Like Hindus, Muslims Too Believe In Reincarnation and Oppose Triple Talaq: Some Important Indicators from Pew Research Survey
A Large
Population of Indian Muslims Believes In Sufi Islam
Main
Points:
1. 6%
born Muslims say they are atheists.
2. 63%
Muslim women oppose triple Talaq.
3. Muslims
are proud to be Indians.
4. Some
Muslims have left Islam.
5. Indian
Muslims are more tolerant than Muslims of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
----
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
27 August
2021
Pew
Research Centre recently published the report of a survey on religious
behaviour of Indians. The survey was based on face-to-face interviews with
30,000 Indians from all major religions speaking 17 languages. Apart from the general opinion of Indians on
religious tolerance, living together and social issues, the survey points at
some unnoticed change in behaviour and thoughts of Indians on religious and
social issues. Here we analyse the religious behaviour and thought of Muslims
of India based on the survey.
The survey
asked Muslim respondents questions on tolerance, triple talaq, inter religious
marriage, angels and heaven, atheism, Sufism and importance of Islam in their
life and the answers they gave an insight in their religious behaviour and
thought.
Triple
Talaq
Triple
Talaq or Instant talaq in one sitting has been widely debated among the Muslim
intelligential. A large section of Muslim religious scholars have insisted that
triple Talaq is supported by the Ulema-E-Jamhoor (consensus) but there
are others who say that Quran does not support triple Talaq. In 2017 the
Supreme Court of India ruled that triple Talaq was unconstitutional and in
2019, it was criminalized by the government of India. There was a hue and cry
by the religious leadership on the government decision. But the Pew Survey points
out diverse opinion of general Muslims and women. Only 56% Muslims oppose triple Talaq while
63% women oppose triple Talaq. It is clear from the survey that the Muslim men
are divided on the validity of triple Talaq and a majority of Muslim women support
the government decision to ban triple Talaq.
Tolerance
The survey
shows that despite a rise in religious intolerance and particularly the rise of
Islamophobia in India, religious tolerance is still the base of religious
Indian nationalism. Both Hindus and Muslims believe that religious tolerance is
needed to hold the nation together. 82%
Hindus say respecting other religions is important to what it means to be a
Hindu. They also view religious communalism the main concern. 65% Hindus and
65% Muslims say communalism is a big problem. Therefore, both Hindus and
Muslims want to live peacefully and so the communal violence is the work of
only handful religious bigots.
Sufism
India is
home to thousands of Muslims Sufis who came to India from all over the Muslim
world and spread the message of Islam through peaceful means. Thanks to the inclusive and pluralist
approach of these Sufis, India became a big centre of Sufi Islam. Later many
exegetes and Islamic scholars stressed the inclusive message of Islam. Though
due to the ideological influences of some hardliner Islamic scholars of India,
intolerance, sectarian differences and extremist ideas have spread among the
Muslims of India, the Pew Survey shows that a big population of Muslims still
believes in Sufism. 37% of Muslims of India identify themselves with Sufism.
Interreligious
Marriage
Being a
multi-religious society, India sees inter religious marriages across all
religious communities and almost all the religious communities see it as a
threat to their religious existence. They preach their followers against the
dangers of inter religious marriages. Still such marriages happen as a result
of interaction of men and women in various fields of life.
80% Muslims
say it is important to stop Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men. And only
76% say it is very important to stop Muslim men from doing so. Therefore, a
section of Muslims think it right to marry the women of other religions.
Nationalism
Muslims
have lived in Indian subcontinent for thousands of years and they have enriched
this land with their knowledge, culture and history. They stood shoulder to
shoulder with other religious communities of the country in times of calamity,
invasion and other national crises. They played a very active role during the
freedom struggle of India. They have always boasted of their Indian roots and
are proud of being Indians. Pew survey
shows that 95% Muslims say they are very proud to be Indian. 85% Muslims say
that Indian culture is superior to others.
Discrimination
Muslims
have complained that they face discrimination in different fields. However,
Muslims of different regions in India vary in their complaints. While on an
average 24% Muslims say they face discrimination, 40 % Muslims in the northern
India say they face discrimination.
Apostasy
Though
Muslims adhere to their religion more keenly than the followers of other
religions do but the survey shows that a small section of Muslims have become
atheists or apostates. They have abandoned Islam. 0.3% Muslims have left Islam
since childhood and converted to other religions. Importantly, 6 %
self-described Muslims do not believe in God. They are atheists. This is a
striking trend among Muslims which is ignored or unnoticed.
Believe
in Reincarnation
Islam does
not preach believe in reincarnation or Karma. But due to the influence of local
beliefs or influence of Sufi beliefs, a section of Indian Muslims believe in
Reincarnation and Karma, that is, cycle of births according to the deeds of a
human beings. 27% Muslims believe in
Reincarnation or Karma.
Extremism
There are
many theological interpretations of Islam and Quranic verses and based on these
interpretations, extremism and terrorism has survived and thrived. However,
Indian Muslims have happened to be more tolerant on this issue. They believe
that there can be more than one true interpretation of Islam and so they
demonstrate tolerance in matters of religious issues while the extremist
sections insist that there can be only one true interpretation of Islam and
that is theirs. While 72% Muslims in Pakistan
and 69% Muslims in Bangladesh believe that there can be only one true
interpretation of religion, only 63% Muslims in India say that there can be
only one true interpretation of religion. Though this per cent age also is not
very encouraging, it shows that Indian Muslims are less intolerant.
Belief
in Heaven and Angels
Though
belief in Qeyamat (Day of Judgment), Heaven and Hell and Angels is an integral part
of the faith of a Muslim, surprisingly, a tiny section of Indian Muslims are
sceptical about Heaven and angels. While
all the Muslims believe in Heaven and Angels, only 58% of Indian Muslims
believe in Heaven and 53% Indian Muslims believe in Angels. This is surprising
and indicates that most of Indian Muslims do not have the basic knowledge of
Islam because only 6% Muslims describe themselves as atheists.
Therefore,
the Pew Research Centre survey gives valuable insight into the religious
behavior and beliefs of Indian Muslims. It shows that Indian Muslims are more
tolerant than their counterparts in other Islamic countries. Most of them do
not consider triple talaq as valid and support the government’s stand on it.
They are proud to be Indian and proud of the composite culture. They have the freedom to be atheists and
their belief in Reincarnation and Karma will shock and stun many Islamic
scholars. Religious scholars should also ponder over the ignorance of many
Muslims of heaven and angels despite these being the integral part of a
Muslim’s faith. It is clear that despite all the efforts of the community,
Indian Muslims do not have proper knowledge of their religion. Religious
scholars engaged more on sectarian issues than on truly educating Muslims on
their religion.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/pew-hindus-muslims-reincarnation-talaq/d/125286