Indian Muslims in the Older Diasporas: Between Indianness and Muslim Identity: The Case of Suniname
Author Name
Dr. Maurits S. Hassankhan
Author Address
History Department, Faculty of Humanities, Anton de Kom University of Suriname
Email:
[email protected]; phone +597- 8749865
Keywords
Old diaspora, Indian diaspora, Indian Muslim diaspora, Suriname
Abstract
Since the first half of the nineteenth century millions of people migrated as indentured labourers or as fee migrants to overseas colonies of England, France and the Netherlands. They came from the Bengal and Madras presidencies. Presently they form a considerable part of the local population of those countries Mauritius about 68%; in Guyana 43%; in Trinidad 40%; in Suriname 27%, in Fiji 40% ; Reunion 28%; Guadeloupe 13%; Martinique 10% and in Natal (South Africa) also a large proportion of the population.
It is well known that Indians preserved their culture, including their religion, music, cuisine, language etc. Studies on Indian Diaspora are mostly focused on Hindu culture and the experiences of Hindu members of the community.
Many scholars forget or neglect the fact that about 17% of the migrants from India were Muslims. The Indian community consisted originally almost exclusively of Hindus and Muslims, while presently there is an increasing number of Christians among them.
The indentured and other migrants brought with them the Indian culture from their home regions with the local manifestation of their culture. This was the culture of the rural areas of UP and Bihar, where in most cases Hindus and Muslims had shared customs and traditions. This common culture was reinforced during and after the indenture period when the reconstructed their social institutions.
In my study I will deal with the migrants of the so called girmitya countries (Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname.
I will describe and analyse the cultural baggage of the Muslims, including their religion as practised in daily life. They were treated and regarded themselves as Indians, while Islam was a part of their Indian culture. Since a few decades there is a trend of purifying the Muslim customs and traditions from “non-Islamic” influences. This means in fact an abandonment of several Indian traditions and customs because they are supposed to be unislamic.
I argue that there should be made a difference between secular and religious aspects of traditions and customs. This has to do with interpretation of the impact of shariah on daily life and what shariah means in certain circumstances. In my paper I will try to explain what are the causes of this “Islamisation or Arabisation” trend in the daily practice of Islam in the diaspora.
Conference
International Conference on "Global Migration: Rethinking Skills, Knowledge and Culture"