Transcript Islam in India and China

Islam in India
and Southeast
Asia
Islam in South Asia
Overview
• 711 Muslims conquer Sind
• 700’s-900’s some coastal communities such
as the Labbes convert with Arab merchants
• 1020’s Ghaznavids establish control over
Afghanistan and NW India
• 1192 Ghurids conquer Lahore and Delhi 
Era of the Delhi Sultanate
• 1396-99 Tamerlane invades… Delhi
destroyed
The Ghaznavids
• Mahmud of Ghazna (d. 1030): Turkic
nomadic military leader whose father
established control of Samanid outpost
in Ghazna
• The Ghaznavids raided into the Punjab
and eventually that area became the
basis of their rule after the 1050’s
• Patronized Persian poetry
The Delhi Sultanate
• Defeat the Ghaznavids in 1192 – more
rebel Turkish guards!
• Mamluks: 1206-90 Qutb al-Din Aybak
was slave of last Ghurid
– Razia Sultan (r. 1236-40)
– Islam introduced to Kashmir in 1313 with
Shah Mir of Swat
• Destroyed by Tamerlane
Conversion
• Artisans and petty merchants first to
convert
• In rural areas converts retained Hindu
customs and socialized within their
caste
• Bengal sees continuation of customs
like seeking auspices from Hindu
holymen
Jizya
• Muhammad b. al-Qasim excepted the
Brahmins, who collected it from others.
• Delhi sultans varied in their policies
• Akbar abolished it; but scholars
understood this as being due to the fact
that so many Hindu soldiers served in the
army
• Aurangzeb re-imposed it
Syncretism & Conflict
• From Ghaznavids on Hindu soldiers used in
Muslim armies
• Delhi Sultanates main bureaucrats are
Hindus
• A cast of Brahmins called Husainis fast
Ramadan, call Muhammad a Hindu avatar
• But both Hindus and Muslims can hold
stereotypes of uncleanliness for the other
• In 1320’s Khusraw Khan rebels against the
Delhi sultans and massacres Muslim women
and children… puts idols in mosques
• 1700’s see further polarization
– Revivalists like Shah Wali Allah seek to
reconstitute pure Arabian Islam against
Hindu practices
– Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624) of the
Naqshbandiyya rejects syncretism (rejects
Akbar’s heresy), condemns Hinduism as
Kufr
– Vs. Qadiriyya saint Mirza Jani Janan (d.
1780) who considers Vedas inspired
scriptures and Hindus to be People of the
Book / idolatry as means of focusing on
God… also Dara Shikoh and Upanishads
as wellspring of monotheism
Major Sufi Orders in India
• Chistiyya: founded by Muin al-Din Chishti (d. 1193)
in India
– Emphasizes Shariah compliance and Hadith, but…
– Ecstatic music and dance in rituals
– Pioneers of Qawwali music at shrines
• Naqshbandiyya: founded by Baha’ al-Din Naqshbandi
(d. 1389)
– found throughout Asia and the Balkans
– Shariah complaint emphasis – revivalist even
– Shuns music and dance, silent dhikr
Vs. Shattariyya Sufi order whose devotees lived in the forests
like Yogis and derived liturgical practices from Yoga
Qawwali Music
• Draws on musical traditions of India,
Persian and Arabic music
• Songs in Urdu, Persian
• Addresses themes of the Prophet, Ali,
God and love songs
Haqq Ali Haqq
Performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (d. 1997)
From http://nusrat.bravehost.com/ali_maula_ali.html, translated
by Mohibb Uddin Ahmad
Ali is the master of all, I am the slave of Ali
thousands of lives are to be sacrificed for Ali
Sometimes the wall shakes, sometimes the door trembles
listening the name of Ali, the fort of Khaibar trembles even now
King of the brave
Ali, Ali master Ali
Who implanted the flag of faith in the rocks
who challenged Marhab** and defeated him
Ali, Ali master Ali
My heart chants this
this is the name that is true
this is the name that removes sufferings
auspiciousness of this name opened the secrets of being
Ali, Ali master Ali
King of the brave
there is no one except Ali
Ali is the lion of God
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Ali, Ali master Ali
My body chants Ali, so does my tongue
if I die, then write Ali on my shroud
Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali
Without the love of Ali, desired is not fulfilled
not even the returns for the prayers
O slaves of God listen carefully, by God !!
one who does not realize Ali does not realize God
Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali
Don't search for anything now, match the eternal search
match the footprints of the desired destination with guide
to get Ali is like getting a house of God
searching for God too, we found Him in Ali's house
Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali
Sight of Ali is itself is prayer, so said the Prophet
Ali is the soul, body and life of the Prophet
Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali
why wouldn't be Ali 'the lion of God' be the hand of God
the king of all warriors-Ali is intended in every favor/gift
just as there is no one like Mohammad (PBUH)
no other Ali could never have born
'Bedam' these are the five reasons of the existence of the
universe: Fatima, Hasan, Hussain, Mustafaa, Ali
Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali
Islam in SE Asia Overview
• 1200’s some Sumatran port cities
become Muslim, the straits of Malacca
Islamized
• By 1500 Islam a major force in
Malaysian archipelago
Trade or Chinese Muslim
Pirates?
• Islam spreads in coastal communities
along trade routes
• Acheh: in 1292 Marco Polo describes
flourishing Muslim community their ruled
by a sultan
• Malacca: develops around 1400, straits are
key trading channel
Links to India and Yemen
• Part of Islamicate civilization
– Arabic language as language of high culture
and administration
• Shafi school is dominant
– Links to Yemeni Sufism
– Links to Indian Islamic scholarship