Pan-Islamism, Anjuman-i-Khuddam-i-Kaaba and Muslim Identity Construction in Colonial North India

Abstract

Anjuman Khuddam-i-Kaaba (Society of the Servants of Kaaba) was established
in May, 1913, with the objective of protecting holy places of Islam located, then,
in the domain (modern day Saudi Arabia) of Turkish Empire. The establishment
of such an organization was necessitated by the rising tide of pan-Islamism. The
rising trend of pan-Islamism in India was due, mainly, to the particular conditions
of Muslim elite (ashrafiah) who felt disempowered and rendered irrelevant
under the colonial administrative structure. This loss of temporal Muslim
authority in India made Muslim elite take refuge in asserting their identity as
deeming themselves part of larger community of Muslim world (ummah).
Moreover, the reformed and willed individual self who believed in struggle
within inner-self and outer mundane life, started asserting his/her identity as a
Muslim who was poised to do his/her best for the community of Muslims. The
contemporary declining conditions of Muslims and their subjugation by colonial
powers encouraged their solidarity on the basis of ummah as increasingly
relevant to take refuge in