Village Mohammedans of Bengal

By R.C. Das (1926)

Taken from The Muslim World, vol. 16, no. 3.

Neither my inheritance nor my training has in past years been conducive to a sympathetic understanding of Islamic culture and religion. But recently work and circumstances have brought me in close touch with Mohammedans and their faith, and I have had opportunities of making some acquaintance with both. My former attitude of indifference to Islam has given place to newly awakened interest, and I am glad and thankful for this.

Questions like the following have again and again arisen in my mind. Are Muslims so hard-hearted and fanatical (they are often so represented) as not to yield to the influence of the Cross? Is their religion so formal, rigid and exclusive as not to allow the light of the Gospel to shine within its orbit? Are Mohammedans so peculiar and different from Hindus that widely different methods of approach are necessary in their case? My experience of Mohammedans in some Bengal villages, limited though it be, leads me to think that many things that are supposed about the Mohammedans are not always true. For example, it is held that Mohammedans are more orthodox and intolerant than Hindus. The truth is that intolerance and orthodoxy assume other forms in Hinduism, but are not less violent in Hinduism than in Islam. It is said that Mohammedan converts are less loyal and steady than Hindu converts. I have come across some of the finest Mohammedan converts that can adorn any church in the world; while on the other hand I have personally known in fifteen years not less than fifty cases of Hindu converts who have either gone back entirely or are leading secluded and uninteresting lives in the Christian community. Again, it is held by some that the Muslim needs an entirely different treatment, both in the matter of spiritual approach and in training and subsequent care, because, as is imagined, his heritage and outlook are so different. Then it is maintained by many that for work among Muslims a different type of language and literature, called Mussulmani-Bengali, is necessary. It is a significant fact that Mohammedan converts have, by their convictions and literary productions, falsified this theory. To quote only one instance. The literary genius of the late lamented brother, Allauddin Khan, who has probably contributed more Christian hymns and devotional writings than any other single individual to the future possession of the Church in Bengal, was of a type and quality which is indistinguishable from the spirit of Hindu culture. It should be noted that all over the province, in all ordinary schools, Mohammedan children use the same textbooks as are used by Hindu children, and in conversation Mohammedans use the same colloquial Bengali as is the habit of Hindus to do. Books written in simple, but chaste Bengali are more easily understood and more popular among village Muslim purchasers. The so-called Mussulmani-Bengali contains too many and too hard Urdu, Persian or Arabic terms and phrases. The educational attainment of the average village Mohammedan is not enough to enable him to appreciate such books. Mohammedan poets and authors of repute write as Hindus do. A maulvi or a munshi might appreciate Islamic terms. But the type of Mohammedan we meet in hats, bazaars, melas or villages, needs pure and simple Bengali. Missionary effort should neither create nor foster the desire for this hybrid type of Bengali, which has a doubtful future.

The vast majority of village Muslims in Bengal are not Mohammedans in the full sense of the word. The spirit of Saracenic culture sits lightly on them. This remark does not apply to the large number of mullahs and maulvies who have come down from up country, and are constantly trying to excite the otherwise peaceful Mohammedans of Bengal. Nor is it true of those Mohammedans who have been living in or near centres of Islamic influence like Dacca - the capital of the old Nawabs. The great masses of agricultural Muslims are of Vaishnava, Hindu and Buddhist extraction, and possess, beneath a rough and outlandish exterior, a truly native heart and mind, with not a little emotion and philosophy. Most of the Mohammedans who inhabit the country bordering on Assam and the Himalayas are recent converts from the numerous races of Rajbansis and Koches. Mongolian features are plainly written on their faces.

Relevant to this thought would be the instance of one notable fact. The behaviour of several thousands of Mohammedan Christians of Nadia, in central Bengal, is worth considering. After the acceptance of Christianity their habits of life and thought were quickly changed. They are at present not differentiable from double that number of Hindu Namasudra Christians of Lower and Eastern Bengal. The Christians of Nadia have given up beef-eating (as a regular habit), their Arabic names, their Mohammedan dress, and have generally adopted Hindu-Bengali manner of life. Most of them belong to the Anglican Communion and some to the Roman Church. They burn incense, use flowers and candles, thoroughly enjoy abundance of vernacular music, both vocal and instrumental - sankirtans (party-singing) with kohls and kartals (drums and cymbals) and stringed instruments - the method and spirit of which are purely Vaishnava-Hindu. This community of Muslim converts has produced musicians and bards of no mean merit, and their songs breathe the spirit of Hindu bhakti and faith.

In two different stations in Bengal I have come across certain facts that have led me to hold the above views. At one station the first inquirer to be instructed and baptised was a fairly educated village Mohammedan; of other converts the majority hailed from the Mohammedan community. A special evangelistic service, the form and spirit of which came nearer Hinduism than Islam, with plenty of music and meditation, was attended and appreciated equally by Mohammedans and Hindus. Some of the most valued friends were Mohammedans. Scriptures were sold and preaching was done mostly among Mohammedans. One noted attention and the spirit of inquiry, and never met discourtesy or rowdyism. Here in the Rangpur district, almost all of our eighteen schools are among Mohammedans. In many of these schools there are grown-up girls studying together with boys. Every year these girls run races and give other exhibitions for prizes in the presence of men. At one school, when I was visiting it for the first time, I was taken aback as I found that the scholars, all Mohammedans, came one after another from their seats and reverently touched my feet. They showed respect to the teachers also in the same way. In every village of considerable size the worship of the goddess Kali is held at regular intervals and also when epidemics appear. Mohammedans liberally patronise these religious and other festive occasions both by their personal presence and money subscriptions. One frequently meets with Mohammedans who belong to a heterodox sect - some fakir movement and association. They are liberal in idea, and practice, appreciate music and are somewhat mystical. They have the guru-chela (master and disciple) relation well-established amongst them, blindly revere and obey the Guru, and believe in some form of faith healing. In the hats, bazaars and melas most extensive and effective work is done among the Mohammedans. There is no indifference or hostility shown anywhere. Sometimes preaching is allowed and welcomed on the premises of mosques on Jumma Day. The larger number of those who use Christian literature or come to us for talks are Mohammedans.

One regrettable feature in the lives of many Mohammedans in these parts is their open and bold immorality. Lust and luxury are eating the vitals of the community. I have not seen anywhere else such a naked indulgence in prostitution in broad daylight. There is a nomadic race of prostitutes who build tiny little temporary huts in melas, and are visited by hundreds of exclusively Mohammedan villagers within sight of their grown-up children and relatives. This practice goes on in the most shameless and indecent manner at festivals, where thousands of men congregate. Then in this district there are frequent kidnapping and rape cases, in most of which the offenders are Mohammedans and the victims Hindus. Apart from this, the Mohammedans on this side of the province are simple-minded, inoffensive and approachable. Under such conditions a missionary need not feel sad over the difficulty of Muslim work. On the contrary there is a bright prospect of the Christian truth being accepted, and promise of a good harvest, if faithful labour is put in the Lord’s vineyard. The pure Gospel, the unvarnished religion of the New Testament and of the early Church, is a universal religion, and makes its appeal to all men in all ages under all circumstances, essentially in the same way. There is neither male nor female, Greek nor Barbarian, Jew nor Gentile, Hindu nor Mohammedan, all are alike in the need of the gospel of salvation and abundant life in and through Jesus Christ. One is not very far from the truth in making this remark about the vast majority of the Mohammedans of Bengal. And in doing so I do not in the least mean to minimise the value of special training for Mohammedan work up to a certain limit.

Kurigram, North Bengal, India.

R.C. DAS.