Kachhia (Muslim traditions) in India

Introduction / History

Kachhia is a cluster of tribes and clans. The Kachhia Muslims live in Pakistan’s Sindh Province, and they speak the Sindhi language. Most also speak Urdu. A larger number live in India’s Gujarat state.

What Are Their Lives Like?

This is an agricultural community, known as expert farmers and livestock herders. Breeding and trading camels are one way they earn a living.
In their spare time the Kachhia people hold Muslim festivals. They have their own folk dances and music.

What Are Their Beliefs?

This group is solidly Sunni Muslim. Sunni Muslims 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 daily. 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?

Kachhia people need the Holy Spirit to open their eyes so they can see Jesus as he is.

Prayer Points

Pray for many from this unreached people group to understand both God’s judgment and his majestic glory.
Pray for loving workers to go to the Kachhia people, and for their hearts to be ready to receive their savior.
Pray for a chain reaction of families reaching families that result in thousands of new disciples who share their faith with others.

Text Source:   Joshua Project