Term Paper on "Challenges of Interfaith Marriage Between Hindu and Muslim"

Term Paper 5 pages (1674 words) Sources: 3 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Issues Pertaining to Hindu-Muslim Interfaith Marriage

The relationship between Hindus and Muslims is an historically uneasy

one, precipitated on violent clashes over territorial control, religious

dominance and political determination. Often situated in similar global

contexts, such as South and Southeast Asia, these faiths have persisted

disquietly aside one another for centuries, engaging in frequent conflict

even as they have struggled to overcome shared crises of poverty,

corruption, social inequality and the exploitation of the western world.

In many ways, it may be argued that there are distinct cultural differences

between the two faiths which dictate a likelihood toward conflict,

especially as such may be based on the dramatically different religious

doctrines of the two. Thus, a discussion on interfaith marriage between

individuals emergent from the two distinct religions necessarily promises a

great many adversities to be overcome by both, as family, faith and society

are all pressures that are likely to be forthcoming in both matrimony and

life as a married interfaith couple.

Overcoming the stigma of interfaith relations between Hindus and

Muslims first requires the individuals and their respective support systems

to overcome emotional dispositions which might descend from a history rife

with "violence when members of one community (generally the majority

community) have perpetrated acts of aggression upon members of the other

(generally the minority community). Sometimes these acts of aggression have

been brutal to the extent of being barbarous, and sometimes their magnitude

is shocking, as was the case when-in the bitter aftermath of the partition

of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in August, 1947-a bloodbath

took place in which tens of thousands of human beings (Hindus, Muslims,

Sikhs, Christians, and others) were massacred." (Swidler, 262) It is with

this outcome of their proximity to one another that we tend to perceive the

two faiths as being inherently incompatible. With consideration to such

principles as Islamic theocracy, strict social conservatism and historical

propensity toward a warrior's disposition, the faith does in many ways

inherently differ from the philosophical impulses of spiritual equanimity

and individuality of faith that are suggested by Hinduism.

This is a point which would be countered by the view of some more

progressive interfaith philosophers. Such is the case with Rizwan, the

Muslim author of the article here addressed and written in tribute to the

teachings of Hindu scholar, Maulan Usmani. In his perspective, the

compatability between the two religions should be seen as natural and

necessary. Indeed, "this was Maulana Usmani's basic contention. He argued

that the Sanskrit term sanatan dharm or 'Eternal Religion', if understood

in this manner as submission to the one God, was the same as the deen al-

qaim, which again means 'Eternal Religion', which is what Islam is. It was

on the basis of this core similarity that Maulana Sahib wanted Hindus and

Muslims to come together." (Rizwan, 1)

However, the core conflict which faces those of these respective

faiths in union is that of their mutual issues concerning the treatment of

women. For both, there is almost a compatibility in the fact that, "in

this era of women's freedom from age-old shackles, Hindu and Muslim women

continue to be among the most oppressed 'minorities' in the world."

(Swidler, 264) In fact, we find upon research that the dowries and

formalities surrounding perception of women as property, which have been

adopted by Muslim observants actually are culled from Hindu traditions. In

either instance, the interfaith relationship between the two must overcome

the pressures prevailing upon either to perpetuate the idea women as

inherently owned by men. There are likely to exist social and familial

pressures endorsing the opposite of this, and therefore, one of the

greatest obstacles for interfaith couples will be to channel equality as a

way of unifying against these pressures.

Of course, in their respective traditions, there are inequalities

which are not easily perished. This is especially true in the case of

Islam, where theocratic dispositions govern many nations, societies and

villages throughout the world. For those of observant Muslim

identification, social standards, political discourse and many popular

forms of religious expression are directly informed by the dominance of

Islam in the public forum. A primary example is the perspective on

sexuality in Muslim culture, which may sharply differ from that commonly

accepted in the Hindu faith. The predominant influence of spirituality in

the observant Muslim's daily living standards informs a strict approach to

the prohibition of taboo expression or behavior in public. The display of

affection between men and women in public, for example, even within the

confines of a state-sanctioned marriage, is considered wholly unacceptable.

Moreover, the notions of premarital or extramarital sex are strictly

forbidden with the social consequences for such moral transgressions

bearing the potential to be extremely severe within religious communities,

especially in theocratic nations.

In many of such cultures informed by Islamic ideology, women are

essentially subjugated to the authority of men. This is demonstrable by

such traditions as the practice of karo-kari, or honor-killing, which

endows Islamic men with the liberty to execute women for bringing shame to

their family. Though this practice has technically been outlawed by the

many government, if the kin of the woman agree to consent to the man's

claim of murder in the name of honor, it is considered to be an act outside

the jurisdiction of the government in states where Sharia is the law of the

land. With this in mind, "to the extent that Islam, defined and

interpreted by traditionalist 'Muslim' men, is allowed to determine the

context and contour of the debate on women's human rights, women will be on

the losing side of the debate because the conclusion is already contained

in the premise and reflected in the process. Arguably, this is the heart

of the moral tragedy of Muslim societies in our time." (Afkhami, 2) As

this impacts women who are marrying out of the Muslim faith, the danger can

literally be to her life and the life of her husband, as there are

religious doctrines which underscore the harsh rejection by many Muslim men

of such union. In some contexts, it will be considered equally heretical

for a women of Hindu disposition to attempt to enter into Muslim society

without at least fully surrendering her faith and her independence.

This is a hostility which is consistent to both sides however. In

geographical contexts where Hinduism is the dominant tradition, grass-roots

retaliation against those determining to engage interfaith marriage is

illustrative of a mutual mistrust. In a news story from last spring,

"radical Hindus stormed the headquarters of an Indian television network

Monday and damaged equipment to protest the broadcast of reports on a

controversial Hindu-Muslim marriage, witnesses said. Activists from a group

calling itself the Hindu Rashtriya Sena (Hindu National Army) used hammers

to smash windows, computers and cameras at the Star News office in Mumbai

before police intervened." (Mirza, 1) The aggressive reaction would

demonstrate the sentiment amongst some Hindus that marriage into Islam is

precipitating the wholesale conversion of its women to a contrary faith.

This is a view which highlights the pressures upon those attempting to

bridge the interfaith gap, with such hostilities suggesting a long and

bitter struggle between two oft-afflicted world faiths.

In this instance, the protest and the willingness to extend

disapproval to aggressive actions suggests that there is a perceived

connection between marriage by a woman into an alternate faith and the

social or political empowerment of that faith. It was to that point that

"several Hindu groups have voiced strong disapproval of inter-racial

marriages linking them to case of 'religious conversions'. Bangladeshi

author Taslima Nasrin has expressed regret over the hue and cry regarding

marriage between a Hindu woman and a Muslim youth and said that the

alliance should receive encouragement instead of being abhorred" (Mirza, 1)… READ MORE

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