Need for reforms

Muslim population is having several undesirable traits such as more poverty, segregation, higher illiteracy, lack of willingness to change, religious orthodoxy and a lower status of women. This is also connected with the issue of reforms in Personal Law. There is a need for reforms. Interestingly, on many matters of civic interests (Personal Law) there have been reforms in several Muslim countries but not in India. Indian Muslims have a unique problem. If the issue of reform is raised by others there is a tendency of the Muslim community to view them with suspicion, as though the reforms would be hostile to Muslim interests, and reject them unitedly. Even decisions of law courts are seen with suspicion and as interference in Muslim Personal Law. The reforms have to come from within the community. And this is posing to be a difficult proposition at a time when Muslim political and religious leaders vie with each other to claim the leadership of the community. Then what is the solution? It is difficult to answer this question. Yet, one thing is clear: in India for Muslim reforms to take place we have to create an atmosphere of trust between the two demographically largest communities. There are two possible ways of change within a religious community: secularization or reinterpretation of religion. Hindus have used both in different domains and have therefore benefited proportionately more from modernization and development. Same thing has to happen to Islam. Unfortunately, the divide is so great that the idioms of secularism provided by the different religious traditions are not the same (Madan, 1997, 62).