The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

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27. The Koran.

The word Kuran is derived from _kuraa_, to recite or proclaim. The
Muhammadans look upon the Koran as the direct word of God sent down
by Him to the seventh or lowest heaven, and then revealed from time to
time to the Prophet by the angel Gabriel. A few chapters are supposed
to have been delivered entire, but the greater part of the book was
given piecemeal during a period of twenty-three years. The Koran
is written in Arabic prose, but its sentences generally conclude
in a long-continued rhyme. The language is considered to be of the
utmost elegance and purity, and it has become the standard of the
Arabic tongue. Muhammadans pay it the greatest reverence, and their
most solemn oath is taken with the Koran placed on the head. Formerly
the sacred book could only be touched by a Saiyad or a Mulla, and an
assembly always rose when it was brought to them. The book is kept on a
high shelf in the house, so as to avoid any risk of contamination, and
nothing is placed over it. Every chapter in the Koran except one begins
with the invocation, '_Bismillah-nirrahman-nirrahim_,' or 'In the name
of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful'; and nearly all Muhammadan
prayers and religious writings also begin with this. As the Koran is
the direct word of God, any statement in it has the unquestioned and
complete force of law. On some points, however, separate utterances
in the work itself are contradictory, and the necessity then arises of
determining which is the later and more authoritative statement. [329]

28. The Traditions.

Next to the Koran in point of authority come the Traditions of
the sayings and actions of the Prophet, which are known as Hadis or
Sunnah. These were eagerly collected as the jurisdiction of Islam was
extended, and numerous cases arose for decision in which no ruling
was provided by the Koran. For some time it was held necessary that a
tradition should be oral and not have been reduced to writing. When
the necessity of collecting and searching for the Traditions became
paramount, indefatigable research was displayed in the work. The most
trustworthy collection of traditions was compiled by Abu Abdullah
Muhammad, a native of Bokhara, who died in the Hijra year 256, or
nearly 250 years after Muhammad. He succeeded in amassing no fewer than
600,000 traditions, of which he selected only 7275 as trustworthy. The
authentic traditions of what the Prophet said and did were considered
practically as binding as the Koran, and any case might be decided by
a tradition bearing on it. The development of Moslem jurisdiction was
thus based not on the elucidation and exposition of broad principles
of law and equity, but on the record of the words and actions of
one man who had lived in a substantially less civilised society than
that existing in the countries to which Muhammadan law now came to be
applied. Such a state of things inevitably exercised a cramping effect
on the Moslem lawyers and acted as a bar to improvement. Thus, because
the Koran charged the Jews and Christians with having corrupted the
text of their sacred books, it was laid down that no Jew or Christian
could be accepted as a credible witness in a Moslem lawsuit; and since
the Prophet had forbidden the keeping of dogs except for certain
necessary purposes, it was ruled by one school that there was no
property in dogs, and that if a man killed a dog its owner had no
right to compensation. [330]

29. The schools of law.

After the Koran and Traditions the decisions of certain lawyers during
the early period of Islam were accepted as authoritative. Of them
four schools are recognised by the Sunnis in different countries,
those of the Imams Abu Hanifa, Shafei, Malik, and Hambal. In northern
India the school of Abu Hanifa is followed. He was born at Kufa,
the capital of Irak, in the Hijra year 80, when four of the Prophet's
Companions were still alive. He is the great oracle of jurisprudence,
and with his two pupils was the founder of the Hanifi code of law. In
southern India the Shafei school is followed. [331] The Shiahs have
separate collections of traditions and schools of law, and they say
that a Mujtahid or doctor of the law can still give decisions of
binding authority, which the Sunnis deny. Except as regards marriage,
divorce and inheritance and other personal matters, Muhammadan law
is of course now superseded by the general law of India.

30. Food.

An animal only becomes lawful food for Muhammadans if it is killed by
cutting the throat and repeating at the time the words, '_Bismillah
Allaho Akbar_,' or 'In the name of God, God is great.' But in shooting
wild animals, if the invocation is repeated at the time of discharging
the arrow or firing the gun, the carcase becomes lawful food. This
last rule of Sunni law is, however, not known to, or not observed by,
many Muhammadans in the Central Provinces, who do not eat an animal
unless its throat is cut before death. Fish and locusts may be eaten
without being killed in this manner. The animal so killed by Zabh
is lawful food when slain by a Moslem, Jew or Christian, but not if
slaughtered by an idolater or an apostate from Islam. Cloven-footed
animals, birds that pick up food with their bills, and fish with
scales are lawful, but not birds or beasts of prey. It is doubtful
whether the horse is lawful. Elephants, mules, asses, alligators,
turtles, crabs, snakes and frogs are unlawful, and swine's flesh
is especially prohibited. Muhammadans eat freely of mutton and fish
when they can afford it, but some of them abstain from chickens in
imitation of the Hindus. Their favourite drink is sherbet, or sugar
and water with cream or the juice of some fruit. Wine is forbidden in
the Koran, and the prohibition is held to include intoxicating drugs,
but this latter rule is by no means observed. According to his religion
a Muhammadan need have no objection to eat with a Christian if the
food eaten is of a lawful kind; but he should not eat with Hindus,
as they are idolaters. In practice, however, many Muhammadans have
adopted the Hindu rule against eating food touched by Christians,
while owing to long association together they will partake of it when
cooked by Hindus. [332]

31. Dress.

The most distinctive feature of Muhammadan dress is that the men
always wear trousers or pyjamas of cotton, silk or chintz cloth,
usually white. They may be either tight or loose below the knee, and
are secured by a string round the waist. A Muhammadan never wears the
Hindu _dhoti_ or loin-cloth. He has a white, sleeved muslin shirt,
made much like an English soft-fronted shirt, but usually without a
collar, the ends of which hang down outside the trousers. Over these
the well-to-do have a waistcoat of velvet, brocade or broadcloth. On
going out he puts on a long coat, tight over the chest, and with
rather full skirts hanging below the knee, of cotton cloth or muslin,
or sometimes broadcloth or velvet. In the house he wears a small cap,
and on going out puts on a turban or loose headcloth. But the fashion
of wearing the small red fez with a tassel is now increasing among
educated Muhammadans, and this serves as a distinctive mark in their
dress, which trousers no longer do, as the Hindus have also adopted
them. The removal of the shoes either on entering a house or mosque
is not prescribed by Muhammadan law, though it has become customary in
imitation of the Hindus. The Prophet in fact said, 'Act the reverse of
the Jews in your prayers, for they do not pray in boots or shoes.' But
he himself sometimes took his shoes off to pray and sometimes not. The
following are some of the sayings of the Prophet with regard to dress:
'Whoever wears a silk garment in this world shall not wear it in the
next.' 'God will not have compassion on him who wears long trousers
(below the ankle) from pride.' 'It is lawful for the women of my
people to wear silks and gold ornaments, but it is unlawful for the
men.' 'Wear white clothes, because they are the cleanest and the most
agreeable, and bury your dead in white clothes.' Men are prohibited
from wearing gold ornaments and also silver ones other than a signet
ring. A silver ring, of value sufficient to produce a day's food in
case of need, should always be worn. The rule against ornaments has
been generally disregarded, and gold and silver ornaments have been
regularly worn by men, but the fashion of wearing ornaments is now
going out, both among Muhammadan and Hindu men. A rich Muhammadan woman
has a long shirt of muslin or net in different colours, embroidered
on the neck and shoulders with gold lace, and draping down to the
ankles. Under it she wears silk pyjamas, and over it an _angia_
or breast-cloth of silk, brocade or cloth of gold, bordered with
gold and silver lace. On the head she has a shawl or square kerchief
bordered with lace. A poor woman has simply a bodice and pyjamas,
with a cloth round the waist to cover their ends. Women as a rule
always wear shoes, even though they do not go out, and they have a
profusion of ornaments of much the same character as Hindu women. [333]

32. Social rules. Salutations.

There are certain social obligations known as Farz or imperative, but
if one person in eight or ten perform them it is as if all had done
so. These are, to return a salutation; to visit the sick and inquire
after their welfare; to follow a bier on foot to the grave; to accept
an invitation; and that when a person sneezes and says immediately,
'_Alhamd ul lillah_' or 'God be praised,' one of the party must reply,
'_Yar hamak Allah_' or 'God have mercy on you.' The Muhammadan form
of salutation is '_Salam u alaikum_' or 'The peace of God be with
you,' and the reply is '_Wo alaikum as salam_' or 'And on you also
be peace.' [334] From this form has come the common Anglo-Indian use
of the word _Salaam_.

When invitations are to be sent for any important function, such as
a wedding, some woman who does not observe _parda_ is employed to
carry them. She is dressed in good clothes and provided with a tray
containing betel-leaf _biras_ or packets, cardamoms wrapped in red
paper, sandalwood and sugar. She approaches any lady invited with
great respect, and says: "So-and-so sends her best compliments to
you and embraces you, and says that 'as to-morrow there is a little
gaiety about to take place in my house, and I wish all my female
friends by their presence to grace and ornament with their feet the
home of this poor individual, and thereby make it a garden of roses,
you must also positively come, and by remaining a couple of hours
honour my humble dwelling with your company.'" If the invitation is
accepted the woman carrying it applies a little sandalwood to the neck,
breast and back of the guest, puts sugar and cardamoms into her mouth,
and gives her a betel-leaf. If it is declined, only sandalwood is
applied and a betel-leaf given. [335]

Next day _dhoolies_ or litters are sent for the guests, or if the
hostess is poor she sends women to escort them to the house before
daybreak. The guests are expected to bring presents. If any ceremony
connected with a child is to be performed they give it clothes
or sweets, and similar articles of higher value to the bride and
bridegroom in the case of a wedding.

33. Customs.

Certain customs known as Fitrah are supposed to have existed among the
Arabs before the time of the Prophet, and to have been confirmed by
him. These are: To keep the moustache clipped short so that food or
drink cannot touch them when entering the mouth; not to cut or shave
the beard; to clean the teeth with a _mismak_ or wooden toothbrush;
this should really be done at all prayers, but presumably once or
twice a day are held sufficient; to clean the nostrils and mouth with
water at the time of the usual ablutions; to cut the nails and clean
the finger-joints; and to pull out the hair from under the armpits and
the pubic hair. It is noticeable that though elaborate directions are
given for washing the face, hands and feet before each prayer, there
is no order to bathe the whole body daily, and this may probably not
have been customary in Arabia owing to the scarcity of water. [336]
And while many Muhammadans have adopted the Hindu custom of daily
bathing, yet others in quite a respectable position have not, and
only bathe once a week before going to the mosque. Gambling as well
as the drinking of wine is prohibited in the Koran according to the
text: "O believers! Surely wine and games of chance and statues and
the divining-arrows are an abomination of Satan's work." Statues
as well as pictures were prohibited, because at this time they were
probably made only as idols to be worshipped, the prohibition being
exactly analogous to that contained in the Second Commandment. The
Koran enjoins a belief in the existence of magic, but forbids its
practice. Magic is considered to be of two kinds, that accomplished
with the help of the Koran and the names of prophets and saints, which
is divine or good, and evil magic practised with the aid of genii and
evil spirits which is strongly condemned. Divining-rods apparently
belong to the latter class. Perfection in divine magic consists in the
knowledge of the Ismi Aazam or Great Name, a knowledge first possessed
by the prophet Sulaiman or Solomon, and since Solomon transmitted only
to those who are highly favoured by Providence. This appears to be the
true name of God, which is too awful and potent to be known or used by
the commonalty; hence Allah, really an epithet, is used instead. It
was in virtue of engraving the great name on his ring that Solomon
possessed dominion over men and genii, and over the winds and birds and
beasts. The uttering of Solomon's own name casts out demons, cures the
sick, and raises the dead. The names of certain prophets and holy men
have also a special virtue, and written charms of mysterious numerical
combinations and diagrams have power for good. [337] Both kinds of
magic are largely practised by Muhammadans. Muhammad disapproved of
whistling, apparently because whistling and clapping the hands were
part of the heathen ritual at Mecca. Hence it is considered wrong
for good Muhammadans to whistle. [338]

34. Position of women.

The inferior status of women in Islam is inherited from Arabian
society before the time of Muhammad. Among the pagan Arabs a woman
was a mere chattel, and descended by inheritance. Hence the union of
men with their step-mothers and mothers-in-law was common. Muhammad
forbade these incestuous marriages, and also the prevalent practice
of female infanticide. He legalised polygamy, but limited it to four
wives, and taught that women as well as men could enter paradise. It
would have been quite impossible to abolish polygamy in Arabia at the
time when he lived, nor could he strike at the practice of secluding
women even if he had wished to do so. This last custom has shown an
unfortunate persistence, and is in full force among Indian Muhammadans,
from whom the higher castes of Hindus in northern India have perhaps
imitated it. Nor can it be said to show much sign of weakening at
present. It is not universal over the Islamic world, as in Afghanistan
women are not usually secluded. As a matter of fact both polygamy and
divorce are very rare among Indian Muhammadans. Mr. Hughes quotes an
interesting passage against polygamy from a Persian book on marriage
customs: "That man is to be praised who confines himself to one wife,
for if he takes two it is wrong and he will certainly repent of his
folly. Thus say the seven wise women:

Be that man's life immersed in gloom
Who weds more wives than one,
With one his cheeks retain their bloom,
His voice a cheerful tone;
These speak his honest heart at rest,
And he and she are always blest;
But when with two he seeks his joy,
Together they his soul annoy;
With two no sunbeam of delight
Can make his day of misery bright."

Adultery was punished by stoning to death in accordance with the
Jewish custom.

35. Interest on money.

Usury or the taking of interest on loans was prohibited by the
Prophet. This precept was adopted from the Mosaic law and emphasised,
and while it has to all appearance been discarded by the Jews, it is
still largely adhered to by Moslems. In both cases the prohibition was
addressed to a people in the pastoral stage of culture when loans were
probably very rare and no profit could as a rule be made by taking
a loan, as it would not lead to any increase. Loans would only be
made for subsistence, and as the borrower was probably always poor,
he would frequently be unable to pay the principal much less the
interest, and would ultimately become the slave of the creditor in
lieu of his debt. Usury would thus result in the enslavement of a
large section of the free community, and would be looked upon as an
abuse and instrument of tyranny. As soon as the agricultural stage is
reached usury stands on a different footing. Loans of seed for sowing
the land and of cattle or money for ploughing it then become frequent
and necessary, and the borrower can afford to pay interest from the
profit of the harvest. It is clearly right and proper also that the
lender should receive a return for the risk involved in the loan and
the capacity of gain thus conferred on the borrower, and usury becomes
a properly legitimate and necessary institution, though the rate, being
probably based on the return yielded by the earth to the seed, has a
tendency to be very excessive in primitive societies. The prohibition
of interest among Muhammadans is thus now a hopeless anachronism,
which has closed to those who observe it some of the most important
professions. A tendency is happily visible towards the abrogation of
the rule, and Mr. Marten notes that the Berar Muhammadan Council has
set an example by putting out its own money at interest. [339]

36. Muhammadan education.

The Indian Muhammadans have generally been considered to be at a
disadvantage in modern India as compared with the Hindus, owing to
their unwillingness to accept regular English education for their
sons, and their adherence to the simply religious teaching of their
own Maulvis. However this may have been in the past, it is doubtful
whether it is at all true of the present generation. While there is
no doubt that Muhammadans consider it of the first importance that
their sons should learn Urdu and be able to read the Koran, there
are no signs of Muhammadan boys being kept away from the Government
schools, at least in the Central Provinces. The rationalising spirit
of Sir Saiyad Ahmad, the founder of the Aligarh College, and the
general educational conference for Indian Muhammadans has, through the
excellent training given by the College, borne continually increasing
fruit. A new class of educated and liberal-minded Muhammadan gentlemen
has grown up whose influence on the aims and prejudices of the whole
Muhammadan community is gradually becoming manifest. The statistics
of occupation given at the commencement of this article show that the
Muhammadans have a much larger share of all classes of administrative
posts under Government than they would obtain if these were awarded on
a basis of population. Presumably when it is asserted that Muhammadans
are less successful than Hindus under the British Government, what is
meant is that they have partly lost their former position of the sole
governing class over large areas of the country. The community are
now fully awake to the advantages of education, and their Anjumans or
associations have started high schools which educate students up to
the entrance of the university on the same lines as the Government
schools. Where these special schools do not exist, Muhammadan boys
freely enter the ordinary schools, and their standard of intelligence
and application is in no way inferior to that of Hindu boys.

Nanakpanthi

1. Account of the sect.

_Nanakpanthi [340] Sect, Nanakshahi, Udasi, Suthra Shahi_.--The
Nanakpanthi sect was founded by the well-known Baba Nanak, a Khatri
of the Lahore District, who lived between 1469 and 1538-39. He is the
real founder of Sikhism, but this development of his followers into
a military and political organisation was the work of his successors,
Har Govind and Govind Singh. Nanak himself was a religious reformer of
the same type as Kabir and others, who tried to abolish the worship of
idols and all the body of Hindu superstition, and substitute a belief
in a single unseen deity without form or special name. As with most of
the other Vaishnava reformers, Nanak's creed was largely an outcome
of his observation of Islam. "There is nothing in his doctrine," Sir
E.D. Maclagan says, "to distinguish it in any marked way from that of
the other saints who taught the higher forms of Hinduism in northern
India. The unity of God, the absence of any real distinction between
Hindus and Musalmans, the uselessness of ceremonial, the vanity of
earthly wishes, even the equality of castes, are topics common to
Nanak and the Bhagats; and the Adi-Granth or sacred book compiled by
Nanak is full of quotations from elder or contemporary teachers, who
taught essentially the same doctrine as Nanak himself." It was partly,
he explains, because Nanak was the first reformer in the Punjab, and
thus had the field practically to himself, and partly in consequence
of the subsequent development of Sikhism, that his movement has been
so successful and his adherents now outnumber those of any other
reformer of the same period. Nanak's doctrines were also of a very
liberal character. The burden of his teaching was that there is no
Hindu and no Muhammadan. He believed in transmigration, but held that
the successive stages were but purifications, and that at last the
soul, cleansed from sin, went to dwell with its maker. He prescribed
no caste rules or ceremonial observances, and indeed condemned them as
unnecessary and even harmful; but he made no violent attack on them,
he insisted on no alteration in existing civil and social institutions,
and was content to leave the doctrine of the equality of all men in
the sight of God to work in the minds of his followers. He respected
the Hindu veneration of the cow and the Muhammadan abhorrence of the
hog, but recommended as a higher rule than either total abstinence
from flesh. Nothing could have been gentler or less aggressive than
his doctrine, nothing more unlike the teaching of his great successor
Govind. [341] Two other causes contributed to swell the numbers of
the Nanakpanthis. The first of these was that during the late Mughal
Empire the Hindus of the frontier tracts of the Punjab were debarred
by the fanaticism of their Muhammadan neighbours from the worship of
idols; and they therefore found it convenient to profess the faith
of Nanak which permitted them to declare themselves as worshippers
of one God, while not forcing them definitely to break with caste and
Hinduism. The second was that Guru Govind Singh required the absolute
abandonment of caste as a condition of the initiation of a Sikh;
and hence many who would not consent to this remained Nanakpanthis
without adopting Sikhism. The Nanakpanthis of the present day are
roughly classified as Sikhs who have not adopted the term Singh,
which is attached to the names of all true Sikhs; they also do not
forbid smoking or insist on the adoption of the five _Kakkas_ or K's
which are in theory the distinguishing marks of the Sikh; the _Kes_
or uncut hair and unshaven beard; the _Kachh_ or short drawers ending
above the knee; the _Kara_ or iron bangle; the _Khanda_ or steel knife;
and the _Kanga_ or comb. The Nanakpanthi retains the Hindu custom of
shaving the whole head except the _choti_ or scalp-lock, and hence is
often known as a Munda or shaven Sikh. [342] The sect do not prohibit
the consumption of meat and liquor, but some of them eat only the
flesh of animals killed by the Sikh method of Jatka, or cutting
off the head by a blow on the back of the neck. Their only form of
initiation is the ordinary Hindu practice of drinking the foot-nectar
or sugar and water in which the toe of the _guru_ has been dipped,
and this is not very common. It is known as the _Charan ka pahul_ or
foot-baptism, as opposed to the _Khande ka pahul_ or sword-baptism of
the Govindi Sikhs. [343] Baba Nanak himself, Sir E. Maclagan states,
is a very favourite object of veneration among Sikhs of all kinds,
and the picture of the _guru_ with his long white beard and benevolent
countenance is constantly met with in the sacred places of the Punjab.

2. Nanakpanthis in the Central Provinces.

In 1901 about 13,000 persons returned themselves as Nanakpanthis in
the Central Provinces, of whom 7000 were Banjaras and the remainder
principally Kunbis, Ahirs and Telis. The Banjaras generally revere
Nanak, as shown in the article on that caste. A certain number of
Mehtars or sweepers also profess the sect, being attached to it,
as to the Sikh religion, by the abolition of caste restrictions
and prejudices advocated by their founders; but this tolerance has
not been perpetuated, and the unclean classes, such as the Mazbi or
scavenger Sikhs, are as scrupulously avoided and kept at a distance
by the Sikh as by the Hindu, and are even excluded from communion,
and from the rites and holy places of their religion. [344]