Colonial observers attributed conversions to Hindu deficiencies rather than Islam’s appeal.

Evidence

While these Americans and Britons avoided any suggestion that someone, drawn by a positive characteristic of the religion, might willingly accept Islam, others argued that, if there had been a good reason for South Asians to convert, it reflected less the value of Islam than the deficits of Hinduism, specifically caste prejudice and the proscription of widow remarriage. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 89

Categorization

• SEED: Essay angle: how ‘religious deficit’ explanations of conversion recur across eras, re-targeted at whatever group is vilified.
• XREF: connects to: Caste explains Hindu neglect that risks aborigines converting to rival faiths.; While these Americans and Britons avoided any suggestion that someone, drawn by a positive characteristic of the religion, might willingly accept Islam, others argued that, if there had been a good reason for South Asians to convert, it reflected less the value of Islam than the deficits of Hinduism, specifically caste prejudice and the proscription of widow remarriage. Reverend John Takle – a New Zealander working as a missionary in Bengal – used the most recent ‘scientific’ evidence that tracked intermarriage between Muslim and native races to supposedly prove a long-standing conclusion. In 1911 he stated, ‘The anthropometric survey made by government proves conclusively that the vast majority of the Mohammedans in India are converts from among the depressed Hindu communities.’; Christian missionaries in India tended to have the most success among the very groups they alleged Muslims to have converted: the lowest ranking castes and most impoverished classes. (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Nineteenth-century Orientalism essentialized Muslims as intrinsically inferior during colonial expansion. #corroborates (0.70) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 201
• Colonial officials blamed reform failures on indigenous vanity rather than state abandonment #exemplifies (0.65)