Caste System in Pakistan
Question:
Could you please tell me what Islam says about the caste system, which we can find in India and also in Pakistan? (E.g. one's zaat, if one is a Rajput or a Jatt etc).
Perhaps this isn't so important to people today as it used to be, but many people still marry their kids within their own caste because of things like status etc.
Isn't this wrong?
Answer:
Allow me to answer this with an example:
A father advises his daughter that a man who is proposing to her is not suitable for her because he belongs to a different caste.
The father may mean two totally different things here:
a. That the man from different caste has a lower rank and status than our family and is therefore not good enough for us.
b. That the man from different caste comes from a totally different culture and background and this may cause problems in between the couple in future.
‘a’ is totally against the directives of the Qur’an. The Qur’an (49:13) makes it clear that the criteria for good and bad is piety not money, social class or race.
‘b’ is a very rational consideration that may apply to many situations all around the world and within every culture and religion. Whether this is a correct concern or not obviously depends on each case.
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November 2013
Could you please tell me what Islam says about the caste system, which we can find in India and also in Pakistan? (E.g. one's zaat, if one is a Rajput or a Jatt etc).
Perhaps this isn't so important to people today as it used to be, but many people still marry their kids within their own caste because of things like status etc.
Isn't this wrong?
Answer:
Allow me to answer this with an example:
A father advises his daughter that a man who is proposing to her is not suitable for her because he belongs to a different caste.
The father may mean two totally different things here:
a. That the man from different caste has a lower rank and status than our family and is therefore not good enough for us.
b. That the man from different caste comes from a totally different culture and background and this may cause problems in between the couple in future.
‘a’ is totally against the directives of the Qur’an. The Qur’an (49:13) makes it clear that the criteria for good and bad is piety not money, social class or race.
‘b’ is a very rational consideration that may apply to many situations all around the world and within every culture and religion. Whether this is a correct concern or not obviously depends on each case.
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November 2013
