INDIA
Ali Khan Mahmudabad PhD Student, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge.
Shia-Sunni Relations in India
Recent analyses of Shia-Sunni relations have tended to place these two groups in an intractable, binary and black and white opposition. Although a theological and later jurisprudential divide has existed virtually since the inception of Islam, the use of these overarching labels as homogenous categories reflects current political and social exigencies more than historical reality. As a survey of recent news from around the world would illustrate violent confrontations in countries such as Pakistan, Bahrain, Iraq are increasing and in other countries, like Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malyasia and Egypt where the Shia are in smaller minority, there are often the victim of draconian state policies. There are very few places in the world where Sunnis are ruled by a Shia majority and Iran is an exception where, despite a constitution the rights of Sunnis to freedom of worship amongst other things, there are reports that there is active effort by the state apparatus of preventing Sunnis from acting on these rights. Although some scholars, especially those who have religious or political pre-commitments, tend towards a teleological analysis of the Shia-Sunni ‘divide,’ as it is often simplistically called, this form of enquiry does less to try and understand the differences and more to exacerbate tensions. The relationship between Shias and Sunnis in India is one that cannot be addressed in these absolute terms as on their own these categories have little meaning. It is important to state here that the term Shi’a, for the purposes of this paper will refer to ithna’ashari or twelver Shias as appose to Ismailis, Zaidis and other sub-sects. Similarly, the term Sunni will be used judiciously because popularly speaking many Sunnis categorise themselves as Deobandis, Barelvis, Sufis, Hanafis, Ahl-e Hadith, Wahabis and Salafis which in turn determines their view of Shias. Furthermore, for various historical reasons that shall be discussed the paper shall focus mostly on Northern India and particularly on the state of Uttar Pradesh. Before embarking on a discussion of the present situation, it is necessary to provide a brief historical overview of the context in which tensions emerged, existed and were exacerbated. © Ali Khan Mahmudabad
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