Social Stratification in Muslims
On the other side, Muslims, the largest minority in India, have no caste
system. The power structures among Muslims have been laid on an entirely
different framework - names and titles. W. F. Sinclair claims that
important titles or surnames (or ‘caste’ names) like Khan, Sheikh &
Syed, have been adopted by many Muslim converts and these have
catapulted them to a high social status (Sinclair, 1889: 171–2). Titles
or surnames in Muslims like Khan, Malik, Chaudary and Sardar indicate
titles of respect (Lyon, 2002: ii). All the aforementioned surnames have
almost the same meanings - ‘Khan’ means ‘chief’, ‘Chaudhary’ also means
‘chief’, ‘Sheikh’ also means ‘chief’, ‘Malik’ means ‘owner”, ‘Sardar’
means ‘leader’ and Syed also means ‘leader’. It may be well established
that these surnames form the upper or higher ‘class’ in the
socio-political framework and power structures among Muslim societies.
Such surnames which separate one ‘class’ of people from rest of Muslims
have been the fundamentals to the social stratification of Muslims. For
example; there are different sub-categories of the category ‘well-known
family’ among Muslims. In a case, landowning families in Pakistan are
categorized under the head of ‘caste’ among the category of ‘well-known
family’. Families which have gained prominence through business, such as
the famous twenty-two industrialist families of Pakistan, are included
under this head (Rahman, 2015). Accordingly, such families adopt a
‘title’ or surname for attaching a sense of respect to their family.
Other Muslim families involved with different occupations adopt
different ‘titles’ which over the period of time becomes hereditary and
is being identified as a ‘caste’. Through this framework, ‘class’ system
among Muslims, although not defined or outlined religiously, has become
operational in the day-to-day social exchanges.
It is important to mention that there is not a complete similarity in
‘titles’ or ‘surnames’ among Muslims with same occupations in different
regions of the world. This method of social stratification has been
instrumental in creating different ‘classes’ in Muslims - who otherwise
are based on a universal brotherhood - laying the framework for
understanding the power structure in this religious community.
Besides that, among all the titles, the surname ‘Khan’ is not used as a
title but loosely as a part of the name (surname) even among poor people
(Rahman, 2015). Over the period of time, this surname ‘Khan’ has been
adopting different meanings in different contexts through its portrayal
in the media.