Instead of hastily jumping to ideals of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood, perhaps we should first strive to humanize the Shia or Sunni next door—recognizing that they are as human as the Hindu in the neighboring town.

Blaming the West and the Cold War for the problem of Islamist terrorism and extremism is a convenient way of washing our hands of the issue. This narrative often ignores the fact that many Muslims themselves have normalised certain extremist ideas in everyday conversations. When a child is taught from an early age to view others as the other, some form of distance, hostility, and ultimately ghettoisation if not spatial , mental is bound to follow.

Let’s be clear: this ghettoisation is, to a large extent, self-imposed by Muslims who prefer to live “amongst their own.” But who is “their own”? This very idea contradicts the oft-repeated narrative that “we rejected Pakistan.” But what is Pakistan? It is not just a territory—it is an idea. An idea that Muslims of the subcontinent cannot coexist with non-Muslims, primarily Hindus, and therefore need a separate space to live and in essence explore our religiosity as a state and a community .

If that is so, how is ghettoisation any different? Isn’t it the same idea in practice—that Muslims cannot live among Hindus and must live solely among themselves? Various reasons are given for this self-imposed segregation—such as the reluctance of Hindus to rent or sell property to Muslims. But let us admit: in many so-called Hindu-dominated areas, Muslims do live—let’s not delve into their religiosity, though they often tend to be those who do not wear their religion on their sleeves, who have retracted religion to their homes, hearts, and mosques.

The claim that a Muslim cannot live among non-Muslims is a myth, and it ignores the broader sociological fact that segregation is not unique to Muslims. Other religious, ethnic, and linguistic groups in India also tend to cluster together, yet no one calls that oppression. People often prefer to live among those who share cultural and linguistic affinities. Why should that inherently be seen as exclusionary and wrong?

A large section of Muslims have migrated from Hindu-dominated areas to Muslim-dominated ones—such as Mumbra, Kurla, Mira Road in Maharashtra. These areas were initially chosen because they were on the periphery of Mumbai, relatively underpopulated, and affordable. Over the years, they transformed into Muslim-majority areas, derogatorily called “Mini Pakistan”—Mumbra in Maharashtra, Jamia Nagar in Delhi, Juhapura in Gujarat.

Initially, Muslims shifted to these spaces due to real threats of communal violence, but later, the migration became driven by perceived threats. However, a troubling development occurred: as Muslims moved into these spaces, they started cultivating a hyper-nationalistic and hyper-religious consciousness, and they didn’t see contradiction between the two, all the rage against the state and other communities got very conveniently channelised into fuelling sectarianism.

In these ghettoes, communalism of a specific intra-Muslim kind flourished—sectarianism became even more intense than Hindu-Muslim communalism. The Wahhabis, Barelvis, Deobandis, and Shias engaged in pitched ideological battles, throwing each other out of Islam every day and taking them in everyday to be kicked out the next and suddenly uniting with them in the face of the larger Hindu threat, This all happened in these very ghettoes. 

I feel that in the study of Indian Muslim ghettoes, how sub-divisions among Muslims also find expression in ghettoisation is often missed. For example, there are Shia ghettoes or, to be apolitical, Shia settlements within the larger Sunni ghettoes in India. Shias usually don’t reside among Sunnis, as every year Sunnis take offence at their mourning of Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Similarly, Ahl-e-Hadith to a large extent live near Ahle Hadees masjids, and the same is partially true for every major sect.

I remember a friend narrating an incident from Mumbra—the largest Muslim ghetto in India. He lived in one of its best buildings. During Muharram, some Sunnis in the building objected to the mourning rituals of Shias. Instead of asserting their right to peacefully observe their faith, some residents demanded that the Tablighi Jamaat’s halqas (religious circles) also be stopped.

In the same friend’s building, there was a man who never greeted others with salaam. When asked why, he replied, “I don’t greet kafirs,” referring to other Muslims who did not align with his sect. Let me reiterate this is one of the best buildings in the ghetto.

Recently, I met a man who recounted his experience at an Eid-ul-Adha prayer. The imam there declared that if the animal sacrifice was not performed by a Sunni Imam, it would be invalid. He also insisted that the skin of the sacrificed animal should be donated only to “Our Masjid.”

Let us not deceive ourselves: sectarianism is real and deep-seated within Muslim communities. Instead of hastily jumping to ideals of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood, perhaps we should first strive to humanize the Shia or Sunni next door—recognizing that they are as human as the Hindu in the neighboring town.

A humanist lens demands that we first dismantle our internal sectarianism before talking of communal harmony at large. Only when we see each other as human—across sects, faiths, and communities—can we hope to create a society not based on hatred but on larger and real Harmony.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Abdullateef Aal-Sheikh directed the preachers of the mosques in which Friday prayers are held, to dedicate the coming Friday sermon that is December 10, to warn against the Tablighi and Dawah group.

Ministry tweeted in Arabic, “His Excellency the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. ⁧‫Abdullateef Al-Sheikh‬⁩, the preachers of mosques in which Friday prayers are held, are instructed to dedicate the next Friday sermon 6/5/1443 AH to warn against (the Tablighi and Da’wah group)”.

The preachers are directed to talk about four major points about the group:

1. Explanation of the misguidance, deviation and danger of this group, and that it is one of the gates of terrorism, even if they claim otherwise.
2. Mention their most prominent mistakes.
3. Mention their danger to society.
4. A statement that affiliation with partisan groups, including (the Tablighi and Dawah Group) is prohibited in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Tablighi Jamaat is an orthodox missionary movement started in India in 1926 during the British-era. It urges fellow Muslims to follow the religion particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behaviour.

The group is estimated to have between 350 to 400 million adherents worldwide. It claims to strictly avoid political activities and debates, and instead focuses on religion only.

The U.S. Government has closely monitored Tablighi Jamaat since September 2001. According to US officials, though the group do not have a direct link with terrorism, the teachings and beliefs of Tablighi Jamaat have been a starting point for pushing their members to join the radical Muslim organizations.

According to Pakistani security analysts and Indian intelligence, the founders of terrorist group Harkatul-Mujahideen were members of the Tablighi Jamaat. The intelligence estimates that over 6,000 Tablighi adherents were trained in Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terrorist camps in Pakistan.

A counter-terrorism operation in Russia in February 2020, led to the arrest of seven Tablighi members and dismantled the terrorist cell affiliated to the Tablighi Jamaat. Russian intelligence said that, the terrorist cell was involved in radicalization.

According to independent political analyst Shireen Khan Burki, the Tablighi Jamaat is “a conduit and a fertile recruiting ground for jihadi organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-i-Taiba”.

Help the sufferer, not the propagandist.

The horrendous campaign against the Indian Muslims, particularly the members of Tablighi Jamaat at a time when the nation was supposed to fight the pandemic of Coronovirus has several lessons in it.

When Media, the fourth pillar of democracy shifts its focus from the main issues towards the demonizing of Muslims, falsely ascribing stories to them, then you should know that there is a bias and politically motivated vile movement against a particular community. The Media which shouldn’t be biased toward a particular race, community, or religion, while it must work beyond the political system, has lost all its credibility when it has purportedly been feeding the propaganda — driven by bias and by blowing the issues out of proportion.

All sorts of stories from Muslim vendors spitting to Jamatis running naked in hospitals were bust, at a point, even an institute like All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) of Raipur clarified that the reports of Tablighi Jamat members spitting and misbehaving with the doctors were false. Videos of Muslims preacher as old as 2017 were used as a reference to accuse Muslims of intentionally spreading the virus.

Unfortunately, some of the Indian Muslims who own wealth, resources, and voice, stood silent against this vilification campaign, and threw their own people under the bus, in order to please some opportunistic liberals. They wished that by doing so, they will be “accepted” by the majority. They even went on the extent of declaring “Our community is backwards and uneducated. Hence, they might have done all these things”.

Their silence resulted in a surge of discrimination and an increased crime against the poor Muslim vegetable vendors, who were boycotted and were not allowed to sell essentials to make their livelihood. At many places politicians reportedly distributed the saffron flags to the vendors, in order to identify themselves as Hindus, which eventually caused terror in the hearts of Muslim vendors.

When Muslims couldn’t help themselves, various fact-checking websites and influencers were standing up for the underprivileged community. They not only busted the print media propaganda but also the electronic and social media propaganda. Sadly, the community that keeps silent, others could only help them to a limit, and then they become reluctant.

The Bombay High Court judgement has taught a lesson and has come as a relief. The HC not only quashed FIRs against the Jamatis but has condemned the vilification campaign and media trails. Referring to the plea the court said, “There was a big propaganda in the print and electronic media against the foreigners who have come to Delhi Markaz”. The 58-page judgement also slammed State Governments and Police.

The judgement is an eye-opener for the privileged ones amongst us who did not speak. It is the duty of every privilege individual to use all the available resources to fight misinformation and stop the wicked reporters from tormenting us, instead of being embarrassed by our own community. If you cannot speak up then at least be silent, and never support the fascists when you very well know that the stories are all planted and false.

Help the sufferer, not the propagandist.

There was a lot of other Muslims who were also part of this hate campaign, just due to the difference in the schools of thought, or to represent themselves as a modern community, or to satisfy others or perhaps to save themselves.

If you are part of a community and a section of it is demonized, and you were taken by the propaganda than you have aligned with those who hatched the propaganda. These demons will not chase you based on your organizational affiliations rather based on your Muslim identity.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.