A Paradigm Shift

By Seharworddin Khan

Jai Mulniwasi

Recently I met a visionary, a real fighter who is fighting for freedom! His support base is growing exponentially! They are poised to free our society from dark evils of casteism! He is none other than our friend Shahanshah Ansari ( www.dalitmuslims.com )!

Prior to that meet, in the past few times I came across write ups or talks that Brahminical Social Order (castes-sub castes- one could be socially high or Low due to ones birth) exists among Indian Muslims! Each time I rubbished it off labeling it a conspiracy to divide Indian Muslims! How wrong I was!

We met over Aftaar which was supposed to be an affair of half an hour but the discussion lasted few hours! The changes that discussion brought on; was colossal! I never expected followers of Islam; which earned a name for egalitarianism and attracted conversions all over the globe and turned in to more than one and half billion strong today; had copied the hated BSO(Brahminical Social Order) so devilishly in North India!! Brave Mulniwasi who embraced Islam in defiance of exploitive BSO are still in the same caste and still suffering from so called Brahmins (Shaikh-Syed etc) among Muslims!

It is a mater of shame!

What is more surprising- the intellectuals who support this hated system had written books in support and had quoted "Hadeeth"!

The worse is: Muftis who rush to issue Fatwas on nonsensical subjects never bothered to say a word on this Satanic practice!!

Here I would prefer to quote our beloved Prophet's (PBUH) own words from his "Last Sermon":

“All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. "

Sooner these micro minority Brahmins (Shaikh-Syed) among Muslim learn to respect every Muslim as brother; better for them!

Govt can play a very uplifting role here.Today the SC/ST/OBC has grown far better compared what was there status in 1947! This is due to reservation! Why the same formulae not been applied to Dalit Muslims in secular social democratic republic of India!

Do give it a serious thought!

Seharworddin Khan
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

6 comments

  1. In MUslim, there is nothing called a Dalit muslim..all r equal

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not only this:

    The Holy Qur'an itself says in Surah Al-Hujrat:

    “O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is the (believer) who has Al-Taqwa. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” Surah Al-Hujrat, Verse: 13

    The Qur’an also says:

    “The believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islamic religion).” Surah Al-Hujrat, Vrese: 10

    Apart from these clear and immortal verses, our beloved Prophet has set numerous of examples emphasizing the egalitarian nature of Islam, free from such big social evils as casteism. Ironically, some of the “privileged” and “higher caste born” Muslims seems to care little about this beautiful teaching of Islam and Prophet and still practice casteism by discriminating their own brothers and sisters.

    ReplyDelete
  3. To know who are Dalits Muslims and how does the term 'Dalit Muslims' got evolved you can read casteism among Muslims. It has the collection of many articles on Dalit Muslims which will clear many misconceptions about unity among Muslims.

    http://www.dalitmuslims.com/2009/05/casteims-among-muslims.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rightly said Brother Seharworddin. Religious leaders have to step further and take this responsibility in their hand to remove this anti- social, anti –religious element - casteism from Muslims. Though unfortunately there are hardly any fatwas passed against this evil and inhumane practice. It’s a deep discussion as to why no initiative has been taken in this field, so far. Interestingly, in majority of religious body high positions are mainly held by “upper caste” people such as (Syed, Shaikh etc.) and one can hardly expect any such fatwa which shall go against them and prove fatal for them. And so the never ending silence still prevails on this burning issue. If not by practice, these Maulana and Muftis are extending their support to such practices among Muslims by keeping their mouth shut and overlooking this issue.

    A country – wide strong movement is the need of the hour to eradicate this evil practice from it’s very roots. It will not only unite Muslims as whole but will help driving away many misconceptions regarding Islam and will help it grow.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aashish,
    Indian Dalit Muslims are a part of society, which is completely absent from the Constitution, parliamentary democracy and the debates of mainstream politics. The census report usually records the number count of the different castes included as Dalit and a brief outline on their present status. But in these reports, we find not even a trace of the population of Dalit Muslims. The deeply disturbing fact however is that the public sphere of our society doesn’t even deem it necessary to hold discussions on this group. It is very surprising that neither the media nor the academia or even street discussions have ever included this group within the ambit of their discussion.

    IDMV is an initiative towards filling this gap and provide a genuine platform to raise issues related to Dalit Muslims and so far we are successful up to a great extent.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Ashish;
    Just by refusing to accept existence of Dalits among Muslims you can't hide the truth. The truth is these indigenous people revolted against Brahmanism or got attracted towards egalitarian religions like Islam-Christianity-Buddhism-Sikhism! To their bad luck there is no escape from the evil of a system that is thousands of years old!
    Be happy these exploited slaves are still in a drugged sleep. If they rise up that would be the biggest revolution and may cause biggest bloodshed!

    Better lets give them their rights before anything nasty happens!

    Dalits definitely exist among Muslims-Christians-Sikhs-Buddhists!

    Reservation in education as well as in jobs and Assembly/Parliament seats are the least government can do.

    Currently in every sector more than 50% of the share of the cake goes to upper caste Hindu. Is it fair! Please do not rubbish about merit!

    Wake up to reality before it is too late.

    Jai Mulniwasi

    Vijay

    ReplyDelete

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