Gandhi (Muslim traditions) in India

Introduction / History

Though Mahatma Gandhi was a Hindu, he was a prominent leader of India’s independence movement who wanted unity and peace between religious communities, especially between Hindus and Muslims. During the partition of India in 1947, Muslims and Hindus were killing one another, and millions had to flee for their lives.

Gandhi Muslims is a term for Muslims who agreed with Gandhi’s tactics of peaceful resistance. They did not want India to be divided along religious lines. Few use the term Gandhi Muslims today.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Gandhi Muslims still try to promote interfaith dialogue, nonviolence and harmony between religious communities.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Gandhi people are Sunni Muslims who believe that the supreme God, Allah, spoke through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.

The two main holidays for Sunni Muslims are Eid al Fitr, the breaking of the monthly fast and Eid al Adha, the celebration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah.

Sunni religious practices are staid and simple. They believe Allah has pre-determined our fates; they minimize free will.

In most of the Muslim world, common people depend on the spirit world for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well they live on a daily basis. For that reason, some Muslims appease spirits using charms and amulets to help them with spiritual forces. More orthodox Muslims consider these practices heretical and un-Islamic.

What Are Their Needs?

The Gandhi people need the Holy Spirit to direct them into a loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer Points

Pray for Gandhi culture to be renewed and enhanced by a work of the Holy Spirit and shaped into a God-centered and God-honoring mold.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to move among their family and community leaders to seek his face and enjoy his blessings.

Pray for the Lord to thrust out workers who will be compelled to nurture a disciple making movement among the Gandhi people.

Pray that soon the Gandhi people will have faith that will lead them to live honorable lives that will draw others to the savior.

Text Source:   Joshua Project