Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency in South Asia

Muslim Grassroots Leaders in India: National Issues and Local Leadership

123 the national bureau of asian research Muslim Grassroots Leaders in India: National Issues and Local Leadership Dietrich Reetz DIETRICH REETZ is a Senior Research Fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient and Senior Lecturer of Political Science at the Free University Berlin. He has also been a principle investigator for political science and South Asia at the Graduate School of Muslim Cultures and Societies at Free University since 2008. Dr. Reetz has been involved in a number of projects focused on South Asian Islam, including “Bridging the gap: Blending Islamic and secular education in new school projects in India and Pakistan” (2006–07), “The role of South Asian Islam in the Islamic World” (2004–05), and “The Islamic missionary movement of the Tablighi Jama‘at in India and Pakistan and its vision of society” (2001–03). He is the author of Islam in the Public Sphere: Religious Groups in India, 1900–1947 (2006). He can be reached at . Originally published in: Mumtaz Ahmad, Dietrich Reetz, and Thomas H. Johnson, “Who Speaks for Islam? Muslim Grassroots Leaders and Popular Preachers in South Asia,” National Bureau of Asian Research, NBR Special Report, no. 22, February 2010.© 2012 The National Bureau of Asian Research. This PDF is provided for the use of authorized recipients only. For specific terms of use, please contact . EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This essay examines recent trends in the evolution of traditional and nontraditional forms of Muslim leadership and association in India marked by wide diversity and a notable absence of national leaders. MAIN FINDINGS • Traditional and historical Muslim networks in India, such as the Sunni madrasah traditions of the Deobandis and Barelwis, some reforming sects (Ahmadiyya), Shia groups, and modern Muslim schools, have adopted new leadership formats. These include utilizing new forms of communication, pursing non-religious agendas focused on education and development, and networking traditional religious schools with secular and female education. • Religious mobilization follows the north-south divide in Indian society. Although the historical Muslim networks are centered in north India, many groups in the south and east Indian states pursue their own local agendas. • The modernization of Muslim leadership has led to new bodies and institutions that are separate from established sectarian religious associations. These modern organizations can be divided into those related to religious issues and those related to the welfare of the community. Caste and class factors continue to exert an important impact here. • Religious activism among Indian Muslims is focused on two major sets of issues: (1) securing religious lifestyles in matters of law, family, and gender segregation and (2) raising the social, economic, and educational standards of the Indian Muslim community, which is perceived as backward and neglected. POLICY IMPLICATIONS • India needs to address the issues of social and political marginalization that Muslims face in Indian society. Social and political rights, primarily the affordable access to quality education and employment, are key. • Muslim leaders in India should be given a full chance to participate in public life. They should be encouraged to become part of mainstream society and invited to assume social and political responsibilities, as well as act in a transparent and public manner. • Indian public institutions need to reverse the trend of viewing Muslims as a potential threat and security risk. Occasional discrimination of Muslim citizens must be checked more resolutely. State attempts to regulate religious institutions (e.g., madaris, law boards, and shrines) have produced little result apart from a growing sense of alienation among Muslim activists. 125 MUSLIM GRASSROOTS LEADERS IN INDIA u REETZ A lthough media-savvy preachers of Islam such as Zakir Naik (born in 1965) from Mumbai have attracted the attention of the mainstream media in India and in the West, their growing popularity is no immediate reflection of current Muslim grassroots leadership in India. Because India’s Muslim population remains strongly divided along social, cultural, linguistic, sectarian, and geographic lines, Muslim activists in India cannot easily speak for the Indian Muslim community at large. This essay will begin with an introduction to the historical context of Muslim India from which current popular leaders emerged. Three subsequent sections will discuss traditional, local, and modern leadership, which are three categories into which Islam in India can be conditionally divided, keeping in mind that these areas also overlap. A final section on Zakir Naik examines important new trends in media and social and political activism that are emerging across India’s Muslim leadership Historical Formation of...