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Religions
Indian Islam
Islam (Indian Traditions)
Islam (Indian Traditions)
No primary scriptures are catalogued for this entry yet. If you know of scriptural references we have missed, please contribute them.
Islam reached India within decades of its founding in Arabia โ Muslim traders were settled on the southwestern (Kerala) coast by the 7thโ8th century CE, centuries before any Muslim ruler set foot in the subcontinent. Over the next twelve centuries the faith spread through traders, Sufi saints, rulers, scholars, and reformers, taking distinctively Indian forms.
Today India holds the world's third-largest Muslim population โ about 200 million people, roughly 14% of the country. Indian Islam is extraordinarily diverse: Sunni and Shia, Sufi and reformist, urban and rural, spanning every state.
Sunni Islam
Most Indian Muslims (about 85%) are Sunni, overwhelmingly of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence (fiqh). Within Indian Sunnism two major late-19th-century movements shape religious life:
Shia Islam
Indian Shia Muslims (about 10โ15%) include Ithna Ashari (Twelvers), with historic centres at Lucknow โ famous for its Muharram processions, tazias (replicas of Imam Husayn's Karbala tomb), and imambaras โ and Hyderabad. The Nizari Ismailis, led by the Aga Khan, are prominent in Gujarat and Maharashtra; in February 2025, Aga Khan IV died and was succeeded by his son Rahim al-Hussaini as Aga Khan V, the 50th hereditary Imam.
Sufi traditions
India's great Sufi orders (tariqas) include:
Sufi shrines (dargahs) are among India's most visited pilgrimage sites, and Sufi music (qawwali, sama) is beloved far beyond Muslim audiences.
How Islam came to India
The first phase was peaceful and mercantile: Arab traders settled on the Malabar coast in the 7thโ8th century, forming the Mappila (Moplah) Muslim community of Kerala. Tradition holds that the last Chera king, Cheraman Perumal โ persuaded, the legend says, by reports of the Prophet's miracle of the splitting of the moon โ embraced Islam, died on pilgrimage near Salalah, and directed his companions to build a mosque at Kodungallur: the Cheraman Juma Mosque, traditionally dated 629 CE (scholars debate the date; the living tradition is what pilgrims honour). See Cheraman Juma Mosque.
The second phase was political: Turkic and Afghan rulers from the 13th century (the Delhi Sultanate), and the Mughal Empire (1526โ1857), made Persianate Islamic culture a court language of North India โ in administration, architecture, music, and cuisine โ while conversion proceeded gradually, mostly through Sufi preaching and social movement rather than decree.
Reform and revival under colonial rule
The shock of 1857 and British rule produced competing answers to "how should Indian Muslims live?": Deoband's seminary-based scripturalism; Ahmed Raza Khan's defence of Sufi-inflected Sunnism; Sayyid Ahmad Khan's modernist Aligarh movement (educational reform); and in 1926, Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi's Tablighi Jamaat, an apolitical pietist movement calling Muslims back to the Prophet's example through preaching tours.
The Quran and Hadith
The Quran โ believed by Muslims to be the literal word of God revealed in Arabic to Prophet Muhammad (c. 570โ632 CE) over 23 years โ is the supreme authority; translations are honoured as interpretations. The Hadith (records of the Prophet's sayings and actions, sifted through chains of narrators; major collections include Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) guide daily life alongside the Quran.
The Five Pillars (arkan al-Islam)
Sufi practices add an inward dimension: dhikr (remembrance of God through repeated names and phrases), sama (devotional listening, especially qawwali), muraqaba (contemplation), and ziyarat (visitation of saints' shrines).
Where Indian Islam lives:
Contemporary notes: India's Muslims navigate questions of education and economic mobility, political representation, and interfaith coexistence โ subjects of active internal debate among ulema, intellectuals, and community organisations. This encyclopedia records traditions, not polemics: for contested current affairs, readers should consult multiple reputable news sources.
DivineLens presents perspectives from within this tradition, curated for authenticity. For personal spiritual direction, advanced study, or questions about tradition-specific practice, we recommend finding a qualified teacher in Islam. Our Advisory Council reviews all content for theological accuracy.
How visitors saw Indian Islam, summarised (paraphrased). See Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo.
Ibn Battuta (1330s) โ Tangier-born qadi who served Muhammad bin Tughluq โ gives the fullest medieval portrait: Delhi's mosques and Sufi hospices, the Sultan's terrifying generosity, Malabar's Muslim ports, and (at Mylapore) even the Christians' tomb-shrine, honoured by Hindus.
Ma Huan (1410sโ30s) โ Muslim interpreter on Zheng He's treasure fleets โ described Calicut: mosques and Muslim traders (Arab and Mappila) beside the Hindu Zamorin's court, pepper weighed in gold-flecked scales. An insider-outsider: Islam observing Islam abroad.
Duarte Barbosa (c. 1516) โ Portuguese factor at Kochi writing Malayalam-fluent field notes โ catalogued the coast's peoples: Mappila Muslims (traders, sailors, scholars), Nair warriors, and the Kollam Christians still keeping the old faith.
Afanasy Nikitin (1469โ72) โ Tver horse-trader, first Russian in India โ wandered the Bahmani Deccan to Bidar, marvelling at sultans' elephants, temple crowds, and prices: wonder without system, precious for just that reason.
Recommended reviewers: A Sunni Islamic scholar, a Shia Islamic scholar, and a Sufi practitioner.
