Obituary: Imtiaz Ahmad, author of pioneering work on caste among Indian Muslims

His four-volume opus on the subject of caste among Indian Muslims will remain a foundational text. The idea to undertake research on caste among Muslims started with a conversation he had with McKim Marriot at the University of Chicago in 1967-68. At the time, Ahmad was a Fulbright Fellow at its department of anthropology. The subject of caste in India has puzzled sociologists and anthropologists from India and abroad. While scholars such as MN Srinivas and Louis Dumont have made substantive contributions in the study of caste among Hindus, the study of its presence among Muslims has eluded scholarship. That caste exists among Indian Muslims was recognized even by Ambedkar, though he did clarify that the difference between caste among Hindus and Muslims is that it does not have religious sanction in the latter group. This was why Ambedkar urged Dalits to leave Hinduism for any religion including Islam.

To make sense of the significance of Ahmad’s research, it is useful to have an idea of the history of research on caste. French scholar, Louis Dumont, after completing his classic Homo Hierarchicus (1966) – based mainly on his work in south India – had further developed a research proposal to study caste in north India. His new proposal, unfortunately, did not take off owing to the Indian government’s unwillingness to give him permission to undertake fieldwork. Had he pursued his research on caste in north India, we would have learnt how it plays out among Muslims much earlier. The gaping void was filled up by Imtiaz Ahmad’s effort, which resulted in four major volumes: Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India; Family, Kinship, Marriage Among Muslims in India; Ritual and Religion Among Muslims in India, and Modernization and Social Change Among Muslims in India.

It is true that in his Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh; A Study of Culture Contact (1960), scholar Ghaus Ansari (1929-2012) argued, deploying the evidence of decennial censuses, that there are three categories of castes among Muslims: Ashraf (noble born), Ajlaf(mean and lowly) and Arzal (excluded). But this required empirical support, which is what Imtiaz Ahmad’s work provided.

In 2018, Ahmad wrote a fresh prologue to Caste and Social Stratification Among Indian Muslims entitled Is There Caste Among Muslims? It addressed numerous questions and concerns that scholars have raised over the years and also looked at how Indian politics has thrown up new puzzles about castes among Muslims. Not surprisingly, this new chapter contains rich insights into the ongoing debate over caste.

A large part of Ahmad’s academic life was spent teaching at the Centre for Political Studies (CPS) of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He was a sociologist but he was part of the Political Science Department because of JNU’s commitment to multidisciplinarity in the social sciences. An extremely popular teacher, and his concern for his students was not confined only to the classroom. He also had some major run-ins with the JNU administration, which lasted for more than 10 years.

Many of his students went on to teach at Jamia Millia Islamia, to which I am attached. He made himself available for any academic engagement at the Jamia campus and was often found enthusiastically discussing matters with students after attending conferences. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that he earned new admirers each time he was on campus.

Unlike many other scholars, he was not particularly interested in building relationships with political elites or in seeking patronage. Perhaps that’s why, despite his enormous contributions to the study of Indian Muslims, he was not considered for a place on the Sachar Committee, though he should have been one of the first names. A scholar in the classical sense, he was a teacher who believed in keeping a respectable distance from the State. Indeed, he often enjoyed taking a dig at the political class. A colleague recently told me how, at a conference, he had poked fun at the idea of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas in the presence of a central minister.

I remember spending a few days with him at a conference hosted by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), a few years ago. He took part in every session with great enthusiasm, and raised his hand during the question-and-answer sessions that followed like an early-career PhD student. At one session, I recall him raising his hand but time constraints meant the chair didn’t take his question. Professor Ahmad took it in his stride and made no fuss; it was an expression of humility that is rare among senior academics.

Warm, unpretentious and witty, Imtiaz Sahib was a charming conversationalist. Every ordinary chat with him was full of light-hearted remarks laced with serious research questions. As a result, many who were not his direct students also revered him.

With his passing, India has lost a gentleman scholar and the world has lost a South Asianist, who broke new intellectual ground. Professor Imtiaz Ahmad’s work will remain a key reference point for scholars and journalists alike as the never-ending debate over caste and religion in Indian politics continues. His pioneering work has definitely made him immortal in footnotes – always a dream for researchers anywhere in the world.

Shaikh Mujibur Rehman is a member of the faculty at Jamia Millia Central University, New Delhi. He is the author of Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims.

His four-volume opus on the subject of caste among Indian Muslims will remain a foundational text. The idea to undertake research on caste among Muslims started with a conversation he had with McKim Marriot at the University of Chicago in 1967-68. At the time, Ahmad was a Fulbright Fellow at its department of anthropology. The subject of caste in India has puzzled sociologists and anthropologists from India and abroad. While scholars such as MN Srinivas and Louis Dumont have made substantive contributions in the study of caste among Hindus, the study of its presence among Muslims has eluded scholarship. That caste exists among Indian Muslims was recognized even by Ambedkar, though he did clarify that the difference between caste among Hindus and Muslims is that it does not have religious sanction in the latter group. This was why Ambedkar urged Dalits to leave Hinduism for any religion including Islam.

To make sense of the significance of Ahmad’s research, it is useful to have an idea of the history of research on caste. French scholar, Louis Dumont, after completing his classic Homo Hierarchicus (1966) – based mainly on his work in south India – had further developed a research proposal to study caste in north India. His new proposal, unfortunately, did not take off owing to the Indian government’s unwillingness to give him permission to undertake fieldwork. Had he pursued his research on caste in north India, we would have learnt how it plays out among Muslims much earlier. The gaping void was filled up by Imtiaz Ahmad’s effort, which resulted in four major volumes: Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India; Family, Kinship, Marriage Among Muslims in India; Ritual and Religion Among Muslims in India, and Modernization and Social Change Among Muslims in India.

It is true that in his Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh; A Study of Culture Contact (1960), scholar Ghaus Ansari (1929-2012) argued, deploying the evidence of decennial censuses, that there are three categories of castes among Muslims: Ashraf (noble born), Ajlaf(mean and lowly) and Arzal (excluded). But this required empirical support, which is what Imtiaz Ahmad’s work provided.

In 2018, Ahmad wrote a fresh prologue to Caste and Social Stratification Among Indian Muslims entitled Is There Caste Among Muslims? It addressed numerous questions and concerns that scholars have raised over the years and also looked at how Indian politics has thrown up new puzzles about castes among Muslims. Not surprisingly, this new chapter contains rich insights into the ongoing debate over caste.

A large part of Ahmad’s academic life was spent teaching at the Centre for Political Studies (CPS) of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He was a sociologist but he was part of the Political Science Department because of JNU’s commitment to multidisciplinarity in the social sciences. An extremely popular teacher, and his concern for his students was not confined only to the classroom. He also had some major run-ins with the JNU administration, which lasted for more than 10 years.

Many of his students went on to teach at Jamia Millia Islamia, to which I am attached. He made himself available for any academic engagement at the Jamia campus and was often found enthusiastically discussing matters with students after attending conferences. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that he earned new admirers each time he was on campus.

Unlike many other scholars, he was not particularly interested in building relationships with political elites or in seeking patronage. Perhaps that’s why, despite his enormous contributions to the study of Indian Muslims, he was not considered for a place on the Sachar Committee, though he should have been one of the first names. A scholar in the classical sense, he was a teacher who believed in keeping a respectable distance from the State. Indeed, he often enjoyed taking a dig at the political class. A colleague recently told me how, at a conference, he had poked fun at the idea of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas in the presence of a central minister.

I remember spending a few days with him at a conference hosted by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), a few years ago. He took part in every session with great enthusiasm, and raised his hand during the question-and-answer sessions that followed like an early-career PhD student. At one session, I recall him raising his hand but time constraints meant the chair didn’t take his question. Professor Ahmad took it in his stride and made no fuss; it was an expression of humility that is rare among senior academics.

Warm, unpretentious and witty, Imtiaz Sahib was a charming conversationalist. Every ordinary chat with him was full of light-hearted remarks laced with serious research questions. As a result, many who were not his direct students also revered him.

With his passing, India has lost a gentleman scholar and the world has lost a South Asianist, who broke new intellectual ground. Professor Imtiaz Ahmad’s work will remain a key reference point for scholars and journalists alike as the never-ending debate over caste and religion in Indian politics continues. His pioneering work has definitely made him immortal in footnotes – always a dream for researchers anywhere in the world.

Shaikh Mujibur Rehman is a member of the faculty at Jamia Millia Central University, New Delhi. He is the author of Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims.