), teli (oil presser), Dhobi (Washerman) to name a few. The non-Ashrafs are categorized as Ajlaf. Below the Ajlaf are unclean occupational castes like Bhanar, Halalkhor, Hijra, Kasbi, Lalbegi, Maugta, Mehtar, etc., categorized as Arzal also termed as worthless or degraded. 

While some scholars theorize that the Muslim castes are not as acute in their discrimination as Hindus, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar argued otherwise, writing that the social evils in Muslim society were “worse than those seen in Hindu society”. He was extremely critical of the Muslim caste system and their practices, quoting “Within these groups, there are castes with social precedence of exactly the same nature as one finds among the Hindus but worse in numerous ways”. He was critical of how the Ashrafs regarded the Ajlaf and Arzal as “worthless”.

History of Casteism among Indian Muslims –

In India, Islam first spread in South by Arab traders and Muslim religious teachers who became the channel for introduction of Islam in Kerala. Arab Muslims came into North Indian in 711 A.D. When Islam came, many Hindus, especially Dalits and other ‘low’ castes, embraced Islam, being victims of the Hindu caste system, because of egalitarian concept and brotherhood of Islam. It is normally said that caste hierarchy among Muslims is the result of Hindu cultural influence. However, this is a half-truth. Even in Arab countries where Islam originated social hierarchy exists (Ali Anwar, 2001).

There are many rulers who promoted the caste system, a few personalities among them are highlighted here:

Sultan Shamshuddin Iltutmish, who is said to be the founder of the caste system among Indian Muslims didn’t allow ‘low caste’ Muslims to get the high posts i.e., Khachgi, Musharrafi, or Mudabberi in his period. He enquired the castes of his officials and dismissed 33 ‘low caste’ people from their posts.^[1]

Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban, the follower of Sultan Shamshuddin Iltutmish in the caste system and he also didn’t allow ‘low caste’ Muslims in his kingdom to get the government jobs. He is known to have openly proclaimed that his blood used to boil whenever he used to see any ‘low caste’ person.^[2] He also appointed a committee from all over India to enquire about the caste of his officials.

The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was nothing but a puppet in the hands of British rulers and was a strong supporter of the caste system. When the revolt of 1857 AD started, he ordered Nawab Sayed Hamid Ali Khan on 24th May 1857 AD to prepare an army of 500 people. The Dehli Urdu Akhbar (Delhi Urdu News Paper) reported it as below:

“It is heard that Nawab Itemadud – Dawlah Sayed Hamid Ali Khan Bahadur went to the court of Sultan (king). The king ordered him to prepare an army consisting of 500 people. He also mentioned that there should be only Sheikh, Sayed, and Pathan, the noble and brave caste, rather than any low caste.”^[3]

After the declination of Mughal dynasty, there were many Muslim intellectuals and U’lama who are famous for their efforts done for the Muslim community. But at the same time, the majority of them believed in the caste system. Their main aim was only to develop so-called upper caste Muslims. Few of them are highlighted here:

Sir Sayed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh movement/Aligarh Muslim University, hailed as the father of Muslim India, used to abuse ‘low’ caste Muslims, calling them bad-zaat (low caste).’^[4]

He is known for saying that ‘low’ caste Muslims were not suitable for the country and the British government.^[5] He tried to convey this message through his book “Asbab baghawat-e-Hind”(The causes of Indian Revolt) to the British officers that in the 1857 A.D. revolt, that no upper caste Muslim participated in it, only ‘low’ caste Muslims took part in it. In his words: “Julahon ka tar to toot gaya tha jo bad zaat sab se zeyadah is hangamah mein garm josh the.” (“The power of weavers was broken completely, when “low caste”( bad-zaat) were involved the most in this revolt.”)

Mufti A’zizur Rahman U’smani – The first Mufti of Darul ‘Uloom Deoband’ Mufti A’zizur Rahman U’smani’ has given many fatwas based on caste. For eg. in a fatwa, he says that if Sayed mature girl marries herself with ‘low’ caste boy without her parent’s permission, that nikah will be invalid. But if the ‘low’ caste girl marries with ‘upper’ caste man without permission of her parent, then that nikah will be valid ^[6]

Maulana Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi – The founder of Barelwi sect, a loyal upholder of Syed supremacy, in reply to a question as to whether a teacher could hit a Syed student in order to teach him manners, he issued a fatwa and argued that if a Syed was convicted of even a major crime that necessitated the hadd punishment, the judge or qazi must administer the punishment ‘not with the intention of punishing him’, but, instead, ‘with the intention in his heart that he is cleaning the dirt that has gathered on the feet of a prince’.^[7] Needless to say, no rules of this kind are to be found anywhere in the Quran or in the corpus of authenticated Hadith. On the contrary, a hadith report in the Sahih of al- Bukhari teaches us quite the opposite. According to this report, the Prophet mentioned that even if Fatima, his daughter (from whom the Syeds claim descent) was guilty of stealing, he would cut off her hand.”^[8]

Maulana Qasim Nanawtwi: The second largest group of Indian Muslims “Deobandi” sect is also not free from the caste system. Like Aligarh Muslim University, Darul ‘Uloom Deoband was established for the welfare of upper caste Muslims, especially Sayeds and Sheikhs.^[9]

Mrs. Barbara Daly Metcalf writes quoting the statement of Maulana Qasim Nanawtwi from “Roodad Darul ‘Uloom Deoband (Reports of Darul ‘Uloom Deoband)” p.11: “God entrusted religious learning to these four Qaum…..[Ashraf qaum i.e. Sayed, Sheikh, Mughal, and Phatan] and they must acquire learning not merely for glory but for their livelihood as well.”She writes about the aim of Deoband Madrasa: “The ideologies of the Deobandis were particularly congruent to the interests of the Ashraf.”

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi – The famous Deobandi alim Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi shared the same mindset where he declared Sayed, Sheikh Mughal and Pathan noble caste, and weaver, oil presser razeel (low) caste.^[10] He mocked weavers at many places, once he said: “The weaver prayed three days only and considered himself a sacred person.”^[11]

With these general theoretical frameworks and history of caste among Muslims in mind, I now turn to significant resources that elites (Ashraf Muslims) control or have access to: political, social, cultural, and knowledge capital. The purpose here is to highlight some of the basic insights within the elites under the category of political, economic, social, cultural and knowledge capital.

Political Power – In India, among Muslims, political power from Muslim rule to till date is shared among upper class Muslims only. Sultan Shamshuddin Iltutmish, the founder of the caste system in India didn’t allow ‘low caste’ Muslims to get the high posts i.e Khachgi, Musharrafi, or Mudabberi in his period. He enquired the castes of his officials and dismissed 33 ‘low caste’ people from their posts.^[12] Sir Sayed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh movement/Aligarh Muslim University, hailed as the father of Muslim India opposed the entry of so-called ‘razil’ in legislatures and government employment arguing that examinations for the high government services (civil services) should not be held in India because that might lead to people from so-called razil castes entering government services and thereby ruling over the so-called Ashraf (elites). If we take the case of political representation in Lok Sabha then out of 7,500 members from the first to fourteenth Lok Sabha only about 400 members belonged to the Muslim community. Out of these 400 Muslim members, about 340 have been Ashraf (elite) Muslims and only 60 have been OBC Muslims. Hence, the representation of Ashraf (elite) Muslims in Lok Sabha is 4.5% that is way beyond their population percentage of 2.01%. Here, they are not only adequately represented but rather are doubly represented.^[13] Moreover, officials of important institutions like All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Minority Commission, Urdu Academy, Minority Commission, Madarsa Board, etc., are mostly from the elite class Muslims

In 1946 elections, dubbed the consensus on Pakistan in which Muslim league won handsomely was marked by a restricted electoral where only elite i.e. Ashraf Muslims got to vote. The vote of subordinated Muslim caste groups was not even put to the test. After the partition tragedy, the post-colonial states dominated by the Congress party preferred to work with remaining Ashraf sections as interlocutors for Muslims. This unstated policy resulted in an overrepresentation of high caste Muslims (who constitute on 15% of Muslim population) in power structure at the cost of subordinated castes. Since, the 1990s, the Pasmanda movement – the movement of backward, Adiwasi and Dalit Muslims, has reactivated the intra-Muslim caste antagonism by contesting Ashraf hegemony over Muslim politics. However, the moment one insert the caste in Question the debate change and it turned down towards Muslim communalism, Babri Masjid, Triple Talaq, AMU, etc.^[14]

Culture – Scholars have argued that cultural dispositions serve as markers of elite status and that, in addition to reflecting the social position, culture also helps to produce it (Bourdieu 1984, 1993). Elites use culture both to help constitute their own identities (Beckert 2003) and— through boundary-drawing (Lamont 1994)— to exclude others. Ulema and intellectuals among Muslims uphold the caste system either by keeping quiet or sanctioning it through Fatwa. In the name of Kufu, upper-class Muslims maintained their caste hierarchy and culture. They do not allow an upper-class woman to marry a lower class man, but a lower class woman can marry an upper-class man. These practices have got the sanctions from Muslims scholars and Ulema too. Mufti Azizur Rahman, the first Mufti of Darool’ Uloom Deoband, says if Sayed mature girl marries herself with ‘low’ caste boy without her parent’s permission, that nikah will be invalid. But if the ‘low’ caste girl marries with ‘upper’ caste man without permission of her parent, then that nikah will be valid.^[15]

Knowledge and Social Institutions – Ideas, knowledge, and ideology are seen as central to the maintenance of elite power. Gramsci (1971) noted that, rather than rule by force, the dominant classes often used cultural knowledge to subsume the interests of the dominated under their own interests or persuade the dominated to share or adopt the values of the dominant. The study of elites often emphasises how social institutions play a central role in the (re) production of elites. Rather than inheriting titles, today’s elites often navigate institutions that help credential them. Educational institutions are particularly complex in so far as they are central to both elite reproduction and broader social mobility.

The knowledge capital and important social institutions are strongly held by the elite Muslims to maintain their hegemony and to exclude the lower class Muslims. The two famous institutions – Aligarh Muslim University and Darul Uloom Deoband which are considered minority institution for uplifting the educational development among socially backward Muslims were primarily for elite class Muslims.

The founder of AMU – Sir Syed Ahmad Khan opposed the high education for ‘low’ caste Muslims and used to say that Aligarh College is not for weavers. So much he emphasised on casteism that there was mentioned in the character certificate of Aligarh Muslim Unversity till 1947 AD, that:

“The holder of this certificate belongs to the ‘sharif khandan’ (upper caste) of his district.”

In 20th of April 1894, Sir Sayed delivered a speech about the education of women in Jalandhar, Punjab. He spoke only about the education of ‘upper’ caste girls and excerpted his statement ‘I am against sending girls to the schools, who knows what kind of company they will get there.’ Sir Syed further says ‘I very forcefully advise that the Ashraf should get together and make arrangements for their daughters that should be patterned on the traditional style (of education) that was once in place. Any person from a respected family cannot imagine to impart such education to his daughter which will place her either in a Telegraph office to give signals or in a Post office to stamp the letters.’^[16]

In an address at the foundation laying ceremony of ‘Madrasa Anjuman-e-Islamia’ in Bareli where children from the so-called ‘low-caste’ communities used to study, he said that he finds no use in teaching English to them. In his words: “It is better and in the interests of the community that they are engaged in the old form of study… It appears appropriate if you teach them some writing and math. They should also be taught small tracts on everyday affairs and through which they know basic beliefs and practices of the Islamic faith.”

Like Aligarh Muslim University, Darul ‘Uloom Deoband was established for the welfare of upper caste Muslims, especially Sayeds and Sheikhs.^[17] There are many books which support the casteism. ‘Fatawa-e-Alamgiri’, an Islamic religious book has given in great detail which castes are to be considered high and which are to be considered low. Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi, in his book ‘Bahishti Zewar’ and a few other books, so also Maulavi Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi in his book ‘Fatawa-e- Razvia’ and few other books have mentioned how caste hierarchy has to be observed while marrying (off a daughter). Not only this, but these books also mention how a person belonging to Syed caste, even if he is illiterate and an idiot, should still be considered superior to an educated intellectual belonging to Julaha (weaver) caste. Unfortunately, these books are still being studied, taught in Madarsas and circulated in the Muslim community, and people continue to carry on conduct based on these teachings and others are made to follow it too (Falahi, 2007). Apart from these two institutions, officials from other institutions like All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Minority Commission, Urdu Academy, Minority Commission, Madarsa Board, etc., mostly belongs to Syed and Sheikh since the formation of these institutions

From above it is quite clear that one group (Ashraf) among Muslims enjoy the prestige at the price of Backward caste (Ajlaf and Arzal) Muslims whose condition is even worse than the Hindu Dalits. Even, Sachar Committee observes Ashraf sections within the Muslim community ‘without any social disabilities’ as opposed to the Pasmanda Muslims (OBC and Dalit Muslims). Despite this many spokespersons of Muslim politics and a few other Bahujan scholars have demanded that all the Muslims be brought within the ambit of reservations in India which would be an unjustified move and will be benefitting the Ashraf Muslims broadly as they will corner a large proportion of employment and educational opportunities owing to their cultural and social capital.

 

 

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Note: It was the month of January 2019 when my class was asked by a professor to write a term paper on anything related to the term ‘Elitism.’ As part of that assignment, I decided to write on ‘Elitism among Muslims’ and for that, I started reading around this concept. After having a brief idea about the concept I talked some of my friends (mostly Syed) to get their suggestions to write, but they all rejected the very idea of elitism among Muslims saying that there is no such concept in Islam and our religion is against it. They also said that it’s better to avoid such things as it may affect our unity and suggested me to not write on this. But I do not agree with them and did my assignment on the same topic and attempted to bring the core issues and reality of the society.

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Abid Faheem belongs from a small city of Uttar Pradesh named Mau, currently doing his M.Phil in Social Medicine and Community Health from JNU, New Delhi. He has done his Master in Social Work from TISS, Mumbai and had worked in Public Health Sector for two years. He is also the founder of the Premanu Foundation which works for social and economic empowerment of the rural communities with a primary focus of children and women.