Islam in the environment of medieval Bengal, with special reference to the Bengali sources

Abstract

A proselytising religion seeking expansion in an alien soil may adopt different lines of approach. A militant line trying to force itself on a culture group is likely to disrupt the cultural continuum and prove itself unsuccessful. Islam in Bengal did not choose this line. But for the first few centuries of the advent of political Islam in the land it remained indifferent to the mainstream of the local culture. In the meanwhile, the personal influence of the Muslim saints, a consuming belief in their miraculous powers and the ability of many Muslim adventurers to perform a role appropriate to the material and non-material needs of a particular area, had secured the adhesion of a large number of the local masses to Islam. Some elements of force could not have been totally absent in the situation. Whatever the underlying motives and pressures behind the conversion of the masses, that they were not attracted to the religion by its intrinsic merit was amply evident from the writings of the Muslims themselves, which make bitter lamentations about their total ignorance of the adopted faith, On the other hand, a sharp economic, social and cultural polarisation in the Muslim community of Bengal, comprising the immigrants on the one hand and the local converts on the other, reinforced the orthodox and traditional attitudes of isolation from and antipathy to the local culture. The result was obvious. The masses of the Muslims, ignorant of Arabic and Persian, were denied access to the traditions of their own religion and continued to draw religious and cultural sustenance from the pre-existing indigenous sources. The danger inherent in the situation became evident especially to a section of religious leaders, who in their capacity as religious guides (Pir) with considerable following among the masses, had understandable reasons to feel concerned about it, This new attitude was reflected in the writings of a new group, including those popular religious leaders, who defied the orthodox and conservative opposition in reducing religious matters to the 'vulgar Hindu language', They did more than this. If the medium of' religious and cultural communication was to be intelligible to the people, no less should have been their symbols and idioms. They accordingly exerted themselves in an interesting and difficult venture of presenting Islam to the Bengali people through the symbols known to them from the native religious and cultural traditions. Show more