Castes among Muslims?

Comments

12 responses to “Castes among Muslims?”

1. 

   Hina Safdar

   May 19, 2009

   @ Yusha

   I never knew that Islam too has this evil Caste System. This is the first comment you get and you say are not misleading others?
   There is no superiority or inferiority in Islam for sure. If any one thinks himself superior to other, He is surely not following the teachings of Islam. You must have read about The Last Sermon of Holy Prophet. This is a misleading post.

   Reply
2. 

   sheheryar

   May 19, 2009

   Dear Bro,

   Sorry to say, that your comments on the exsistance of caste in islam and their bases is very strange,may be to me or every muslim when i read your article.
   as we muslim beliv Quran as the Words of God, so in Quran Almighty Allah says, i will mention here the summary of quranic words.

   That their is caset and creed,bt not for priority of individual or groups,but just for recognizing each other, and the priorty is on the basis of TAQWA(that how much you struggle for the right of God and Right of your brothers)

   so plz befor giving any comments on reliigious i request that must use proper channel and authentic source refrance.

   Reply
3. 

   Mohammad Yusha

   May 17, 2009

   @ Hina: Thank you for your comment, and let me answer some of your questions.

   >>>Your posts heading has ? means you are asking and your writing is in a way that it is telling us.

   My post has a question mark because I am so surprised and shocked at the whole system of biradari/qabeela/qaum to show others as inferior that I cannot believe it to be true.

   >>> You are on a blog, writing all this creating an image for Pakistan rather building it you are demolishing it.

   This is not about the image of any particular country, but that of Muslims all over the world. Secondly, I am not demolishing it, but raising an issue that needs to be addressed. Until when are we going to run away from the truth?

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4. 

   Mohammad Yusha

   May 17, 2009

   Lets keep the actions of people and religion seperate. Even when I talk about castes among Hindus, I would not say castes in Hinduism, but castes among Hindus.

   No religion can ever teach an evil caste system.

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5. 

   Mohammad Yusha

   May 16, 2009

   @ Muheeb and Ahmad: I am talking about castes among Muslims, not Islam. Please read the post and title carefully.

   Reply
6. 

   Ahmed

   May 16, 2009

   Islam and Caste System? kiya ho gaya hai meray bhai?
   correct your article immediatly.
   As it is, Pakistan has tons of troubles to deal with, at least we don’t want to give Islam or Pakistan ANOTHER, UNTRUE publicity.
   In Pakistan, “some” people will ojbect due to “financial/status” differences but what Caste System meray bhai?
   Wake up…

   Reply
7. 

   Mujeeb Malik

   May 16, 2009

   There is no caste system is Islam . Islam is the religion In which Bilal ( R. A ) Is given more respect than leaders of Qurash. It is the religion in which Prophet ( S A W ) says there is no superiority on the case of caste , colour , region , language. Islam is the religion which gives equal rights to every one. Castes are only for identity. I dont want to mention that Barhman and shudar belongs to which religion. I dont want to mention rights and respect of Shudar . But please correct your knowledge.

   Reply
8. 

   Hina Safdar

   May 14, 2009

   Your posts heading has ? means you are asking and your writing is in a way that it is telling us. You are on a blog, writing all this creating an image for Pakistan rather building it you are demolishing it. When the key words of your post are searched in Google only this link appear carrying these words because there is no caste System in Islam.

   According to Wikipedia:

   Castes in Pakistan;

   Caste, Biradari or Quom.

   Many academics have argued that system of social relations that operate in Pakistan is more tribal then caste based.McKim Marriot, a well known American sociologists has argued that in the middle Indus region, the system of stratified caste is absence. What takes its place is tribal lineages, known as biradaris or quom in Urdu and Punjabi. There is complete absence of the Ashraf Ajlaf categories, present in North India and Bangladesh. If a Pakistani villager is asked what caste he is, he is more likely to respond by naming his lineage group. In Sindh, for example he might say he is a Junejo, and if pressed further might call himself a Rajput. There is no examples of avoidance of food or touch.

   Leach in his study of social stratification among Muslims in the Swat area of North Pakistan has been meaningfully compared to the Caste system in India. The society is rigidly divided into subgroups where some Quom is assigned a profession. Different Quoms are generally not permitted to intermarry or live in the same community. These Muslims practice a ritual-based system of social stratification. The Quoms who deal with human emissions are ranked the lowest. Since Leach’s study in the 1960s, the region of Swat has seen major changes. Non Pashtun gropus, such as Gujjars, Parachas and Kohistanis have raised their status considerably. The recent disturbances have further weakened the hierachical system.

   There is no denying that caste does have a some sort of presence in Pakistani society, and certain groups such as Muslim Shaikh and Mirasi are treated like outcastes, however it lacks an ideological underpinning. Werbner, in her study of Manchester Pakistanis, gives two examples, a Mirasi family, as well as a lineage of Darzi that have successfully raised their status. Ibbetson in his monumental work on caste in Punjab quotes a famous saying “Last years were weavers, this year we are Shaikh, and if the harvest is good next year,we will be Sayyid”. Without the ideological underpining, members of what might be considered as lower castes can raise their status, by adopting a more religious lifestyle, or raising their income level. In fact, even the biradari has disintegrated among Mohajirs and urban Punjabis.

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9. 

   Shakir Lakhani

   May 13, 2009

   This is a very misleading post. There is no caste system in Islam (unlike in Hinduism). Unfortunately most Pakistani Muslims wish to get their children married to near relatives (first cousins in most cases), which is only natural, but this doesn’t mean that there are castes in Islam. What the writer terms “caste” is actually “biradary”, which is a group of people. Unlike in Hinduism, there is no ban on marriages between people belonging to different “biradaries”. People belonging to one “biradari” do not mind praying with or having dinner with people belonging to another “biradari”.

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10. 

    Ayush

    May 13, 2009

    I never knew that Islam too has this evil Caste System. I can assure that caste system in any way is not useful neither to relegion nor to the country.The only thing it create is a division among people.
    If anyone is following Indian elections one will know how prevalant is cast system in Northern India esp. in U.P and Bihar.These states also carry crown of most backward states of India but both the states act as virtual political playground of Indian politics.
    If u have ever seen any indian matrimonial where “well educated” people look for bride or groom who is Brahmin, Vaishya, Yadav, Kshatriya, Jat,teli, Baniya…. Etc.
    I m waiting for the day where i can see a matrimonial without any division.

    Reply