THE PEOPLE

MUSLIMS

Muslims number a little over a lakh or 9.44 per cent of the total population of Buldhana district. They are found in larger numbers in Malkapur and fewer numbers in Jalgaon tahsils. Sir Alfred Lyall wrote in 1870 [Old Berar Gazetteer, pp. 175—195.]. "Of the Muhammedan religion of Berar little need be said for it has no provincial peculiarities. Probably a Wahabi would find cause to protest against excessive veneration of dead hermits and martyrs and against the admission of Hindus, for the value of their offerings, to worship at the tombs of men who preached and fought against idolatry. Some notable pirs and pirzadas lie buried at Ellichpur, Mangrulpir. Patur, Jamod, Balapur, Kholapur, and other places. The more celebrated sepulchres are well endowed while very many villages keep a lamp burning over the grave of some obscure fakir. In Berar as all over India, still flourish the real original fairs (holy day gatherings) which have dwindled away in Europe, the annual concourses at celebrated shrines and places of pilgrimage; but they are already losing their importance and commercial utility by the rapid opening out of communications. Yet they still combine very conveniently the attractions of religion, profit and pleasure; for though the ancient holy day is fast merging into the modern holiday, it is in either sense a day very popular among women and religious fraternities. Of course all the festivals thus celebrated are Hindu; for the Musalman calendar knows no feasts, only days of solemn prayer, but several of the shrines which gather pilgrims are of Muhammedan saints. The urus or annual commemoration of a local Muhammedan saint has degenerated into much that is mere carnal traffic and pagan idolatry, a scandal to the rigid Islamite. Yet if he uplifts his voice against such soul-destroying abuses, he may be hooted by loose-living Musalmans as a Wahabi, who derives the power of intercession; while the shop-keepers are no worse than Ephesian silversmiths at crying down an inconvenient religious reformer. Heresy is represented by only a few Bohras who have immigrated recently from the west, but even they have been cleft into two distinct communities. All religions in India belong to the fissiparous order; they have the property of disseverance into minute portions each of which retains life and growth."

Writing in 1881, Mr. Kitts remarked [Kitts' Census Report, page 69.]², "Although there are a few good families among the Musalmans, some are not very favourable specimens of their creed and race. In physiognomy, many resemble Hindus and a few bear traces of a Siddi origin. As regards their own religion, their notions are not farther advanced than that of an enumerator who held that in doubtful cases, a Musalman woman could always be distinguished by her wearing a pair of trousers. Even that was no guide, however, as to the sect, and the same enumerator complained that when he inquired " Sunni or Shiah? " it is often supposed that he wanted to insult people. All who did not know their sect were entered as Sunnis. In 1921, Mr. Chinoy described the religion of an ordinary Musalman and his actual working belief as follows.

Working belief of Muslims.—" Muhammedanism in Berar has no peculiarities to exhibit and its followers, though commonly believed to be backward in education, are by figures shown to be ahead of Hindus. The working belief of an educated or uneducated is one and the same and simple enough to be clearly understood by any one. They are strict Unitarians acknowledging ' no God but the one time god with and Muhammad as his Prophet'. Their prayers are recited in Arabic and religious education, wherever imparted begins with the study of the Koran in the original. Idols and symbols of any kind are carefully avoided. The lower orders have, however, by constantly associating with Hindus of their position in life, adopted or rather, fallen a prey to some of the superstitious observances of the latter and all the pomp and circumstance of the annual Muharrum are due to what may be called the sympathetic feeling of surrounding superstition. This feeling is probably helped forward and may be easily understood when it is remembered that the forefathers of many Muhammedans now existing in the province were originally Hindus and that the converts have endeavoured to retain their reverence for the old Hinduism by taking advantage of such loopholes as they could find in the religion of their adoption. Some deshmukhs and deshpandes will furnish striking examples of this phase of religious belief. They profess Muhammedanism in public and employ Brahmans in secret to worship their old tutelary deities, retaining even Hindu surnames in rare cases. They have veneration for astrology. On marriage and similar occasions, even those who may be presumed to know better are glad to be guided bv the village Joshi in the choice of day for proper celebration. They firmly believe in a life after death, but have no faith in the theory of reincarnation. A day of judgment is an important article of their creed and they believe that on that day their actions in this world will be finally judged and rewards and punishments apportioned according to their merits. They are usually fatalists of the most extreme type, but the pernicious effects of the doctrine are obviated by a sense of responsibility attaching to the moral quality of their thoughts. The actions may be predestined, but the workings of the mind are free and so long as one does not yield to the temptations of the shaitan (satan) he has nothing to fear in the afterworld. In food, they avoid pork as an abomination and in social matters regard seclusion of their womenfolk as an integral part of their religion. In practice, however, the poorer classes permit their females to go out for labour and marketing and some of them vend articles of food and luxury. Drinking is bad and prohibited by the Koran, but some of the lower orders especially Gavlis or cowherds indulge in it on special occasions ". The Muslim faith is divided into two main sects, viz., Sunni and Shiah, which differ in certain beliefs and customs. In Buldhana, the majority of Muslims are returned as Sunnis.

Religious officers.—The religious officers of the Muslims are the kazi or judge, but now chiefly the marriage registrar, the khatib or preacher, the mulla or priest, and the mujavar or beadle. Besides the religious officers certain pirzadas, or sons of saints hold a high position among Muslims. They are spiritual guides and have religious followers. These pirzadas live on estates granted to their forefathers by the Musalman rulers of the Deccan.

Five Duties.—The five duties of the Muslim law are to believe in the principal tenets of the faith: To observe the five daily prayers; To keep fasts during the month of Ramzan; To make the pilgrimage to Mecca: To give alms called zakat. Of these the first three are binding on all, the fourth and the fifth only on the well-to-do.

Of the Muslims about ten per cent may be teaching their children to read the Koran. All of them are careful about circumcising their male children, to perform the initiation or bismilla ceremony and to have their marriages and funerals conducted by the kazi or his deputy. Though most do not attend the mosque daily, they are all present at the special services on the Ramzan and Bakari-Id festivals and are anxious to give alms and pay the kazi his dues.

Among Muslims celibacy is condemned by the Prophet and every Muslim is enjoined to marry by his religion. The prohibited degrees among them include consanguinity, affinity, fosterage with the wife's sister during the lifetime of the wife, of the wife of another until the period of iddat probation has expired and polytheists. According to the Koran they are permitted to have four wives. A second wife, however, is rarely taken except among the rich.

Festivals.—The festivals common with all Muslims are Muharrum, Ramzan and Bakari-Id. Muharrum, the first month of the Muslim year is celebrated as the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hussain at Karbala. It is a month of mourning. The Ramzan fast, which is incumbent on every Muslim is broken on the day called Id-ul-Fitr or Ramzan-Id (first day of Shawwal). The Ramzan-Id which is believed to have been initiated by the Prophet is a day of rejoicing, thanks-giving and bounteous charity. Bakari-Id or Id-ul-Azha (tenth day of the last month) is a festival of sacrifice 'in the name of God'. The Wafat of the day of the Prophet's death (12th of Rabi-ul-A-wwal) is another holy day of great religious importance.

Customs.—The Muslims like the Hindus desire an issue, especially a male one. The issueless parents resort to charms and mystic means suggested by the exorcist. Pregnant women are required to abide by several restrictions regarding their food, behaviour and movements. They are supposed to be alerted about spiritual charms and evil spirits. For the first delivery, the newly married wife goes to her parents and stays there for some time after confinement. The newly born babe is given a bath and the words Allaho Akbar (God is great) are spoken in his ears.

This is followed by a number of rituals, including the naming ceremony. The Bismillah ritual takes place when the child reaches the age of four years, four months and four days. The sunta or khutna is gone through at the age of six or seven. When a girl arrives at the age of puberty, she is secluded for seven days and for this period eats only butter, bread; sugar, fish, flesh, salt and acid food are prohibited.

Marriage.—Among Muslims marriage is a contract for the fulfilment of social obligations. If both persons are legally competent and contract marriage with each other in the presence of two males or one male and two females, it is sufficient. As a rule the kazi performs the ceremony and reads four chapters of the Koran with the profession of belief, the bridegroom repeating them after him. The parties then express their mutual consent and the kazi raising hands recites a benediction. A dowry or meher must be paid to the wife which is entered in the register. The wedding is, however, usually accompanied by feasts and celebrations not less elaborate or costly than those of Hindus. The couple is acquainted with each other during the jatra ceremony. The main rituals come to an end with the ceremony of rukhsat (leave-taking) when the bride accompanies the groom to his house.

Several Hindu ceremonies at the marriages of the lower class Muslims still persist, e.g., anointing the bride and the groom with oil and turmeric and setting out earthen vessels which are meant to afford a dwelling place for the spirits of the ancestors. Another essential rite is the rubbing of the hands and feet of the pair with mehendi or red henna.

Divorce.—Divorce is at the option of the husband who can divorce his wife at his own will and the Koran does not demand any justification from the husband. He has only to pay alimony (meher) to the divorced wife. A woman can claim divorce on grounds of ill-treatment, insufficiency of maintenance and impotence on the part of the husband. Three major forms of divorce are recognised by Muhammedan law, viz., talak-i-asham, talak-i-rajai and talak-i-husn. The first two forms are reversible, while the third one is irreversible. A divorced woman cannot remarry for three months; this period of probation is called iddat. Her first husband is supposed to support her during this period.

Cases of women asking for divorce are rare. A woman seeking divorce has to apply to the kazi which according to Muslim law is a repudiation of her wifehood at her own desire. In this case she forfeits her claim to meher. Divorce is regarded as a social disgrace among the so-called higher classes of Muslims. The lower classes do not attach much importance to it.

Funeral Rites.—Muslims bury their dead and the same word janazah is used for the corpse, the bier and the funeral. When a man is at the point of death, a chapter of the Koran telling of the happiness awaiting a true believer in the future life is read and he is given a few drops of sarbat. After death, the body is carefully washed and wrapped in three or five clothes for a man or a woman, respectively. Some camphor or other sweet-smelling stuff is placed on the bier. Women do not usually attend funerals and friends and relations of the deceased walk behind the bier. To carry a bier is considered a very meritorious act and four of the relations relieving each other in turn, bear it on their shoulders. Muslims allow no delay for carrying their dead to the place of internment and necessarily attend the funeral on foot. The funeral service is recited in a mosque or in some open space close to the graveyard. Usually the family priest or the village kazi recites the service. Coffins are used only by the rich. When the body has been lowered in the grave, each person takes up a clod and pronouncing over it a verse from the Koran places it gently over the corpse. When the grave is completely filled in, two stones are kept over it on either ends and two plants or branches of trees are planted. Then the fatiha i.e., the opening chapter of the Koran is read. On the third day, a feast is given in the morning and after that trays of flowers with a vessel containing scented oil are handed round and the guests pick flowers and dip them into the oil. They then proceed to the grave and the oil and flowers are poured over the grave. On the morning of the tenth day this procedure is repeated. Other feasts are given on the fortieth day and at the expiry of four, six and nine months and one year from the date of death. Rich people spend large sums on these feasts. These observances are not prescribed by the Koran but have been retained from pre-Islamic times or adopted in imitation of Hindus.

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