Hindu Customs Among the Muslim Community in India (and Pakistan)
JPR:
Did you ask in one your posts about similarities in customs among Muslims and Hindus in India/Pakistan ? If so here is something interesting I found on the subject.
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...But the more significant reason for a socio-cultural interaction between the two communities was the fact the overwhelmingly large proportion of Muslims are converts from Hinduism and their ancestors time or the other been Hindus. Though their conversion in almost all cases had been at the point of the sword or through some other compulsion like penal taxes, discrimination in the eyes of the law under Muslim rule, the converts consciously and sub-consciously carried with them the strains of their pre-Muslim past. This is not to say that Islam did not influence Hinduism, it did as we have seen earlier in the section on Hinduism. The influence of Hinduism on Muslims is more pronounced on communities like the Bohras, Kutchi Memons and Khojas who embraced Islam relatively recently, i.e. about 200 years back.
Similarity in Surnames/Family Names amongst Indian (and Pakistani) Muslims
To gauge the influence of Hinduism one only needs to ask a Khoja or Bohra his name. Names like Allibhai Premji, Abdul Hashim Premji, etc. occur frequently among the Bohras and Khojas. Hindu Surnames occur more frequently among Muslims in general for instance, Chowdhury, Khatri, Patel, Dalwai, Parkar, Munshi, etc.
(These names are being quoted only as proper nouns, any resemblance with actual names of individuals is accidental and not intentional.)
Khoja social functions reveal the surprising presence of Hindu customs. For instance during a Khoja wedding a coconut is used as an auspicious fruit. In Maharashtra, Muslim women from the Konkan region even wear the Mangal Sutra after wedding. The wearing of flowers, (forbidden in Islam) by Muslim women is a common Hindu custom carried on by the converts.
Idolatary amongst Indian (and Pakistani) Muslims
Islam denounces idolatory, but in India we have cults like Saibaba in Maharashtra where Muslims worship a personified saint alongwith the Hindus. This apart the more common practice of flocking to pilgrimages to Mazhars, (tombs) of saints like Salim Chisti exists generally among Indian Muslims only. Worship at personal tombs is but one step behind worshipping personified deities. Flowers are offered at these Mazhars the pilgrims shower
Flowers, a custom which smack of borrowings from Hindu customs. Even the custom of spreading a sheet (chaddar) of flowers is an Indian adaptation of an Islamic custom. In other Islamic countries such sheets are made of silk and satin (like the one spread over the Kaaba), only in India are flowers used.
Fakirs, Sufis, Pirs - The Muslim Sanyasis
The Muslim practice of Sufism embodied in the many Pirs, Sufis and Fakirs emphasizes on universal brotherhood . Although Sufism seems to have originated in Iran, Sufism in India has an unmistakable influence of the Hindu practices of Yoga, Pranayam and the concept of Sanayasa with its Sanyasis, Sadhus and Rishis. Interestingly the Sufis and Fakirs undertake exercises derived from the Hindu discipline of Yoga. In fact all through the middle ages up to the present age their have been many Babas (saints) who are Muslims, but attract both Hindu and Muslim disciples.
The Sufi movement seems to to have originated in Iran. It does not seem to have any presence in Arabia and other Arab states. The Sufi tradition seems to borrow a lot from the pantheistic mysticism of pre-Islamic Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism (a pre-Islamic religious sect in Persia). The earliest Sufi saint-poet in India is considered to be Amir Khusro who lived in Delhi in the 13th century. Dara Shikoh the eldest of son of the Mughal ruler Shah Jehan seems to have been deeply influenced by Sufism. He is accredited with having undertaken a translation of the Upanishads from Sanskrit to Persian. (He incidentally was killed by his younger brother Aurangzeb in the battle of succession to the Mughal throne.)
The Sufis in India have represented a contrast to the general Islamic attitude of Jehad. The Sufi tradition stands out as a stark exception to the general Muslim temperament of either converting or killing the non-Muslims (Kafirs), imposing penal taxes and generally tyrannizing the non-muslim people. Had the Sufi tradition been dominat in mainstream Islam, the history of the world of the past 14 centuries would have been different - but this is only a hypothetical possibility.
The Sufis have borrowed extensively from the Rishi Parampara of India, the discipline of Yoga, Pranayam (breath control) and Hasya Rasa (the Sufi tradition of performing the dance of Joy). The Sufi tradition in India also seems to have been influenced by the Guru-Shishya parampara (Master-disciple tradition) of India which dates from the days of the Vedic Rishis, through Gautama Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and the various saints of the Bhakti Movement - all of whom decried the practices of caste discrimination and preached the message of universal brotherhood of man with social justice for all. The Sufi tradition has borrowed from and strengthened this stream of priniciples of universal love and brotherhood of man that have been a part of the Sanatana Parampara of India for the last 4000 years. The Sufis incidentally also celebrate the Indian festival of Basant.
The Sufi tradition along with the other similar traditions like that of the Druze, Bahais (founded by Bahaullah in Iran), Ahmediyas (Quadianis), etc., represent an attempt to assert the universal brotherhood aspect of Islam. But as they do not characterize mainstream Islam it was necessary for them to shift away from the mainstream of Islam (i.e. the Shariah as interpreted by the Mullahs - clergy). In most cases the followers of such sects have been declared non-Muslims and there have been fatwas issued against them for blasphemy. The blasphemy excuse has been used against all those who have tried to digress from the accepted principles of Islam (the Shariah as interpreted by the Mullahs - clergy). Blasphemy is only for speaking about Islam. But ironically, in the last 14 centuries of Islam, Muslims have with impunity gone about destroying the places of worship belonging to those of other faiths, smashing idols and converting non-islamic people at the pain of death.
The Bohras, Khojas and Kutchi Memons
It is noteworthy that a small segment of the Bohras and Khojas come close to the Sufi outlook of pantheist mysticism. Some of them even continue to revere Hindu Gods especially Sri Krishna who some consider to be an earlier prophet of God, Mohammed being the last one. This can be explained by the fact that in the state of Gujarat from where the Bohras and Khojas hail; Sri Krishna is a very popular deity. Thus in spite of their conversion the Khojas and Bohras have tried to incorporate their pre-Muslim beliefs into their new faith.
Dress Styles amongst Indian (and Pakistani) Muslims
Even at the purely social level there have been common elements in the dress-styles of Hindus and Muslims. Muslim women still largely wear the saree, especially so in the rural areas. Even in some Muslim communities the Dhoti is worn by the males . The Punjabi dress of Hindus of the north is borrowed from the Muslims (though it had earlier been brought into India by the pre-Islamic Shakas and Kushanas. The Ghagara worn by women in north India is a unique blend of Hindu and Muslim dress styles. The wearing of bangles, bracelets, ear and nose Rings is a custom borrowed by the Muslim women from their Hindu counterparts.........
Hindu Mercantile Laws amongst the Bohras, Khojas and Kutchi Memons
Among the Bohra, Khojas and Memons the Hindu mercantile law is applied in trade and commerce.
Hindustani Music and Kathak - An amalgam of Bharatamuni and Arabic-Persian Dance Styles
Even the Moghal rulers patronized the intermixing of Indian and mid-eastern dance styles. The Lucknavi Kathak is an admixture of the originally Indian Kathak (which is typified today by the style of the Jaipuri Gharanaa or Jaipuri School). While the Lucknavi Gharana has many elements of mid-eastern and central Asian dance styles. Music has been another area where a fusion has taken place under official patronage. Many Ragas (metres' and Swaras (tunes) of Hindustani classical music are a result of the amalgam of Hindu and mid-eastern musical traditions.
Caste amongst Indian (and Pakistani) Muslims
Even the Indian caste system has proved to be indelible to the Islamic touch. Indian Muslims still refer to themselves as Rajputs Jats, Gujjars, etc. and caste considerations are present during match-making. Thus we can see that though Islam was spread by the sword and it acted as an exorcist to redeem the newly won adherents from the influence of their original religions, quite a few traces of pre-Islamic culture did manage to seep into the lifestyle and consciousness of the Indian converts to Islam.
(Note on ISLAM by the author: Here is it pertinent to note that some historians blame the Hindu-Muslim divide on the British policy of divide-and-rule of pitting Hindus against Muslims and vice versa...........
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