‘Muslim, that’s all’: Madras High Court rules person converting to Islam can’t claim backward class status

Quoting the Prophet, the Madras High Court has held that a person converting to Islam cannot claim the status of a Backward Class category Muslim, and declared as unconstitutional a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order (GO) granting reservation in such cases. The court held that categorising certain sects as “backward” and the remaining as “forward” is antithetical to Quranic injunctions.

A bench of Justices G R Swaminathan and P B Balaji accordingly upheld an order denying a man’s application to be issued a “Muslim Lebbai” community certificate. Rejecting the person’s plea, the court said, “As a corollary, we hold that a convert to Islam cannot claim the status of Backward Class Muslim. He is only a Muslim, and that’s all there is to it.”

A Hindu man converting to Islam, the court said, would pass off as “an exercise of one’s fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution of India”. “But when, after such metamorphosis, the convertee continues to claim the benefit of reservation, it triggers yet another conversation, nay debate, on the legitimacy and legality of such demand,” it added in the order dated June 25.

The petitioner had married a woman as per Islamic rites and customs in 2016, and has two children. He applied for a community certificate showing him as “Muslim Lebbai” because he follows the faith of that particular community. His application was rejected by the tahsildar, Kayathar, following which he moved the high court.

“He pointed out that a convert from a forward community to Islam would not get the BC (Muslim) tag. Only those who already enjoyed the benefit of reservation would not lose it on account of conversion to Islam. Thus, according to him, the social balance will not be affected,” the order noted.

The man further argued that identified sects in Islam follow particular faith and practices, and it was for the Jamath concerned to accept the convertee into one of the sects. Once the Jamath has issued a certificate, it is not for the revenue authority to question the same, he submitted. The man’s counsel argued that the court also would not be justified in reviewing the same while urging the bench not to strike down the GO.

A bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and PB Balaji held that a person converting to Islam ‘is only a Muslim and that’s all there is to it.’

Constitution prohibits discrimination

The bench remarked that though the Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sects, place of birth, etc, the state was authorised to make special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.

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“Reservation policies are in furtherance of the aforesaid constitutional mandate. Since on the only ground of religion, one cannot be conferred with the benefit of reservation, the government has enumerated a list of backward classes apart from cataloguing the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. In the case at hand, we are concerned only with backward class reservation for Muslims. The Government of Tamil Nadu has consciously, and if we may say so, rightly not included all persons professing Islam under the BC category,” the order added.

It observed that the state had identified only a few sects in Islam falling under the category of the Backward Class. “One can take judicial notice of the fact that certain sects, such as Dawoodi Bohras, are socially and educationally advanced. The original list of BC (Muslims) was subsequently expanded on the basis of representations received from the members of the particular communities,” it said.

The bench enumerated seven sects of Muslims to have been notified as Backward Class Muslims as per Section 3(a) of the Tamil Nadu Act 45 of 1994, and said a Muslim who does not belong to any of the aforesaid sects cannot be called a BC Muslim:

Ansar

Deccani

Dubekula

Labbais. including Rowthar and Marakayar (spoken language Tamil/Urdu)

Mapilla

Sheik

Syed

Court quotes Prophet

The judges went on to quote the “Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)” as saying, “All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; a white person has no superiority over a black person, nor a black person over a white person, except by piety and good deeds. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.”

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There was also a reference to Christian missionaries and Islamic preachers, who were stated to have “harangued through decades and centuries” that their religions offer social equality, unlike Hinduism, which has caste as its inherent feature.

“Having taken such a stand for effecting conversions, it is disingenuous to claim that there is hierarchy in Islam also. In our respectful view, categorising certain sects as Backward and the remaining as Forward is antithetical to Quranic injunctions,” it said.

Islam seeks to establish an egalitarian society

The ruling underscored that Islam seeks to establish an egalitarian society. “Everyone is equal in the eyes of God. There is no social hierarchy. Be that as it may, due to historical reasons, the Islamic society is also stratified into various communities. One can even boldly remark that they are akin to caste in Hinduism. Just as caste is determined by birth, one is a Rowther, Marakkayar or Deccani Muslim by birth alone. It is ridiculous to suggest that one can be converted into a Rowther Muslim.”

The bench took judicial notice of the fact that when a person embraces Islam, the Jamath issues a certificate to the effect that he has become a Muslim. Even in the petitioner’s case, the certificate issued by the Sunnath Jamath of Kayathar was found to have certified that he had embraced the Islamic path. “We have no option but to conclude that only to undo the judgments of this Court, has the Government come out with an innovation that is not only unconstitutional but also un-Islamic.”