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Islam was preached
by Muslim missionaries in
South Asia few years after
the death Prophet Muhammad.
Muslim missionaries and
traders converted many pagans
to Islam.
The Syrian Umayyad Caliphate sent a Muslim
Arab army led by Muhammad
bin Qasim and it conquered
Pakistan territories from
Kashmir to the Arabian Sea,
in 711 BCE. During the Arab
rule, the territories of
Pakistan were known as 'Sindh'
and India was known as 'Hind'.
The Arab dynasties ruled
Pakistan from Baghdad in
Iraq and Damascus in Syria
for more than two hundred
years. Many inhabitants
of Pakistan converted to
Islam during the long Arab
rule. The Muslim technocrats,
bureaucrats, soldiers, traders,
scientists, architects,
teachers, theologians and
Sufis flocked from the rest
of the Muslim world to Islamic
Sultanate in South Asia
and many settled in the
Pakistan.
By some estimates over 95% of all Muslims
of South Asia are descendents
of converts from pagan religions
to Islam. The pagan religions
such as Hinduism, Buddhism,
Zoroastrism, Mithraism and
many tribal religions were
practiced in South Asia
at the time of arrival of
Islam. Over generation these
Muslims have claimed to
be descendents of Muslim
Arab, Persian, Turkish Afghan
and Mongol tribes that have
come to South Asia. This
was due to the hierarchal
nature of native society
and with this claim there
accorded higher status.
The Muslims adopted Ashraf
title for noble classes
and Ajlaf for common
classes.
The Ashraf group include Syeds, Shaikhs,
Mughals and Pathans (Pushtuns
or Afghans). These are communities
claiming descent from population
groups hailing from outside
South Asia. It has been
pointed that all four noble
classes permit interdining,
but commensality with the
common classes, consisting
of groups descended from
native converts, is not
allowed. Also Sayyads and
Shaikhs intermarry, but
marriages between Sayyads
and Sheikhs on the one hand,
and Mughals and Pathans
on the other, are not common.
There were many various considerations
taken into account when
determining hierarchy within
the status group called
the Shaikhs. There are at
least four of them:
1. affiliation with an Arab tribe.
2. descent from a person of Arab origin
who is known to have close ties the
Prophet.
3. relationship to a place in Arabia
or Persia.
4. descent from someone who is said
to have entered India along with the
early Muslim armies.
The Shaikh subgroups emphasize their
foreign origin and links
to some Islamic personage
of repute. The groups who
claim to be descended from
the Prophet's own tribe,
Quraish, are regarded as
the highest. Then follow
the descendants of first
Caliph, Abu Bakr Siddique.
Next in rank are those who
count the next two Caliphs,
Usman and Umar among their
ancestors. They are followed
by descendants of the close
friends and associates of
the Prophet. Descendants
of other Persians or Arabs
who may have come with the
Muslim armies are ranked
last.
As for the Siddiqui Shaikhs they have
only recently been recognized
as descendants of Abu Bakr.
It is claimed that their
Kayastha Hindu antecedents
are quite well established,
and their striving for recognition
as Ashraf is a phenomenon
quite well known all over
South Asia. It has been
pointed out that the circumstances
of the Siddiqui Shaikh's
conversion to Islam is not
known, but after conversion,
they were allowed to retain
their traditional occupation
as land record keepers or
clerks, a fact which is
also attested to by the
fact that the members of
the group also served as
record keepers well after
the annexation of the area
by the British.
It has been alleged that Shaikh Siddiqui
in South Asia are predominantly
converts from the Kayastha
or Kayasth Hindu caste.
They were scribes, administrators,
writers, magistrates, judges.
lawyers, chief executive
officers and village accountants
in ancient South Asia. Kayasthas
celebrate: Qalam and Dawaat
pooja (pen and ink-pot worship),
a pagan ritual in which
pens, papers and books are
worshipped. This clearly
shows that they were clerks
and official record keepers
of the kings. Kayasthas
were vegetarian and later
started eating meat during
the Muslim period when they
socially mixed with the
Muslims during Muslim dynasties.
Kayasthas were valued in
the second millennia by
most kingdoms and princely
states as desired citizens
or immigrants within South
Asia. They were treated
more as a race rather than
a Hindu caste because they
developed expertise in Persian
(the state language in Islamic
India), learnt Turkish and
Arabic, economics, administration
and taxation. This gave
them an edge over the Brahmins
(the priestly Hindu caste),
who traditionally had reserved
the study of Sanskrit shastras
to themselves. They successfully
adapted themselves as scribes
and functionaries under
Islamic rule and later on
under the British. Some
historians hold the view
that during the reign of
the Mughals, a number of
Hindus who were were educated
and endowed with sharp intellect
attained administrative
positions through rapid
adaptation to the Persian
language and culture of
the new rulers of South
Asia. These influential
Hindus got together and
formed a new caste known
as Kayastha. Their secular
viewpoint to life, adaptability
and lifestyle was an asset
which allowed them to succeed.
The Kayastha community also
adapted to changes, such
as the advent of the British
rule in India. They learnt
English, the more affluent
ones sent their children
to England, they became
civil servants, tax officers,
junior administrators, teachers,
legal helpers and barristers.
They rose to the highest
positions accessible to
natives in British India.
The other very interesting observations
about the Siddiqui Shaikhs:
Convert groups to Islam
are generally characterized
as new Muslims and they
are looked down upon by
the social groups which
are known to be descendants
of foreign sources or who
have succeeded in eliminating
the stigma of recent conversion.
This gave rise to certain
differentiations in the
adjustment of the Shaikh
Siddiquis after their conversion
to Islam in the different
villages. In villages that
were largely or predominantly
Hindu, the Shaikh Siddiquis
were excluded from the framework
of interaction with the
Hindu castes but they continued
to enjoy a somewhat superior
status as a Muslim community.
But in villages where there
were numerous other Muslim
groups of superior status,
the Shaikh Siddiquis were
not merely excluded from
the social hierarchy of
Hindu castes, but were also
relegated to a somewhat
lower position even within
the hierarchy of Muslim
community.
The continued prestige of the Siddiqui
Shaikhs in their native
villages even after conversion
can probably be explained
by the fact that they were
already a community which
enjoyed prestige among the
Hindus. After all, they
were allowed to retain their
prestigious occupation as
land record keepers. But
in Muslim dominated villages,
the Siddiqui Shaikhs commanded
little prestige among the
Muslims, since they were
not Ashraf. This is an example
of conversion from Hinduism
which has obviously not
been motivated by a desire
to escape the disabilities
of the Hindu caste system.
Page last updated:
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
12:57:03 PM -0500
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