Muslims in India, an example for coexistence of civilizations

Al Ahram, p.25, (25-5-2006)

By: Mohammed Abdel Hady 

Muslims and the Islamic culture represent a major component of India and the bridge linking it to the Muslim world. Along with other Indians of various religions, Muslims in India set an example for coexistence, understanding and tolerance in a multi-religious, multi-racial, multi-lingual community. This refutes the theory of the “Clash of Civilization” and  emphasizes that a modern state is based on integrity of territory, not unity of belief.

As the world’s second largest Muslim community after that of Indonesia, the Muslims of India (150 million of 1.2 billion population), made significant contributions to India’s national development and the human civilization in various political, economic, art and cultural fields.

According to Professor Akhtar Al Wasi, Director of the Islamic Studies Institute in New Delhi, the history of Islam in India dates back to the period of Prophet Mohammed when merchants from the Arabian Peninsula came to the western coasts of India carrying with them the message of Islam. Their honesty and integrity gave a good impression about Islam in the Indian community. Hence, many Indians embraced Islam, by which they established commercial relations with Europe through the first Muslim communities in the cities of Malabar and Gujarat.

In the year 712, Islamic conquest of India took place during the rule of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik Bin Marwan. Islam became a political power in India at the hands of the Turkish, Afghani and Mughal rulers. Muslims ruled India for about 11 centuries from 998 to 1857, till it was occupied by the Portuguese and then British forces.

The Mughal rule in India (1526-1857) was one of India’s greatest periods. They established a huge great empire. The Mughal ruler Shah Jahan set up Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. As a tourist destination, it brings millions of dollars in to the Indian treasury.

During the Islamic rule, Indian Muslims learnt Arabic and those who did not believe in Islam used Arabic words in their languages and used the Arabic script to write such languages as Sindhi, Kashmiri and Urdu in the North and Malayalam in the South. The Hindi language has many Arabic words like those for pen, book, human being, affliction, enough, place, shirt, chair, survival, but and salvation.

Islam affected Hindu beliefs. Hinduism believes that there is a god for every aspect of life (good, evil, prosperity, might, etc). it resembles the pharaonic creeds. The idea of monotheism in Islam led to the appearance of the supreme power in Hinduism. Hindus started to believe that all those gods are just a means to reach the supreme power.

The Islamic rule in India contributed to the establishment of great architectural edifices such as Qutub Minar. It is a tower, 73 mt high and was established in 1199. Quaranic verses are writing on its walls and Islamic inscriptions are used to decorate it. There is also Agra fort in Agra, and the red fort in New Delhi. Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in India.

During the Islamic rule India enacted law, applied management systems and had organized supply of food. Muslim scholars spread the concepts of equality, justice, and solidarity.

India has several Islamic schools in cities and villages where the Arabic literature, Islamic religion sciences and the Quran are studied. Arabic language is also taught in those schools and its study is not confined to Muslims. Non-Muslims also study the language especially for finding a job opportunity in Arab Gulf countries.

Maintaining the unity of the Indian nation, in spite of the religious, linguistic, and ethnic differences is one of the important features of Islam and Muslims in India. This multiplicity became a factor of unity and not division. One of the famous Islamic scholar Hussein Ahmad Madani says, India is the example which proves that the modern state can be based on the unity of land and not the unity of religion. The legendry Muslim leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad also talked about the duties of the Muslims in a state like India, showing extreme sense of belongingness to the motherland-India.

Even during the freedom struggle against the British occupation, Indian Muslims played an important role in liberating their country from the British occupation.

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