India, June 20 -- "There is no caste in Islam." Anthropologist PC Saidalavi frequently received this response to his enquiries about hierarchies among Muslims in the Malabar region of Kerala. Indeed, egalitarianism is a core tenet of the religion - the idea that all humans are equal in God's eyes distinguishes Islam from earlier belief systems in Arabian society.

And yet, casteism is rife among Muslims in South Asia. Saidalavi mentions multiple such instances from Malabar. As recently as 2019, an Islamic scholar compared barbers (lower in the caste hierarchy) to children from adulterous relationships, claiming that both were ineligible to lead prayers even though his stance had no religious basis. Earlier, barbers were not allowed to wea...