Rajasthani Muslims

ing the Rajasthani Muslim Panjabi Haryanvi peoples. The state of Rajast- Bagri han as a whole has the low-

Rajasthani Hindi est percentage of Christians Sindhi in India, with hundreds of Gujarati unreached peoples where there are no known believers. Presently, the Rajasthani Muslims are the largest least- Quick Facts reached people group in the Pop. in South Asia: 5,500,000 entire world. Subgroups: Indigenous Church Development Stage 1 2 3 4 5 Shaikh: 2,000,000 How to Pray: Classes A, B, C Meo: 1,100,000 Ratio of non-Christians  Merat: 200,000 for every 1 Christian Ask God to raise up a Rajput: 100,000 1 large prayer movement to Religion: Islam–Sunni, Shia 5,000,000 see spiritual breakthrough Believers: 0.00% C-100% among the Rajasthani Mus- Scriptures: Portions lims, and that every sub- Ministry Tools: None group among them might be C Status: 0 M Status: 0 adopted by local churches. MS Subgroups: Class A- Are members of a Culturally Relevant Church 80+ Class B- Have close accss to a CRC, but have not yet joined Class C- Have no reasonable or close access to a CRC Intercede for the immedi- ate deployment of dozens Identity: Converts to Islam among the the match is agreed to, the father of the of missionary teams in Rajasthani Hindus first began in the bride will distribute sweatmeat to the strategic locations, especially 11th century among the Meo, which other side in a special ceremony called in the Jaipur (with 540,000 trace their ancestary back to the Rajput sharfikhori. Later the bride’s father will Muslims), Nagaur (with caste. Around this core group grew a also send a silk cloth with a certain 370,000), and Jodhpur wider community of Muslim im- number of knots to indicate the number (with 320,000) districts migrants and conversions from other of days before the wedding. where there are large con- Hindu castes, such that the entire centrations of Rajasthani Rajasthani Muslim community would Religion: The Rajasthani Muslims Muslims. often be referred to as the Meo. are primarily Sunni, with the excep- tion of the trading community, which There are around 500,000 Lifestyle: A high percentage of Raj- is Shia. The Shia community is en- Meos in Pakistan which fled asthani Muslims originate from upper dogamous and somewhat isolated from after the 1947 partition. caste Hindu peoples, and as such they the mainstream Muslim culture. Up Pray for a team of Pakistani enjoy a high standard of living in com- until recently, the Rajasthani Muslims believers to be raised up to parison to most other Rajasthanis. The retained much of their Hindu culture, reach them. community became famous for music, status, and relationships within Hindu painting, and the arts, and enjoyed the society, probably due to their high caste There is still no Bible in patronage of both Hindu Rajputs and origins. After the 1947 Partition, and the major Rajasthani dialects Brahmins. A large number are former the subsequent hostilities which ensued, (4 need them). Pray for a Bania (Hindu merchant caste) and are a steady islamization began, along Muslim sensitive version to still today a successful trading commu- with a purging of Hindu elements and be completed and locally nity in both Pakistan and India. practice. Every year 45,000 Customs: Marriage proposals are Christian Outreach: There is yet no Rajasthani Muslims initiated from the boy’s family, and if known disciple-making team engag- die without Christ.

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