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Astonishingly, in Asia the caste system among Muslims seems to have divided the culture to a great extent. This may have resulted from the number of Hindus converting to Muslims, or the brush with Hindu culture in countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In several countries across Asia, they are becoming more secular. Some countries though are dominantly Muslim, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. Asian Muslims who know that they are the dominant people in certain countries are calling for Islam to be recognized on a larger scale.
Muslims of Asia have begun to believe that religion is more important than their country. They defend Islam with a passion that is hardly seen in most people across the world. They are beginning to increasingly voice their opinions on their religion more boldly than before. For a long time, Asian Muslims did not show any signs of being affected by the Middle East. That has slowly changed over the years. Unfortunately, religion is being used for a lot of political reasons.
Indonesia is Asia’s largest Muslim population country, housing 170.3 million Muslims. Some disturbing incidents in Indonesia and Bangladesh have seen the start of a fight for a complete Muslim state. This can ofcourse damage the secularism of these countries. Asian Muslims are now beginning to take cue from their Middle East counterparts, to fight for their religion.
The division of the castes among Asian Muslims, also seem to be a difference of opinion about the higher and lower castes, and who is eligible to be part of higher castes. Converts from Hinduism are supposedly part of the lower castes. The higher castes are also divided into four sub-castes. The Sayyids, one sub-caste of the higher caste, are supposed to be held in high regard. They are the descendants of The Prophet.
There are rumors about certain behavioral patterns of the high caste Asian Muslims. They are known to take a bath if they come into contact with a Muslim of a lower caste, and also do not agree to them being buried in the same graveyard. Intelligent Muslim scholars have naturally voiced their opinions about this caste system among Muslims in Asia. They regard it as a violation of the laws of The Koran.
There is an organization called AMAN in Asia for Muslims, which works towards bringing the laws of the Muslim religion to light. Their main goals are to wipe out elite corruption, materialistic lifestyles and tension among various ethnic groups of people. They value the highest principles of life – truth, justice, compassion, freedom and equality. They work together to create awareness about social justice, and also cooperation among other religions and cultures.
South Asian Muslims have made their presence felt across the world, not only in educational and cultural fields. They are also part of the great Muslim society in defending their religion against people who have wrong notions about them. Asian Muslims are also strongly united in bringing the Muslim world together.
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