Untouchability Among Muslims? Findings of a Case Study in Pakistan
Abstract
The notion of untouchability, i.e., certain social groups are impure and polluting, is generally associated with the Hindu religious tradition. However, a few studies maintain that upper-class Muslims, too, observe it in some parts of South Asia. Against this background, the present paper investigates the validity of these claims as regards the practice of untouchability among Muslims towards Christians based on data collected during a field study on Christian-Muslim social interaction in Peshawar, Pakistan. The method combined a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews.According to the study, 65.2% of Christians disagreed with the statement that Muslims consider them untouchables. Similarly, the majority (61.8%) of Christians insisted that they were never hated, while the majority (95.9%) of Muslims also rejected the claim that they hated Christians. The downside of these findings is that around one-third of Christians view that they are treated as untouchable by their Muslim compatriots. Results from the interviews also corroborated these quantifications. The paper concludes that although the Islamic teachings do not support the idea of untouchability towards human beings of any fold or affiliation, some Muslims in Pakistan still practice it towards a particular Christian ethnicity (chuhras), considering them sanitary workers. The stigma attached to this Christain community is primarily because of their occupation rather than confession. Associating any ethnic or religious group with unclean professions and then considering them untouchable is a social evil that needs to be eradicated.
Keywords: Islam; Hinduism; caste system; untouchability; Christians; social descrimination; Chuhras
Metadata Record
References 38
- Ahmad, Imtiaz. 1967. “The Ashraf and Ajlaf Categories in Indo-Muslim Society.” Economic and Political Weekly 2 (19): 887-891. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4357934.
- Ahmad, Imtiaz. 1966. “The Ashraf -Ajlaf Dichotomy in Muslim Social Structure in India.” The Indian Economic & Social History Review 3 (3): 268-278.
- Aktor, Mikael . 2017. Social Classes: Varṇa. Vol. I, in The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra, edited by Patrick Olivelle and R Davis Donald , 60-77. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Ballard, Roger. 2012. The Christians of Pakistan: A Historical Overview and an Assessment of their Current Position. PhD Thesis, Manchester: Centre for Applied South Asian Studies, University of Manchester.
- Barani, Ziauddin. 1953. Tarīkh-i Fīrōz Shāhī. 2nd. Translated by He nry Miers Elliot . Vol. 14. Calcutta: Susil Gupta Ltd.
- Basham, Arthur Llewellyn. 1989. The Origin and Development of Classical Hinduism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Bayly, Susan. 2001. Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century t o the Modern Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Buehler, Arthur F. 2012. “Trends of Ashrāfization in India.” In Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim Societies: The Living Links to the Prophet , edited by Morimoto Kazuo, 231 -246. Oxon: Routledge.
- Buehler, Arthur, F. 2012. “Ahmad Sirhindī: Nationalist Hero, Good Sufi, or Bad Sufi?” In South Asian Sufis: Devotion, Deviation, and Destiny , edited by Clinton Bennett and Charles M. Ramsey, 141-162. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
- Delage, Remy. 2014. “Muslim castes in India.” Books & Ideas.net, September 29. Accessed December 24, 2022. https://booksandideas.net/IMG/pdf/20140929_castesmusulmans_delage.pdf.
- Deshpande, Satish , and Geetika Bapna. 2008. Dalits in the Muslim and Christian Communities: A Status Report on Current Social Scientific Knowledge. Status Report, Delhi: National Commission for Minorities Government of India.
- Gregory, Shaun R, and Simon R Valentine. 2009. Pakistan: The Situation of Religious Minorities. Geneva: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1 -41. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4b01856e2.pdf.
- Hiltebeitel, Alf. 2011. Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Iwanek, Krzysztof. 2018. “Aasia Bibi and the Pli ght of Pakistan’s Untouchables.” The Diplomat. November 05. Accessed February 20, 2023. https://thediplomat.com/2018/11/aasia-bibi-and-the-plight-of-pakistans- untouchables/.
- Jaiswal, Suvira. 1978. “Some Recent Theories of the Origin of Untouchability: A Historiographical Assessment.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 39: 39 (I): 218–229.
- Jamison, Stephanie W, and Joel P Brereton. 2014. The Rigveda: The earliest religious poetry of India. Vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Jodhka, Surinder S, and Ghanshyam Shah. 2010. “Comparative contexts of discrimination: Caste and untouchability in South Asia.” Economic and Political Weekly 45 (48): 99- 106.
- Jonker, Jan and Pennink, Bartjan W. 2010. The Essence of Methodology: A Concise Guide for Master and PhD Students in Management Science. London: Springer.
- Khalid, Iram, and Muhammad Rashid. 2019. “A Socio Political Status of Minorities in Pakistan.” Journal of Political Studies 26 (1): 59:70.
- Khalid, Rukhi, and Amina Tarar. 2004. “Effects of Cross Categorization on Inter Group Perception of Muslims and Christians in Pakistan. , 2 (1),.” Pakistan Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 1 (2): 3-16.
- Leeman, Alex B. 2009. “Interfaith Marriage in Islam: An Examination of the Legal Theory Behind the Traditional and Reformist Positions.” Indiana Law Journal 84 (2): 744 - 771.
- Mehmood, Zafar ul-Islam, Munawar S Mirza, Khuda Bakhsh Khan, Muhammad Shahbir, and Sagheer Iqbal. 2014. “Discrimination and problems of Religious Minority Students in Public Schools of Pakistan.” Journal of Education Research and Behavioral Sciences 3 (8): 237-239. http://www.apexjournal.org .
- Mughal, Aftab Alexander. 2018. “On the Catalogue of Injuries Faced by Religious Minorities in Pakistan.” Open Democracy. January 25. Accessed March 12, 2022. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/on-catalogue-of-injuries-faced-by-religious- minorities-in-pakistan/.
- National Commission for Justice and Peace. 2011. A report on Religious Minorities in Pakistan. Lahore: National Commission for Justice and Peace.
- Olivelle, Patrick. 1998. “Caste and purity: A study in the language of the Dharma literature.” Contributions to Indian Sociology 32 (2): 189 –216. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/006996679803200203.
- Pervaiz, Huma., and Mahmood, Tahir. 2018. “Mass Conversion To Christianity: A Case Study Of Chuhra Community In Sialkot District (1880 - 1930).” Journal of Pakistan Vision 19 (1): 40-59.
- Rahman, Khaista, and Muhammad Akram. 2020. “Christian-Muslim Coexistence in Peshawar City.” Asian Social Science 30-41. doi:10.5539/ass.v16n4p30.
- Rout, Bharat Chandra. 2017. “Social stratification among Muslims.” Economic and Political Weekly 52 (5): 69-70.
- Shamsi, A H. 2011. Social Status and Political Participation of Chris tian Minority in Pakistan. PhD Thesis, Lahore: University of the Punjab, Quaid e Azam Campus, Center for South Asian Studies.
- Sharma, S P. 1996. History of Ancient India. New Delhi: Mohit Publications.
- Singh, Kultar. 2007. Quantitative Social Research Methods. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 2013. Situation of Christians in Pakistan, including social and government attitudes, treatment and rights (2010 -2012). Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. https://www.refworld.org/docid/510f8dbd2.html.
- Smith, Brian K. 1994. Classifying the Universe: The Ancient Indian Varṇa System and the Origins of Caste. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Smith, S. 2015. “Muslim mob tries to lynch Christian family.” The Christian Post. October 12. Accessed December 8, 2022. https://w ww.christianpost.com/news/muslim-mob- lynch-christian-family-father-accused-blasphemy.html.
- Thomson Reuters Foundation. 2014. “Indian temple ‘purified’ after low -caste chief minister visits.” REUTERS. September 30. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-foundation-india-caste- idUSKCN0HP1DE20140930.
- Trivedi, K Prashant, Srinivas Goli, Fahimuddin, and Surinder Kumar. 2016. “Does Untouchability Exist Among Muslims? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh.” Economic and Political Weekly 51 (5): 32 -36. https://www.epw.in/journal/2016/15/insight/does - untouchability-exist-among-muslims.html.
- Usman, Ahmed. 2017. “A Comparison of Hindu and Muslim Caste System in Sub-continent.” South Asian Studies 32 (1): 91-98.
- Walbridge, Linda. 2012. The Christians of Pakistan: The Passion of Bishop John Joseph. Oxford: Routledge.
- Yamazaki, Gen’ichi. 1997. “Introduction: Social Discrimination in Ancient India and its Transition to the Medieval Period.” In Caste System, Untouchability, and the Depressed, edited by H Kotani, 15-17. New Delhi: Manohar.