Short answer
No. Muslims have lived on India's coasts for more than a thousand years. Traders brought Islam there. By about 916 one district on India's west coast had about 10,000 Muslims, and some were born in India. India's 2011 census counted 14.2 per cent of its people as Muslim. In Bengal and Punjab, the historian Richard Eaton traces the Muslims mainly to local communities who accepted Islam. Islam did begin in Arabia. But where a teaching began cannot show whether it is true. The numbers we write today began in India, and they are true everywhere. Truth has no nationality. Becoming Muslim changes whom you worship, not your language, your family or your country. The Qur'an says every people had a warner (35:24), and that the Prophet (ﷺ) was sent to all people (7:158). So Islam's message was always for India too.
| The question | The answer |
|---|---|
| Did it begin outside India? | Yes, in Arabia. That says nothing about whether it is true. |
| Is it new in India? | No. Muslims witnessed a ruler's grant in Kerala in 849. |
| Are its people outsiders? | No. In Bengal and Punjab the Muslims came mainly from local communities. |
| Does it take you from your people? | No. Your worship changes, not your language, family or country. |
| Does its message leave India out? | No. Every people had a warner, and the Prophet (ﷺ) was sent to all. |
Full explanation
What "foreign" can mean
People mean different things when they call Islam foreign. They may mean that it began outside India. They may mean that it is new in India, or that its followers are outsiders. They may mean that it takes a person away from his people. Or they may mean that its message was never for India. These are five separate questions, and each has its own answer. Only the first is true, and it says nothing about whether Islam is the truth.
Of India's 1.21 billion people in 2011, 79.8 per cent were recorded as Hindu and 14.2 per cent as Muslim.
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
Truth has no nationality
Islam began in Arabia, and no Muslim denies it. But where a teaching began cannot show whether it is true. The numbers we write today began in India. Al-Khwarizmi, a Muslim scholar in Baghdad in the 800s, wrote on the Hindu way of reckoning. Fibonacci of Pisa learned the nine Indian figures as a boy in North Africa, and taught them to Europe. No one in Europe says a sum is wrong because India found the method. A true sum has no nationality, and neither does the truth about God (﷾). A claim about who made us is true or false in Delhi and in Mecca alike. The Qur'an says, "To Allah belong the east and the West" (2:115). So the question for an Indian is not where Islam came from. The question is whether it came from God (﷾).
Al-Khwarizmi lived from about 780 to about 850 and was a scholar at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad under the Caliph al-Ma'mun. His book on arithmetic survives only in a Latin version, known as "Al-Khwarizmi on the Hindu Art of Reckoning", which sets out the Hindu place-value system of numbers. The pious preface to his Algebra shows that he was an orthodox Muslim.
Leonardo of Pisa says that his father, a customs official for Pisan merchants at Bugia in North Africa, had him taught the nine Indian figures there as a boy, and that he wrote the book to teach this method to the Latin world.
“To Allah belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah. For Allah is all-Pervading, all-Knowing.”
India's own teachings have travelled
India knows this from its own history, because Hindu teaching has crossed the sea too. In 1893 Vivekananda, a Hindu monk, spoke for Hinduism at the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago. In 1965 another teacher from India came to New York to teach devotion to Krishna. His movement was established the next year, and it calls itself a global community. Hindus do not say that these teachings are false for an American because they began in India. The same fairness runs the other way. If a teaching from India may be offered to an American, a teaching from Arabia may be offered to an Indian. Each must then be weighed on its evidence, not on its birthplace.
“We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions to be true.”
The movement's own website says it was established in 1966, and calls it a global spiritual community. It says its founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, came to New York in 1965 to share the Bhagavad Gita and devotion to Krishna with the world.
| What | Began in | Reached |
|---|---|---|
| The numbers we write | India | Baghdad, North Africa, Europe |
| Hindu teaching | India | Chicago, New York |
| Islam | Arabia | India |
How Islam reached India
India was known by name in the Prophet's (ﷺ) own lifetime. He told people to use the Indian incense as a medicine (Bukhari 5692). So India's goods were reaching Arabia in his day, and India was no unknown land to the first Muslims. Muslim merchants later sailed to India's coasts to trade. On land, an Arab army took Sindh, in today's Pakistan, in about 712. The page "Was Islam spread by the sword?" answers the charge about armies. On India's south-west coast the record is one of trade. The historian Sebastian Prange describes an Islam shaped by merchants, not sultans, among people who were not Muslim. So Islam on that coast came as a neighbour, not as a ruler.
Umm Qais bint Mihsan reports that she heard the Prophet (ﷺ) tell people to use the Indian incense (al-'ud al-hindi) as a treatment, saying it heals seven illnesses.
The Chach Nama is a Persian history of the Arab conquest of Sindh, in today's Pakistan. It dates the main battle of that campaign to the tenth of Ramadan in the year 93 of the Islamic calendar, which fell in June 712 CE.
A history of Muslim trading communities on India's Malabar Coast, mainly from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. Prange argues that this Islam was shaped by merchants rather than sultans, by the needs of trade rather than by battle, and by Muslims living within societies that were not Muslim.
Neighbours for more than a thousand years
In 849 the ruler of Venad, in Kerala, made a grant to a Christian at the port of Kollam. It was cut on copper plates. Its witnesses signed in three scripts, and eleven signed in Arabic. Their names include Maymun son of Ibrahim and Isma'il son of Ya'qub. So Muslims in Kerala were already standing as witnesses to a ruler's grant. In about 916 the traveller al-Mas'udi visited Saymur, on India's west coast. He counted about 10,000 Muslims who had married and settled there. Among them were the bayasira, people born to Muslims on Indian soil. The king set one of their own leaders over them to decide their affairs. In the 1340s Ibn Battuta travelled the Malabar coast of south-west India. Twelve rulers held it, none of them Muslim. He writes that Muslims were most highly honoured there, and that Muslim houses stood at every halting-place on a road two months long. So for centuries these Muslims lived as neighbours under kings of another faith. Chillies came from the Americas, and Portuguese ships brought them to India around 1542. No one calls Indian food foreign because of them. Islam has been on India's coast more than twice as long. Time does not make a teaching true, but it does answer the charge that Islam is a visitor.
A grant of 849 CE, cut on copper plates in Old Malayalam. The ruler of Venad, in Kerala, made it at the port of Kollam (Quilon). Its beneficiary was a Christian, Maruvan Sapir Iso, who founded a market town there. One plate carries the witnesses' signatures in three scripts: Kufic (Arabic), Pahlavi (Persian) and Hebrew. Eleven witnesses sign in Arabic, and scholars read them as Muslims. Their names include Maymun son of Ibrahim and Isma'il son of Ya'qub.
Al-Mas'udi says he was in the district of Saymur, in India, in the year 304 of the Islamic calendar (916-917 CE). He counts about 10,000 Muslims there: bayasira, and people of Siraf, Oman, Basra, Baghdad and other lands who had married and settled there. He explains that the bayasira are those born to Muslims on the soil of India. He adds that the king there sets one of the leading Muslims over them, and leaves their affairs to him.
Ibn Battuta describes the Malabar coast, which he reached in the 1340s. On a road of two months' journey, every halting-place had houses belonging to Muslims. He says twelve rulers held these lands, none of them Muslim. He says Muslims were most highly honoured among the people there, though the people would not eat with them or let them into their houses. At Pandarani the Muslims held three quarters of the town, each with a mosque. At Calicut, whose ruler was not a Muslim, he stayed three months with his party as the ruler's guests.
Chili peppers were first domesticated in Central and South America. Portuguese ships introduced them to India around 1542.
- About 712
An Arab army takes Sindh, in today's Pakistan.
- 849
Eleven witnesses sign in Arabic on a ruler's grant at Kollam, Kerala.
- About 916
About 10,000 Muslims at Saymur, among them people born in India.
- 1340s
Ibn Battuta finds Muslim houses all along the Malabar coast, under twelve rulers who are not Muslim.
- 1600s
Umaru Pulavar tells the Prophet's (ﷺ) life in a Tamil epic.
- 2011
India's census counts about 172 million Muslims.
Indian Muslims are Indians
India's census of 2011 counted about 172 million Muslims, 14.2 per cent of the people. Kerala counted 26.6 per cent, and the Lakshadweep islands off its coast 96.6 per cent. So on the coast where the traders came, Islam is the faith of many local families. Some say India's Muslims descend from people who came from outside. Some did, as the traders at Saymur did, and their children were born in India. But the historian Richard Eaton calls that view inadequate as an account of India's Muslims. He finds that in Bengal the Muslims came mainly from local communities, such as the Rajbansi and the Kuch. In Punjab, he writes, the same was true of the Jat clans who came to form the bulk of the Muslim community. So in those lands the Muslims' forebears were mainly people of the land who accepted Islam. And in a survey by Pew Research Center, 95 per cent of India's Muslims said they were very proud to be Indian. So by their numbers, their roots and their own word, India's Muslims are Indians.
Of India's 1.21 billion people in 2011, 79.8 per cent were recorded as Hindu and 14.2 per cent as Muslim.
Counts 172,245,158 Muslims among India's 1,210,854,977 people in 2011. In Kerala it counts 8,873,472 Muslims among 33,406,061 people, which is 26.6 per cent. In Lakshadweep it counts 62,268 among 64,473, which is 96.6 per cent.
Al-Mas'udi says he was in the district of Saymur, in India, in the year 304 of the Islamic calendar (916-917 CE). He counts about 10,000 Muslims there: bayasira, and people of Siraf, Oman, Basra, Baghdad and other lands who had married and settled there. He explains that the bayasira are those born to Muslims on the soil of India. He adds that the king there sets one of the leading Muslims over them, and leaves their affairs to him.
Eaton reviews four theories of how Islam grew in India and calls each of them inadequate. One is the view that most of India's Muslims descend from Muslims who migrated from the Iranian plateau or sailed across the Arabian Sea. He finds that in Bengal the Muslim converts were drawn mainly from Rajbansi, Pod, Chandal, Kuch and other indigenous groups. In Punjab, he writes, the same was true of the Jat clans that came to form the bulk of the Muslim community.
A survey of 29,999 Indian adults, carried out from November 2019 to March 2020. It finds that 95 per cent of India's Muslims say they are very proud to be Indian.
- 172 millionMuslims in India's 2011 census
- 14.2%Of India's people in 2011
- 95%Of India's Muslims very proud to be Indian
Islam in India's own languages
Islam also speaks India's languages. In the 1600s the Tamil poet Umaru Pulavar told the life of the Prophet (ﷺ) in a Tamil epic, the Seera Puranam. It runs to more than 5,000 verses. The Tamil University's encyclopaedia counts it among the great epics of Tamil. Urdu, spoken by many Indian Muslims, is listed by the Constitution of India among the country's languages, beside Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali. So Indian Muslims do not need a foreign tongue to speak of their faith. They have been doing it in the languages of India for centuries.
Umaru Pulavar was a Tamil poet of the seventeenth century, born in 1642. His Tamil epic, the Cirappuranam (Seera Puranam), tells how the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) established the way of Islam, with his life as its story. It has three parts, 92 chapters and 5,028 verses. The entry counts it among the great epics of Tamil.
Lists the languages of India named by the Constitution, twenty-two in all. They include Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Urdu.
What stays, and what changes
Becoming Muslim makes no one an Arab. The Qur'an counts the variety of languages among God's (﷾) signs (30:22). It says He made nations and tribes "that ye may know each other" (49:13). So your language, your family name and your country stay yours. Indian food stays, made halal, which means lawful as Islam defines it. Islam allows beef and does not require it. Your duty to your parents stays too. The Qur'an says to "bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration)", even if they press you to worship others (31:15). What changes is worship. Prayer, offerings and bows of worship go to God (﷾) alone (72:18; 6:162). So a Muslim does not perform puja (Hindu rites of worship). Rank by birth goes as well, because the most honoured is the most righteous (49:13). Pork, alcohol and gambling go, for Muslims of every nation (2:173; 5:90). Some details depend on the case, such as a family festival. For those, ask a qualified scholar. The page "If I become Muslim, what happens to my family's customs?" sets out family life with care.
“And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know.”
“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).”
“O ye who believe! make not unlawful the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you, but commit no excess: for Allah loveth not those given to excess.”
“"But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to me (in love): in the end the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and meaning) of all that ye did."”
“"And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not any one along with Allah;”
“Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds: No partner hath He: this am I commanded, and I am the first of those who bow to His will.”
“He hath only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- then is he guiltless. For Allah is Oft-forgiving Most Merciful.”
“O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.”
Your language and your family name
Your country
Indian food, made halal
Your duty to your parents
Puja, offerings and bows of worship
Rank by birth
Pork, alcohol and gambling
Arabic is the Qur'an's language, not a nationality
Muslims recite the Qur'an in Arabic in the prayer, and some take this as proof that Islam is Arab. It is not. The Qur'an says every messenger taught in the language of his own people (14:4). It came first to Arabs, so it came in Arabic (12:2). Reciting it in those words keeps one Book the same for every Muslim. Hindus know this from their own worship. The Vedas and the Gita are in Sanskrit. A Tamil or Bengali Hindu who recites their verses in Sanskrit is no less Tamil or Bengali. Outside the set prayer, a Muslim may call on God (﷾) in Hindi, Tamil or any language, at any time. God (﷾) says, "I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me" (2:186). So Arabic in prayer is a shared Book, not a change of people.
“We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them. Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.”
“We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an, in order that ye may learn wisdom.”
“That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here. That which cannot be thought by mind, but by which, they say, mind is able to think: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which is not seen by the eye, but by which the eye is able to see: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ear is able to hear: know that alone to be Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which none breathes with the breath, but by which breath is in-breathed: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here.”
“One's own duty, though defective, is better than another's duty well performed. Death in (performing) one's own duty is preferable; the (performance of the) duty of others is dangerous.”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
A warner to every people
The Qur'an does not treat India as a land outside God's (﷾) care. It says "there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them" (35:24). A warner is one sent by God (﷾) to call people back to Him. It says a messenger came to every people (10:47; 16:36). These verses were revealed in Arabia, far from India, and they leave no land out. So in Islam's own teaching, the call to worship one God (﷾) was given to India's people long ago. The Qur'an does not name every messenger (40:78), so Muslims do not guess who came to India. The page "Did God send prophets to India?" explains this. At their highest, India's own scriptures still speak of One without equal. The Svetasvatara Upanishad says "no one is seen like unto him or better". The Kena Upanishad says of the Supreme, "not this which people worship here". So the call to worship one God (﷾) is no stranger in India. The same books also hold teachings the Qur'an rejects, as the page "Do the Hindu scriptures teach that God is one?" shows.
“Verily We have sent thee in truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner: and there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past).”
“To every people (was sent) a messenger: when their messenger comes (before them), the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not be wronged.”
“For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil": of the People were some whom Allah guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth).”
“We did aforetime send messengers before thee: of them there are some whose story We have related to thee, and some whose story We have not related to thee. It was not (possible) for any messenger to bring a sign except by the leave of Allah: but when the Command of Allah issued, the matter was decided in truth and justice, and there perished, there and then those who stood on Falsehoods.”
“There is no effect and no cause known of him, no one is seen like unto him or better; his high power is revealed as manifold, as inherent, acting as force and knowledge.”
“That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here. That which cannot be thought by mind, but by which, they say, mind is able to think: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which is not seen by the eye, but by which the eye is able to see: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ear is able to hear: know that alone to be Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which none breathes with the breath, but by which breath is in-breathed: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here.”
Islam's answer: sent to you too
The Prophet (ﷺ) said that every earlier prophet was sent to his own people, but he was sent to all mankind (Bukhari 335). The Qur'an tells him to say, "O men! I am sent unto you all" (7:158). It calls him "a universal (Messenger) to men" (34:28). That includes India. Salman, one of his Companions, came from Persia. The Prophet (ﷺ) said men of his people would reach faith even if it were as far as the Pleiades. These are a distant group of stars (Bukhari 4897). So distance from Arabia was never a barrier. The page "Is Islam only for Arabs?" gives more. An Indian who accepts Islam does not join a foreign nation. He turns to the One who made India and Arabia alike. No one may be forced into this (2:256), and Islam does not ask you to take it on trust. The Qur'an invites you to test it (2:23). Read it, and ask whether it is from the Lord of the Worlds. That answer matters more than the place where the Book first came.
Jabir ibn Abdullah reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) named five things given to him that no prophet before him was given. The last of them: every earlier prophet was sent to his own nation only, but he was sent to all mankind.
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
“We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings, and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not.”
Abu Huraira reports that when Qur'an 62:3 was revealed, speaking of others who had not yet joined the believers, he asked the Prophet (ﷺ) who they were. The Prophet put his hand on Salman the Persian and said that even if faith were as far away as the Pleiades, a group of stars, men from these people would reach it.
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.”
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.”
Point by point
Qur'an 49:13 — Surat al-Hujurat (The Inner Apartments), verse 13
“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).”
Cited for
Religion is not arithmetic. It is culture. God made nations, so each nation should keep its own faith.
The response
The verse says nations exist "that ye may know each other". It does not say each has its own truth about God (﷾). Religions make claims that cannot all be true: one God (﷾) or many, one life or rebirth. So a person has to weigh them. The page "Aren't all religions paths to the same God?" takes this further.
Where it lands — A claim about God (﷾) is true or false for every nation, so it has to be weighed, not inherited.
Qur'an 14:4 — Surat Ibrahim (Abraham), verse 4
“We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them. Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.”
Cited for
If God wanted Indians to follow this message, He would have sent it in Sanskrit, to India.
The response
A message for all mankind had to begin in one place and one language, as any teaching does. The Qur'an says each messenger taught in his own people's language (14:4). The last was then sent on to everyone (7:158). The page "Why would God's last message come to 7th-century Arabia?" gives the reasons.
Where it lands — Beginning in one language does not limit a message to that people.
Qur'an 35:24 — Surat Fatir (The Originator), verse 24
“Verily We have sent thee in truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner: and there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past).”
Cited for
If every people had a warner, then Krishna, Rama or the Buddha were prophets. So Hindus need nothing more.
The response
The Qur'an names no messenger sent to India, and Muslims do not guess (40:78). Every messenger taught people to serve God (﷾) alone (16:36). Whatever agrees with that may be a remnant of the message, and whatever contradicts it did not come from a messenger. And the final message is for all (7:158).
Where it lands — The verse says India was not left out. It does not say which teachings came from a messenger.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1358 — Kitab al-Jana'iz (Funerals), hadith 1358
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born upon the fitra (the natural disposition God gave mankind), and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian, just as an animal is born whole. Abu Hurayra then recited Qur'an 30:30.
Cited for
My ancestors were Hindu. Becoming Muslim betrays them and this land.
The response
The Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born on the fitra, the natural disposition God (﷾) gave mankind. The religion comes after, from the family. Family ties stay. The Qur'an says to keep your parents company with justice (31:15). The Prophet (ﷺ) told Asma to keep good relations with her polytheist mother (Bukhari 2620). The page "Isn't it better to follow the religion I was born into?" answers this in full.
Where it lands — Choosing what you believe to be true betrays no one. The love and the duty stay.
Perspectives
Hindu: Islam belongs to another land
India has its own ancient religions. Islam began in Arabia, its holy places are there and its scripture is in Arabic. So it can never truly belong to India, and an Indian who takes it leaves his people.
Islam began in Arabia, and India has its own ancient religions. An Indian needs nothing from outside.
Rebuttal
Where a faith began says nothing about whether it is true. The numbers we write began in India, and they are true everywhere. Hindu teachers have carried their teaching to Chicago and New York. And the Qur'an says the Prophet (ﷺ) was sent to all people (7:158).
Muslims pray towards Mecca, and their holy places are in Arabia. So their hearts lie outside India.
Rebuttal
The direction of prayer is a command of worship, not a nationality. The Qur'an says, "It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West" (2:177). It also says, "To Allah belong the east and the West" (2:115). A Muslim faces Mecca to pray to God (﷾), who is Lord of India too. And 95 per cent of India's Muslims told Pew they are very proud to be Indian. The page "Do Muslims worship the Kaaba and the Black Stone?" says more.
Muslims pray in Arabic and many take Arabic names. A convert takes on Arab culture and stops being Indian.
Rebuttal
Islam asks for a change of worship, not of nation (49:13). Your family name stays. Arabic in prayer keeps one Book the same for all, much as Hindus of every mother tongue recite the Vedas in Sanskrit. Tamil Muslims told the Prophet's (ﷺ) life in a Tamil epic.
Islam came to India with armies, so it can never be truly Indian.
Rebuttal
On India's south-west coast the record is of merchants, living for centuries under kings who were not Muslim. The historian Richard Eaton finds that the Muslims of Bengal and Punjab came mainly from local communities. So they were people of the land who accepted Islam. A person choosing today answers to the evidence. The page "Was Islam spread by the sword?" takes up the charge.
India's culture is built on its rites and festivals. Whoever leaves them leaves India.
Rebuttal
India has never had only one way of worship. The Kena Upanishad itself says of the Supreme, "not this which people worship here". Tamil Muslims have told the Prophet's (ﷺ) life in Tamil verse since the 1600s. Leaving a rite is not leaving a country.
The Islamic perspective
Islam began in Arabia, but its message was for every people. Muslims have lived in India for more than a thousand years, and India's Muslims are Indians. Accepting Islam changes a person's worship, not his people.
The Qur'an says there never was a people without a warner.
The Qur'an and the Prophet (ﷺ) say he was sent to all mankind, not to one nation.
Muslims witnessed a ruler's grant in Kerala in 849, and about 10,000 lived at Saymur in about 916, some of them born in India.
The historian Richard Eaton finds that the Muslims of Bengal and Punjab came mainly from local communities who accepted Islam.
Languages and nations are among God's (﷾) signs, and the most honoured with Him is the most righteous, of any people.