Introduction / History

The Desil are a tiny Muslim community living in the Kashmiri Valley. They have other backward caste status, meaning their status is not high or low.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Most of them cultivate fields. The more fortunate Desil own land, others are sharecroppers. Desil boys begin making bricks at age five. By the time they are in their teens they begin practicing their trade, be it masonry, carpentry or agriculture.

They are very traditional when it comes to family and marriage practices. Family elders determine who marries who, and there is a dowry payment due at the wedding. They can marry someone from a different community, so long as that person is a Muslim and has equal status to the Desil community.

Married women do not contribute to the family income. Instead, she focuses on household duties and rearing children. Children are given much affection while elders are respected.

These Muslims attend weddings and birth and death events with Buddhist and Hindu people. But when one of their own is about to die, that person must utter the name of Allah before their final passing.

What Are Their Beliefs?

These Sunni Muslims visit shrines and sacred places. They believe these visits will gain them the favor of Muslim saints who can intercede for them before Allah. Since few if any of them understand the Classical Arabic of their holy book, the Koran, they blend Islam with other beliefs. Commonly Muslims in India blend Hindu practices with Islam. They might use good luck charms and amulets, which are not part of Islamic beliefs.

What Are Their Needs?

The Desil people need the Holy Spirit to direct them into a loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer Points

Pray for Desil culture to be renewed and enhanced by a work of the Holy Spirit and shaped into a God-centered and God-honoring mold.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to move among their family and community leaders to seek his face and enjoy his blessings.

Pray for the Lord to thrust out workers who will be compelled to nurture a disciple making movement among the Desil people.

Pray that soon the Desil people will have faith that will lead them to live honorable lives that will draw others to the savior.

Scripture Prayers for the Desil in India.

References

People of India, Vol 25. K.S. Singh. 2003