The Dalit Background of South Asian Islam

It is well-known that Islam in South Asia has a structured caste system (there is even a Wikipedia article about it!). I contend that the caste issue in Islam is essential for those seeking to share the gospel with the Muslims of South Asia. In brief, it seems that lower-caste Muslims have been the most receptive to the message of Jesus. This blog post explores this phenomenon. This blog post describes three aspects of the Dalit background of South Asian Islam:

1. Casteism in South Asia: Ashraf, Ajlaf, and Arzal.
2. The conversion of Dalits to Islam during the Delhi Sultanate.
3. Historic People Movements to Christ in South Asia.

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Casteism in South Asian Islam

Casteism in South Asian Islam is a complex and multifaceted issue. I am providing only the broadest strokes here. South Asian Islam is broadly broken down into three categories:

1. Ashraf are the descendants of foreign Muslims who emigrated to South Asia, such as Arabs, Persians, and Mongols. Ashraf Muslims are considered high-caste Muslims, with different ethnic backgrounds having higher and lower ranks. The highest caste in South Asia are the Sayyid, who claim descendency from the Qureshi tribe of Saudi Arabia. While Ashraf are only about 15% of Indian Muslims, they dominate the leadership in Muslim organizations, whether religious or secular. During Partition, more Ashraf had the financial capacity to emigrate to Pakistan, so the rate of Ashraf there is higher than in India. 
2. Ajlaf are Hindu converts to Islam who are indigenous to South Asia. Historically, lower-caste Hindus more readily converted to Islam, so there are few Brahmans among the Ajlaf, but there are numerous Rajputs in certain areas. Together the Ajlaf and Arzal are about 85% of Indian Muslims. It is difficult to determine the percent difference between Ajlaf and Arzal, although the percentage of Arzal is much higher.
3. Arzal are Dalit converts to Islam who are indigenous to South Asia. Historically, many Dalits have abandoned Hinduism to see if they could find favor in other religions. Many Dalits have converted to various religions in South Asian history. B.R. Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism in 1956 with 500,000 supporters is perhaps the most famous historical movement of Dalit conversion. Although it is difficult to find accurate historical data, I contend that Arzal Muslims are the most common Muslim community in many areas in South Asia.

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The Conversion of Dalits to Islam during the Delhi Sultanate

The most considerable shift in South Asian history of conversions to Islam occurred during the Delhi Sultanate period from 1206-1526 AD. During this period, Muslim rulers from Central Asia dominated Pakistan and North India. Their rule created a period in which Sufi mystics could freely travel and propagate Islam. As they spread the message of Islam, the Islamic government in South Asia began policies that were favorable to conversion to Islam. 

For example, Muinuddin Chisthti (1143-1236 AD) journeyed to Ajmer to spread Islam in 1192 AD. Around that time, Afghani warlords conquered North India. Muinuddin Chisthti then formed the largest Sufi movement in South Asia. He is considered the seventeenth mystic in the Chishti silsila. During the Delhi Sultanate, the four most significant Sufi mystics in South Asian history lived and ministered. They are the seventeenth to twentieth figures in the Chishti silsila. 

1. Moinuddin Chishti (1143-1236 AD), whose dargah is in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.
2. Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (1173-1235 AD), whose dargah is in Meherauli in Delhi, India. 
3. Baba Farid (1173-1266 AD), whose dargah is in Pakpattan, Punja, Pakistan.
4. Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325 AD), whose dargah is in Nizamuddin in Delhi, India. 

The modus operandi of these Sufis was to feed the poor through their langar (i.e., soup kitchens), live among the people as mystics, and proclaim Islam. The Islam proclaimed by these men was syncretized with Hinduism leading to disciples who were partially Muslim and partially Hindu. These men often clashed with the orthodox Muslims of their time regarding their theology and practice. For example, these men loved singing praises to Muhammad and Allah and using musical instruments, which orthodox Muslims condemned as haram. 

Nizamuddin Auliya is famous for developing 700 lieutenants who went and formed 700 langars across South Asia as points to practice and proclaim Sufi Islam. These Sufis focused on ministry to the poor, which would have made the Dalit population their primary focus. These men were quite successful in developing other leaders to follow their model. The combination of Muslim rule and Sufi preaching led many Dalits and Hindus to convert to Islam. 

The syncretized nature of the preaching of these Sufis is one reason folk Islam is so dominant in South Asia (more on folk Islam here – there are 12 linked articles on folk Islam). It was not until the reform movements of the 1800s that widespread efforts emerged to convert folk Muslims to a more orthodox brand of their faith. In fact, Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, the founder of the Tablighi Jamaat movement, is known for his rallying cry, “O Muslims, become Muslims!” By this, Ilyas meant that Muslims should abandon folk religion, study the Qur’an and Hadith, and practice Islam according to Hanafi tradition. Dr. Zakir Naik, a famous South Asian Muslim apologist, is likewise known for his attacks on folk Islam. However, his brand of Islam (Salafi) is also at odds with the Hanafi traditions of Tablighi Jamaat.

While most Muslims in South Asia gravitate towards folk Islam, the percentages are changing. Every year, more and more folk Muslims begin reading the Qur’an and reject South Asian traditional Islam. This conflict is famously described in the disputes between the Bareilvi and Deobandi reform movements. 

However, my point in this blog post is that vast areas exist today, especially in rural South Asia, where most Muslims are Arzal-background folk Muslims with little knowledge of the Qur’an and Hadith. Instead, they continue to practice Islam according to the folk Islamic traditions passed down. 

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Historic People Movements to Christ in Asia

In 1933, J. Waksom Pickett wrote his seminal Christian Mass Movements in India (you can download a PDF here). He described how people groups had come to Christ in large numbers from particular people groups in South Asia in previous years. In 1979, Pickett’s disciple, Donald McGavran, wrote that “in only twenty-one of the more than three thousand ethnic groups of India do Christians form any considerable proportion of the total population… In more than 2900 castes and tribes there are practically no Christians at all” (Ethnic Realities and the Church, 28). According to Pickett and McGavran, these people movements had primarily been Dalit movements to Christ. 

The phenomenon of Dalits leaving Hinduism has been widely studied. These people are considered to be even below the caste system, being “untouchable.” Being untouchable meant Dalits have no hope or future in their religion. B.R. Ambedkar (d. 1956) was a Dalit political leader who wrote and argued along these lines. Shortly before his death, Ambedkar converted to Buddhism with 500,000 supporters. Throughout South Asian history, Dalits have left Hinduism for every other religion, hoping to find a better hope and a future elsewhere. 

Dalit form a large portion of South Asian populations. In India, Dalits are called “scheduled castes” and formed 16.6% of the population in the 2011 Census. However, the number should be considered higher because this 16.6% does not include Dalits who have left Hinduism to become Buddhist, Muslim Christian, or Sikh. The percentage of Dalits in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and other South Asian countries is hard to determine. 

Returning to the point that many South Asian Christians are from Dalit backgrounds, Pakistan is a good case study. The vast majority of Pakistan’s more than four million Christians descend from the “Sialkot movement” that began in 1874 and swept through the Chamar caste, which is considered Dalit. Likewise, many “people movements” to Christ in South Asia have a high Dalit background. 

The result is that there are many places in South Asia where significant portions of Dalit-background Christians and Dalit-background Muslims live nearby. Culturally and linguistically, there are very few barriers between these communities. It seems likely that as these Christians grow strong in their faith that they will be evangelistically effective in impacting the Dalit-background Muslims in their proximity. Likewise, suppose the Muslim populations were to grow strong in Islam through the efforts of groups like Tablighi Jamaat. In that case, it seems likely that the Muslim people would effectively bring many of these Christians into the fold of Islam. 

To my mind, circumstances where large numbers of Dalit-background Christians and Dalit-background Muslims live in proximity provide the greatest evangelistic opportunity among Muslims in South Asia today. Opportunities like these abound. One goal should be to identify these opportunities and take advantage of them. Significant effort will be required, but significant potential exists. In these circumstances, it seems likely that Muslims will readily accept the gospel. Still, the most essential difficulties will be providing discipleship and church formation opportunities. 

While pursuing opportunities like these, we must acknowledge that these issues will be sensitive. Many Christians do not like discussing their Dalit history for good reasons! They left those things behind and were made royal priests in the kingdom of God. In our faith, we do not have a distinction of castes. We are all one. Therefore, some consider any discussion of these caste issues and dynamics a regression. While I agree with those concerns, an opportunity remains. 

The question is: How can we train movements to Christ in proximity to large groups of Muslims to cross over to their Muslim neighbors?