Introduction / History

Ganz is a community of taxidermists who live in urban areas in Kashmir. Since taxidermy involves working with dead animals, they have low status.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Ganz people have no social divisions. They can marry anyone from a Muslim community, with the exception of the Wattal, Ganai and Goor. Marriages are negotiated and arranged by family leaders. They do not have marriage symbols like their Hindu neighbors.

The Ganz allow for divorce because of adultery or incompatibility. When there is a divorce, the husband must take responsibility for the children.

For a Muslim community, the Ganz allow many rights for women. They may not have decision making powers, but they are consulted for important family matters involving property. Women earn money to help their families. However, it’s the men who do the job of a taxidermist.

Today not all Ganz people are taxidermists. They sometimes own small businesses, work for the government or private organizations.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Ganz people are Sunni Muslims who believe that the supreme God, Allah, spoke 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.

The two main holidays for Sunni Muslims are Eid al Fitr, the breaking of the monthly fast and Eid al Adha, the celebration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah.

Sunni religious practices are staid and simple. They believe Allah has pre-determined our fates; they minimize free will.

In most of the Muslim world, common people depend on the spirit world for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well they live on a daily basis. For that reason, some Muslims appease spirits using charms and amulets to help them with spiritual forces. More orthodox Muslims consider these practices heretical and un-Islamic.

What Are Their Needs?

The Ganz people need to accept the warm embrace of the only savior so they can enjoy spiritually meaningful lives.

Prayer Points

Pray for the Holy Spirit to work mightily in their communities, blessing them in every way.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to give the Ganz people a love for God's word and a desire to spread its influence.

Pray for signs and wonders among them and for great breakthroughs with a rapid multiplication of disciples and house churches.

Pray for bold workers who are driven by the love of the Holy Spirit to go to them.

Pray for an unstoppable movement to Christ among them.

Scripture Prayers for the Ganz in India.

References

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