Islamization of India
by the Sufis–Purushottam
Jafar Makki in his letter No. 28, dated 19th December 1421, states that the main aspects of conversion to Islam were fear of death, fear of enslavement of the family, economic incentives (rewards, pension and war booty), the superstitious bigotry of the ancestral faith of the converts and lastly, persuasive preaching.1 In the entire history of Muslim rule in India, we see the play of this process.
Rulers, zamindars and employers, who had the sword, the whip and the wealth, used fear of death, fear of enslavement of the family, economic incentives(rewards, pensions and war booty). The Sufis and Ulema on the other hand, employed persuasive preaching and superstitious bigotry as their instruments of proselytization. Both the processes worked simultaneously, many times giving each other a helping hand.
Islamization of india was the main aim of the invaders, Sultans and Kings and Sufis alike. Hindu soldiers and Rajas, who resisted the process, could be mercilessly trampled upon by elephant or beheaded and their dependents enslaved. Amir Khusrau writes that under Jalaluddin Khilji (1290-96) “Whatever a live Hindu fell into the hands of the victorious king was pounded to bits under the feet of the elephants. The Mussalam captives had their lives spared”.2 It was, however, not possible to behead the entire Hindu population which
stubbornly refused to convert. Therefore, Hindus were given the alternative of living as Zimmies on payment of a tax(Jizia), which normally was an alternative offered to Christians and Jews only. Even so, the Hindus, as Zimmies, became second class citizens in their
own homeland.” “The main object of levying the jizia is the subjection of infidels to
humiliation; and during the process of payment, the Zimmi is seized by the collar and vigorously shaken and pulled about in order to show him his degradation”.
3“Death awaited them at every corner, because, being idolators they could be given a
choice only between Islam and death.”4 The purpose was to give the Zimmi some time to see the light of Islam in course of time and accept it. Sufis and the Ulema have often resented and be-moaned for this kind of “mild treatment” of the Hindus by Muslim rulers. Amir Khusrau-the “Secular Sufi Saint” much advertised as such by Door Darshan writes: “Happy Hindustan, the splendour of religion, where the law finds perfect honour and
security. The whole country, by means of the sword of our holy warriors, has become
like a forest denuded of its thorns by fire….. Islam is triumphant, idolatory is subdued.
Had not the law granted exemption from death by the payment of poll-tax(Jizya), the
very name of Hindu. root and branch, would have been extinguished.”5In peace time too, the process of enslavement went on un-abated. Hindu peasents, unable to pay heavy taxes, were driven away as slaves and sold to recover the tax. It was not uncommon to see the families weeping and wailing during the march to the slave market. All such slaves sooner or later, became Muslims because they were sold only to Muslim buyers. In North India, Mohd. bin Quasim entered with sword to convert Hindus to Islam in 712 A.D. His acheivement in the way of converting to Islam, is described in books. With his return back, Hindu Sindh soon reverted to its old religion badly shattered, but alive.
Jihad in the Path of AllahMohd. Bin Quasim left Sindh, but he had sown the seed of Islam in the fertile land of India. The Muslims who had established their colonies at Debal, Mansura, Multan and Uch etc. flourished. With the rise of Fatimid Shia Caliphate from 909 to 1171, Multan became their dependency.
Mansura,Capital of Sindh also accepted their lordship. Ismailis, who were a sect of Shias, were enthusiastic missionaries who unhesitatingly modified their esortic system to suit their converts. According to 14th and 15th century legends, Ismaili propagandists evolved a belief for Hindu converts that Ali, the husband of Fatima, daughter of Prophet Mohammad, was the 10th incarnation of Vishnu, that Adam was another aspect of Siva and that
Mohammad was in fact Brahma.6 When Sindh came under Muslim control, many Brahmins, holding high government offices, embraced Islam in order to retain their position. A large
number of Buddhists who had acted as fifth columnists against their Hindu rulers and were extremely hostile to Brahmin domination converted to the faith of their conquerors. 7 Muhammad Bin Qasim is believed to have induced several chieftains to accept Islam and for reasons of expediency some responded favourably.8 The Raja of Asifan in the Punjab is said to have converted to islam, after persuasion by some Muslim merchants who as a class had always been enthusiastic proselytizers.9 The Quran was translated in local
language. As a result of these efforts, by 774 A.D., Sindh had some leading Muslim literary figures well known in the Islamic world.10 Meanwhile, Islam had spread and established itself firmly in Transoxiana area. Many Sufis had migrated to that area from Persia, Iraq, Arabia etc.
Sufi literally means a person clad in woolen cloth. They were so-called because they dressed themselves in this way, said to be the way of the Prophet and his companions. In principle, Sufis believed in attaining God bymeditation, fasts and singing. His praises and achieving a state of ecstasy by singing and dancing not unlike the practice of some Hindu saints.
Many scholars find great similarity between these practices of Sufis and the advocacy by some of them of the exercises of breadth control (Pranayam) so highly praised in Hindu Yoga Shastra. They ascribe this similarity to the fact that ancient Hindu thought and ideas on mysticism had continually aroused interest in the Khurasan region, and these naturally fused with the mystical experiences of Muslim Sufis there. However, one thing must be made clear at this juncture. All Sufis are ardent Muslims having absolute faith in the Prophet, his traditions, Quran and Shariah. So, although their form and conduct of recollection (Jap) and meditation (Dhyan) were often different, there was no hostility among them, and they adhered strictly to the basic tenets and frame work of Islam, which
of course held proselytization a very meritorious and pious work.
Mahmud of Ghazni repeatedly invaded India from 1001 to 1025 A.D. During these raids and after, many talented and adventorous Sunni Sufis from the trans-oxania area came to india and settled here. So that by the middle of the century, Sufis had well penetrated upto Punjab and spread their tentacles there and in the adjoining areas. As is common in Hindu India, stories of miraculous powers of these Sufis were spread by gullible Hindus themselves.
Corrupted Hindu religion, after the Mahabharat had taken to sacrificial rituals involving slaughter of large number of animals and self mortification.
This gave rise, as a reaction, to the extremely non-violent religions of Jainism
and Buddhism.
Buddhism, supported and encouraged by powerful Kings, like Ashok, spread peacefully and quickly even beyond the frontiers of india to Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, Afghanistan, Ceylon, Burma and South East Asian countries of Indonesia, Malaya etc. The enormous Royal aid to Boddh Sanghs attracted innumerable indolent young men and women to these Sanghs. As a result, corruption grew. Aadi Shankaracharya and other Hindu saints
challenged these religions in public religious debates. Some powerful Hindu Kings having come to the throne helped. Buddhism, gradually retreated from India, the land of its birth, but Hinduism, due to its absorbent character, accepted the saintly Buddha as one of the incarnations of Vishnu and his principle of Ahinsa and shankar’s Mayawad(illusionism). In this process, it forgot and neglected the agressive and robust national militantism of the
Vedas.
While the spiritual body of Hindus was thus in convulsion, its political body was also ailing. There was no central authority, only small independent states were perpetually at war with each other. In these circumstances, they had no time to gain knowledge of the upto date military strategy, training and arms which had developed outside India.
The weakness of Hindu India in the political field, led to its defeat at the hands of vigorous and seasoned armies of Islam under Mahmood of Ghazni. It was at this critical juncture that Sufism penetrated India un-unoticed.
Hinduism by now, had become victim to all kinds of superstitious bigotry, believing in good and bad spirits, miracles and miraculous power of mendicants, Gurus, Tantriks and Aghoris, a cancer which will end only at its death. The Hindu religious psyche was therefore, quite
ready to believe the fantastic stories of miracles performed by the newly arrived saints (Sufis) from across the frontiers. Consequently they flocked to them in large numbers for amulets, blessings and recommendations. Their conversion to Islam was then only a matter of time. The Sufis thus adopted a much easier path for conversions. Forced conversion involved a lot of blood shed of the Muslim soldiers. It also left behind a lot of bitterness. People so converted lapsed into infidelism as soon as the Muslim power waned as happened in Sindh after Mohd. Bin-Quasim’s departure. The Sufi method achieved conversions in a pleasant and peaceful manner without leaving behind any bitterness and chances of relapse.
Between the sixteenth and the eighteenth century, conversions of Hindus to Islam did occur on a considerable scale, due to the successful proselytizing techniques used by the new Sufic orders which had considerable experience of this kind of work in Persia, Iraq and Central Asia. A large number of conversions that are taking place in India today are also due to the activities of these the Sufis, dead and alive.
Although Sufis were not averse to taking up the sword and participating in Jihad, mostly they called upon the Muslim Sultans for this purpose. They themsleves presented to the gullible and ignorant Hindus a face of devotional singing, dancing, renunciation and penance with which the latter was so familiar and which appeared to him, the signs of divinity in such Sufis.
(To be continued)
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