Unlike the caste system specific to Hinduism, which has been the subject of many anthropological debates, “caste” in South Asian Islam has not received as much attention from specialists of the Indian sub-continent. And yet, in this region of the world, which currently has the highest concentration of Muslims (around 480 MILLION), INDIA stands out from those of its closest neighbours with a Muslim minority on account of its sheer demographic weight. Its Muslims number almost 140 million, in other words 13.4% of the population according to the 2001 census, making India the third Muslim country after Indonesia and Pakistan, where Islam is by far the dominant religion.

The social organization of Indian Muslims, while sharing many general characteristics with Arab and Middle Eastern societies (patrilineality, lineage, marriage), can nevertheless be distinguished from them by the vernacular caste categories it reflects. However, it can only be partly likened to the Hindu caste system, which is primarily based on criteria of ritual PURITY and hierarchization particular to Hinduism. For a time, the opposition between egalitarian Islam and hierarchical Hinduism was the CORNERSTONE of the debate between supporters and opponents of Dumontian theory. Many studies have shown that Muslim SOCIETY was also strongly hierarchized and divided into social groups of varying status.