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Islam in India
Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
REL 231
Religions of India and Tibet
Berea College
Fall 2005
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ARABIAN ROOTS OF ISLAM
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Muhammad (570-632 CE):
Born in Arabian city of Mecca; raised
by relatives after parents’ death
Absorbs diverse religious influences
(Christian, Jewish, local Arab
polytheism) in cosmopolitan
commercial city
Experiences revelations from Allah
(name of one Arab deity) beginning
with “Night of Power” (610), later
transcribed in Quran
As revelations continue, begins to
preach monotheism, moral purity, and
simplicity of lifestyle
Persecution leads to escape (Hijra)
from Mecca to Medina (622)
Gaining support, returns to Mecca as
conqueror (630)
Dies after making pilgrimage (Hajj) 2
to sacred sites in Mecca
WHO IS A MUSLIM?
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Muslim = from Arabic Islam,
“submission”
A Muslim is “one who submits”
to one who submits” to Allah
(God) through the revelation
(Quran) given to humanity
through His Prophet and final
messenger, Muhammad
A Muslim is anyone who can say
and believe the Shahada, or
“Profession of Faith”:
There is no God but Allah
Muhammad is Allah’s Prophet
50% of Muslims today live in
South and Southeast Asia
Fewer than 20% of Muslims are
Arabs
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THE “FIVE PILLARS”
OF ISLAM
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Shahada: profession of faith
in Allah as sole deity and
Muhammad as final
messenger (culmination of
Hebrew Bible and New
Testament prophecy)
Salat: ritual prayer five times
daily (morning, noon,
afternoon, sunset, dusk) while
prostrated in direction of
Mecca – customarily solitary,
but communal on Fridays at
noon in masjid (mosque)
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Zakat: charity – a “loan to
God” representing 2.5% of
one’s income, donated by
those 16 years and older who
can afford it
Ramadan: abstinence from
food, drink, sex, stimulants
during daylight hours of ninth
lunar month in
commemoration of the
Prophet’s “Night of Power”
Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca to
be made by every Muslim at
least once in a lifetime
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THE RISE OF SUFISM
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Soon after Prophet’s death, some
Muslims become critical of what they
see as worldliness and corruption of
caliphs (“deputies” or Islamic rulers)
Preaching simple living and constant
prayer, and distinguished by their
blue wool (sūf) clothing, Sufis
become famous for their use of
meditation and mystical union with
Allah
Primary value of Sufism: tawakkul
(absolute trust in Allah)
Tawakkul in turn arises from tawhid
(absolute unity/uniqueness of Allah)
Tawakkul is expressed through faqr
(“poverty,” both material and
spiritual)
Faqr in turn leads to fanā
(“annihilation” of self in the presence5
of almighty Allah)
SUFI THEOLOGY
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As Sufism expands throughout
Muslim world, it encounters
Buddhist and Hindu traditions in
South and Central Asia
Other Muslims criticize Sufis for
assimilating non-Islamic ideas,
leading to systematization and
defense of Sufi doctrine
Sufi teachers (shaikhs) transmit
their spiritual lineages (silsila)
inherited from Muhammad to
communities of disciples (tarīqa)
Basic Sufi theme: love, not fear,
should define relationship between
humanity and Allah
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Sufis practice dhikr
(“remembrance”) of Allah
through chanting, dancing,
fasting, music, and prayer
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (10581111), most famous Sufi
theologian, defines 4 major
points of Sufism:
islām (“surrender, submission” to
God in all aspects of life)
īmān (“faith” in God and his Prophet,
Muhammad)
ihsān (“serving God as if one were
seeing Him” at all times)
ishrāq (“illumination” of the soul,
leading it from dark material realm to
light spiritual realm)
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THE ISLAMIC CONQUEST
OF INDIA
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Between 700 and 1000, Islam
gradually introduced to India
through combination of Arab
invasion, settlement, and trade
1000-1200: Persian-speaking
Turks conquer northern and
central India
1206-1526: Turkish “Delhi
Sultanate” controls northern
India, insulates Islam from
devastating Mongol conquests
elsewhere, and forms partnership
with Sufi faqirs who help bridge
gap between Muslim rulers and
Hindu subjects
1526-1858: Mughal Empire
displaces Delhi Sultanate and
eventually masters all of India
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ISLAM UNDER THE
MUGHALS
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Like their Turkish predecessors, the
Mughals rely on Sufi leaders to
maintain power
Aurangzeb (1618-1707), heir to Shah
Jahan (builder of the Taj Mahal),
becomes famous for his simplicity of
life and Islamic orthodoxy, imposing
the jizya (tax on non-Muslims) on
Hindus
Shah Wali Allah (1702-1762) leads
Islamic revival across India, but
weakened Mughal rule cannot check
rise of quasi-independent Muslim and
Hindu territories within Empire
In general, Islamic rulers preside over a
syncretistic period of Indian religious
history, in which multiple traditions
interact and recombine to form new
concepts, movements, and practices
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COLONIAL AND
POSTCOLONIAL ISLAM
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Western settlements in India:
Portuguese (1510)
Dutch (1609)
English (1612)
French (1674)
1858: British depose last Mughal
emperor and rule until 1947
1947: Partition of mostly Muslim
Pakistan from mostly Hindu
India inaugurates wave of
refugees and reprisals
1948: Mahatma Gandhi
assassinated by right-wing Hindu
who opposed his conciliatory
policy toward Muslims
1971: India backs secession of
East Pakistan (Bangladesh)
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