There is a delicious irony in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of the Swaminarayan sect’s temple in Abu Dhabi, a grand edifice constructed on a 27-acre site in the capital city of the Muslim-majority UAE, less than a month after the inauguration of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
On a more awkward note, as Modi’s regime blurs the constitutional boundaries between the state and its majority Hindu faith, and chips away at the status of minorities, particularly Muslims, his hosts are moving in the opposite direction. By spurring the Saudis to emulate it, the UAE’s ongoing secularisation has become one of the most important developments in the Islamic world today and is likely to affect the terms of the debate over India’s secular ethos.
For the past several decades, the UAE has attracted expatriates from multiple religions, ethnicities and nationalities to live and work there. Today, Emiratis only constitute 12 per cent of the estimated 10 million population of the country. The balance are foreigners, with Indians being the largest group, making up roughly a third of the total. While Islam remains the official creed, and the government oversees activities of both Sunni and Shia establishments and funds the Sunni ones, religion keeps a low profile in official life.
Meanwhile, the space for non-Muslims, who account for about a quarter of the UAE’s population, to freely practise their faiths has gradually expanded. There are over three dozen Christian churches in the Emirates and even the odd Jewish synagogue and Sikh gurdwara. “Idolatrous” Hindus are able to gather for satsangs, religious discourses, and worship at temples. Religious materials can be brought in easily and Onam, Diwali, and Christmas festivities are widely seen in malls and other public places. The country even has a respected senior royal serving as Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence.
Both officialdom and the Emirati public are broadly accommodating of other traditions and lifestyles as long as one doesn’t break the law or behave in a manner flagrantly out of kilter with local norms. Alcohol is freely available as is pork. Bans on eateries serving food during Ramadan fasting hours have been relaxed. Women can dress more or less as they might in London or New York. Religious symbols are worn freely. Civil law regulates most of what concerns expatriates with the Sharia code only applying in very selected criminal matters. Flogging has long been abandoned. Sexual behaviour is no longer policed. Non-Muslims are not required to convert to marry Muslims. The Islamic work week has been replaced by the Western one, with Fridays now a working day. While there are strong legal protections against any form of discrimination based on religious belief, what is even more remarkable is the near-complete absence in everyday life — schools, housing, jobs — of prejudice against non-Muslims.
Of course, the UAE is no liberal haven. It remains an autocracy with strict controls on political activity and freedom of speech and expression. On the religious front, there are prohibitions on blasphemy and proselytising by non-Muslims, and attempting to convert Muslims is effectively banned. The authorities clamp down on acts seen as insulting religions or provoking religious hatred.
But the direction of travel is clear. Religion in the UAE is steadily becoming a personal, private matter. The country’s rulers are not just downplaying Islam’s role in public life but consciously creating a welcoming, live-and-let-live environment for non-Muslims in their efforts to lure top professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world.
All this would, at best, be of moderate interest were it not for its impact on the Saudis next door. Emulating the UAE model has become a mission for Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, in his drive to modernise the kingdom. MBS is rapidly ridding it of overt Islamic trappings and reining in the previously powerful Sunni clergy, especially its reactionary elements. Saudi funding and support for Islamic radicals and fundamentalist outfits across the world have been substantially cut.
On a global basis, the ongoing secularisation of the UAE and potentially the Saudis — custodians of Mecca and Medina — represents a remarkable turn. For the past four decades, secular ideals have been on the retreat in the Islamic world even in countries such as Turkey, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, which are officially still secular.
From India’s perspective, the cutbacks in Saudi funding (coming on top of Modi government curbs on foreign money flows) are undoubtedly disabling ultra-conservative mosques and madrassas in the country. This will free up Indian Muslims to turn back to moderate, homegrown sources of religious guidance, better suited to a modernising, multi-faith and (still) secular country, rather than be swayed by hidebound rhetoric from the Gulf.
More dramatically, even a partial secularisation of Saudi Arabia would alter the terms of the debate over secularism in India. The kingdom is the bogeyman of the Hindu right: “Look at how they treat non-Muslims and especially Hindus in Saudi” is their frequent riposte to secularists. Indeed, the Hindu rashtra dream is nothing but a Hindu majoritarian mimicry of the Saudi model. Saudi Arabia remains far behind the Emirates in its accommodation of non-Muslim faiths but MBS’s reforming zeal will likely push it to catch up quickly.
Opening the temple, Modi said that the Islamic UAE has added a new cultural chapter to its identity. “We do not see hatred in diversity, we consider diversity our specialty! In this temple, we will see a glimpse of diverse faiths at every step,” he said. Hindu residents and Indian visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi will increasingly have to contend with the uncomfortable contrast between this “diversity” and their own country’s steady backsliding on secularism.
The writer is a private equity investor
On a global basis, the ongoing secularisation of the UAE and potentially the Saudis represents a remarkable turn
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19.02.2024
There is a delicious irony in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of the Swaminarayan sect’s temple in Abu Dhabi, a grand edifice constructed on a 27-acre site in the capital city of the Muslim-majority UAE, less than a month after the inauguration of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
On a more awkward note, as Modi’s regime blurs the constitutional boundaries between the state and its majority Hindu faith, and chips away at the status of minorities, particularly Muslims, his hosts are moving in the opposite direction. By spurring the Saudis to emulate it, the UAE’s ongoing secularisation has become one of the most important developments in the Islamic world today and is likely to affect the terms of the debate over India’s secular ethos.
For the past several decades, the UAE has attracted expatriates from multiple religions, ethnicities and nationalities to live and work there. Today, Emiratis only constitute 12 per cent of the estimated 10 million population of the country. The balance are foreigners, with Indians being the largest group, making up roughly a third of the total. While Islam remains the official creed, and the government oversees activities of both Sunni and Shia establishments and funds the Sunni ones, religion keeps a low profile in official life.
Meanwhile, the space for non-Muslims, who account for about a quarter of the UAE’s population, to freely practise their faiths has gradually expanded. There are over three dozen Christian churches in the........
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