The Muslim conquest of Bengal took place in the opening years of the thirteenth century, mainly as a sequel to Muhammad Ghori's expedition late in the 6th hijrah century in northern India. Long before that, however, early Arab Muslims had established commercial as well as religious contact with Bengal, particularly in its coastal region. One immediate result of the establishment of Muslim power over the Indus delta, commanding the mouth of the Arabian Sea and the vast west Indian coast generally, was that it secured Arab navigation in the region.
In the course of time the Arabs extended these activities along the entire coast of South Asia including the coasts of Bengal. Islam entered Bengal through three channels--the Arab traders, the Turkish conquest and the missionary activities of the Muslim Sufis. The writings of Arab geographers reveal that Arab traders had frequented the Bengal coast long before the Turkish conquest. The location bordering Bengal that finds prominence in the Arab accounts is Samandar, identified with a place in the mouth of the Meghna river near Sandip islands on the Bay of Bengal. The Arab writers also knew about Samrup and the kingdom of Ruhmi, the latter being identified with the kingdom of Dharmapal of the Pala empire. It is not certain whether the Arab contacts led to any Muslim settlement in Bengal; some coins of the Caliphs have been discovered from ancient sites of Paharpur in Rajshahi and Mainamati near Comilla. On the basis of the word Thuratana in the Arakanese tradition, some scholars have concluded that the Arabs founded a Muslim Kingdom in Chittagong.
When the latter two groups of people were treated in this manner, Islam came into Bengal. Muslim saints began to teach the Islamic principles of equality while the rulers took steps to build up Muslim culture on the basis of a casteless society. Many Buddhists and Hindus chose to identify themselves with the Muslims in order to be free from social injustice and to gain equality and good position in society. As a result of large-scale conversion, many local beliefs, not allowed by the Islamic dogma but useful in achieving compromise, found their ways into the Muslim society of Bengal. [3]
From 8th to 12th century, Buddhist dynasty called Pala empire ruled Bengal. During that time, majority of the population in Bengal were thought to be Buddhists. After Pala dynasty fell, Sena Dynasty came to power. Sena rulers were considered "militant" Hindus that imposed Hinduism and the caste system rigidly [4]. When the Muslim rulers came, many Buddhists and lower caste Hindus welcomed them and accepted Islam.[citation needed]
The large scale conversion to Islam of the population of what was to become Bangladesh began in the thirteenth century and continued for hundreds of years. Conversion was generally collective rather than individual. Islam, attracted numerous Buddhists, and Hindus. Muslim "Sufi"s were responsible for most conversions.
The Badshahi Masjid, literally the 'Royal Mosque', was built in 1674 by Aurangzeb. It is one of Lahore's best known landmarks, and epitomizes the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.
Islam arrived in the area now known as Pakistan in 711CE, when the Umayyad dynasty sent a Muslim Arab army led by Muhammad bin Qasim against the ruler of Sindh, Raja Dahir, whose pirates attacked Arab ships. The army conquered the northwestern part of ancient India from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea. The arrival of the Arab Muslims to the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, along with subsequent Muslim dynasties, set the stage for the religious boundaries of India that would lead to the development of the modern state of Pakistan as well as forming the foundation for Islamic rule which quickly spread across much of India. Following the rule of various Islamic empires, including the Ghaznavid Empire, the Ghorid kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals controlled the region from 1526 until 1739. The Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to Islamic Sultanate in India. The Muslim Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting the millions of native people to Islam. As in other areas where Sufis introduced it, Islam to some extent syncretized with pre-Islamic influences, resulting in a religion with some traditions distinct from those of the Arab world. Two Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Data Ganj Baksh (Ali Hajweri) in Lahore (ca. eleventh century) and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan, Sindh (ca. twelfth century).
The Muslim poet-philosopher Sir AllamaMuhammad Iqbal first proposed the idea of a Muslim state in northwestern India in his address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930. His proposal referred to the four provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the NorthWest Frontier--essentially what would became the post-1971 boundary of Pakistan. Iqbal's idea gave concrete form to two distinct nations in the South Asia based on religion (Islam and Hinduism) and with different historical backgrounds, social customs, cultures, and social mores.
Islam was thus the basis for the creation and the unification of a separate state, but it was not expected to serve as the model of government. Mohammad Ali Jinnah made his commitment to secularism in Pakistan clear in his inaugural address when he said, "You will find that in the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State." This vision of a Muslim majority state in which religious minorities would share equally in its development was questioned shortly after independence.
Politicized Islam
From the outset, politics and religion have been intertwined both conceptually and practically in Islam. Because Muhammad established a government in Madina, precedents of governance and taxation exist. Through the history of Islam, from the Ummayyad (661-750) and Abbasid empires (750-1258) to the Mughals (1526- 1858) and the Ottomans (1300-1923), religion and statehood have been treated as one. Indeed, one of the beliefs of Islam is that the purpose of the state is to provide an environment where Muslims can properly practice their religion. If a leader fails in this, the people have a right to depose him.
In 1977, the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto outlawed alcohol and changed the weekend from Sunday to Friday, but no substantive Islamic reform program was implemented prior to the former known farmer, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization program. Starting in February 1979, new penal measures based on Islamic principles of justice went into effect. These carried considerably greater implications for women than for men. A welfare and taxation system based on Zakat and a profit-and-loss banking system were also established in accordance with Islamic prohibitions against usury.
Muslim sects in Pakistan
The Muslims are divided into different groups. Most of them follow Madhab, the schools of jurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu).Nearly 79% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims and The great majority of Sunni Muslims in Pakistan belong to the Barelwi sub-sect which is especially strong in the countryside of the Punjab and Sind where the bulk of the population resides and the feudal social structures are still intact.[3] Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to Hanafi school.By one estimate, Muslims in Pakistan are divided into following schools: the Barelvis 70%, Deobandis 20%,Ithna Ashari 9%, Ahle Hadith 1%, Ismailis 3%, Bohras 0.25%, and other smaller sects. Nearly 18% of pakistani are Shi'a Muslims. Notably, many Pakistani leaders are Shi'a Muslims including Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, both of whom are Twelver Shi'a Muslims. While a majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to Ithna 'ashariyah school, there is a significant minority of Nizari Khoja Ismailis (Aga Khanis) and small minority of MustaaliDawoodi Bohra schools. Zikris are considered to be a heretical sect by some Muslims.[citation needed] 5% of the people of Pakistan are others including Christians, Hindus and Sikhs.
Laws and customs
There is no law in Pakistan enforcing hijab, although there is strong social pressure for women to observe Purdah in some regions.
More and more educated people have started learning about religion, as a result of which blind following of one school of thought is gradually replacing practices and beliefs based on alleged evidence from Quran and Sunnah. There are also incidents of violent reactions to perceived anti-Muslim events in the world.
Islamic education to the masses is propagated mainly by Islamic schools and literature. Islamic schools (or Madrasas) are for the most devoted Muslims, mostly comprising youth and those learning to be Islamic clerics. More casual and even research oriented material is available in the form of books. While the most prominent of these schools are being monitored, the latter are being 'moderated' by both the government and some of the scholars, thereby also removing in the process the various material present in it that is used by Anti-Islam/Anti-Sunni writers. Oldest and universally accepted titles such as the Sahih Bukhari have been revised into 'summarised' editions and some of the old, complete titles, translated to Urdu, the national language, are not available for purchase now. These changes are also a herald to new outbreaks of religious controversy in the region.
The episodes of sectarian violence have significantly decreased in frequency over the years due to the conflictual engagement of the Islamic militant organizations with the state's armed forces and covert agencies.
The Muslims are about 12% of India's population. But their influence on the Indian society was much stronger. The main reason was that there were many Muslims rulers in different parts of India. Most of the Muslim rulers of India were invaders from the west
Islam was established in Saudi Arabia. But most of Islam's spreaders in India arrived from non-Arab countries (It must be noted that Arab traders and travellers had arrived into India even before Islam was established in Arabia. These Arabs probably had their own places of worship, later on transformed into mosques.). The first spreaders of Islam in India were individuals who saw in spreading Islam a holy precept. They began coming to India from the 11th century . They arrived in India from Bukhara, Turkey, Iran, Yemen and Afghanistan. The most famous preacher of Islam in India was Khwaja Chishti, who arrived from Iran and his sect is called Sufism. But the accepted assumption in India is that most of India's Muslims were converted to Islam through the sword. Meaning the Indians were given an option between death or adopting Islam. The third option was getting examined in Islam religion along with heavy taxes- Jeziya (poll tax) and Kharaj (property tax).
The process of converting Indians to Islam began in the 8th century, when the Arabs began invading north India and present day Pakistan. After the Arabs other Muslims invaded India. These invasions by Muslims in India were not continuous and not all Muslim invaders were Islamic fanatics. One of the Moghul emperors, Akbar, was very liberal and he even established a new religion, Din E Elahi, which included in it, beliefs from different religions. In some of the monuments built by Akbar symbols of different religions are visible. In contrast with Akbar his great grand son, Aurangazeb, was a fanatic Muslim and during his term the non-Muslims suffered a lot. Many worshipping sites of different religions were destroyed and transformed into mosques.
Most of the Indian Muslims converted to Islam were belonged to the lower classes of the Indian society. Besides these Muslims there are also Muslims who belonged to the ruling families of the different Indian kingdoms. Some of these rulers were Hindus who actually belonged to the warrior castes of the Hindu society and adopted Islam. Others are descendants of Muslim rulers who invaded India. The different Muslim rulers of India also brought to their kingdoms Muslim mercenaries, businessmen and slaves from different parts of the world like Russia; Afghanistan; Turkey; Arab countries and Africa. These people remained in India, married local Indians and converted them to Islam. Because of the different origins as stated and because of other reasons the Muslims of India refer to themselves not only as Muslims but also with other titles.
In general the Muslims of India like the Muslim world is divided into two main sects, Sunni and Shia. And just like in the whole Muslim world there is tension between these two sects. Each sect has many different schools. There are also Muslims who claim to be the descendants from the daughter of Prophet Muhammad and the men in this community add the title Syed before their names. Other claim to be the descendants from the first Muslims and add the title Sheik. Along with these Muslim world divisions, the Indian Muslims also have other divisions.
Different communities who adopted Islam in different ways have different community names. In west India the Bohra and Khoja are Muslim communities who adopted Islam influenced by different Muslim preachers. The Khojas also split into different communities. The leader of the Khoja (Nizari) community is Aga Khan. The Nawait are descendants of Arab and Persian immigrants. In south India in the state of Kerala, the Mophilla community is descendants from Arab merchants. A well known Indian Muslim community is Pathan. The Pathan are Muslims who arrived from Afghanistan. They normally have their surname as Khan. The Pathan have an image of being brave, honest and righteous. Many Indians who adopted Islam adopted the surname Khan and they claim that they are Pathans, which is not always true. The original Pathans claim that they originate from the Tribes of Israel.
In the beginning of the 20th century, some reformist Muslims organizations evolved in India who wanted to adjust Islamic philosophy to the modern world. These organizations wanted to cancel polygamy and were in favor of women education.
Ensure that clothes are Paak and make Wudhu. Stand respectfully on a Paak place facing Qibla. Keep feet parallel about four fingers apart with toes pointing towards the Qibla and submit totally to Allah.
VERY IMPORTANT (for MALES).
No garment, jubba or trousers should be allowed to overlap the ankles. It is Makroohe Tahreemee to perform Namaaz whilst any garment is overlapping the ankles. This means that the Farz of Namaaz will be considered as performed but there is very little Sawaab or benefit in such a Namaaz.
NIYYAH
Make Niyyah (Intention) of whichever Namaaz one wishes to perform.
EXAMPLE "I am performing two Rakaats Farz Namaaz of Fajr (to please Allah) facing towards the Qiblah."
When performing Namaaz led by an IMAAM, one should also make intention that: I am following this IMAAM. It is not necessary to make a verbal intention but it is better if one makes a VERBAL intention. NIYYAT can be made in any language: Arabic, Urdu, Gujarati, English, etc TAKBEER-E-TAHREEMA (To say at the beginning.) After making NIYYAH, lift the two hands upto the earlobes in such a manner that both palms face towards the Qibla. Then say ALLAHU AKBAR and fold them below the navel. Place the hands in such a way that the palm of the right hand is placed over the back of the left hand, with the right thumb and little finger gripping the wrist of the left hand and the three middle fingers of the right hand kept straight and together. While in Qiyaam (standing posture) the eyes should be fixed to the spot where the forehead will rest in Sajda. WOMEN DO NOT RAISE HANDS HIGHER THAN SHOULDERS AND PLACE ARMS ON THE CHEST. Place the right hand over the back of the left hand above the breast and do not hold it like the MALE. Also, women should keep the feet together.
NOW READ THE THANA:
All Glory be to You O Allah! and praise be to You. Blessed is Your name and Exalted is Your Majesty, and there is none worthy of worship besides You.
Then read: TA'AWWUZ.
I seek refuge in AIlah from Shaytan the accursed!
AND TASMIYAH
I begin in the name of Allah. The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
FIRST RAK'AH: SURATUL FAATIHA AND ADDITIONAL SURAH. Recite Suratul Faatiha and after WALAD DHALLEEN say AAMEEN (softly), then recite BISMILLAHIR RAHMAANIR RAHEEM and any Surah thereafter. It is necessary that a minimum of three short Aayahs or one long Aayah be read in proper sequence as in the Quraan.
Saying (Allahu Akbar) go in RUKU
The eyes should be fixed on to the feet
MEN In RUKU hold both the KNEES with the fingers APART. Ensure that the ARMS do not touch the BODY. Keep the BACK straight, while the HEAD should neither be LOWERED nor RAISED. ln RUKU recite softly at least THREE or FIVE times.
Saying (Allahu Akbar) go in RUKU
WOMEN When making RUKU a WOMAN should only BEND over sufficiently so that her HANDS reach her KNEES. The HANDS should be placed on the KNEES, with the FINGERS kept together. In RUKU the ELBOWS should TOUCH the sides of the BODY and the FEET kept TOGETHER.
How Glorious is my Lord the Great
TASMEE: To say Sami Allahu Leman Hamedah. QAWMAH: To stand up after RUKU.
Now stand up straight and whilst coming up say: TASMEE
Allah has listened to him who has praised Him.
Then in the upright position say: TAHMID Rabbana Lakal Hamd.
O Our Lord Praise be to You.
If one does NOT stand erect after RUKU and merely lifts ones head and goes into Sajdah, then the NAMAAZ will NOT be VALID, and it will be NECESSARY to repeat the NAMAAZ.
FIRST SAJDAH
Now saying ALLAHU AKBAR and placing the hands on the knees, go into Sajda. (On completing the Takbeer one should have reach the position of Sajdah). When going into Sajda first place the KNEES on the ground, then the HANDS, then the NOSE and then the FOREHEAD. The FACE should rest between the two HANDS with FINGERS pointing towards the Qiblah. When in Sajdah the FEET should upright with the TOES pointing towards the Qibla. The ARMS should not touch the sides the BODY nor the ground. The STOMACH should be away from the THIGHS. In Sajdah recite softly at least THREE or FIVE times (All Glory be to my Lord, the Most High)
The feet should be upright with the toes pointing towards Qiblah.
If there is a valid reason, the forehead could kept off the ground, otherwise the Sajdah is not be valid. When in Sajdah the feet should not be lifted from the ground. If they are lifted for a duration more than three "SUBHANALLAH" the Namaaz will be void
WOMEN
In Sajdah the upper part of the leg (the thigh should not be upright but in as flat a position as possible with the feet spread towards the right. While in Sajdah the stomach and thighs must be kept together. The forearms should be put flat on the ground in Sajdah. Women must not raise their VOICE when reciting TASBIH (All Glory be to my Lord, the Most High)
JALSA (To sit between two Sajdahs)
Saying ALLAHU AKBAR sit up straight do not sit with the back crooked or stooped. It is important to sit up and pause after the first Sajdah, merely lifting the head from the ground without sitting up before the second Sajdah will nullify the Namaaz.
MEN
Sit resting the BACK on the LEFT LEG and having the RIGHT LEG raised, the TOES facing the QIBLA.
WOMEN
NOTE that a GIRL does NOT sit on her LEFT LEG.
SECOND SAJDAH
The second Sajdah is performed as the first one, i.e. going into Sajdah saying ALLAHU AKBAR and reading SUBHANA RABBIYAL AA'LAA softly at least three times. One Rak'ah is now complete. (All Glory be to my Lord, the Most High)
Saying ALLAHU AKBAR stand up for the second Qiyaam. On getting up from the Sajdah first lift the FOREHEAD, then the NOSE and then the KNEES. Ensure that the HANDS are on the KNEES and not on the ground for support, except for a valid reason. Saying BISMILLAHIR RAHMANIR RAHEEM recite SURATUL FAATIHA and a Surah and COMPLETE THE SECOND RAK'AH IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE FIRST ONE.
FIRST QAIDAH
After completing the second Sajdah of the second Rak'ah saying ALLAHU AKBAR sit up for Qai'dah. The method of sitting is placing the LEFT FOOT flat on the ground and sitting on it with the RIGHT FOOT upright and its TOES facing towards the Qiblah. The HANDS must be placed on the THIGHS with the tips of the FINGERS near the KNEES. It is important that the fingers are kept close together and that they face the Qiblah and not towards the ground. The EYES should be fixed on the LAP.
FIRST QAIDAH then read TASHAHHUD.
All reverence, all worship, all sanctity are due to Allah.
Peace be upon you O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Peace be upon us and all the righteous servants of Allah.
I bear witness that none Is worthy of worship besides Allah
and Muhammad is His devotee and Messenger.
On reaching the KALIMA form a circle with the thumb and middle finger and lift the index finger of the right hand and at (ILLALLAHU) drop it onto the thigh. The circle should be maintained to the end.
THIRD AND FOURTH RAK'AHS
If one wishes to perform four Rak'ahs one should not read anything more than the TASHAHHUD, but saying ALLAHU AKBAR stand up and perform the remaining two Rak'ahs. No other Surah should be read after SURATUL FATIHA in the THIRD and FOURTH Rak'ahs of any FARZ Namaaz, but it is WAAJIB to do so in any SUNNAT or NAFL Namaaz.
SECOND QAIDAH:
In the second Qai'dah after the Tashahhud read DUROODE IBRAHIM
O Allah shower Your mercy upon Muhammad and the followers of Muhammad as You showered Your mercy upon Ibrahim and the followers of Ibrahim. Behold, You are praiseworthy, glorious. O Allah shower Your blessings upon Muhammad and the followers of Muhammad as You showered Your upon Ibrahim and the followers of Ibrahim. Behold, You are praiseworthy, glorious.
THE DUAS AFTER DUROOD
After Durood recite this Duaa:
O Allah I have been extremely unjust to myself and none grants forgiveness against sins but You therefore forgive me with forgiveness that comes from You and have Mercy upon me. Verily, You are the Forgiving, the Merciful.
SALAAM
Complete the Namaaz by turning the face to the right saying
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.
Then turn the face to the left and repeat the Salaam. When making Salaam one should make intention of greeting the Angel. When making Salaam the eyes should be fixed onto the respective shoulders.
COMPLETION OF NAMAAZ
On completing the Namaaz one should recite ASTAGFIRULLAH thrice. Then one should raise both hands to the level of the chest and make Du’aa to ALLAH TA’ALA:
1. To wash one's hands, face and feet etc. before performing NAMAZ is called WUDHU or ABLUTION. No Namaaz is accepted without Wudhu.
2. One should sit on a high and clean place to perform Wudhu. Face the direction of the Holy KA'BA Sharif if possible.
DUA BEFORE COMMENCING WUDHU (ablution)
"I begin with the name of Allah. And all praises are due to Allah."
3. Using TAHIR (clean) water FIRST wash BOTH the HANDS upto the WRISTS THREE times.
4. Use a MISWAAK for cleaning the teeth and then GARGLE the mouth THREE times. It is SUNNAT to make MISWAAK during WUDHU. By using Miswaak the reward of a NAMAAZ increases 70 times.
5. Thereafter take water upto the NOSTRILS THREE times with the RIGHT hand and clean the nose with the LEFT hand.
6. Then wash your FACE THREE times. Wash from the hairy part of the forehead to below the chin and from one ear lobe to the other.
7. Then make KHILAL of the BEARD.
8. Thereafter wash the RIGHT HAND INCLUDING the ELBOWS THREE times.
9. Then wash the LEFT HAND INCLUDING the ELBOWS thrice.
10. Then make KHILAL of the FINGERS.
DUA WHILST MAKING WUDHU
"O Allah! forgive my sins and give expansion (abundance) in my home and grant me blessings in my sustenance."
11. Thereafter wet the hands and pass them over the head, ears and nape. This must be done ONCE only. It is known as MASAH.
MASAH
WET THE HANDS AND FINGERS Keep THREE fingers of each hand together (middle finger, ring finger and little finger). Keep thumb and index finger raised (away). Keep thumb, index finger and palm away from the head. Pass the three fingers from the forehead to the upper portion of the nape. Then place the palm on the sides of the head and bring forward to forehead. Then insert the front portion of the index finger into the openings of the ear. Then make Masah behind the ears with the inner part of the thumb. Make Masah of the nape with the back of the middle finger, ring finger and the little finger.
12. Then wash BOTH the FEET INCLUDING the ANKLES THREE times. First the RIGHT and then the LEFT foot. First wash the RIGHT FOOT including the ankle then make KHILAL and of the TOES. N.B. Use the LEFT HAND for KHILAL of toes and washing of the feet.
Then wash the LEFT FOOT including the ankle and then make KHILAL of the TOES.
Islam is derived from the root word 'salam' meaning peace and we should follow the law of Islam according to our holy book (Quran) and try our utmost to follow the Sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad (saw).
Our aim is to spread dawah amongst our community which will lead us to Janatul Firdos, Inshallah. And remove any misconception's about Islam because many people follow a cultural form of Islam in different regions. (e.g Indo-Pak subcontinent)
at the beginning.) After making NIYYAH, lift the two hands upto the earlobes in such a manner that both palms face towards the Qibla. Then say ALLAHU AKBAR and fold them below the navel. Place the hands in such a way that the palm of the right hand is placed over the back of the left hand, with the right thumb and little finger gripping the wrist of the left hand and the three middle fingers of the right hand kept straight and together. While in Qiyaam (standing posture) the eyes should be fixed to the spot where the forehead will rest in Sajda.
(All Glory be to my Lord, the Most High) 
is His devotee and Messenger.
form a circle with the thumb and middle finger and lift the index finger of the right hand and at 
(ILLALLAHU) drop it onto the thigh. The circle should be maintained to the end. 
