Sipai in India

People Name:	Sipai
Country:	India
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	600
World Population:	600
Primary Language:	Gujarati
Primary Religion:	Islam
Christian Adherents:	0.00 %
Evangelicals:	0.00 %
Scripture:	Complete Bible
Online Audio NT:	No
Jesus Film:	Yes
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	South Asia Muslim - other
Affinity Bloc:	South Asian Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

Sipahi means soldier in the Turkish language. They claim to be a Muslim community of mixed Rajput and Koli origin. They settled in Gujarat between the 17th and 19th centuries, serving rulers as soldiers.

Where Are they Located?

This Muslim people group lives in Gujarat, a state in western India.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Sipai people live in several clans. Some of these clans claim Arab ancestry; these are considered superior to other clans.

Many Sipahi people are now farmers, others are weavers or masons. They have a caste association that governs them and looks out for their interests.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Sipai people are Sunni, the largest branch of Islam. They believe that the One, Supreme God, Allah, spoken through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.

In most of the Muslim world, peoples like the Sipai depend on the spirits for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well we live in our daily lives. For that reason, they must appease the spirits. The often use charms and amulets to help them deal with spiritual forces.

What Are Their Needs?

Although audio visual, and written Bible resources are available in Gujarati, their spok language, they remain unreached with the truth of the gospel. Their greatest need is to understand the infinite love of Almighty God for them, and his provisional payment of the penalty for their sins. They need to be set free from sin by the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ!

Prayer Points

Pray for the Holy Spirit to give the Muslim Sipai people teachable and understanding hearts.
Pray that a strong movement of the Holy Spirit will bring entire Sipai families into a rich experience of God's blessing.
Pray for Sipai families to be drawn by the Holy Spirit to seek forgiveness, and to understand the adequacy of Christ's work on the cross.
Pray for teams of believers to do sustained, focused prayer for the Lord to open the hearts of Sipai family leaders to experience God's blessing through a movement of family-based discovery Bible studies.