Castes in Islam — a little-known fact

Have you ever heard about Ashraf, Atraf, Ajlaf, and Arzal? I never did, but only now I came to know. And this is a surprise.

Sometime back Prime Minister Modi spoke about reaching out to the Pasmanda Muslims, saying they are the backward among the community and need support. It is almost around the same time I heard some right-wing commentary about the Ashraf, the Muslim elites, and how they while being a small number grab almost everything among the community.

So I got into some reading, and this is a summary of what I found. Of course, it is a very vast subject, and my understanding is very limited. However, this is an important subject for us to know — as it has tremendous implications from the perspectives of both inclusion and social harmony.

This is my summary in 10 points:
1. Islam does not have a caste system or social stratification in the scriptures. But this has not prevented people from finding their stratification, with the elites dominating over a large majority. It was seen even in early Arab societies and happens with abandon across all the Islamic societies across the world.

2. In India, Islam has adopted a system similar to the Hindu caste system. This happened based on the ancestry of the converts in the subcontinent.

The Muslims in India are broadly categorized into four:

Ashrafs — highest caste comprising of the Muslims of foreign origin and converts from Hindu high castes.

Atrafs/ Ajlafs — converted from the lower caste Hindus.

Arzals — converts from the Hindu Dalits.

3. Like the Hindus, the caste is identified both by the surnames, as well as the predominant occupations. Here is a sample representation:

Ashraf — Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals, and Pathans fall here, with the Syed being equivalent to the Brahmins.

Atrafs/ Ajlafs — The Julaha (weavers), Dhuniya (cotton carders), Teli (oil pressers), Badhai (carpenters), etc.

Arzals — The Bakho (gypsies), Qasai (butchers), Halalkhors (sweepers), Dhobis (launderers), etc.

4. The Atraf/ Ajlafs and Arzals together are called the Pasmandas. In other words, any Muslim who is not an Ashraf is a Pasmanda.

Since we did not have a caste census in India since 1931, there is no definite figure that is available about the percentage of Ashrafs and Pasmandas. However, the estimate is that Pasmandas constitute around 85% of the Muslim population.

5. However what is galling but not surprising is that the Ashrafs, having better headstart, connections, and all social advantages have cornered a disproportionate share of all that Muslims have.

For example, a study in 2005 showed that to date there were 400 Muslims who were elected as Members of Parliament (MP), and out of that 360 were Ashraf. It is a strange irony that a population that is 15% of a community got 85% of the community representation at the highest level.

Another way of looking at this is while at 5.1% the representation of the Muslims in the Parliament is much lower than the share of the Muslim population, the Asrafs who constitute 1.65% of the population got a representation of 4.5%. This reflects almost on the similar lines of disproportionate Brahmin representation in all walks of India.

6. As to be expected, this privilege has spread to all spheres. For example, an analysis of the faculty of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 2019 shows that upper-caste Muslims comprise 88.35% of the faculty, whereas the low caste is only 4.81%.

7. Though the benefits are accrued by the Ashrafs, the downside is almost always faced by the Pasmandas. If we look at the victims of the communal riots, lynchings, economic boycotts, or plain penury (as also highlighted by Sachar Cwe will rarely find an Ashraf there. They are usually in better-protected localities, and many times have additional layers of security. But the people who are vulnerable and suffer do not even have a voice in most cases.

8. Now with the Ashrafs becoming eligible for the reservation for the Economically Weaker Section — EWS (well technically all Muslims have become eligible, but we know that the Pasmandas have a very limited chance to break into), the divide is even more stark. And increasingly there is an awareness among the Pasmandas that being a minority within a minority, and increasingly in today’s India, it is like being exposed to a double sword.

Surprisingly the Pasmanda demand for identity among the Muslims, and not being always bunched with all the Muslims is not new. It can be traced to almost a century ago. But as with the backward castes and Dalits among the Hindus, it is gaining steam and becoming more visible. The factors are the same, some members of the Pasmandas can access education and social mobility, but are not forgetting their roots.

9. Not only there are castes among the Muslims, but the mobility is not easy. In fact to be an Ashraf, one needs to prove an ancestry for authenticity. So the alternate methods have also spawned, where non-Ashrafs are inventing tenuous connections with historical figures to get acceptance as a higher caste.

It is however easier said than done. The ones on the higher levels are not ready to accept the Ashrafs and have made a particular way of living (Sarafat) and language (Urdu) as pre-conditions for acceptance. And just like we see campaigns during the census asking people to declare Sanskrit as their mother tongue, the same dynamics play among the Muslims for Urdu.

10. So where does it go from here?

The Hindu right wing is making life difficult for an average Muslim, and almost all the heat is being taken by the Pasmandas, whereas there is mostly silence among the Ashrafs. Surely no one wants to tread in muddy waters, but many Ashrafs have the wherewithal to carry on with their lives — even to migrate out if necessary.

The Pasmandas by and large are not that fortunate. So the monolithic Muslim identity with the narrative of the collective suffering is falling apart. And so is the influence of the clergy, who are helpless in providing security.

With increasing awareness and emerging leadership among the Pasmandas, the game is set to change. Yes, there will be resistance from the privileged Muslims (who want the have-nots to have a voice) and exploitation of the situation by the Hindu religious extremists.

But with the Constitution being silent about taking care of the lower castes among Muslims and Christians, and very little institutional support to ameliorate the situation, this is possibly the best way.

Let’s see how it pans out, and give support wherever possible.